UPN's Voyager Hack Job

November 28, 1999

Well, after editing this episode, I now understand what was going on with episode STV521. The UPN segments weren't time expanded, the syndicated sections were time compressed. That is why the episode is 30 seconds short of the 45:48 that was the normal episode length. I'll have to go back and fix the section for STV521 and reverse the terminology :-)

BTW, the time compression method that they used is damn good. Electronic time compression was used, instead of speeding up a tape, which results in all kinds of video and audio problems.

Because of the time compression, it is real difficult to figure out exact time values. I can only base the numbers after the fact.

Episode STV522: Someone to Watch over Me.

# Location Edited
Length
Description
1 0:00:00
- 4:08:00
0:00:00 No change, no compression. The only minor difference is that the UPN version cuts to commercial 6 frames earlier. :-)
Teaser
2 4:12:07
- 4:54:07
(0:42:00) UPN version has sections rearranged. The orbit shot at the beginning of the UPN segment is longer than the syndicated segment. The listed syndicated time segment is missing. Seven is talking to Janeway.
MPEG-1 of missing section [:47, 8,222,352]
Synd: 4:08:00 - 14:05:00 (9:57:00)
UPN:  4:07:24 - 13:40:00 (9:32:06)
Segment 1
3

Segments not different in content. Syndicated version is time compressed.
Synd: 14:05:00 - 20:44:00 (6:39:00)
UPN:  13:40:00 - 20:27:26 (6:47:26)
Segment 2
4 20:44:00
- 22:06:24
(1:22:24) Again, the syndicated segment was time compressed. Also, the first section is missing from the UPN version. Paris and the Doctor are talking about Seven's date.
MPEG-1 of missing section [1:23, 14,495,264]
Synd: 20:44:00 - 29:53:00 (9:09:00)
UPN:  20:27:26 - 28:22:12 (7:54:16)
Segment 3
5

No time compression, no differences.
Synd: 29:53:00 - 35:58:00 (6:05:00)
UPN:  28:22:12 - 34:27:00 (6:04:18)
Segment 4
6

No time compression, no differences.
Synd: 35:58:00 - 44:29:00 (8:31:00)
UPN:  34:27:00 - 42:57:24 (8:30:24)
Segment 5
7

No time compression, no differences.
Synd: 44:29:00 - 45:17:10 (48:10)
UPN:  42:57:24 - 43:45:25 (48:02)
Segment 6

45:17:10
43:45:26
45:41:00

1:33:07
Original length.
Edited length.
Combined edited length.


2:04:24 Amount of material actually removed from the episode.
Note: Time is in min:sec:frames. Location value is from the start of syndicated version.

This episode never aired on UPN in the longer length. It was aired as part of the syndicated package. Notice that the length is :30 shorter than the normal 45:48. This is due to time compression. The combined edited length is a result of removing the time compressed pieces and replacing them with the UPN pieces. The missing 7 seconds is a result of the time compressed pieces that had to stay.

November 26, 1999

Episode STV521: Juggernaut.

# Location Edited
Length
Description
1 0:02:01
- 0:04:00
0:02:00 Flyby of ship shortened
Teaser
2 0:00:00
- 11:55:22

0:00:00
- 12:03:21
(0:10:00) UPN version extended. Instead of time compression, they slowed down the segment to make it longer, adding 10 seconds to the segment.
Segment 1
3 0:00:00
- 4:14:20

0:00:00
- 4:19:04
(0:04:24) Again, the time segment was extended.
Segment 2
4 4:14:20
- 6:07:07
1:52:17 Section removed. Neelix is cooking and Chakotay comes in and talks.
Neelix thanks Chakotay for sending him on the away mission.
MPEG-1 of missing section [1:53, 19,723,856]
Segment 2
5 6:07:07
- 11:52:08

4:14:20
- 10:10:11
(0:05:19) Again, the time segment was extended.
Segment 2
6 0:00:00
- 7:27:00

0:00:00
- 7:31:17
(0:04:17) Again, the time segment was extended.
Segment 3
7 5:54:00
- 7:43:00

5:54:00
- 7:43;11
(0:00:11) Again, the time segment was extended.
Segment 4
8 5:22:04
- 5:31:18

5:22:04
- 5:27:25
0:03:23 End credit shortened.
Segment 5

45:18:00
43:44:23

1:33:07
Original length.
Edited length.


1:56:10 Amount of material actually removed from the episode.
Note: Time is in min:sec:frames. Location value is from the start of the particular segment.

This episode never aired on UPN in the longer length. It was aired as part of the syndicated package. Notice that the length is :30 shorter than the normal 45:48. I have no idea why.

