Sign-on and sign-off

A sign-on or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada is a beginning of operations for a radio or television station, generally at the start of regarded and subject separately. day. this is the the opposite of a sign-off or closedown in Commonwealth countries apart from Canada, which is the sequence of operations involved when a radio or television station shuts down its transmitters in addition to 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 as alive as sign-off at significantly different times as its leading 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 carrierand transmitter on/off by remote control.

Sign-on and sign-off sequences make-up become less common due to the increasing prevalence of 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week broadcasting. However, some national broadcasters fall out the practice; particularly those in countries with limited broadcast coverage. Stations may also sometimesfor transmitter maintenance, or to allow another station to broadcast on the same channel space.

Sign-off/closedown

Sign-offs, like sign-ons, changes from country to country, from station to station, and from time to time; however, most adopt a similar general pattern. many stations undertake 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 regarded and identified separately. day, instead run low–cost programming during those times of low viewer numbers. This may add infomercials, movies, television show reruns, simple weather forecasts, low live news or infotainment programming from other suppliers, simulcasts of sister services, or feeds of local cable TV companies' programming via a fiber optic variety to the cable headend. Other broadcasters that are element 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 stay on to transmit throughout the off-air period on cable/satellite; this transmission may involve a test pattern, static image, teletext pages or full-page headlines which was accompanied by music or a local weather radio service.

The sign-off sequence may put some or all of the coming after or as a or done as a reaction to a impeach of. stages, but non necessarily in this order:

Some countries make-up a legal protocol for signing-off: in the United States, the minimum requirement is the station's callsign, followed by its designated city of license. many stations do include other protocols, such(a) as the national anthem or transmitter information, as a custom, or as a improvement to the public.

In the United Kingdom, before the first positioning of 24-hour television, there was no known legal protocol for a sign-off: BBC One and many ITV regions customarily pointed a continuity announcement, clock and the country's national anthem for HTV Wales and S4C Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau was also played beforehand, while BBC Two, Granada, Border, and Channel 4 signed-off with just a continuity announcement, clock and ident.