2022 Kennedy Center Honors

Submitted by Walk1000Miles t3_zxvyb9 in television

Something very strange is happening.

I'm watching CBS tonight - Kennedy Center Honors. It was recorded on 12-04-2022 and aired on CBS tonight (12-28-2022).

However?

The only thing you can hear are people talking. There is no music - no songs.

So far? I have watched Gladys Knight, George Clooney, Amy Grant, Tania León and U2.

When the music starts? Nothing happens. You can see lips moving. You can see instruments being played. You can see audience members responding to the music.

I switched my TV off and on several times. I went to other channels.

■ Is there some type of licensing issue?

■ Why would they air something like this?

■ Why didn't they wait until licenses / approvals went through before airing it?

■ Do lawyers have control of the Kennedy Center Honors?

■ Why didn't they warn us when the show started that no music / performances would be aired?

■ Is this localized? A phenomenon only occurring in my town / state?

■ Do you think it's weird?

■ Has anything like this ever happened before?

We watch this every year in our home. I'm very disappointed that something like this was allowed to air.

One thing is for sure? You really notice how important music is to your overall enjoyment experience.

Without music? Where would we be?

Again? Why wasn't there some kind of notice given that music would not be allowed?

I'm thinking of actually calling CBS and the Kennedy Center.

Edit:

Added all honorees. Added highlights. Added part about notifying CBS / Kennedy Center. Add a question about this being a localized phenomenon. Fixed spacing. Added date of playback night.

Note:

Congress mandates that the JFK Center for the Performing Arts receive taxpayer funds every year here.

The TV was checked thoroughly (nerds live here). I have written to the President of the Kennedy Center and my Congressional Representative. I'll let you know what happens.

🔅🔅🔅🔅🔅ISSUE RESOLVED🔅🔅🔅🔅🔅

12-29-2022

Here is an update, as promised. It was an issue with the CBS Television Network, New York.

Our local affiliate wrote back after they communicated with NY and analyzed the issue. A Redditor contacted them and received a response (because they experienced the same issue).

Reddit is amazing! It's good to find so many amazing people on Reddit! On so many levels? Thank you, Reddit!

Edit - Updated with additional comments on solution received.

2

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1

dgard5th t1_j22m90f wrote

That’s odd. I watched the whole show, I had no issues with hearing any of the music.

12

juggett t1_j22moov wrote

Do you use a receiver for your sound? If so, check your connections. Happened to me last week with NFL Redzone. The center speaker had just barely come loose and the receiver was coding in 5.1 per my setup. The center channel had all the dialogue and the surround speakers had the game noise and crowd noise. Once I wiggled the wire all the announcers came back.

3

Walk1000Miles OP t1_j22mxsi wrote

Replying to juggett (#1,137,800)

I've turned the TV off and on. I have switched to other channels. My Spotify works just fine. I've been watching other shows with music earlier tonight.

I don't use additional hookups / speakers / receivers with my TV.

We use an antenna / rabbit ears. We do not have satellite or cable.

They are only muting music on this show.

Commercials with music work.

Edit

Added that we use an antenna / rabbit ears and do not have cable or satellites.

2

TechGirlMN t1_j22w3q5 wrote

Weird, I didn't watch all of it, but I did see and hear the first two Gladys Knight songs just fine. I am in Minnesota FWIW, so I would check with your local CBS affiliate, I don't think it was a problem with the national feed.

3

RelationRealistic t1_j23gj7f wrote

Help I'm steppin' into the twilight zone The place is a madhouse, Feels like being cloned My beacon's been moved under moon and star Where am I to go, now that I've gone too far?

0

ChipChester t1_j244xxy wrote

I'm sure your congresscritter will have a solution for you.

In the meantime, were you watching over-the-air, with an antenna direct into your TV's tuner? Over cable, thru a set-top box? Via satellite, like DirecTV? Over the internet, like YouTube TV or other streaming supplier?

Your experience points to an audio channel misconfiguration somewhere in the chain. And that path can be pretty convoluted the more cooks there are in the kitchen.

At first glance, it looks like a 5.1 conversion issue as others have stated. Your set is configured for/expecting 5.1, but the speakers are set to be the center channel in an external 5.1 system... but the rest of that system doesn't exist. This could be a TV fault, or incorrect 'metadata' coming from the broadcast or any of the above re-broadcasters or set-top box. The spots aren't encoded as 5.1 so they come thru fine.

It's unlikely to be a full-on conspiracy, though.

1

phoxmulder t1_j24zmrf wrote

Your CBS Affiliate had their encoder set wrong.

Should have called the station engineer during the broadcast, they could have fixed it pretty quick. (Their Master Control should have noticed right off the bat)

Or it was a problem with your TV's Dolby decoding, and the engineer could have walked you through how to fix it (most likely scenario, otherwise thousands of people would have been calling them to complain)

Worked at a CBS Affiliate for 30 years, one station we ran, we had to manually switch their encoder from 2.0 audio during the day to 5.1 audio during CBS Primetime, then back again.

This was a number of years ago, before it could be automated.

It's not a conspiracy, I promise.

4

sweetpeapickle t1_j250kyw wrote

We watched part of it, & it was fine

???don't know if it was your local station or however you get your networks(antenna, satelitte, cable???)

2

Walk1000Miles OP t1_j2549v1 wrote

Replying to ChipChester (#1,146,902)

Yikes.

I never said it was a conspiracy. Not at all.

It was upsetting to me because my Mother (RIP) and I used to watch this program every year. It was a tradition. And since I was feeling down - it's near the holidays after all (and I just got out of a horrible / all night experience in the Emergency Department)? It upset me greatly that I could not enjoy it.

I was watching CBS with an antenna / rabbit ears.

I have used the same TV to watch prior Kennedy Center programs.

I rarely watch TV, except for very specific programs (like this one).

I'm beginning to think it was a localized phenomenon.

1

Walk1000Miles OP t1_j255wks wrote

Replying to phoxmulder (#1,152,877)

This makes so much sense. Thank you so much! We contacted the local affiliate also.

And yikes! I don't believe in conspiracies.

Never have, never will.

Edit

Added that we contacted the local affiliate.

1

oobraphone t1_j25pjic wrote

Replying to phoxmulder (#1,152,877)

I experienced the same issue.

Our local CBS affiliate says their engineers looked into the issue and CBS Television Network "set the audio up different than usual. The voice-over portion of the audio track was aired on the left, center, and right audio channels, and the music portion only aired on the center channel (which is more for use in home surround sound setups)." They suggested using TV menu options to activate surround sound.

2