WLS Channel 7 - FBI Bulletin, Reflections & Station Sign-Off (1979)

Here's an FBI Bulletin, Reflections and Station Sign-off from WLS Channel 7. Includes:
WLS promo for the "new" 3:00 Movie - "Where Were You When The Lights Went Out?" (voiceover by Dick Tufeld) (was this during a trial period of the 3:00 Movie? Or only done for the purpose of airing a 2 hour movie instead of an hour and a half one?) (why did they wait another whole year before officially switching the time?)
FBI Bulletin (voiceover by Wayne Atkinson) for Ronald Lee Lyons
Reflections - "A Society With No Laws" with Pastor Charles Lyons of Armitage Baptist Church
WLS-TV Station Sign-off with Seal of Good Practice, and the Star-Spangled Banner (voiceover by Wayne Atkinson)
This aired on local Chicago TV early Tuesday, August 7th 1979 at 2:38am!
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[@lavontreyclarke3285]

WLS TV, now serving eight in one half million Chicago area residents, is a member in good standing with the National Association of Broadcasters, and subscribes to the NAB Television Code of Good Practices. The time is now 2:41am, as we leave the air, we invite you to tune in again tomorrow for the finest in television programming. Good night.

[@525Lines]

I guess the whole premise behind the mini sermons before signoff was if you were up that late, you must be going through some bad stuff and need guidance.

[@richardburkard9839]

They also were apparently part of the N.A.B. TV code: study.com/academy/lesson/national-association-of-broadcasters-role-television-code.html

[@jonathancreveling5658]

Really nice!

[@pauljr.harrington1905]

Lyons was captured a month after this aired, on September 10, 1979.

[@joeferguson2606]

lyons was recaptured 34 days later on sept 10

[@bradjames891]

We never have those types of sermons anymore, I miss them

[@norbertoniebres1615]

The all night INFOMERCIALS replaced all that.

[@missbleach8767]

@@norbertoniebres1615 Paulina

[@TheLoneDeranger]

The man preaching the sermon was a sex offender.

[@DougMcDave]

I remembered when my sister and I turned on the TV right before they signed-in. We were rewarded with Saturday morning cartoons on Channel 7.

[@danjay6783]

The FBI bandit looks like the preacher. 70s hair was very consistent.

[@Sheri451]

We had something similar to your pastor. Plus a little five minute segment called With This Ring, and then the announcer saying the station was signing off for the evening, then The National Anthem, then ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. white noise. I wish they did that again, people don't need to stay up all night they need to go to bed.

[@kenkust4605]

Wish there was a way to show this banner video on TV today.

[@anumbus]

The irony is Pastor Charles Lyons just resigned from that very church in 2019 after it was discovered that he engaged in sexual abuse of a female minor relative when he was a teenager.

[@NEKSoccer]

Different version of SSB than I have seen on other sign-offs.

[@kjchicago1]

This was before they had infomercials and now( in 2014) they stay on 24/7 all day and all night with infomercials

[@norbertoniebres1615]

Amen to that.

[@missbleach8767]

Illinois

[@peggyliu5756]

and this video ends w the remnant microwave particle bombardment left over from the big bang we simpletons call Static untill 6am when broadcasting will resume!

[@frankdenardo8684]

great to see the American Revolution for The Star Spangled Banner.

[@jonathancreveling5658]

Our beautiful and great country at its finest!

[@theonemouse]

Why can't we have any of these anymore?

[@norbertoniebres1615]

Can you say, INFOMERCIALS?

[@missbleach8767]

🐁

[@jessecoffey4737]

This followed an airing of the 1940 film INVISIBLE STRIPES, which I had never heard of at the time that I wrote the comment.

[@FuzzyMemoriesTV]

No, actually it was "Marty", the 1955 film with Ernest Borgnine.

[@timharper73]

@@FuzzyMemoriesTV Cool info to know! I know it's been a while since you uploaded this but I was curious if there were any other breaks from that tape or did it start from a "tape over" and this sign-off sequence was what was left from it? In any case, thank you again for keeping this up and loaded. I miss seeing these so much. May there be another you find as rare as this one!

[@FuzzyMemoriesTV]

Nope, the whole movie is on the tape complete! I believe I've posted some things from it before. Do a search on the site for "August 7th 1979" (with quotes) and see what comes up.

[@timharper73]

@@FuzzyMemoriesTV found only 3 separate commercials posted on your site of Rustler Steakhouse, WKQX 101, and Santa's Village from this date of 8/7/79. No other breaks.

[@Hogstuff]

At first, I thought that Reflections guy was an anarchist.

[@aidanmatson9706]

ikr

[@TimelordR]

Hatestro No. He's a well-known pastor from a Chicago church in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.

[@missbleach8767]

🐖

[@wmbrown6]

Of course, WLS is technically Chicago's first AND third commercial television station, but other than that . . . ;-)

[@andynarain672]

"And ask the Lord to save you from your sins." Too bad he couldn't save himself from his own sin of sexually abusing a minor.

[@DavidFell]

Wayne Atkinson is the booth announcer on this.

[@FuzzyMemoriesTV]

Yep, we got it in the video description already.

[@karinbauer7501]

I wonder where that Ronald Lee Lyons is today, if he's still alive, he'd be around 70 years old now

[@gidzmobug2323]

Karin B Wonder if he was ever caught?

