Sign-on

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sign-on (or startup) is the term used to describe the beginning of operations for a television station. It is the opposite to a sign-off (or closedown).

As with sign-offs, sign-ons vary from country to country, and from station to station.

Contents

[edit] North America

In the United States and Canada, sign-ons are often the exact reverse of a sign-off. Commercial stations often sign on between 5-6 a.m., while some public stations may not sign on until as late as 7:30 a.m. Television sign-ons are very rare these days as most stations operate 24 hours a day. In these cases, the sign-on sequence is shown between commercials or before a program around the 6 a.m. hour (5 a.m. in the Central and Mountain time zones); for instance, before the start of a network's early morning newscast, or that station's morning news show.

The sign-on sequence often includes the following:

  • In some cases, a signal to turn on any remote transmitters—usually a series of Touch Tones.
  • A video and/or photo montage set to the national anthem or another patriotic piece.
  • A "good morning"-type greeting to viewers.
  • Ownership of the station.
  • Contact information – such as street and mailing addresses, and/or telephone number.
  • List of related organizations.
  • A disclaimer that station programming is taped, aired live, or originates from a television network. Some stations also air another disclaimer that programs are for personal use only (previously only at time of viewing; this has been appended with the spread of VHS and DVR devices), and businesses cannot profit from showing them by applying a cover charge for viewing.
  • An identification of the station.

The above is often followed by a station jingle, usually played over a montage of local video clips.

For stations that cut off their signal during off-broadcast hours, a test pattern may appear 15-20 minutes before the actual sign-on.

On radio stations owned and operated by the CBC, a short introduction is aired, before it goes into its announcement. On CBC TV stations, the Coat of arms of Canada is displayed, followed by a video montage accompanied by the national anthem (In the mid 90's, the anthem was played as a cartoon fly by across Canada was happening from a bird's eye view), and a special "broadcast day bumper" video sequence, which includes a legal ID showing callsign, channel number and city of licence. The practice has ended, since the CBC radio and TV stations went to 24-hour transmission in late 2006. In Saskatchewan, CBC TV Stations went on to be 24-hour transmission since the beginning of Torino 2006 Olympic Games.

[edit] Examples of United States television sign-on messages

  • WUSA, Washington DC: An animated tribute to American history starting with Jamestown and ending with the lunar landings would play, followed by the WUSA sign-on script and a sign-on message featuring the song Meditation as ocean shore scenes are shown. One or more traditional commercials or PSAs would follow, and finally the poem High Flight would be read to music and an F-15 doing aerial acrobatics.

[edit] The Philippines

In the Philippines, there is no such uniform format for signing on. ABS-CBN Channel 2 starts with the video of the national anthem made by ABS-CBN, an invocation by main voice-over announcer Peter Musngi in Filipino, followed by a message where will they send comments to, then the technical information of the station (such as NTC permit number, transmitter power, transmitter location, list of engineers) in Filipino, then a message saying that they will be on a nationwide satellite broadcast and the Jesuit Communications music videos entitled Paghahandog by Noel Cabangon, Let Your Praises Be Heard by Bukas Palad Music Ministry and Magnificat by Hangad. Most of the stations are started first with video of the national anthem followed by the technical information of the station. Examples of these are GMA-7, Q-11 and ZOE TV 33

ABC-5 usually shows a test card with a time on it and the date on the upper left portion before it formally signs on. NET-25 usually plays music with the test card (the station's logo) in it.

Studio 23 usually makes a different version of a test card. It resembles a TV schedule instead of a Test Pattern.

NBN 4 usually plays the Philippine national anthem before it shows the credits like type of technical information of the station with the Philippine Map showing the stations of the network will go on nationwide.

[edit] United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the ITV network stations were required to make an authority announcement, and play a piece of music before beginning its daily broadcasts. The music played was often popular with those served by the station. The music had to be registered with the Independent Television Authority/Independent Broadcasting Authority. The practice has ended, since the ITV went to 24 hour transmissions between 1986 and 1988. The BBC signed on by simply cutting straight from the testcard to the first announcement. The practice on BBC 1 has ended, since they went into 24 hour telecasting in 1997.

[edit] External links

  • TV-Ark
  • TV-Signoffs.com - J. Alan Wall's site featuring sign-offs and sign-ons of United States television stations