Talk show "beep"

[Shawn Mamros]

>The early talk shows had an audible "beep" (every ten seconds, was it?) 
>to let the caller and listeners know that the conversation was being 
>recorded or that it was on the air live.   Did it the seven-second delay 
>replace the "beep" or was that much later on?

Seven-second delay had nothing to do with replacing the "beep".
The "beep" was a legal requirement (for everyone, not just broadcast
stations) to let the caller know the phone conversation was being
recorded.  It still can be used to do so, though nowadays it's much
more common to get a "this call may be recorded" message, which serves
the same purpose.  Not sure when the law changed to allow a one-time
message at the beginning of the call to replace the repeating (think
it was every 15 seconds) beep, but I think it's been at least two or
three decades.  Maybe it was around the time answering machines
started becoming commonplace devices.

Think of it this way: The beep was there to protect the caller from
being recorded without their knowledge (in theory, at least).  The
seven-second delay is there to protect the station from unruly callers.
Both can (and I'm sure did) coexist.

-Shawn Mamros
E-mail to: mamros -at- mit dot edu