Mate, you could have said all that perfectly reasonable stuff from the start instead of making me dig it out of you lol.
I do in fact understand scheduling for broadcast and have some minor training in it, both for tv and a tiny bit for radio, and agree that your explanations are the exact reason for why they do it.
But the way I was taught was that it if something is odd enough that some people are noticing it and it's taking away from the intended display, then that itself is a problem with the production. And this is certainly something that I and others have noticed. It seems like a little thing, but little things add up. I'm an art director and this seems like a glaring fault to someone like me. The equivalent stand out things in the areas I've worked in (games and feature film), would never get signed off on by me.
I think your producer dork theory is likely correct + worrying about fighters taking over. In which case, they need to put things in place to better control the interviews, because what they're doing now is noticeable, and that's not good.
I'm not really whining either. This is just interesting to me lol.