Filler (media)

In media, filler is material that is combined with material of greater relevance or quality to "fill out" a certain volume.

Early TV

In the early days of television, most output was live. The hours of broadcast were limited and so, for test purposes, a test card was commonly broadcast at other times. When a breakdown happened during a live broadcast, a standard recording would be used to fill-in. On the BBC, a film of a potter's wheel often used for this purpose. [citation|title=The Mirror in the Corner: People's Television|author=Peter Black|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XIY3AAAAIAAJ|publishers=Hutchinson and Co|year=1972] Similar short films, such as a kitten playing, were also used as interludes. Interludes or interstitials are such small items used to fill gaps in TV schedules. In the USA, these have their roots in the old Saturday afternoon horror movie host on independent stations. [citation|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DP&p_theme=dp&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF449E34581039&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|author=Joanne Ostrow|publisher=Denver Post|date=July 3, 1996|title=Viewers have appetite for fillers with meat]

Music Albums

Albums of music were typically of a set size determined by the physical medium such as the vinyl record or CD. Artists might then have to pad out their material to the standard length by including filler tracks of lesser quality and this was normal for popular music in the 1960s.

Cover versions are often considered to be fillers though this judgement varies with the amount of creative interpretation and adaption of the original. [citation|url=http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a713735404~db=all|title=Re-flections on the Cover Age: A Collage of Continuous Coverage in Popular Music|author=George Plasketes|date=May 2005|pages=137-161|journal=Popular Music and Society|Volume=28|issue=2]

References