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A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonwealth countries except Canada), which is the sequence of operations involved when a radio or television station shuts down its transmitters and goes off the air for a predetermined period; generally, this occurs during the overnight hours although a broadcaster's digital specialty or sub-channels may sign-on and sign-off at significantly different times than its main channels.
Like other television programming, sign-on and sign-off sequences can be initiated by a broadcast automation system, and automatic transmission systems can turn the carrier signal and transmitter on/off by remote control. [a]
Sign-on and sign-off sequences have become less common due to the increasing prevalence of 24/7 broadcasting. However, some national broadcasters continue the practice; particularly those in countries with limited broadcast coverage. Stations may also sometimes close for transmitter maintenance, or to allow another station to broadcast on the same channel space. [b]
Sign-ons, like sign-offs, vary from country to country, from station to station, and from time to time; however, most follow a similar general pattern. It is common for sign-ons to be followed by a network's early morning newscast, or their morning or breakfast show.
Some broadcasters that have ceased signing on and signing off in favour of 24-hour broadcasting may perform a sign-on sequence at a certain time in the morning (usually between 4:00 and 7:00 a.m.) as a formality to signify the start of its operating day (in the United States, the broadcast logging day begins at 6:00 a.m. local time).[ citation needed ]
The sign-on sequence may include some or all of the following stages, but not necessarily in this order:
While most of these sign-on steps are done as a service to the public, or for advertising reasons, some of them may be required by the government of the country.[ citation needed ]
Sign-offs, like sign-ons, vary from country to country, from station to station, and from time to time; however, most follow a similar general pattern. Many stations follow the reverse process to their sign-on sequence at the start of the day.
Many stations, while no longer conducting a sign-off and being off air for a period of time each day, instead run low-cost programming during those times of low viewer numbers. This may include infomercials, movies, television show reruns, simple weather forecasts, low cost news or infotainment programming from other suppliers, simulcasts of sister services, or feeds of local cable TV companies' programming via a fiber optic line to the cable headend. Other broadcasters that are part of a radio or television network may run an unedited feed of the network's overnight programming from a central location, without local advertising. During what are otherwise closedown hours, some channels may also simulcast their teletext pages or full page headlines with music or feeds from sister radio stations playing in the background. Some stations, after doing a sign-off, nonetheless continue to transmit throughout the off-air period on cable/satellite; this transmission may involve a test pattern, static image, local weather radar display, teletext pages or full-page headlines which was accompanied by music or a local weather radio service.
Some broadcasters that have ceased signing on and signing off in favour of 24-hour broadcasting may perform a sign-off sequence at a certain time in the night (usually between 10:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m.) as a formality to signify the end of its operating day (in the United States, the broadcast logging day ends at 12:00 midnight local time).
This section may be confusing or unclear to readers.(March 2021) |
The sign-off sequence may include some or all of the following stages, but not necessarily in this order:
Some countries have a legal protocol for signing-off: in the United States, the minimum requirement is the station's call sign, followed by its designated city of license. [9] Many stations do include other protocols, such as the national anthem or transmitter information, as a custom, or as a service to the public.
In the United Kingdom, before the introduction of 24-hour television, there was no known legal protocol for a sign-off: BBC One and many ITV regions customarily included a continuity announcement, clock and the country's national anthem (for BBC One Wales and HTV Wales, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau was also played beforehand), while Granada and Channel 4 signed-off with just an announcement, clock and ident, and BBC Two, Yorkshire and Border closed down with an announcement over their station clock.
In Germany, it is a custom to play the national anthem (for Bayerischer Rundfunk and stations owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media, the Bayernhymne was also played beforehand) and the European Union anthem.
In Spain, it is a custom to play the national anthem (for RTVA, EITB and Televisión de Galicia, La bandera blanca y verde , Eusko Abendaren Ereserkia and Os Pinos was also played beforehand respectively).
