i'm not sure how you're seeing it, vit.
most entertainment type shows are produced (created/recorded in some way then edited to become an episode) on the west coast. in the past a tape was express shipped to us in ny where it was played back directly on air, or it was "ingested" into another tape or later a computer system so that it could be played back at the appropriate time, and then a delayed play back was done for later time zones. additionally, it was then digitally sent all over the world under a syndication agreement.
btw, most sports and news/current events shows are done in nyc.
more recently, shows are recorded digitally (directly onto a hard drive of sorts), edited, stored in a big hard drive system, then sent digitally via sattelite or a secure internet connection (actually a corporate wan) where our system holds them for playback.
when the shows get here, they're not ready for air. we have to add lots of fcc type technical stuff (captioning, rating, surround sound triggers, tivo crap, broadcaster id, nielsen info, etc) and they have to be quality checked (video and audio) as well as inserting the appropriate local commercials.
then, the shows are finally broadcast for air, local and national commercials inserted, and then delayed play back for later time zones.
the latest thing , the future of television, is vod, or video on demand. it's a little difficult to described but essentially it's a show with all of the extras including some type of commercials, available through a cable/phone/sat type provider to a computer in your home. your cable box now is basically a little computer doing this already.
in 20 years you'll think of how silly it was that you used to have to watch tv shows when they were on air, or else you had to record them.
in your flying car on autopilot...
lol, at any rate, the good wife episode for showtime that airs today had a bad show segment (fluctuating bitrate causing the encoded to crap out), and tomorrow's hawaii 5-o has bad captioning.
oh, i forgot. yes, i get to watch shows anywhere from a day to a week ahead, whenever they're sent for tech checking.
i love to bet people on who was gonna get eliminated from survivor, the amazing race, or what is on letterman's top ten.
i have no life.
