Wiping or junking is an economic move by raio and television companies in which old audiotapes, videotapes and telerecordings (kinescopes), which were extremely expensive in the 1960s and 1970s, are erased and reused, or destroyed after several uses. It was particularly prevalent during the 1960s and 1970s. The practice is now much rarer, as costs have come down and broadcasters have come to understand the economic and cultural value of keeping archive material.