Yeah, I remember seeing Digimon on RTL II and noticing how it had a completely different soundtrack to the English version. The German dub had kept the Japanese music, translating the theme song, while the American dub replaced it all.
Interesting. What year was it? Did you learn German and/or Japanese from it?
Would've been around 2000, as Digimon debuted in 1999.
I do remember seeing on a German TV channels on Sky Analogue one of the Michael Jackson films (it must have been Ghosts because my viewing of it would have been around the turn of the century) and IIRC it wasn't dubbed and it wasn't burnt-in subtitled German (presumably it had either subtitles on the box or dubbed German on another audio track). But I do recall the length of the commercial breaks were so long (closer to six minutes I believe) but they was quite tedious compared to the what we were used to three minute length of the time in the UK.
I do remember seeing on a German TV channels on Sky Analogue one of the Michael Jackson films (it must have been Ghosts because my viewing of it would have been around the turn of the century) and IIRC it wasn't dubbed and it wasn't burnt-in subtitled German (presumably it had either subtitles on the box or dubbed German on another audio track). But I do recall the length of the commercial breaks were so long (closer to six minutes I believe) but they was quite tedious compared to the what we were used to three minute length of the time in the UK.
French ads are as long or even longer. They get round it by putting a trailer in the middle (think Sky Cinema) to stick another load of ads on.
Was just as bad when I saw Spanish TV as well. Made it hard for me to ever feel I could complain about UK advert lengths again.
Just came back from Barcelona and watched a bit of primetime TV. I totally agree, it's so dysfunctional and confusing the way their advert breaks are scheduled. Watching the Spanish version of 'First Dates' and having a 15 minute advert break slapped so casually within the programme, confused the hell out of me.
We sometimes moan about the BBC, but TVE isn't the same level, at all.
In France, the PSB channels have a rule where they can't show any commercials in prime-time after 9pm local time, so how does France 2 get round it for example?
Between 8.40 and 9pm, there are a series of short fillers and commercials to squeeze as much ad-time as possible.
Usually, many channels in mainland Europe, with exceptions, tend to show most of their ads inside of the programme, not between the programmes (sometimes there's just nothing between programmes, not even an ident; something called "flow"), which results in typically longer ad breaks, as most European countries (and EU members in particular) have a limit of 12-minutes ads per hour
Many European stations (not all), also tend not to care about having shows on the top of the hour/half hour; a typical 41-mins US drama or a typical US 20-mins sitcom will often be scheduled in 50/55 mins and 25 mins slots respectively (some even use unrounded EPG times like :27, :38; but promos will have rounded times); this may let one think there'll be less "annoying" ad breaks, but this is often not the case
Schedule structure, like presentation (and sometimes TV quality) in many European countries, is an afterthought
Many European stations (not all), also tend not to care about having shows on the top of the hour/half hour; a typical 41-mins US drama or a typical US 20-mins sitcom will often be scheduled in 50/55 mins and 25 mins slots respectively
That's how it used to be here until the 80s/early 90s, wasn't it? Mostly died out when the BBC and ITV all but stopped showing imports though.
I lived in North Nottinghamshire as a child and had an aerial in my bedroom. Our main region was Yorkshire (Leeds) but i got Central East which was just amazing compared to what i thought was a really boring YTV. I loved it when there would be high pressure on the weather forecast, I spent hours trying to pick up other channels, I could get Tyne Tees regularly, often Anglia and Central West and very occasionally Thames/LWT. I once picked up Dutch TV really clearly but with no sound and TVS/Meridian. I used to record all of the idents / regional news programme themes on cassette next to the speaker of the tv. Still have them!
You wouldn't get sound on the dutch TV because the continental system (PAL G in Europe rather than PAL I in the UK) used a different separation of audio & video to ours, so a TV set up for British TV wouldn't pick it up.
Some TVs would let you choose between the different types and audio carrier frequencies though. Most newer ones will, though there aren't any analogue signals to tune into any more!
Usually, many channels in mainland Europe, with exceptions, tend to show most of their ads inside of the programme, not between the programmes (sometimes there's just nothing between programmes, not even an ident; something called "flow"), which results in typically longer ad breaks, as most European countries (and EU members in particular) have a limit of 12-minutes ads per hour
Many European stations (not all), also tend not to care about having shows on the top of the hour/half hour; a typical 41-mins US drama or a typical US 20-mins sitcom will often be scheduled in 50/55 mins and 25 mins slots respectively (some even use unrounded EPG times like :27, :38; but promos will have rounded times); this may let one think there'll be less "annoying" ad breaks, but this is often not the case
Schedule structure, like presentation (and sometimes TV quality) in many European countries, is an afterthought
The hotel I was staying at had access to German TV channels as well (RTL/ARD/ProSieben etc...) the difference between their flow compared to Spanish TV was vast, much more organised (which is sort of expected, if we're going by country stereotypes)