Graham Media's master control clowns screw over SNL 50th anniversary viewers on WDIV and KPRC

[Dan in Northville]

I watched the Youtube clip. Not airing McCartney's performance was a public service. A shame about the missed Gilda tribute however.

I agree. Look, I love the Beatles as much as the next guy, and Abbey Road is still one of my favorite albums.....................but seeing Paul trying to sing nowadays is an embarassment. That was just sad.

[SteveS]

Here’s the apology letter from GM Bob Ellis they posted on their site…

Apparently they had prepared for an 1115 ending so they knew the thing would run long in the first place and had been told that by NBC on Friday.

I know the best way to address the error last night with the ending of the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary special is with you directly.

We sincerely apologize for cutting short the SNL special. This was not an intentional programming decision; it was simply human error, and we understand your disappointment. NBC had communicated to us Friday afternoon that the live show would run long -- with a scheduled end time of 11:15 p.m. We had our technical teams ready for this planned 15-minute overrun. When the show ran even later, we didn’t make the real-time adjustments, and that’s why the final 13 minutes were missed.


What you didn’t see included a performance by Sir Paul McCartney who sang a medley of three songs from The Beatles Abbey Road album. We also missed the on-stage goodbye led by Martin Short that included former cast members holding up a photo of Detroiter Gilda Radner.

Know we are working hard with NBC this morning to present an encore presentation of these moments as soon as we can. We’ll communicate that to you as soon as we know more.

We value these special moments in television history as much as you do, and we’re taking steps today to prevent similar technical issues in the future. We know this information doesn’t fix your viewing experience last night, but know we are doing everything in our power to make sure this type of thing doesn’t happen again.

Again, please accept my sincerest apology.

Seems like all of the stations gave about the same boilerplate statement.

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2025/ ... -are-sorry
https://www.click2houston.com/news/loca ... y-special/

[Gertner]

Oh who cares. So people missed a performance by some washed up has been. It's not like with missed Taylor Swift or someone good.

[billmich88888]

it matters because the programming was pre-empted, it does not matter what the programming is. It does not matter what type of music, or if the performer is 25 or 85.

You want to discuss the merits of present day Paul McCartney versus Taylor swift? That's awesome, go take it to one of the other forums or threads- I'll make sure to be a part of that deep and insightful discussion.

[Gertner]

I'm just saying, people are making a big fuss over nothing. Nobody has cared about him for 50 years. No need for the station to apologize.

[billmich88888]

but it's not about HIM, it's about the station missing a performance.

you don't care for him, that is fine and you are allowed that,
others do, and that's OK too

both can be true.

you turn the channel, and the others can enjoy the performance.

quit crapping on people that like things that you don't - no one was forcing you to watch anything

[Rate This]

I'm just saying, people are making a big fuss over nothing. Nobody has cared about him for 50 years. No need for the station to apologize.

The point was how screwed up it is that they couldn’t get it right. The specific performer on is inconsequential.

[Ranger21]

Ellis made the apology to cover his ass. He knows that he has screwed up WDIV since taking over. It is a shit show at best. Nothing good comes out of it anymore.