AHC: TV still signs-off for late night

[Generaloberst]

You could have there still be a sign-off, with the national anthem and all, but instead of static, certain channels can have infomercials which is essentially static anyway. Have it last from say...Midnight to 6AM. You can alter the starting and ending point but, essentially, have the late-night and early-morning hours be completely infomerical/static, but still keep the sign-off and sign-on for when the true programming starts.

That's probably the closest you'll get to it these days.

 

[Delta Force]

You could have there still be a sign-off, with the national anthem and all, but instead of static, certain channels can have infomercials which is essentially static anyway. Have it last from say...Midnight to 6AM. You can alter the starting and ending point but, essentially, have the late-night and early-morning hours be completely infomerical/static, but still keep the sign-off and sign-on for when the true programming starts.

That's probably the closest you'll get to it these days.

Sign on and sign off could probably be retained as a bumper if people had wanted to retain the tradition. Perhaps a minute of airtime at most, so it's not like they would lose too much money.

 

[Generaloberst]

Sign on and sign off could probably be retained as a bumper if people had wanted to retain the tradition. Perhaps a minute of airtime at most, so it's not like they would lose too much money.

Well, with my method, you could have channels probably make some money out of it. More commercial advertisement time and all that.

 

[Delta Force]

Well, with my method, you could have channels probably make some money out of it. More commercial advertisement time and all that.

I was talking about losing money on the sign on/sign off. It's a minute or two of airtime that could be used for other things after all, perhaps profitable things. It seems small in the context of a day, but over a year you're talking about losing six to twelve hours worth of potential revenue. The accounting and business side would have to avoid looking at this as an area to be monetized. If infomercials run slightly less than an hour, this could fit in (I doubt they care if they start on the hour, and a minute of creep is probably acceptable), but otherwise it might be a tough sale. If it's a minute that can't really be monetized anyways due to scheduling complications, then there isn't any real reason to do away with it, although as a raw value it seems like a lot of time and a lot of money.

 

[Custard Cream Monster]

In the US, what about an FCC imposed UK-style limit on advertising minuteage per hour, which bans infomercials/teleshopping?

 

[Derwit]

An interesting idea which strangely I can see returning.

As more people watch on demand/catch up TV online and record more prime time shows (thanks to easy to use tech), people staying up at night watching rubbish will slowly be reduced to the point where the revenue the TV channels receive isn't enough for them to continue 24 hours. Not being 24 hours could also become a mark of quality i'e less is more for big brands like HBO and BBC and already happens for cultural/arts channels here in the UK.

 

[Custard Cream Monster]

The difficulty here is PVRs. 4am repeats are excellent for recording re-runs of things you either missed first time round, or couldn't record as you were already watching one thing and recording another.

 

[Driftless]

In the US, what about an FCC imposed UK-style limit on advertising minuteage per hour, which bans infomercials/teleshopping?

I think what you would see is more overt product insertions into entertainment shows to swerve around that rule. i.e. NCIS, they make a point of showing the Dodge logos on the cars, or you'd see Modern Family's Sofia Vergara carefully showing off the logo of her Pepsi can. Duck Dynasty is mostly about the Robertson Clan, but does a pretty effective job of advertising their duck calls too...

 

[Kolade]

In the early 1980's TV started not really before 18:00 with full programming (Except TF1 and Antenne 2 (France 2) and closedown was usually quite early. Still the programming was not too bad.


TF1 and Antenne 2 started around noon and closedown around midnight
ARD and ZDF aired from 10am to 1pm and from 4pm to around midnight on weekends and holidays they would air all day.
NL 1 and NL 2 from 6pm to 11:30pm
BRT and RTBF from 6pm to 11pm

As a kid I played a lot outside and I loved it...

 

[Dave Howery]

the local Fox station here doesn't run 24 hours, but it doesn't really have a proper sign off either. They just run one of the commercials showing one of their shows and then freeze-frame at the end of it, so you see nothing but the ad with the time the show runs for several hours...

 

[Custard Cream Monster]

I think what you would see is more overt product insertions into entertainment shows to swerve around that rule. i.e. NCIS, they make a point of showing the Dodge logos on the cars, or you'd see Modern Family's Sofia Vergara carefully showing off the logo of her Pepsi can. Duck Dynasty is mostly about the Robertson Clan, but does a pretty effective job of advertising their duck calls too...

In the UK product placement (either for reward, or for free stuff) was banned until recently, too. It's now allowed, but it's not widespread. You'd think that a sitcom set in a supermarket would be chock full of product placement (I'm thinking of the most banal sitcom ever - Trollied) - nope.

the local Fox station here doesn't run 24 hours, but it doesn't really have a proper sign off either. They just run one of the commercials showing one of their shows and then freeze-frame at the end of it, so you see nothing but the ad with the time the show runs for several hours...

That's an interesting way of doing things - in the UK, ITV did/does run what is actually a PowerPoint presentation overnight - supposedly once it would up broadcasting "click here to exit slideshow" ...

Bearing in mind channels often use automated playout, I don't see how they would save money having to not broadcast overnight.