ITV Programming Thread

I'm a regular watcher of The Big Bang Theory, but I hadn't really noticed how short the programme was until watching on catch-up — only to find it's 17 to 19 minutes long per episode.

You know why that is? in the good old days it used to be 22-24mins but well Syndication, and you can have more adverts in a syndicated slot, so many programmes were repackage and cut in length to get up to 5min out of each episode, this included new shorter opening titles. Thus most programmes are now cut to Syndication requirements to make even more money.

That's a ratio of 17-19 mins per joke

If you mean on All4, there'll be PAL speed-up (4%) and (possibly) the saucier jokes getting cut.

'PAL speed up' is only applicable to native 24 fps film productions, notably cinema movies
to be shown on 25 fps TV standards. Video productions made for 'NTSC' markets, are standards converted from 59.94 fields per second, to 25 for 'PAL' markets, and there's no effect on running time. What does look awful is 24 fps converted to 30 fps video by 3:2 pulldown, and
then standards converted to '25'.

(Before any pendants jump in, PAL and NTSC is only applicable to analogue systems, but of course the frame/field rates persist in digital.)

And dramas and sitcoms shot on film, or the digital equivalent, which still uses 24fps - such as Frasier, Friends, Big Bang Theory...

They're shot at 24fps, then telecined to 60 interlaced fields with 3:2 pulldown.



If it's done on the assumption that the original was native 30fps, yes, but usually it's just inverse-telecined back to the original frames and sped up to 25fps. Big Bang certainly is, because you can hear the difference in the theme tune and the voices when you get it from... uh... elsewhere.

Yes it's always interesting watching clips of Friends online where their voices sound a lot deeper. And then on videos which sound normal to you or I, you have comments like "why have you sped up the voices?"

Ah, OK fair enough. Never seen Friends (no really !) or Big Bang, but yes I do recall Frasier was native film, and yes, being 'merican, it would have been 24fps. OK, as you were........

The strange thing is I've seen a show on Nick that seems to have had that treatment even though it's 60i. At least I assume it has, because the motion is so jerky- and removing a 3:2 pulldown that was never there and speeding it up 4% would help explain it. Possibly they're so used to US acquired content being 24p they just applied it as a matter of course. Either that or it's just a REALLY awful 60>50 standards conversion.

The Jeremy Kyle Show currently airing on ITV has a promo for the show built into it using the Granada Reports studio and music, which seems a bit odd as most people won't understand what Granada Reports is outside of the region.

It is being played out before the commercial break and end of part sting.

Kyle's viewers (and contestants) are too stupid to understand anything, so don't worry.

(WTF were you doing watching that crap anyway ?)

Nothing wrong with a bit of drama first thing in the morning!!