[gorush]

I was there, North Dakota/Minnesota boarder, very early ‘50’s.

[ConradofMontferrat]

Gorush,

Give you that.

I was in PA. Different set of circumstances.

In those days, ND and Minn. were REALLY conservative.

But 17:00? I guess they were conserving electricity, or they thought NO ONE HAD A TV TO WATCH!!

LOL, that was most likely the case.

[VerySadAmerican]

I think there are still radio stations that sign off at official sunset. I worked at one back in the 70s that signed off around 4:45 in the winter.

[Smokin' Joe]

When you think about it, TV didn't start getting big on the coasts until after WWII, so the somewhat belated appearance of television networks in western ND in the mid to late 50s really didn't lag the more urban markets by that much. Look at cell phone coverage maps a few decades later, as coverage areas develop and the patterns are similar. TV expanded first and fastest in the urban markets (most potential customers per square mile), then more slowly filled in markets in areas where population density is lower.

Satellite TV, wireless communications are popular in markets where infrastructure costs are higher on a per customer basis.