October 25, 1999

Well, I screwed up and missed the feed of "Course: Oblivion." I do understand that it was longer. Sigh. I'll have to catch it the next time it is fed.

October 14, 1999

On October 27, 1999, the syndicated version of "Course: Oblivion" will be aired. It was an episode that was edited for air on UPN. Will it be the long or short version? We will find out October 25, when the episode is fed to the stations. Stay tuned for further details.

June 24, 1999

It has being reported on Backstage Pass that UPN is going to make the cuts permanent. They are going to cut Voyager down to 42 minutes. I'm sorry, but this really pisses me off. It isn't just UPN that is doing this. You will notice that all of the networks are butchering their programs to death, all for the sake of the all-mighty dollar. Yes, network television, including cable, is a business. They are there to make money. But, when more than one-quarter of an hour show is devoted to ads and self-serving promos, you no longer have any doubt why viewers are tuning away from the networks. As viewers, we are sick and tired of ad after ad after ad, followed by promo after promo after promo. When are the networks, and Madison Avenue, finally going to get it through their thick skulls that we are sick and tired of these damn long commercial breaks.

Give us back the days when and hour meant at least 50 minutes of program. I'll settle for 48 minutes. There should to be a law that mandates over-the-air, and cable channels, must provide 48 minutes (not including next week's promo) of actual program time for an hour show (24 minutes for half-hour). The chances of that ever happening are slim-to-none. So, write letters to the heads of the vaaious TV networks. Also let the advertisers know that you are fed up with the amount of time that is spent on commercial time, and that you will not be purchasing their products. If Madison Ave gets the idea that the viewers are fed up, something will change.

Keep in mind that the networks do not own the frequency space that they use, we the people do. Congress can mandate restrictions like this. Believe it or not, but over-the-air televison in the U.K. can have no more than seven minutes of commercials in a hour, with no more than two breaks within the hour program, or a total of three breaks (including the one allowed between shows). Promo time is extra, but they don't overdo it, unlike here. Satellite and cable channels are exempt from the 7 minute rule, but don't overdo it, unlike here, because the viewers have rebelled. Seven minutes! And we are having 18 minutes rammed down our throats.

Something has to happen and it has to happen soon.

June 23, 1999

Episode STV512: The Bride of Chaotica.

# Location Edited
Length
Description



None
Teaser



None
Segment 1
1 15:48:09 (0:01:27) Change of scene from bridge to Holodeck lengthened in repeat.
Segment 2
2 18:55:11 (0:04:18) Change of scene from Holodeck to Astrometrics lengthened in repeat by addition of outside shot of the ship.
Segment 2



None
Segment 3
3 35:53:06
- 37:59:21
2:06:15 Starting after scene where The Doctor negotiates a treaty, all of the following material has been removed. Starting with Tom and Harry getting the ship ready for battle. Important scene because Tom decides to remove the program from the Holodeck computer. Also missing is the Captain trying to persuade Chaotica.
Segment 4



None
Segment 5

45:48:07
43:48:07

2:00:00
Original length.
Edited length.
Note: Time is in min:sec:frames. Location value is from the start of the original edited episode.

June 16, 1999

Episode STV511: Latent Image.

# Location Edited
Length
Description
1 0:04:29
- 0:06:27
0:01:28 Close-up of holo imaging camera removed.
Teaser
2 1:12:29
- 1:27:17
0:14:18 Naomi taking holo-image of Doctor.
Teaser
3 10:24:13
- 10:39:20
0:15:07 Memory recovery sequence shortened. Memory segment playback removed (ironic, isn't it :-). The re-edited sequence repeated 0:02:05 of the out-of-focus Doctor against a monitor in the background.
Segment 2
4 18:36:11
- 20:00:28
1:34:17 The sequence of Seven, Chakotay & Paris talking to the Doctor after the Captain orders him to sick bay, was removed. This was a very important sequence for plot development.
Segment 3
5 24:28:28
- 24:32:15
0:03:17 Entered start of segment later.
Segment 4

45:48:00
43:41:22

2:06:08
Original length.
Edited length.
Note: Time is in min:sec:frames. Location value is from the start of the original edited episode.

June 9, 1999

Episode STV509: Thirty Days.

Edits unknown. I was on vacation.

June 2, 1999

Episode STV508: Nothing Human.

Edits unknown. I didn't record the repeat.

May 26, 1999

Episode STV526: Equinox.

To Be Added.

May 19, 1999

Episode STV525: Warhead.

To Be Added.

May 12, 1999

Episode STV524: Relativity.

