Weird time compression on Me-TV

[FreddyE1977]

I noticed something strange last week when I was home during the day and actually got to
catch an episode of the original Hawaii Five-O on Me-TV.

They were doing some time compression, as the cable networks have been doing for a number
of years now. But this was so poorly done it was very, very noticeable. They showed a scene
where Danno was walking across a parking lot and into a hospital. They sped up the theme music
to a very high tempo, and Danno scooted across the parking lot like his butt cheeks were on fire.

Then all of a sudden the music slowed down, very dramatically. There were a few lines of dialogue,
slowed to where they did not sound like the Chipmunks. As soon as Danno quit talking and started
walking again you could hear the theme music again scooping up to a much faster pace.

It was very disturbing. Like playing a record on a turntable where the belt is giving out.
Can't say I have noticed this on any other network. The rest of them seem to be a bit more
subtle in their time compression tactics. Anyone else noticing this on Me-TV?

 

[RadioFanBoy]

ION Television did the sane thing when they ran classic TV shows.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Is it the network or the provider?
Is My TV just sticking a VHS tape (or whatever)
into a computer and pressing play? Or is the My TV
Computer itself messing up?

 

[Wright County Guy]

I've noticed it on occasion on "Rockford Files" and, yes, it is almost comical.

 

[Darth_vader]

@Yezi--

I've noticed it on the satellite feed. They're probably (likely) doing it deliberately so they can sell more commercial air time. Radio stations have been doing it for years, pitching the songs up; KFBW is an excellent current example. But I've only recently seen the phenomenon make inroads to television.

It really serves no useful purpose in the end, and only makes the show look and sound bad.

 

[KML0224]

Sounds like TBS, whenever they double run Everybody Loves Raymond, Family Guy or The Big Bang Theory. They squeeze the end credits into an unreadable box on the left from episode 1 and then start episode 2 at the same time. At the other end of the spectrum? Antenna TV. Their shows start and end on time. There is no on-screen bug or advertising for other shows. Hell...even when Three's Company ends, you see the screen with "Distributed by D.L. Tafner Syndication Sales" sometimes!

 

[Markxxx]

I live in Chicago and never noticed it. So it's either new or not done over the air hmmm

 

[cd637299]

Antenna TV has been gracious as far as NOT doing the modern thing with classic TV. Their commercials seem to be few, and if any editing is done, maybe some dialogue has been removed, but the plot still comes out making sense. Total credit run, full screen, too. No logo bug either.

MeTV is coming here in 10 days....I have seen bits and pieces, but nothing I know of as far as time compression....yet.

The only issue I have with our local Antenna TV affiliate (WSFL-TV) is that they jam in PSAs in 16:9 format over other spots that Antenna has, where one cannot even read the full name of the website. (But then again, I use a converter box.)

cd

 

[carolinaradio]

Sell more commercials for what? All I ever see ads for are Colonial Penn/life insurance companies, catheters, Glade, Swiffer, Prilosec, and class action drug lawsuits.

 

[Darth_vader]

Colonial Penn/life insurance companies, catheters, Glade, Swiffer, Prilosec and class-action drug lawsuits. Maybe also to allot time for a local spot, as needed.

Remember, the shorter they are able to make the actual programme's run-time through whatever artificial means (editing, speeding up, etc.) the more time they free up to run ad spots, thus the more money they make. A service like ME-TV isn't like PBS where most of the funding comes from the viewers' wallets. A service like ME-TV is a corporate, ma$$-market commercial network, completely supported by commercial advertising. Think about it.

Granted, on satellite I've only really noticed it on "Hawai'i Five-O", so it might have been the way that particular programme was prepared for broadcast over ME. I wouldn't rule out some speeding-up happening on the local (affiliate) level, especially if there are lots of local spots airing alongside the national ones.

 

[whdh1920]

its metv not mytv

 

[carolinaradio]

I watch it mostly at night, and have never noticed it during Bob Newhart, Dick Van Dyke, MTM, Twilight Zone, Cheers, or That Girl.