Country | Religious acknowledgement |
---|---|
Algeria | Quran reading [10] |
Armenia | Christian blessing [11] |
Antigua and Barbuda | Christian hymn |
Australia | Christian hymn |
Austria | Bible reading, responsorial psalm or Christian prayer |
Bangladesh | Quran, Bhagvad Gita, Tripitaka or Bible reading |
Barbados | Christian hymn |
Bhutan | Buddhist hymn [12] |
Bolivia | Christian sermonette or prayer [13] |
Brazil | Christian programme |
Brunei | Quran reading [14] |
Cambodia | Buddhist quote or inspirational message |
Canada | Christian sermonette [15] (English-language channels) or responsorial psalm (French-language channels) |
Egypt | Quran reading [16] |
Ethiopia | Bible reading or Christian prayer |
France | Responsorial psalm |
Germany | Bible reading, responsorial psalm or Christian prayer |
Greece | Christian prayer [17] |
Grenada | Christian hymn |
Indonesia | Quran reading [18] |
Iran | Quran reading [19] |
Ireland | Christian prayer [20] |
Israel | Psuko Shel Yom [21] |
Jordan | Quran reading [22] |
Kenya | Bible reading |
Kuwait | Quran reading [23] |
Libya | Quran reading [24] |
Malaysia | Quran reading [25] |
Maldives | Quran reading |
Morocco | Quran reading [26] |
Myanmar | Buddhist quote [27] |
Nepal | Hindu song or inspirational message [28] |
Niger | Quran reading [29] |
Pakistan | Quran reading [30] |
Peru | Christian prayer [31] |
Philippines | Catholic prayer [32] [33] |
Poland | Responsorial psalm and Alleluia |
Portugal | Bible reading |
Saint Lucia | Christian hymn |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Christian prayer |
Saudi Arabia | Quran reading [34] |
South Africa | Christian prayer and/or sermonette |
Spain | Bible reading |
Sri Lanka | Buddhist prayer [35] or Hindu prayer |
Sudan | Quran reading |
Syria | Quran reading [36] |
Thailand | Buddhist quote or inspirational message [37] |
Trinidad and Tobago | Christian prayer [38] |
United Kingdom | Christian sermonette |
United States | Christian prayer, sermonette or inspirational message [39] [40] [41] |
Western Sahara | Quran reading [42] |
Yemen | Quran reading [43] |
In a number of countries closedowns formerly took place during the daytime as well as overnight. In the United Kingdom, this was initially due to government-imposed restrictions on daytime broadcasting hours, and later, due to budgetary constraints. The eventual relaxation of these rules meant that afternoon closedowns ceased permanently on the ITV network in October 1972, but the BBC maintained the practice until Friday 24 October 1986, before commencing a full daytime service on the following Monday. Afternoon closedowns continued in South Korea until December 2005. Hong Kong's broadcasting networks (particularly the English-speaking channels) also practiced this until mid-2008. In these cases, the station's transmitters later did not actually shut-down for the afternoon break; either a test-card was played or a static schedule was posted telling viewers of the programming line-up once broadcasting resumes.
In Indonesia, restrictions on broadcast hours were also implemented in July 2005 as part of an energy saving campaign. [44] Three years later, they were implemented again due to the electricity crisis. [45]
Medium wave radio is a special case due to its unusual propagation characteristics; it can bounce hundreds of miles by reflecting from the upper atmosphere at night, but during the day these same layers absorb signal instead of reflecting. A few powerful regional clear-channel stations have an extensive secondary coverage area which is protected by having smaller local co-channel stations in distant communities sign off shortly before sunset. A frequency on which a broadcaster has to drastically reduce power or sign off entirely at sunset was traditionally the least desirable assignment, which would usually go to small or new-entrant stations when all of the more favourable slots were already allocated.
These AM daytimers are becoming less common as stations (and audiences) migrate to FM or to frequencies vacated by the closure of other stations, but a handful still exist in the US and México.
During religious holidays or occasions, Doordarshan and Akashvani will broadcast a prayer of any religion through the day, a week or a month (e.g. During Ramadan, a reading from the Quran, a Muslim quote, or a call for Azan and Fajr prayer will be broadcast. During Lent, a Christian prayer, a hymn or a psalm will be broadcast).
In Bali during Nyepi, all terrestrial television and radio stations go off-the-air.
During Yom Kippur, virtually all radio and television stations based in Israel go silent for 24 hours, as required by law. However, most international networks broadcast in Israel (e.g. CNN) continue to broadcast as usual. [46]
During Ramadan, Malaysian public broadcaster RTM operated TV1 24 hours a day instead of signing off. In 2012, TV1 broadcast 24 hours a day during the London Olympics in 2012, due to the time difference. [47] This would become permanent in August 2012, to coincide with their sister channel TV2 by showing reruns from the broadcaster's archive library and movies on early mornings before start-up.
During the Holy Week in the Philippines that occurs anywhere between the last week of March to the third week of April (depending on the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar), terrestrial television and radio stations continue their regular schedules from Palm Sunday until Holy Wednesday. From the midnight of Holy Thursday until the early hours of Easter Sunday (before 4 AM PHT), most commercial television and radio networks either remain off-the-air or reduce their broadcast hours. Stations that opt to remain on-air provide special programming such as Lenten drama specials, news coverage of various services and rites, Christian and mellow music content. Member stations of the Catholic Media Network prominently follow the latter pattern, broadcasting Paschal Triduum services and other similar programming. [48]
Campus radio stations' operations during this time are left to the discretion of their respective schools, colleges, or universities by either closing down on the afternoon and/or evening of Holy Wednesday or remaining off-air for the entire Holy Week.
