[BC] Regarding Interruptions

[Barry Mishkind]

>At 05:42 AM 12/29/2006, stanleybadams wrote
>Man you guys just illustrate the rest of the hard nosed country.  An ex
>president dies and you just want you CSI or L%O or Sex in the City to just
>keep on spooling.
>
>In Memphis, we have our freakin weather guys jumping on the air all the time
>when the weather gets just a little stormy and they interrupt all the time
>so I think that you old hard bitten boys can take a 30 sec interrupt from
>the national news carriers about a little something more than that; by the

Stan,

         I think perhaps a 30 second interruption
         would not be inappropriate, perhaps
         even a little longer in a "re-run" - although
         how do you know it is not the "first time"
         someone is seeing that episode?

         Although the network is going to take the
         time from the program rather than the
         commercial schedule, you would think
         the net could "make up the time" with
         a time compression box.

         The problem with the interruption that
         started most of this thread is that, in
         the case of ABC, they never returned to
         the program at all.  (Well, there was
         ONE WORD uttered by a character between
         the end of the News Brief of almost a half
         an hour and the local news here - a very
         poor switch.)

         Those who were not watching live, but
         recording on a VCR or DVR, came home
         to half a program.

         (For the record, now that many of us are
         accustomed to recording programs for
         later viewing, it is equally, if not moreso -
         infuriating during a "first run" episode
         when they "run over" into the next
         time slot. Again, you are left with
         no ending....   I've seen this happen a
         number of times. It bespeaks of poor
         communication between news and
         entertainment. And, perhaps some
         arrogance ...  A large number of
         viewers no longer arrange their lives
         around sitting during prime time.)

         Finally, for the record: we have become
         too erratic in this country regarding
         weather. Weather happens. Each and
         every front that comes through is not
         the storm of the century, and should
         not be "played" as if it is.