Sometimes when I’m watching cable I hear a noise that sounds like very rapid dialing of a telephone. What’s the reason for this sound?
I’ve been wondering about that, too. The noise usually occurs right before a show starts or returns from commericals. I hear it a lot on Court TV and when I used to get the International Channel. Maybe it’s some way they cue up the program in the control room?
I too have heard this for years. I first (and most often) noticed it on ESPN.
I think there are a few ex-cable company employees on this board, perhaps the question can be answered by them.
My experience is out-of-date [a CC school station stocked with gear from a local major broadcast station, which became a cable studio and training station a few years later] but back in the 1980s sound tones were starting to be used to automatically cue up and start commercials and segments (akin to the trusty tape ‘cart’ system]