What is a seven second delay?

Question

People here say it is the seven seconds in radio, tv to bleep out unallowed words pics etc...What do you think?

Answer 1

What's to think? It gives the censors a few seconds to comply with FCC regulations and keep their license to broadcast. It's too easy for live shows to slip up and get their stations or networks into trouble.

Answer 2

Well, where i work its more like 20 seconds, basically its a mix between the time it takes the studio equipment to compress the sound and get it on the air, and a safety measure in case someone slips up.

Answer 3

That's essentially the idea.  The exact amount is not standard, we use 7 to 12 seconds at our various stations.  There is no FCC reg requiring it, but it's a good idea if you want to stay safe.  It does create some problems if the listener to a call in show has a radio on in the background and the delayed signal is being picked up while they are put on the air.  It takes a good operator to "DUMP" the bad words and keep the show moving smoothly.

Answer 4

I know where I work at we have a 30 second delay. It is considered live radio but really what you are hearing is something that happened 30 seconds ago. The reason being is because its an FCC rule, that way if someone slips and says something they shouldn't it could be dumped out (taken out) by the time it makes it on the air. By the time it does get on the air your precious little ears won't even know something was missing, unless the broadcaster mentions it. When the dump button is pressed the computer will automatically erase the last 7 seconds that just happened. The reason for the 30 second delay is in case multiple dumps are made back to back then you have enough time. The computer system will automatically remake itself go back to the original 30 seconds as well.