The station break is about 3:30 these days--and the stations want the time for promos and their own funders.
The other things that cut in on a program that plays on BBC1 in 1:29 (including 35 seconds of end credits that get squeezed back for a promo and a "coming up next" graphic that includes all of the major BBC channels) are the opening/recap (although the original program may've had a "previously on 'Sherlock'" recap), the 30-second "Masterpiece" titles, the 30-second plug for the cruise line underwriter, 5 seconds for the "Masterpiece Trust," 15 second for Viewers Like You (since the pitch has become longer than just "the annual financial support of Viewers Like You--Thank You"), Alan Cumming's 90-second intro (max), the five-second "'Masterpiece' will return in a moment, but first...", the 30-second PBS promo, the preview of next week's episode (although there may be a "Next Time on 'Sherlock'" as part of the original 1:29), the 10-second PBS web site plug and the 15-second tie-ins pitch (books, DVDs, etc.--often, those two items often run during the credits--and the original credits are replaced with "Masterpiece" credits) and the same funding plugs at the end). I'm guessing that about 8 minutes of the original get cut. Of course, thanks to "Downton Abbey" being an ITV series with adverts counted in the hour, that series probably gets lightly trimmed on PBS, if at all (although last year PBS was guilty of reformatting six one-hour shows into four 90-minute shows--this year, they're running the shows as hours--and I'm assuming that the premiere was two hours in the UK). On Wed, Jan 18, 2012 at 11:10 AM, David Lynch <[email protected]> wrote: > On Wed, Jan 18, 2012 at 11:05, Jon Delfin <[email protected]> wrote: > > You're very generous to include sponsor plug time in that figure. > > The number I was remembering came from a discussion about PBS > considering putting in a mid-show break. Since, AFAIK, the sponsorship > stuff is considered a part of the program's running time, I didn't > have a better number, but they do eat up quite a bit. > > -- > David J. Lynch > [email protected] > > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
