I think what they're commenting on is the sort of editing time-line encountered on such shows in the genre similar to "greatest ice-road vintage trucker sale digger catch".
These tend to be, in a 30 minute slot:
<2 minute highlight reel>
<2 minutes of original footage>
<1 minute of "coming up next">
<5 minutes of ads>
<1 minute of "previously on...">
<3 minutes of original footage>
<1 minute of "coming up next">
<5 minutes of ads>
<1 minute of "previously on...">
<3 minutes of original footage>
<1 minute of "next time on...">
<5 minutes of ads>
Which gives 8 minutes of original footage stretched over 30 minutes, with 15 minutes of ads and 7 minutes of rehashing.
This format, although now popular in other countries, is a "modern-classic" of US television.
> "greatest ice-road vintage trucker sale digger catch"
You'd better get on the horn to Discovery, I think you've got a gold mine on your hands there ;)
> a "modern-classic" of US television
If by "modern-classic" you mean "beyond irritating" :P
Plus: You nailed that edit real, kudos - though, you missed the 1 minute "> Previously on...whatever show it is" at the beginning. 8 minutes of content on a channel you pay for, plus 15 minutes of advertising... so you're basically paying more for the ads than you are for the content... there's something really really wrong with this from a moral perspective.
If you pay for a channel, you should be paying for the content on that channel, not paying to be advertised to with some content as a by-product just to get money from both ends of the donkey.
What's even more hilarious is when you watch these "documentaries" syndicated in Germany. Our usual ad format is one 7-minute ad break every 30 minutes instead of 2 minutes every few minutes. But you still have the artificial dramatic buildups before the missing ad slot, that you can see resolve into nothingness immediately.
Yeah, I get that, but that's a fairly small sub-genre of TV. It's a common stereotype, and I agree it's warranted because that style is obnoxious, but it's not actually a problem if you live in the US and want to watch something different.
They do the same thing with sports - cutting out action to cut to commercial breaks... and I don't mean during timeouts or whatever. They cut off soccer to go to commercial break during play! Soaps are the same... educational shows are the same. Commercials every 10 minutes. It's a joke how much advertising is done on TV you pay to watch content - not ads.
While the UK isn't exactly a model citizen in this respect, at least on the BBC which everyone (arguably) pays a TV license for, there is content wall to wall... because you pay for that. On channels you don't pay for, there is advertising, and I think this is totally fair. But why should people pay to (mostly) be advertised to and not to be delivered the content that they're paying for?
These tend to be, in a 30 minute slot:
<2 minute highlight reel>
<2 minutes of original footage>
<1 minute of "coming up next">
<5 minutes of ads>
<1 minute of "previously on...">
<3 minutes of original footage>
<1 minute of "coming up next">
<5 minutes of ads>
<1 minute of "previously on...">
<3 minutes of original footage>
<1 minute of "next time on...">
<5 minutes of ads>
Which gives 8 minutes of original footage stretched over 30 minutes, with 15 minutes of ads and 7 minutes of rehashing.
This format, although now popular in other countries, is a "modern-classic" of US television.