Signs offs remain a strangely valued memory As Mike Ransom of Tulsa TV memories put it:
"Sign-offs could seem scary as a kid (It's still disquieting to wake up to static). They were like a kind of death; you wanted to be under the covers before the static, and it was creepy when a parent fell asleep on the couch and let it go on for awhile."
He captures the recollection very astutely. Most of us that grew up in that era certainly remember the point around adolescence when we were allowed to stay up watching TV, and likely had our own 12" Black and white set, or we fell asleep on the couch only to awaken to static with drool dripping. . .
A former on air personality, Frank Morrow, put it this way:
"Signing-off could be a rather spooky experience for announcers. It gave you the feeling of a cross between being the sandman and being an assassin. All day long there was all this activity---sounds of all sorts and emotions of a significant range. All were being suddenly ended. It also was a kind of sad feeling, too. It broke the connection you felt with the invisible listening audience.
And for the announcer at a station where the combo operation was in place, it was even rather spooky. Suddenly there was silence. The feeling of being there all alone was suddenly palpable. It was only a little comforting to walk into the news room and view the teletype wearily clacking away; but even that seemed to emphasize the feeling of disconnectedness. It was disquieting to close up the silent studios or building, and walk out into the night."
He continued:
"When you heard the sign-off, there was a feeling of disconnection with that person who had been sharing something with you. At the end of sign-off, there would be a brief moment when the sound was over, but the transmitter was still on. Then the transmitter would go off, and the hiss of and open frequency would be heard along with a background scramble of distant stations still broadcasting. The connection was severed, leaving a moment or two of continuation of thought and feeling."
Interesting perspective from the other end of the ether. . .
I do miss the darn things as they signaled a definitive end of the day. . .A time to close out the accounts, disconnect and experience some degree of isolation and hopefully rest. As it is now, one day endlessly flows into the next, without order and without a goal.
