How much do the networks edit out from TV shows for commercials? And do some channels take out more than others?

I really wish the networks would be more honest about it. Especially with movies.

If you've got a movie that originally ran 126 minutes for instance, but the networks are cutting out 20 minutes, and running it in a 2 1/2 hour slot....they should be required to advertise the show as 106 minutes...not 126.

I mean obviously they know, ultimately they have to get everything to fit in the slot....so why not be honest about what they are delivering?

In terms of non movie reruns, the channels that operate through cable (TVLand for example) seems to be worse than the diginets that I get over the air (METV or Cozi)

For example I'l get so used to the long commercial breaks for TV Land or Antenna TV, that I've really got to be careful once I switch over the METV, or I'll find the commercial has ended and the program resumed before I get back from raiding the refrigerator, etc.

I stopped watching TV Land years ago when the commercials were so long
that I forgot what damn show I was watching to begin with...

MeTV, for example, airs 23 minutes when they have the full episode. So for an older show you miss a few minutes of content. For example, Leave It To Beaver runs around 25:30+. In theory they would cut out around 2-1/2 minutes, but it's not that easy. They also use slight time compression (speeding up the episode). So there is slightly less content edited out (you'd really have to study exactly how much they cut out to really know). But I do know there is content lost. Whether it makes any difference depends on the talent of the editor.

On a show where some episodes are pre-edited for syndication, the content is already lost for MeTV. So they do no editing or time-compressing, and for most shows there is 22+ minutes of content.

Some channels are way worse on editing. The Viacom channels are a prime example--much content is lost, with some episodes in the 18 minute range of content. So even with episodes that are pre-edited for syndication (again, around 22+ minutes), there is a fair amount of content lost, even with time compression.

TV Land really butchers Andy Griffith. They rarely air the epilogue for most episodes

TBS is bad with editing and speeding up. Family Matters is ok on there but sometimes it may be sped up and it appears there might be some parts missing as the commercials seem long. Friends is even worse on there. On most episodes, they won’t show the opening theme and credits at all, they will just put them in a small square on the left while the episode is playing in a larger square on the right. I hear they even speed up Big Bang Theory and it’s a much more recent show that probably was around only 20 minutes for each episode yet they still have to cram in more commercials.

TV Land really butchers Andy Griffith. They rarely air the epilogue for most episodes

We have a local channel that never shows that.

TBS is bad with editing and speeding up. Family Matters is ok on there but sometimes it may be sped up and it appears there might be some parts missing as the commercials seem long. Friends is even worse on there. On most episodes, they won’t show the opening theme and credits at all, they will just put them in a small square on the left while the episode is playing in a larger square on the right. I hear they even speed up Big Bang Theory and it’s a much more recent show that probably was around only 20 minutes for each episode yet they still have to cram in more commercials.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation was really bad last time they showed it. I'm going, what happened to this, or that?

Making cuts is only half the story. The constant flashing of commercials on the screen during the show makes them unwatchable for me. Put the two together and you may have 75% of the time with commercials.

Making cuts is only half the story. The constant flashing of commercials on the screen during the show makes them unwatchable for me. Put the two together and you may have 75% of the time with commercials.

COZI is real bad about this. Sometimes I watch Gimme a Break on there and I see they will plaster an ad for the next show during the opening credits of Gimme a Break that I am watching in the bottom left corner and that ad is so large it covers up text of the opening credits for Gimme a Break.

I am surprised the retro channels are allowed to get away with all the crap they pull with the programs, it seems that there are no longer any FCC rules or regulations and they can do whatever they want.

I very seldom watch the retro channels now, might tune in to MeTV or Antenna TV on a very rare occasion but that's it. Another bad thing is the lack of a full screen picture on most if not all of these retro channels. It's either in widescreen with black bars at the top and bottom, or even worse, a shrunken down, square size picture with black bars on all four sides. It's all garbage.

DVD's are not always perfect either, sometimes shows are edited but I much prefer having DVD's of my favorite old shows and these are what I watch. Most of the shows in my DVD collection have uncut episodes with opening and closing credits and the picture is full screen. :)

I know MeTV does some fast fowarding on certain scenes when an episode is already edited for modern day tv. Usually its only for long walking scenes. What I hate is when channels either cut the theme song or credit crunch. There is already a good 7 - 9 minutes of commericals per episode but they can't even show the intro and outro? Instead its more commercials, never understood that.

Do the networks really feel that they need to run so many ads? Have production costs gone up that much? Or are they merely getting away with murder?

Do the networks really feel that they need to run so many ads? Have production costs gone up that much? Or are they merely getting away with murder?

It is only because they are allowed to get away with it. There is no more oversight or regulations standing in their way like there used to be. Not to mention I think most of the companies that have been running TV channels over the past couple of decades have no type of ethics whatsoever. Many are completely unethical and could not care less.

Making cuts is only half the story. The constant flashing of commercials on the screen during the show makes them unwatchable for me. Put the two together and you may have 75% of the time with commercials.
That is true too. Television has turned into nothing more than an advertising box.

How much do the networks edit out from TV shows for commercials?Much too much!!! (Even in the 80s)

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