Why are some lines edited out on reruns of of TV shows on certain stations ?

For example, watching an episode of 'The Sweeney' where one of Regans snouts, Proctor (Joe Gladwin) is found dead, Regan originally says to Carter (Dennis Waterman) "He was 5ft4 and an asthmatic". Yet this line was missing in a recent ITV4 screening. Why ?|||While I am not 100% sure since I am unfamiliar with the program or channel you are asking about, it is very common in the US for repeats of older program to be edited. This is because with each passing year, the commercial breaks get longer, and the show content gets shorter. So, a program produced in say the year 2000 needs to have material cut to fit within the new schedule requirements.





As I said, this may not be what you are asking about, but I hope that maybe it helps in some way!