 

[nomadcowatbk]

Sounds like TBS, whenever they double run Everybody Loves Raymond, Family Guy or The Big Bang Theory. They squeeze the end credits into an unreadable box on the left from episode 1 and then start episode 2 at the same time. At the other end of the spectrum? Antenna TV. Their shows start and end on time. There is no on-screen bug or advertising for other shows. Hell...even when Three's Company ends, you see the screen with "Distributed by D.L. Tafner Syndication Sales" sometimes!

people who can tolerate Turner stretchovision probably don't care about them squeezing the credits or intros, they're not classic TV snobs

 

[Donald G]

Yes, I've noticed it, especially on the first two seasons of "Mission: Impossible", "12 O'Clock High", "The Untouchables","The Twilight Zone", a little bit on "Batman" and "Dobie Gillis".

The hour long programs, which probably ran 50-52 minutes without commercials tend to be time-compressed down to a smidgen under 46 minutes. The half hour programs, which ran approximately 25 minutes on network tend to clock in between 22-23 minutes.

My question has been (and I've never been able to locate a definitive answer for it) "Is Me-TV being supplied with time-compressed masters from their distributors, or are they doing the compression themselves?" *

*STAR TREK Remastered is the exception in that the reduction in running time to under 44 minutes has been achieved by cuts done by CBS Distribution for the remastered project during its initial syndication between 2006-2008.

 

[cd637299]

^ The dialogue on "Dobie Gillis" was time-compressed *enough* when it was first-run!!

cd

 

[Donald G]

^ The dialogue on "Dobie Gillis" was time-compressed *enough* when it was first-run!!

cd

I was curious about that when I first started watching recently - was it time compression or was the dialogue really that rapid-fire and the editing that quick? With regards to Me-TV, I came to the conclusion that I was actually experiencing the effects of both phenomena.

I was born a few years after it left the air and I don't remember it being widely syndicated in my market after I developed reliable conscious memories.

 

[cd637299]

^ The dialogue on "Dobie Gillis" was time-compressed *enough* when it was first-run!!

cd

I was curious about that when I first started watching recently - was it time compression or was the dialogue really that rapid-fire and the editing that quick? With regards to Me-TV, I came to the conclusion that I was actually experiencing the effects of both phenomena.

I was born a few years after it left the air and I don't remember it being widely syndicated in my market after I developed reliable conscious memories.

It had to have been by design, when it was created. I seem to have read somewhere, something like "there were kids' shows, and there were adult shows; but the teenagers didn't have a show of their own," and DG was it. There was something about the way all the characters talked in this show, and the editing too, that IMO somehow "clicked" with audiences.

I was born 4 months prior to its debut, and I did not watch it first-run, and although it was in reruns here and there, I did not watch it....but when I did have the chance to watch, I enjoyed it. MeTV is coming here in 9 days, and hopefully it won't be a share-time deal; I will look forward to seeing it again.

cd

 

[Darth_vader]

"Star Trek Remastered is the exception, in that the reduction in running time to under 44 minutes has been achieved by cuts done by CBS Distribution for the remastered project during its initial syndication, between 2006-2008."

But wasn't that because some of the content may not have been considered "politically correct" (i.e., unsuitable for the fragile little minds of certain types of people who take themselves far more seriously now than they did back then) or some other ridiculous thing like that? Or were the computer-generated scenes just shorter than the original ones were?

 

[LKellerIII]

Sell more commercials for what? All I ever see ads for are Colonial Penn/life insurance companies, catheters, Glade, Swiffer, Prilosec, and class action drug lawsuits.

...and all these companies and lawyers have to pay MeTV for running their ads...that's the point

 

[nsa1]

The uncut version of Star Trek Remastered is available on Netflix streaming, so I don't think this is the reason. I'm sure it was because the edited versions were already done for the syndicated run a few years ago, so this is what CBS makes available to MeTV.

"Star Trek Remastered is the exception, in that the reduction in running time to under 44 minutes has been achieved by cuts done by CBS Distribution for the remastered project during its initial syndication, between 2006-2008."

But wasn't that because some of the content may not have been considered "politically correct" (i.e., unsuitable for the fragile little minds of certain types of people who take themselves far more seriously now than they did back then) or some other ridiculous thing like that? Or were the computer-generated scenes just shorter than the original ones were?