The contest traditionally started on the first Saturday morning of February (often at 10:00 a.m. local time), and it ran continuously until some time on Sunday morning. The contest was 21 hours long from 1982 to 1999 and 2002 to 2003. The 2000 and 2001 contests were shortened to 9 daylight hours because WISS was unable to get a Federal Communications Commission waiver to broadcast outside its normal daytime hours. The 2004 and 2005 contests were lengthened to 22 and 23 hours, respectively.