# Start Length Description
1 0:00:00 5:11:17 Teaser
2 5:11:17 6:44:22 Act 1
3 11:56:09 8:56:17 Act 2
4 20:52:26 5:45;12 Act 3
5 26:38:08 6:06:17 Act 4
6 32:44:25 10:14:14 Act 5
7 42:59:09 :48:02 Credits

43:47:11

Note: Time is in min:sec:frames.

May 5, 1999

Episode STV523: 11:59.

# Start Length Description
1 0:00:00 4:40:26 Teaser
2 4:40:26 9:16:06 Act 1
3 13:57:02 7:41:20 Act 2
4 21:38:22 8:31:13 Act 3
5 30:10:05 5:40:06 Act 4
6 35:50:11 7:07:19 Act 5
7 42:58:00 :48:00 Credits

43:46:00

Note: Time is in min:sec:frames.

April 14, 1999

Episode STV510R: Counterpoint.

They just won't give up. I can only provide the length of each segment:

Original Repeat Description
# Start Length Start Length
1 0:00:00 3:36:00 0:00:00 3:36:00 Teaser
2 3:36:00 7:19:00 3:36:00 7:18:00 Act 1
3 10:55:00 5:35:00 10:54:00 5:43:00 Act 2
4 16:30:00 13:46:00 16:37:00 11:32:00 Act 3
5 30:16:00 6:01:00 28:09:00 6:01:00 Act 4
6 36:17:00 8:49:00 34:10:00 8:52:00 Act 5
7 45:06:00 :48:00 43:02:00 :48:00 Credits

45:54:00
43:50:00

Note: Time is in min:sec:frames.

April 10, 1999

Entertainment Weekly, issue 481 (4/16/99), hit the mailboxes today and contained the following in the Hot Sheet column on page 8:

12 Star Trek: Voyager UPN is cutting two minutes from each episode to squeeze in more ads. Can't they just bend time or something?

As an interesting side note, I did an edit of Charmed episode 4398013 and discovered that it's edited length is 44:33, which is shorter than the long Voyager, but longer then the shortened Voyager.

April 7, 1999

Episode STV507R: Infinite Regress.

Note: the original airing was only 45:20 in length. It was 30 seconds shorter because of the Star Trek: Insurrection behind-the-scenes piece. This was a tough one to figure out, because of pieces that were restored and the pieces that were removed. My guess is that they actually edited a full 45:50 version. UPN had a chance to restore the original length, but instead they $#^%(@ it. The fans get screwed yet a second time with this episode.

# Location Edited
Length
Description
1 4:36:22
- 4:37:15
:23 Restored segment. Right after Directed By, as they are leaving the table. The scene is extended.
Segment 2
2 15:30:11
- 16:37:02
1:06:21 Neelix, Seven and the Doctor walking down the hallway, talking.
Segment 3
3 20:43:08
- 20:50:14
7:06 Entering engineering to study Borg core.
Segment 3
4 26:19:26
- 26:27:06
7:10 Restored segment. Added conversation between Seven and Janeway in sickbay. Inserted into the following section that was removed. Looks like it should be inserted at 26:34:14.
Segment 4
5 26:19:26
- 26:34:22
14:26 Removed conversation between Seven and Janeway in sickbay.
Segment 4
6 34:50:25
- 34:50:28
:03 Seven is on the bed hearing more voices.
Segment 5
7 35:46:27
- 35:54:08
7:11 Restored segment. Seven in sickbay.
Segment 5
8 36:09:00
- 36:21:08
12:08 Tuvok meditating and getting ready for mind meld.
Segment 5
9 38:21:00
- 38:25:05
4:05 Entered start of segment later.
Segment 6
10 43:14:23
- 43:18:09
3:16 Restored segment. Added comment by the Doctor about the dormancy of the other personalities.
Segment 6
11 44:31:17
- 44:31:28
:11 Early fade.
Segment 6

45:20:00
43:53:10

1:26:20
Original length.
Edited length. [1:45:20 edited, 19:00 restored]
Note: Time is in min:sec:frames. Location value is from the start of the original edited episode.

April 6, 1999

The New York Post article is now online. [It has been removed] A more in-depth article is available at Backstage Pass.

The more press we get about this, the better chance we have of UPN stopping this shitty practice (ya, right, when Hell freezes over :-)

April 5, 1999 [16:00 CDT]

I just talked with the New York Post. They will be doing a story tomorrow about the hack job. I will have a link here when the story is available.

March 31, 1999

They just won't give up. Think Tank has about two minutes cut from the episode. Because it is a new episode, I do not know where the cuts are. I can only provide the length of each segment:

# Start Length Description
1 0:00:00 5:30;00 Teaser
2 5:30:00 6:15:28 Act 1
3 11:45:28 10:34:00 Act 2
4 22:19:28 7:01:28 Act 3
5 29:21:26 7:38:06 Act 4
6 37:00:02 6:01:28 Act 5
7 43:02:00 :48:00 Credits
Note: Time is in min:sec:frames.

