All alone here ... but of two minds. I'm guessing the rules of the game were explained ahead of time, and everyone had the chance to say whether they wanted to play or not. Not having seen the show or read about the brew-ha-ha, if Ringo said "I'll be done in 2'30" , then took 3'30", I can see why there would be a problem. Regis ultimately owes his job to the sponsors, and as far as I can tell people in his shoes have ZERO flexibility where that is concerned.
Usually it's the producer who pulls the plug, or starts up the band, when it's commercial time, not the Regis-type. I've never heard a situation on the radio or TV where the host said "Sod the commercial, you can keep on talking/singing/etc.".
Now I'll crawl off to my ostracization booth. *Whimper*