Final WWJ channel 4 signoff July 22, 1978

The final 10 minutes of WWJ-TV channel 4 in Detroit before it changed its call letters to WDIV. The Detroit News and the Washington Post traded flagship TV stations in 1978. WWJ-TV became WDIV on July 22, 1978. The WWJ-TV call letters came back after CBS (which owns WWJ NewsRadio 950) bought WGPR-TV channel 62 making it the CBS station in Detroit on July 24, 1995.

[@rjmcallister1888]

Under the FCC's cross-ownership rule of 1976, operators could no longer own an AM, FM and TV station, along with a newspaper, in the same market. Thus, the ownerships of a number of stations changed; newspaper-owned stations were either sold outright or traded, as was the case here. Some stations got 'grandfather' clauses to keep theirs; WGN-AM-TV Chicago stayed with the Tribune, and WMC-AM-FM-TV in Memphis stayed with Scripps-Howard. AM 950 kept the WWJ calls, so Post-Newsweek got WDIV. WDVM was later sold to Gannett, which changed the calls to the current WUSA.

[@JohnSmith-op1tc]

I was a teenage kid, in from Saginaw to attend the twi-night doubleheader at Tiger Stadium mentioned at the start of the sports report. I spent more than 30 years in radio and TV, which is perhaps one reason I could put up with the tone that runs throughout the video posted here. I'm certainly old enough to remember newscasts read over a slide such as the one offered in this piece.

[@MrAnguskoolbreeze]

RIP Mr. Van Sice! Ms. Turner...always loved your voice and deep breathing! RIP Mr. Steve Lawrence!

[@wmbrown6]

Also, according to an ad in Broadcasting magazine's July 17, 1978 issue, the WWJ-to-WDIV call switch occurred July 22, 1978 (contrary to Wikipedia); note the mention of an upcoming program on July 24.

[@steelbeard1]

So noted and corrected.

[@kargaroc386]

This is one of those things where I just can't believe that we actually have this in any form.

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

Wisconsin Public Television flagship station WHA-TV in Madison, Wisconsin still has its three-letter callsign.

[@NEPatriot]

This was 4 years after Hartford's Channel 3, WTIC-TV was sold from Travelers Insurance Company to Post Newsweek Stations and becoming WFSB. In 1996, Meredith took over the CT CBS station.

[@TheBrooklynbodine]

Thanks for the info. I can't get enough of news about broadcasting.

[@jessecoffey4737]

1:05 Since this is an audio recording, I will be the one to tell you that the theatres which the film FOUL PLAY (which can actually be found on KZbin) was showing at were: The Abbey, Madison Heights The Academy 59, Waterford The Movies at Fairlane The Movies at Lakeside The Old Orchard, Farmington Hills The Oxford Twin, Oxford The Renaissance, Detroit (later renamed to Ren Cen 4) The Showboat Cinemas, Riverview The Terrace, Livonia The Towne, Oak Park The Warren Cinemas, Warren The information came from the date's edition of the Detroit Free Press via newspapers.com. The Oxford Twin was the only one out of all these that wasn't mentioned in the ad in the paper and I do not know if it would have been given due mention on channel 4.

[@steelbeard1]

After the Washington Post Company sold Newsweek magazine and the Washington Post newspaper, it changed its name to Graham Holdings Company. Also, Post-Newsweek Stations changed its name to Graham Media Group which is still based in Detroit.

[@dizzyingkalidscope2833]

??

[@steelbeard1]

@@dizzyingkalidscope2833 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Media_Group

[@steelbeard1]

@@dizzyingkalidscope2833 Read the Graham Media Group's Wikipedia article.

[@notapplicable2636]

Graham still owns WDIV to this day too...

[@TheBrooklynbodine]

Thanks for the info. I knew that WWJ became WDIV sometime in the '70s.

[@ThePowerpuffHotline]

Rest in Piece WWJ TV

[@notapplicable2636]

WWJ TV still lives to this day as Channel 62 in the Detroit area

[@kargaroc386]

This entire clip is just nuts.

