TiVo ‘Idol’ viewers botched
Cory Bergman May 25th, 2007
When the live finale ran 9 minutes long, TiVo viewers who time-shifted American Idol were left hanging when the recording abruptly ended at the top of the hour. The winner was announced three minutes later. “We’re sorry that DVR users may have missed the conclusion of the “American Idol” broadcast,” said a Fox statement. “It was always our intention to bring the show in on time, but just as with any live sports, variety, awards or entertainment event, there is no way to absolutely guarantee that the show will end exactly on the hour. Fox and the producers apologize to those viewers who were inconvenienced.” But Fox went on to advise people to set “pad” on their DVRs next time. Um, isn’t there a way to automate this, folks?
Adds Zack in comments: “I work at a FOX affil., and all affiliates got screwed. If you start your newscast past 7 minutes 30 secs it doesn’t count in the book. So all affils, with a great lead-in, had to throw their best night out.”
15 Comments Add your own
1. Jake | May 25th, 2007 at 9:32 am
I got screwed a few weeks ago because greg’s anatomy went about 2 minutes late. I had to go in there and set the pad on the season pass to stop recording 15 minutes after the show ends. Without setting the pad there is always a risk that you will miss the end of programs. It’ll be nice when tivo can tell on its own when a show is actually starting and ending instead of just the “scheduled” time.
2. Jacob | May 25th, 2007 at 11:12 am
Maybe I’m a little too cynical here — but a 9 minute overage on Fox’s juggernaut of a show that completely leaves anyone who’s time-shifting it out in the cold? Doesn’t that sound like a GREAT way to absolutely demand a live audience for future shows, and therefore greater Nielsen numbers? Just askin’.
3. Zack | May 25th, 2007 at 11:16 am
I work at a FOX affil., and all affiliates got screwed. If you start your newscast past 7 minutes 30 secs it doesn’t count in the book. So all affils, with a great lead-in, had to throw their best night out.
Any other thoughts from other FOX Stations?
4. Michael | May 25th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Ouch—about the FOX affiliates. Didn’t know that. My FOX affiliate went straight to a reporter live at IDOL as their top story. *rolls eyes*
But, people should know shows can run over.
And FOX, have better timing. Have less commericals or something so we can have a on time show!
5. Rob | May 25th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
At least they didn’t cut to ‘Heidi’ for the last nine minutes of the show.
6. saundra | May 25th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Zack said, “If you start your newscast past 7 minutes 30 secs it doesn’t count in the book. So all affils, with a great lead-in, had to throw their best night out. ”
Here’s my understanding of the rules: If the show goes over by 7mins :30 secs or more, the quarter hour is labled as more of the lead-in. If Idol had gone long by less than 7:30, the entire quarter hour would have been labled as news and counted in the news average.
I’ve always thought that is one of many flaws in Neilson rules. Fox affiliates could’ve gotten credit for the huge audience waiting for the big Idol announcement as news ratings, if Ryan had reigned in the bla bla bla by two minutes. Instead, you still got a monster lead-in for the final three quarter hours of news, which WILL count in your average if you want them to. Under this scenario, you got to “shop the number”, right?
It hardly seems like Fox affils “got screwed” just because you couldn’t count an entertainment show’s ratings in your news average. God knows, you got enough mileage out of the gigantic lead-ins all season long.
7. zoomer | May 25th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
why wasn’t anything done for DVR users on the West Coast? - we COULD have been warned!
8. zoomer | May 25th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
why wasn’t anything be done for DVR users on the West Coast? - we COULD have been warned!
9. Lyle | May 25th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
The thing about padding your record times, though, is that it limits what else you can record… admittedly, this is part of the point when popular shows go beyond the usual time slot — miss the last minute of Grey’s Anatomy or miss ER.
Personally, if a show I watch keeps going over I end up asking myself how much I enjoy watching it. Having to set pad time gives the show an inconvenience factor… which I’ll accept if I’m enjoying the show, but once my interest starts to fade there’s a greater reward for giving up.
10. Mitch | May 25th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
TiVo has technology to allow the station/net to send a signal in the VBI to warn TiVos of just such a thing, but nobody has ever used it.
11. Don Day | May 25th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Has Idol ever gone long in the past?
12. steve | May 26th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Zack is incorrect. It means that technically the newscast’s first quarter hour was from 10:15-10:30. The last quarter hour would have been 11:00-11:15.
The station would have the option to keep all of the quarter hours in. But since the last quarter hour ran over the “scheduled” newscast time the station could ask just to drop the last quarter hour and keep the first three quarters.
zack - you may want to talk to your station’s research director.
13. G Man | May 26th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Smells like the networks are getting back at people who “time shift” and “zip commercials”. Is it really an accident? I’ve noticed that Idol is always running a few minutes over. And it’s not just Fox. ABC does it too.
14. Rubyredjewel | May 27th, 2007 at 6:51 am
American Idol has purposely ran long often this year and in past years.What was the point of Ryan going to a commercial at the end of the hour? Or why didn’t thys skip announcing the guy from the company that tabulated the votes.Watching the last few minutes on youtube on the AI website you can see they could have still bought that show in on time!
15. Mitch | May 29th, 2007 at 7:24 am
You people and your books are hilarious. Keep clinging to the day when a lead-in meant something.
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