So, when exactly is "OTH"?

[Dave Doherty]

The 11:35 start is a "relatively" recent phenomenon.  It used to be 11:30. 
The 11:35 start gives the affiliates an extra five minutes for the late 
news.  I seem to recall that it began with one station someplace that was 
delaying the late network feed by five minutes. Maybe it was a Mountain time 
zone station, since they used to tape delay everything anyway.  It would 
have been very hard to pull off a five minute delay in the days of tape, and 
this probably started sometime in the 1980s - well before solid state 
recorders were available.

In the very earliest days, programs ran however long they needed to. I think 
it was a programmer at the BBC or NBC that started to make programs conform 
to regular half hour, hour, and two hour durations.

-d



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Doug Drown" <revdoug1@myfairpoint.net>
To: "Larry Weil" <kc1ih@mac.com>; 
<boston-radio-interest@lists.BostonRadio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 2:58 PM
Subject: Re: So, when exactly is "OTH"?


>
>>>Also shows are not always scheduled to start exactly
> on the hour or half-hour.
>
> When did that start?  I know that Letterman, Leno and "Nightline" all 
> begin at :35, but I always assumed that hourly or half-hourly TV shows 
> were supposed to begin "on the dot," as it were.  (How well I remember the 
> CBS "bong" at the beginning of each of the network's hourly 
> grams!)    -Doug
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Larry Weil" <kc1ih@mac.com>
> To: <boston-radio-interest@lists.BostonRadio.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 1:52 PM
> Subject: RE: So, when exactly is "OTH"?
>
>
>>
>> Part of the answer is satellite delay, there is a delay of about a
>> half-second for each satellite hop.  There are also delays due to digital
>> encoding and decoding.  Also shows are not always scheduled to start 
>> exactly
>> on the hour or half-hour.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: boston-radio-interest-bounces@tsornin.BostonRadio.org
>> [mailto:boston-radio-interest-bounces@tsornin.BostonRadio.org] On Behalf 
>> Of
>> Doug Drown
>> Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 12:58 PM
>> To: boston-radio-interest@lists.BostonRadio.org; George Allen
>> Subject: Re: So, when exactly is "OTH"?
>>
>> Thank you all for your answers.  I had forgotten about WWV, and didn't 
>> know
>> about time.gov.
>>
>> The other half of my question remains, however: Why are the networks' 
>> feeds,
>>
>> at least in Maine, a second or two off from station to station?   -Doug
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "George Allen" <gallen2@nescaum.org>
>> To: <boston-radio-interest@lists.BostonRadio.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 12:16 PM
>> Subject: RE: So, when exactly is "OTH"?
>>
>>
>>> Or:
>>> http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Eastern/d/-5/java
>>>    George
>>> ____________________________________________
>>>
>>> From: Sid Schweiger <sid@wrko.com>
>>> To: Boston Radio Interest Board <boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
>>> Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:02:12 -0600
>>> Subject: RE: So, when exactly is "OTH"?
>>>
>>> >>how can I find a reliable way to set my clock?<<
>>>
>>> WWV:  303-499-7111.
>>
>>
>
>