[@wmbrown6]

The other station involved in this swap was WTOP-TV (Channel 9) in Washington, DC, which after the switchover changed its calls to WDVM-TV (effective June 26, 1978). I wonder if anyone would have the final sign-off (whether video or audio-only) of WTOP, and if so, whether "The Evening News Association" was mentioned as owner (as the staff announcer at WWJ, Dick Van Sice, already noted Post-Newsweek as its owner).

[@steelbeard1]

After Gannett acquired the Detroit News including WDVM-TV in Washington, DC, that TV station's call letters were changed to WUSA. Of course, Gannett also publishes USA Today.

[@EricEbac22]

WUSA was also the call letters of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area's longtime NBC affiliate (from 1983-1986); on July 4, 1986, Gannett changed that station's call letters to KARE and sent the WUSA call letters, as you mentioned, to Washington, DC.

[@facebook51ify]

@@EricEbac22 actually WTCN was an independent station until Monday, March 5, 1979 when it became an NBC affiliate from metromedia to Gannett now tegna.

[@AheadMatthewawsome]

Well, KZbin at it again. I get this on July 22nd. 42 years after the day it closed. What luck!

[@EddieMillerStudios]

They still make Towne Club!

[@altfactor]

Can I assume that when WDIV took over Channel 4 in Detroit that they took over the building pictured in this clip, with WWJ Radio eventually moving out?

[@steelbeard1]

Yes, the radio stations eventually moved out.

[@mr.g-manofficial6391]

What seal of good practice did they use in this sign off

[@notapplicable2636]

Also remember that WWJ on the AM frequency also was one of the earliest AM stations too..?

[@steelbeard1]

This audio aircheck solved the mystery of the source of this video of a National Anthem trailer at the end of the station's signoff. You can see it at www.fuzzymemories.tv/index.php?c=3205&m=xxnewsxx#videoclip-2928

[@pussycat41]

+steelbeard1 It was the same SSB used by Providence's WLNE-TV in the 80's.

[@entertain1048]

6:52,9:05 Sign-Off as WWJ-TV 4, return on air as WDIV.

[@mr.g-manofficial6391]

Hey steelbeard1 if this video had actual footage, what Seal Of Good Practice did the station used as WWJ for their sign-off?

[@EricEbac22]

Does WDIV still remain a Post-Newsweek station or has their ownership changed since then?

[@steelbeard1]

Post-Newsweek Stations changed its name to Graham Media Group after the parent company sold The Washington Post newspaper and Newsweek magazine. Graham Media Group still owns WDIV.

[@CPLANAS1985]

This is nice... If only you had the actual video...

[@edsonnoobproductions]

Probably this is radio

[@jamessmith-fs3xt]

What is this anthem film at 9:20

[@Annoyingaldo2]

hmm my left ear loves this

[@altfactor]

Isn't WDIV still using the old WWJ Channel 4 studio?

[@steelbeard1]

No, WDIV moved to new studios and offices a block away still on Lafayette Blvd several years ago.

[@jeykies3745.]

5 years later the...the what?

[@coletteasnasielski1244]

Going to miss WWJ Śo Long

[@a.u.b.r.e.y.1.1.2.1]

I live here

[@mr.g-manofficial6391]

What did the seal of good practice design look like in this sign off if it was recorded on video?

[@steelbeard1]

I'm guessing it looked like this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Practices_for_Television_Broadcasters#/media/File:NAB_Seal_of_Good_Practice.svg

[@kargaroc386]

The annoying tone starts out at 690 Hz and slowly decreases to around 550hz over the course of the video.

[@gidzmobug2323]

kargaroc386 Can it be edited out?

[@scottbailey1560]

Sort of a stupid idea to hang up those call letters, for something that the people don't know. I think "three letter" call signs are hard to get back from the FCC these days.

[@steelbeard1]

The sale of WWJ-TV channel 4 forced the call letter change. The Detroit News kept WWJ AM 950 and WWJ-FM 97.1 (now WXYT-FM). The radio stations are now owned by CBS. When CBS bought WGPR-TV channel 62, the call letter were changed to WWJ-TV.

