Tape delay (broadcasting)
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- There is also a WFMU radio program called Seven Second Delay.
In radio and television, tape delay refers to the practice of intentionally delaying broadcast of live material. A short delay is often used to prevent profanity or other undesirable material from making it to air, including more mundane problems such as technical malfunctions or coughing. In this instance, it is often referred to as a seven-second delay, bleep censor, or profanity delay. Longer delays can also be introduced, as is sometimes done with nationally-broadcast programs in countries with multiple time zones. That can sometimes be simply achieved with a video tape recorder or similar technology. In the context of modern digital video recorders, this can now be considered a class of time shifting. In this instance, it is often referred to as a West Coast delay, so named because special events (including award shows) broadcast live in the rest of the United States is often tape delayed on the West Coast, including Southern California, where many nationally televised special events take place.
Tape delay also refers to the process of broadcasting an event at a later scheduled time. This is because either a scheduling conflict prevents a live telecast, or a broadcaster seeks to maximize ratings by airing an event in a certain timeslot. A prominent example of the latter is coverage of the Olympic Games, when a broadcaster televises a high-profile event to air in prime time, even though that event occurs several hours earlier when most of the would-be viewers are at work.
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[edit] Early use
The Radio station WKAP, Allentown, Pennsylvania, introduced a tape delay system consisting of an external playback head which was spaced far enough away from the record head to allow for a 5 second delay. A system of rollers guided the tape over the playback head before it wound up on the take up reel. This system was introduced in 1952 when WKAP started a talk show called "Open Mic". It is believed that this was the first time a telephone call-in show was broadcast with the telephone conversation "live" on the air. FCC rules prohibited the broadcasting of a live phone conversation. However, there was no rule prohibiting a taped playback of a phone call, provided that a "beep" tone was heard by the caller every 15 seconds so that the caller knew he was being recorded. The 5 second delay constituted a "taped" phone conversation thus complying with FCC regulations.
John Nebel, who began a pioneering radio talk show in New York City in 1954, was one of the early users of a tape delay system.
[edit] Computerized delay
In 1977, the capacity of RAM (Random Access Memory) had reached 16KBits per chip, enough to think about using computerized, digital means to create a sufficient delay for obscenity deletion. By storing audio digitally, it was possible to move a "virtual tape head" along recorded audio. Eventide Inc. created the first digital broadcast delay for this purpose. It had a large "DUMP" button that would bring the delay to zero, thus removing the segment with the obscenity. In addition to this convenience, it would also "rebuild" the delay time by unnoticeably lengthening the normal pauses in spoken material. Thus, a minute or so later, the broadcaster would again have full delay, with the listener often unaware that material had been deleted.
In modern systems, a profanity delay can be a software module manually operated by a broadcast technician that puts a short delay (usually between five and ten seconds) into the broadcast of live content. This gives the broadcaster time to censor the audio (and video) feed. This can be accomplished by cutting directly to a non-delayed feed, essentially jumping past the undesired moment (something which can be quite jarring to a viewer or listener). In other cases, dedicated hardware units similar to the original digital unit but with improved quality and editing capability can be used. These products can even "build up" delay with difficult program material such as music. Alternately, silence or a "bleep" can be inserted to "cover up" the audio. This is more difficult to do with live content, however, and more often appears on recorded material (recorded programs may also have this accompanied by digital blurring of the speaker's mouth, in case it is obvious what he or she is saying even if it isn't audible).
In the United States the Federal Communications Commission regulates indecent broadcasts on public airwaves. However, the FCC does not actively monitor television broadcasts for indecency violations, nor does it keep a record of television broadcasts. It relies exclusively on documented indecency complaints from television viewers. The FCC is allowed to enforce indecency laws between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
[edit] Examples
While audio censoring has received increased attention in recent years, such as in the second half of an episode of Arthur, video censoring became an issue following a highly-publicized incident involving Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake during the live broadcast of the Super Bowl XXXVIII, in which Jackson's bare breast was revealed. In an effort to avoid a repeat, CBS decided to use tape-delay for the 2004 Grammy Awards. In February 2004, ABC announced it would impose a video and audio delay on the annual Academy Awards (Oscars) to safeguard viewers from any obscenities. The 2006 Academy Awards implemented a tape delay, and the live performance of "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" was edited near the beginning of song. At the same time, CBC imposed a 7-second broadcast delay on commentator Don Cherry's Coach's Corner program. This delay was lifted after the regular season during which it was imposed.
