I have complained to some channels about 'crashing' programme material (the worst was FX with a JAG episode which ended on a very sombre note (Last Post and then silence) which the announcer then cheerfully overtalked; from their reply apparently a lot of people also complained about it and they did apologise and say that the announcer had been warned).
I think in this case the outrage was greater because it was the BBC. Most people understand that commercial companies have to maximise their advertisement time, even though they don't like the credits being squashed (or maybe most don't even notice because they get up as soon as the credits come on, just as they do in the cinema), but the BBC don't have that excuse. Couple that with crashing programme material on a popular show and there will be complaints. I suspect that ITV or whoever would have the same level of complaint if they did it to a soap opera.
Of course, the advertising pressure works both ways. The BBC became well-known for messing with programme times[1] and cancelling programmes at whim (and randomising the order of programmes in a series[2]) because they didn't care, they had a virtual monopoly and weren't responsible to anyone. Unfotrunately some of their programming people still seem to have the same attitude.
[1] At one time I used to set a VCR on "long play", 8 hours, starting 3 hours before a half hour programme was scheduled, in the hope that I would catch it somewhere on the tape. At least one I still missed, they rescheduled at 2am the next morning (instead of 8pm) because the *repeat* (not even live) of a sports game overran too much.
[2] I believe it was 'Shogun' where they showed the last 4 episodes of a season in random order. Unfortunately the main character cut his hair in one of the episodes, so when shown it kept getting longer and shorter again. Several other series also had definite continuity problems because they didn't bother showing them in order.
no subject
I think in this case the outrage was greater because it was the BBC. Most people understand that commercial companies have to maximise their advertisement time, even though they don't like the credits being squashed (or maybe most don't even notice because they get up as soon as the credits come on, just as they do in the cinema), but the BBC don't have that excuse. Couple that with crashing programme material on a popular show and there will be complaints. I suspect that ITV or whoever would have the same level of complaint if they did it to a soap opera.
Of course, the advertising pressure works both ways. The BBC became well-known for messing with programme times[1] and cancelling programmes at whim (and randomising the order of programmes in a series[2]) because they didn't care, they had a virtual monopoly and weren't responsible to anyone. Unfotrunately some of their programming people still seem to have the same attitude.
[1] At one time I used to set a VCR on "long play", 8 hours, starting 3 hours before a half hour programme was scheduled, in the hope that I would catch it somewhere on the tape. At least one I still missed, they rescheduled at 2am the next morning (instead of 8pm) because the *repeat* (not even live) of a sports game overran too much.
[2] I believe it was 'Shogun' where they showed the last 4 episodes of a season in random order. Unfortunately the main character cut his hair in one of the episodes, so when shown it kept getting longer and shorter again. Several other series also had definite continuity problems because they didn't bother showing them in order.