[@scottbailey1560]

steelbeard1 I see. O.K. I did not know this. The very same situation happened in 1981 when WSM-AM, FM, & TV sold the TV Station. The calls were changed to from WSM-TV to WSMV-TV, which it is still WSMV-TV today. Kind od funny, WSM-TV was on Channel 4 in analog, and WSMV was on channel 4, until this Digital Mess, when Obama gave the FCC the Green Light to sunset analog and run in digital only.

[@DJ_BROBOT]

+Scott Bailey actually all of this was set under Bush, not Obama...the clock was ticking on analog stations waaaaaay before he was ever in office...hell, digital testing was done towards the end of the Clinton era..

[@EricEbac22]

Steelbeard1 mentioned the sale of WWJ-TV to Post-Newsweek Stations; at that same time, Post-Newsweek unloaded WTOP-TV, the longtime CBS affiliate in Washington, DC, selling it to the Detroit Free Press, which, in turn, renamed WTOP-TV with the call letters WDVM-TV, a name it kept until July 4, 1986, when Gannett, the station's next owner (later spun off into Tegna Media), renamed it WUSA. The only thing that has stayed the same is that WWJ (Now WDIV) remained an NBC affiliate, while WDVM (Now WUSA) remained a CBS affiliate.

[@steelbeard1]

The TV station trades of flagship stations by The Washington Post and the Detroit News forced the call letter change. When CBS (owning WWJ radio) bought channel 62 to be the new CBS affiliate, they were allowed to revive the WWJ-TV call letters.

[@gidzmobug2323]

Why were all the three-letter call signs being replaced?

[@steelbeard1]

In this case, because the TV station was sold and would no longer be connected with the co-owned radio station sharing the call letters.

[@gladfan1989]

Actually, not all 3 letter stations have been replaced. KHQ in Spokane, WA is still running strong.

[@JoelDJohnson1986]

WWJ came back as channel 62 (CBS Detroit)

[@rmartin7558]

It used to be call letters stood for something. Anyone what DIV stands for, if anything? I'm guessing the D is for Detroit...

[@steelbeard1]

D for Detroit and IV for Roman numeral 4.

[@rmartin7558]

Good. That's much better than, "Detroit's Immunodeficiency Virus."

[@citizenterryk]

back in the late seventies, the Tigers sucked wind...

[@EricEbac22]

In some respects, the Tigers still do suck wind; the only exception to that was their 1984 World Series championship, and their 2012 World Series appearance, which resulted in being swept by San Francisco in four games.

[@dondavis7687]

All Detroit pro sports teams in the Late-70’s were brutal!

[@TheBrooklynbodine]

You make an interesting point. When Sparky Anderson became Tigers' manager in '79, he said "Give me five years to turn this team around. If I don't, I'll walk away and say I've failed!" Damned if they didn't win it in exactly five years, with a 104-58 record, which included a 35-5 start.

[@TheBrooklynbodine]

They also won the AL pennant in 2006, losing the World Series 4 games to 1 to the Cardinals, who by the way were the worst team ever (83-78) to win a World Series. How well I remember the 2003 season, when the Tigers went 43-119.

[@1L6E6VHF]

@@TheBrooklynbodine The Cardinals were able to get to the WS with a barely-break-even record because MLB had just added the division series to both leagues, increasing the number of teams with a chance of entry to the WS from four to eight. Regarding the 2003 season- I sure wished I could draw. I envisioned a line of four amusement park batting cages in a line: ■Hard (pitching machine in cage) ■Medium (pitching machine in cage) ■Easy (pitching machine in cage) ■Very Easy (man in Tigers shirt in cage).

[@b.rodclark7349]

damn...i was 8yrs old when i lost my father on this day two hours earlier😢

[@gladfan1989]

So sorry for your loss.

[@b.rodclark7349]

@@gladfan1989 thank you... I appreciate that so much

[@retrogamerkid3792]

Sounds like the 80s

[@saraflint2982]

That beeping noise distracted from the whole thing. Not sure how the reporters could talk over that.

[@PanchamBro2]

First Last It's the TV itself, probably due to the reception it was gaining.

[@gidzmobug2323]

It might have been recorded earlier, or the reporter was in a booth where he did not hear the noise.

[@gidzmobug2323]

What is that annoying high-pitched noise in the background? Can it be edited out?