On cable, satellite, and live TV streaming, with the exception of specialty channels that broadcast horse racing, cockfighting, and the like that remain dormant during this period, most international networks distributed in the Philippines or Philippine-exclusive cable channels either continue to broadcast their 24/7 regular programming service week-long or provide specially-arranged schedules from Holy Thursday to Black Saturday.
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded entirely by its commercial activities, including advertising. It began its transmission in 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in the United Kingdom. At the time, the only other channels were the licence-funded BBC1 and BBC2, and a single commercial broadcasting network, ITV.
The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television broadcasting company.
UTV is the ITV region covering Northern Ireland, ITV subsidiary and the former on-air name of the free-to-air public broadcast television channel serving the area. It is run by ITV plc and is responsible for the regional news service and programmes made principally for the area by the UTV production team. It currently uses the network ITV1 channel with an opt-out service for local advertising and on-air promos for local programming.
Station identification is the practice of radio and television stations and networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name. This may be to satisfy requirements of licensing authorities, a form of branding, or a combination of both. As such, it is closely related to production logos, used in television and cinema alike.
This is a timeline of the history of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
The Indian-head test pattern is a test card that gained widespread adoption during the black-and-white television broadcasting era as an aid in the calibration of television equipment. It features a drawing of a Native American wearing a headdress surrounded by numerous graphic elements designed to test different aspects of broadcast display. The card was created by RCA to be the standard image for their TK-1 monoscope, a simple video camera capable of producing only the image embedded within it. The pattern was introduced in 1939 and over the following two decades became a fixture of television broadcast across North America in 525-line resolution and abroad in 525- and 625-line resolution until it was made obsolete by the rise of color television in the 1960s.
CITL-DT is a CTV-affiliated television station in Lloydminster, a city located on the border of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is owned by Stingray Radio alongside Citytv affiliate CKSA-DT. Both stations share studios at 50 Street and 51 Avenue on the Alberta side of Lloydminster, while CITL-DT's transmitter is located near Highway 17 and Township Road 512, near the Saskatchewan provincial line.
CKSA-DT is a Citytv-affiliated television station in Lloydminster, a city located on the border of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is owned by Stingray Radio alongside CTV affiliate CITL-DT. Both stations share studios at 50 Street and 51 Avenue on the Alberta side of Lloydminster, while CKSA-DT's transmitter is located near Highway 17 and Township Road 512, near the Saskatchewan provincial line.
The Philips circle pattern refers to a family of related electronically generated complex television station colour test cards. The content and layout of the original colour circle pattern was designed by Danish engineer Finn Hendil (1939–2011) in the Philips TV & Test Equipment laboratory in Amager near Copenhagen under supervision of chief engineer Erik Helmer Nielsen in 1966–67, largely building on their previous work with the monochrome PM5540 pattern. The first piece of equipment, the PM5544 colour pattern generator, which generates the pattern, was made by Finn Hendil and his group in 1968–69. The same team would also develop the Spanish TVE colour test card in 1973.
ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel and the ABC are in Ultimo, an inner-city suburb of Sydney.
ABC Television is the general name for the national television services of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Until an organisational restructure in 2017/2018, ABC Television was also the name of a division of the ABC. The name was also used to refer to the first and for many years the only national ABC channel, before it was renamed ABC1 and then again to ABC TV.
A clock ident is a form of television ident in which a clock is displayed, reading the current time, and usually alongside the logo of that particular television station. Clock idents are typically used before news bulletins and closedown, though in the past quite commonly preceded regular programming. In the United Kingdom, it is also very much associated with schools programming.
Minimax is a European pay television channel aimed at children, headquartered in Hungary, and broadcasting to 11 Central European countries. The channel was also broadcast in Spain from 1994 to 1998 and Poland from 1999 to 2004. Minimax's policy goals include edutainment and non-violent programs.
BBC Select was an overnight television service run by the BBC during the hours when BBC1 or BBC2 had closed down, usually between 2am and 6am. Launched in 1992 after a series of delays and following the British Medical Television experiment, the channel showed programming intended for specialist audiences, such as businessmen, lawyers, nurses and teachers, and was designed to be viewed after broadcast via a video recording. It was funded by a subscription, and most programming was scrambled.
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This is a timeline of the history of the British television network ITV.
In the United Kingdom, television closedowns originally took place frequently during the daytime, and sometimes for a few hours at a time. This was due initially to Government-imposed restrictions on daytime broadcasting hours, and later, budgetary constrictions. The eventual relaxation of these rules meant that afternoon closedowns ceased permanently on the ITV network in October 1972. The BBC took a long time to abandon the practice, and did not commence a full daytime service until the autumn of 1986.
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