Cruel DVRs Miss Final Minutes of "Idol" Finale

Thu May 24, 2007 4:43PM EDT

See Comments (63)

Did you set your TiVo or DVR to record the "American Idol" finale? If so, you probably got a rude surprise as the recording switched off just minutes before the impish Ryan Seacrest crowned Jordin Sparks. Brutal!

Turns out you're not alone—untold thousands of time-shifting Idol viewers suffered through the interminable two-hour finale (OK, what was up with that Sgt. Pepper's "tribute"?), only to miss the end when the live show ran several minutes long. I was lucky—I happened to start watching my Idol recording about 45 minutes into the actual show, so while my DVR stopped taping at 10 p.m. on the dot, the digital cache caught the final minutes.

Naturally, message boards immediately lit up with posts from incensed American Idol fans. A reporter at the San Jose Mercury News went so far as to contact a Fox spokesman, who dutifully apologized but added, "with any live broadcast—the Oscars, the Emmys, a football game—there is no guarantee it will end on time and this was a live broadcast."

So, who should we get mad at here? Hmmmm… I hate to say it, but in this case, I find myself agreeing with the Fox exec. If you're setting your TiVo or DVR to record a live show (particularly a sporting event), make sure to add a generous time cushion at the end—say an hour or so, at the very least. And if you're taping a show that's running after a live event—in my case, the last season of "The Amazing Race" on CBS, which was regularly shoved back an hour or more (along with "60 Minutes") because of NFL football—you might want to add extra recording time on the end as well.

That said, in the case of those ridiculous "super-sized" episodes (which always feel padded to me anyways), the electronic programming guide on your DVR should catch that. (I'm using the DVR provided by Time Warner Cable here in New York, and I haven't had any trouble this year.) If your recording of, say, the needlessly long "Office" finale ended early, by all means—call your cable company or the folks at TiVo to complain.

Related:
Irate 'American Idol' fans shocked as DVR recordings miss ending [San Jose Mercury News]

Comments on Cruel DVRs Miss Final Minutes of "Idol" Finale

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  • 6 Posted by spartan_chick09 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:35PM EDT Report Abuse

    I cannot believe that I didn't get to see the end. I replayed the show after I got done studying, fast forwarded to the end to see the results, and they weren't there! This is absolutely ridiculous!

  • 7 Posted by gecampbell on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:07PM EDT Report Abuse

    Just how do you do that? My Tivo only lets me select a show--it doesn't allow me to say "oh, and stick an extra 10 minutes onto the end"

  • 8 Posted by gecampbell on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:07PM EDT Report Abuse

    Just how do you do that? My Tivo only lets me select a show--it doesn't allow me to say "oh, and stick an extra 10 minutes onto the end"

  • 9 Posted by suesncharge001 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    that stupid show always runs over. it always makes "house" start late!

  • 10 Posted by tedis_great2u on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:59PM EDT Report Abuse

    Yes, I'm one of the many who didn't catch the end. That sucked.....

  • 11 Posted by j10b03 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:26PM EDT Report Abuse

    I THINK SHE EARNED THE TILE!!! FOR SOMEONE SO YOUNG SHE WILL GO A LONG WAY.

  • 12 Posted by bobbyd75tr6 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:10PM EDT Report Abuse

    Don't blame Fox for your screw up! Anytime I'm recording a live event, be it sports or an awards show, I always also tape the show immediately following the live show. It's the only way to be assured you don't miss the ending. I also have my DVR set up to stop recording 2 minutes past the end time published in the DVR guide. Most DVRs can be set up to start a few minutes early and end a few minutes late.

  • 13 Posted by ally3223 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:51PM EDT Report Abuse

    Sorry, but I DON'T agree w/the Fox guy. This ISN'T the Oscars. This is a show that is scheduled to run 2-hours. The oscars are scheduled to run till whenever and everyone knows this. Idol finales (and really, most fox programs) tend to run a minute or two long, but we didn't get the result till 6 minutes after 10. So the average viewer, like myself, who schedules shows to record a couple of minutes long, is getting screwed.

  • 14 Posted by michaelpatten2003 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:18PM EDT Report Abuse

    We have noticed a general problem with both our Tivo DVR and the Comcast DVR. The clocks seem to be wrong all the time for every show. So we do routinely see the end of one show tacked onto the start of another. If the next show involves a channel change, you just lose it. Quite often you are only losing commercials or "scenes from next weeks show" so it is not a big loss. I have not found a way to set the dvr internal clock, and I don't understand why it is different from the TV network clocks. I was also surprised to find that both Tivo and Comcast DVRs have the same problem.

  • 15 Posted by skm1156 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:26PM EDT Report Abuse

    This was not a sporting event!!! It wasn't the Oscars. It was a time-choreographed event that shouldn't go any longer than scheduled. Did the public miss the finale because of the commercial time excess or because of the Sgt. Pepper debacle. Also, what happened to Bette Midler's talent? I think the wind beneath her wings was flatulence last night.

  • 16 Posted by markbxnet on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:07PM EDT Report Abuse

    Yeah real nice author, side with FOX. Idol isn't a sporting event, it can be timed to end on time. All the other idol shows were live and ended on time, why not this? Our world, especially TV world lives and dies by the clock. Whomever was producing and directing it should be fired. Next time I'm late with my product to market, I guess I'll just tell my boss that it's ok, because sporting events do it.

  • 18 Posted by mojave23 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:24PM EDT Report Abuse

    I always set my DVR to add 15 minutes to such recordings. Problem solved (and I didn't even have to take tips from the article above - it is simply common sense).

  • 19 Posted by meshell_8 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:16PM EDT Report Abuse

    wait a minute..i have a brilliant idea...how about get the show on the road and not wait until the last 2 minutes to crown the winner!!! how awful to invest an enitre season in this show and be dupped like that!! if they do not air the last 20 minutes of the show (because that's pretty much all i even cared about) again, then that will probably be my last American Idol!! whatta waste!!

  • 20 Posted by heisler_john on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:18PM EDT Report Abuse

    You watch the American Idol finale and "Office" season finale, and you call the Office finale "needlessly long"? How can I trust a word you say, Ben Patterson? I guess that's why you write tech columns for Yahoo...It's like they say, "Those who can't, Yahooooo."

  • 21 Posted by newtokyo71 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:36PM EDT Report Abuse

    Networks are unlikely to be too concerned about DVR users or others who time shift their television viewing - especially since most of those skip the advertisements. And, in this poster's opinion, its American Idol that drags on far too long -certainly not "The Office".

  • 23 Posted by dean_martin@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:39PM EDT Report Abuse

    The way the problem happened for us is we were watching it in real time but at the end the DVR stopped and asked if we wanted to delete the recording even though we were caught up with real time so by the time we figured out what was going on we actually missed the final announcement. We won't be watching next season.

  • 24 Posted by toechees on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    It seems that Fox is making an attempt to get people to sit and watch tv the way advertisers want us to.

  • 25 Posted by hibbert415 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:18PM EDT Report Abuse

    I almost died (that is, my wife almost murdered me) because my TiVo switched to mythbusters.

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