[@karinbauer7501]

Katheryne Koelker good question

[@timharper73]

Karin B He was recaptured on September 10, 1979 (a month after this airing) in Hungry Valley, NV.

[@jonathancreveling5658]

@@timharper73 That was 34 days later

[@brianvail9212]

He just broke out again, using a jet powered wheelchair and an ivory cane.

[@kargaroc386]

Not as similar to the WXYZ signoff as I thought...

[@MrEducator58]

Media outlets gave folks a convenient and short way to consider what various faiths taught in a nonthreatening environment. It was a time when faith was not so forcibly kept out of the marketplace of ideas. Sadly, despite the faith bent of most humans, the vocal minority pushes to relegate faith to the pew, prayer closet, and confines of the mind. People of faith must lovingly and patiently assert that our views are as legitimate as those of folks who believe we are not special creations of an intelligent designer.

[@essvee86]

Would you be comfortable if a Muslim was doing the sermon on TV?

[@bwc1976]

essvee86 In a predominantly Muslim country, I would expect it. As for in the U.S., we're supposed to be a free market, so the station would certainly have the right to try it if they want. And if people complain or stop watching because of it, that's the free market in action, but perhaps in some cities there would be enough viewers that support it. Ideally they could rotate between Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, etc.

[@essvee86]

"As for in the U.S., we're supposed to be a free market, so the station would certainly have the right to try it if they want. And if people complain or stop watching because of it, that's the free market in action." True, so if people start complaining and stop watching because a Christian appeared, then you wouldn't have a problem with it?

[@zekesowner2654]

Are those two Lyons guys related?

[@TheHashSmokingStoner]

i bet its the same fucker.

[@thekidfromiowa]

+The Hash Smoking Stoner Looked up that church and he's still there.

[@norbertoniebres1615]

No.

[@TheHashSmokingStoner]

@@jonathancreveling5658 You really took time out of your day to reply to a three year old comment?

[@Mill835]

NO, they are not related. One doesnt know the other

[@RandysRacingPlace633]

3:59.

[@citizenterryk]

wonder if they ever caught Ronald Lee Lyons??.......

[@Kanjilearner]

They did, thankfully.

[@Splinter48708]

He was recaptured a few days after this aired.

[@jonathancreveling5658]

The Tourney Correctional facility

[@doloreshuntoon7698]

Oh, good god!!!

[@GeoNeilUK]

Intertesting how that FBI Bulletin jumps cuts in from the promo (just like the closedown jumps cuts in from the Epilogue or "Reflections" as it's called here) Having said that, that epilogue sucks "God has laws and He will only love you if you go by His laws so you must accept Jesus or God will never love you and you wil be consumed by sin... Sin... SIIIIIIIIIN!!!" I think I remember epilogues in the UK being more about something happening in the vicar's life that made him think about what a great bloke Jesus was and how we should be more like him because Jesus was great. Less *THOU SHALT DO AS THOU ART TOLD* more _The _*_LORD_*_ doth say, thou shalt be excellent to one another._ But then again, that may be because a country that preaches the separation of church and state is _incredibly_ religious, whereas a country has actuallly has a state religion is rather less religious.

[@richardburkard9839]

Re; the epilogue - find a Bible and check I John 5:3, then John 3:16 (in response to your paraphrase quote).

[@Mill835]

Wow, how lost individuals always seem to know more than anyone else, hope you see the light

[@missbleach8767]

United kingdom

[@johnxaviere]

criminal and pastor...........are both lyons ! 0_o

[@andynarain672]

And both are disgusting criminals.

[@cubdukat]

In some respects, it's a shame they don't have the NAB program anymore. Some of it went entirely too far, but the part about news being factual and biased commentary being labeled as such would definitely work these days. It'd kill Fox News, but if they're gonna do what they do they don't really deserve to exist.

[@essvee86]

Thank you.

[@davesmith6624]

Larry Wilson ABC,NBC and CBS always had a strong Liberal Bias. The NAB was a joke

[@collegeman1988]

Larry Wilson The fairness doctrine, which was created in 1949 and killed by the FCC in 1987 required equal time for such content on television. It allowed broadcasters to fight fire with fire when it came to tobacco advertising, hence the numerous PSAs that also appeared on television that alerted viewers to the dangers of smoking. With the end of the fairness doctrine, stations like the Fake News Channel were able to broadcast slanted content without any valid opposition. The Internet may end up benefiting Americans in that you can get information on opposing viewpoints without corporate censorship on any issue you want to investigate.

[@dickjohnson5979]

+collegeman1988 Fox News Channel is a cable network. The fairness doctrine only applied to over the air tv and radio.

[@ApartmentKing66]

Yeah, but that presupposes that idiots like him actually know what they're talking about. Yeah, right.

[@cubdukat]

What year did the FCC authorize 24-hour broadcasting?

[@BigjohnZ06]

1996 or 1997

[@chriskroell6956]

Pastor Lyons

[@RoundenBrown]

That Jesus dude was creepy AF.

[@zbsx]

Doesn't help that he resigned decades later, after abuse of a teenage girl was revealed.

[@ferociousgumby]

Is this SCTV?

[@missbleach8767]

Pokey