March 24, 1999

They are still &^%*&^ at it. The Fight has about two minutes cut from the episode. Because it is a new episode, I do not know where the cuts are. I can only provide the length of each segment:

# Start Length Description
1 0:00:00 2:36:00 Teaser
2 2:36:00 10:46:28 Act 1
3 13:22:28 9:15:00 Act 2
4 22:37:28 8:20:28 Act 3
5 30:58:26 4:35:02 Act 4
6 35:33:28 7:26:20 Act 5
7 43:00:18 :48:02 Credits
Note: Time is in min:sec:frames.

March 17, 1999

Well, they've gone and done it again. The repeat of In The Flesh has 2:00:00 cut from the episode.

# Location Edited
Length
Description
1 16:44:12
- 17:02:07
17:25 Janeway walking with Chakotay to sickbay.
Segment 4
2 21:27:05
- 22:24:06
57:01 External shot of recreation habitat. Harry and Paris waiting for Chakotay in shuttle.
Segment 4
3 25:04:10
- 25:05:12
1:02 Valerie on stairs.
Segment 4
4 37:20:21
- 37:42:19
21:28 Conversation around table cut short.
Segment 5
5 37:48:25
- 37:49:27
1:02 "Hear, hear."
Segment 5
6 44:10:08
- 44:31:09
21:01 Saying goodbye to Valerie.
Segment 6
7 45:04:20
- 45:05:20
1:00 Faded out sooner.
Segment 6

45:52:22
43:52:22

2:00:00
Original length.
Edited length.
Note: Time is in min:sec:frames. Location value is from the start of the original edited episode.

March 10, 1999

The repeat of Extreme Risk has been hacked to pieces by UPN's greed for more commercial and promo time. Here is what is different between the original airing and the repeat:

# Original
Length
Edited
Length
Diff. Description
1 3:48:00 3:03:00 45:00 Corridor scene between Seven and B'Elanna is missing.
2 9:19:26 9:19:26 0:00 No difference.
3 7:24:00 6:21:04 1:02:26 Conversation between Neelix and B'Elanna is cut short (3:34:14 to 4:01:29 [27:15]). Bridge scene missing (5:47:24 to 6:23:27 [36:03] End of segment fades longer by 20 frames, which makes up the difference of the 20 frames cut out of the segment. The five second bumper was removed from the end of the segment, giving the removed time to the segment or commercial time.
4 4:39:29 4:41:00 -1:01 The repeat just fades longer than the original airing and the five second bumper was removed from the end of the segment, giving the removed time to the segment or commercial time.
5 11:20:26 11:07:00 13:20 Conversation cut about B'Elanna (3:21:24 to 3:35:14). The original fades longer than the repeat airing by 6 frames and the five second bumper was removed from the end of the segment, giving the removed time to the segment or commercial time.
6 8:27:00 8:29:02 -2:02 The end credits are different, whereby the repeat has a ship flyover with the Executive Producer names, while the original only had the names listed (8:22:06 to end).
7 48:00 47:28 :02 No difference.

45:47:21 43:49:00 1:58:21 Total episode length.
Note: Time is in min:sec:frames. The time values given in the Description comments are the time values of the missing segments, relative to the start of that segment.

February 24, 1999

Starting with the airing of The Disease, UPN started shortening the show by a couple of minutes. It is unknown where the cuts are in these two new episodes, as they aired for the first time. It is possible that the hacking started with the movie version of Dark Frontier. With an opening and closing credits sequence missing, it is unknown if other parts of the episode were also cut.

Right now it is being assumed that UPN is having to do what is known in the industry as "make goods." Networks normally guarantee a minimum rating for the show the commercial is show in. If the show doesn't make that rating, the network has to show the commercial a certain number of times, for free.

Well, you can't do that in the normally scheduled slots, as it would mean no income at all. So, what happens? Exactly, they cut program length to make room for the spots they have to run for free. We the viewers have to suffer because of their mistakes.

Stay tuned for further details. Research is being done to find out exactly why UPN is hacking the programs.

In the meantine, you can write a polite letter, with your concerns about what UPN is doing to Voyager, to:

Dean Valentine
President/CEO
United Paramount Network
11800 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90025-9425

Adam Ware
COO
United Paramount Network
11800 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90025-9425

Tom Nunan
Entertainment President
United Paramount Network
11800 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90025-9425


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vidiot at vidiot dot com Last modified on Sunday, 12-Sep-2010 23:22:29 CDT.