Is it true that television channels used to stop broadcasting at night?
Although it seems hard to imagine today, there was a time when television wasn’t available 24 hours a day. For much of the 20th century, most television channels in many countries broadcast limited programming from morning until around midnight, or even earlier. At the end of the day, it was common for channels to broadcast the national anthem, accompanied by the flag or patriotic images. After this symbolic gesture, the signal was completely cut off, and the screen went black, displayed a test pattern, or emitted static until programming resumed at dawn.
This practice was explained by several reasons. First, the technology of the time was much more limited, and maintaining continuous transmission resulted in high operating and maintenance costs. Furthermore, early morning audiences were very low, making broadcasting programs unprofitable at those times. It was also common for stations to use this time slot to perform technical maintenance on their transmission equipment to ensure optimal operation the following day.
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