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US Non Daytime Only Stations Still Sign Off

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WPGW is 24/7 my mistake. Automation. It was WPGW’s website. KURM signs off at 11 PM local
 
Kent said:
That practice used to be common because stations had to be attended 24/7 until 1995. Plus, automation wasn’t as reliable as it is now. As making money on overnights, even for successful stations, was difficult, many just signed off. There were ways to outsource your attendant prior to '95, and, at some point, your engineer being on call all night while sleeping qualified as attended so long as he was in a fixed location with a landline phone. Directional AM stations, however, even still have to be checked at least every three hours, though, today, a computer dialing in is now acceptable.
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Interesting that you should mention that. The old WDXN of Clarksville, TN, expanded from 19 hours a day to 24 back in 1993. The only real problem with that was that the then-management of WDXN expected us to just be live DJs overnight, even though there just was not the listenership to support that. (They even added an FM sister station, but it was in a rural area an hour away, so it really didn't make much of a difference.) Worse yet, I got saddled with one of the weekend overnight shifts, and "playing the hits" when there was absolutely NO ONE listening just did not make any sense. I asked to have syndicated programming to fill the shift, but was denied that. (I didn't have an objection to working overnights. I had done so in the past, and would go on to do so again.) Six months or so after I left, the then-management was forced out by ownership, and some needed changes began taking place. (I'm sure that nearly ALL of my former coworkers there lost their jobs there by then!) So by 1995 (or before that, likely), nearly everything on that station was automated.
 
WZBC still signs off.

WZBC-FM here in Boston signs off at 1 a.m., while WMBR-FM in Cambridge leaves the air at 2 a.m. (1 a.m. on Sunday).
 
In my area KDKK 97.5 signs off every night. The six other stations that share common ownership are all 24/7, as far as I'm aware.

I actually don't think I've ever listened to their sign off, so I can't tell you exactly what time they do. I just know that as a 100 kW station, there are no other stations on the same frequency for quite some distance, so having the frequency open overnight can present some nice DX opportunities.
 
KRDZ 1440 Wray, CO used to sign off at 1206am every morning and come back at 5am.. this was just a year or so ago i heard them signing off from my WY listening post, dont know if they still do
 
blizzard59 said:
In my area KDKK 97.5 signs off every night. The six other stations that share common ownership are all 24/7, as far as I'm aware.

I actually don't think I've ever listened to their sign off, so I can't tell you exactly what time they do. I just know that as a 100 kW station, there are no other stations on the same frequency for quite some distance, so having the frequency open overnight can present some nice DX opportunities.
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I had a listen tonight. They signed off following the TOH newscast at midnight Central Time and shut off the carrier at 12:12 AM. The sign off announcement mentioned that sister station KPRM was also signing off for the night.

The KDKK internet stream is picked up off air, so anyone who wants to hear the sign off and cut to dead air can right there.
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
KRDZ 1440 Wray, CO used to sign off at 1206am every morning and come back at 5am.. this was just a year or so ago i heard them signing off from my WY listening post, dont know if they still do
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Just checked and KRDZ joined the many in the 24/7/365 crowd
 
88.1 WMUC is a college station at the University of Maryland College Park, only broadcasts when a show is on. Otherwise the transmitter is off, no automation. Few probably notice since it's a whopping 10 watts that gets out maybe 2 miles from campus.

An LPFM by me, 104.7 WYZT-LP in Annapolis MD, only has recorded student-made public affairs programming from 7:30am to 9:00pm. Does it go off the air at 9? Of course not, it broadcasts 57 watts of dead air all night. Fun fact, the 57 watts comes from one of those 3 large Navy towers you see off the Bay Bridge.
 
blizzard59 said:
I had a listen tonight. They signed off following the TOH newscast at midnight Central Time and shut off the carrier at 12:12 AM. The sign off announcement mentioned that sister station KPRM was also signing off for the night.

The KDKK internet stream is picked up off air, so anyone who wants to hear the sign off and cut to dead air can right there.
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I recorded their signoff & signon, as well as some of what they were broadcasting both before & afterwards, last night & this morning & for some reason, they didn't play the message when they signed off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WheRAkfS5wE
 
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