Fill in time between shows

[wak55@bellsouth.net]

I have a show that runs about 50 minutes. I would like to start a new show every hour on the hour and have scheculed the show start times to do that. During the time between shows, I would like to play some music and minimal light changes. I would like to ensure that this starts after my last sequence and that it stops when it is time for the next show to start. What is the best way to do this?

Thanks!

[George Simmons]

You're going to have to fiddle around a little to get it right, but you could use musical sequences from the end of your show to the beginning of the next one. Schedule a new show to run every hour and have it end at 59:55 past the hour. When that time comes, the song playing will finish and then the show will end. The next show will then start immediately.

Unless there's a very specific reason why the show must start precisely at the top of the hour, your life would be a lot easier and less stressful to just let the show loop. I guarantee that the overwhelming majority of your viewers will not arrive exactly at the top of the hour, so they won't know when the show started. Nor will they care. No matter what time your show starts, they'll begin watching when they arrive and they'll stay until they feel like leaving.

Just saying...

[Tim Fischer]

I guarantee that the overwhelming majority of your viewers will not arrive exactly at the top of the hour, so they won't know when the show started. Nor will they care. No matter what time your show starts, they'll begin watching when they arrive and they'll stay until they feel like leaving.

Just saying...

+1

Traffic will flow much better if you just let people come and go at will. And very few people are going to invest 50 minutes to watch the entire show anyway, so you may as well just let it loop.

[BillyT]

In fact, depending on the ability of your street to maintain trafffic flow, 50 minutes may be too long. I live in a cul-de-sac and try to keep folks down to 30 minutes

[Orville]

My current show runs slightly over 42 minutes, 18 songs, and loops constantly from 5pm to 12:00am daily. As George says, folks come and go as they see fit, noone ever arrives just before or just after or even exactly when the next show starts, they show up sometimes just because the flashing. dimming, shimmering lights caught there attention and they drive over to check them out.

Some are just happenstance as they drive around looking at Christmas Light Displays just for something to do or entertain the kids for a while. And then there may be the very few that actually know about your show and show times and try to be there at the scheduled start time, but this one is not that common.

So I just allow my show to loop continously for the time set and let folks come and go as they please. Easiest way and no headaches tryng to figure out exact time constraints to make the show run at precisely any specific times.

[redsea300]

I had a 58 min show 2 years ago. It was a bad idea. People did stay fir the whole thing and traffic back up bad. We are in a court one way in and out. This year I did ne2w musci and it is 28 min long. It is working much better. Traffic is flowing.

[rmturner54]

I run 5 songs every other nite and 5 different songs on the other nites. I fill in between with some humorous sound bites between songs.....and just loop it.