red light syndrome
n.— «We had to ensure that each member of the band didn’t just fall into the normal “red-light syndrome,” concentrating on their visual performance only when the nearest camera cue light was on—because effectively they were each on air all of the time.» —“DTH finds a new beat” by Jonathan Higgins Satellite Broadband Mar. 1, 2001. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Jim in Columbia, South Carolina, has noticed sportscasters’ use of the phrase on the season with reference to a period of time. This construction shows up in the sports pages as early as the 1880s, first referring to a team’s revenue and...
In 1971, when a new public library opened in Troy, Michigan, famous authors and artists were invited to write letters to the city’s youngest readers, extolling the many benefits of libraries. One of the loveliest was from E.B. White, author of...