TV Sign Off Collection - 1956 to 1975

[@Radiotexas]

One of the reasons early TV stations signed off around midnight was because the transmitter engineers needed time to replace tubes and re-adjust the transmitters! Those early monsters needed a lot of care! In fact, many stations had sleeping quarters for the engineers as they lived at the remote transmitter sites.

[@gidzmobug2323]

Perhaps the stations had a large engineering staff. You can't expect someone to live away from their families for months at a time without repercussions.

[@batmandestroys1978]

TV stations signed off around midnight since there was a belief at the time, that nobody listened or watched overnight viewing, including the television sets were not well made at the time,! These television sets, which include both valve and transistor televisions produced serious heat, which some televisions, would catch fire, when they were left on for a considerable length of time or malfunctioned!

[@robmclean4352]

@@batmandestroys1978 When TV stations signed off in the old USSR, the announcers literally told viewers to turn off/unplug their TVs; this was because the sets were so poorly made that they were a fire risk!

[@ChristopherHagee]

Well, starting in 1963, CBS O./O. stas. started doing 23 hr.-long bcst. days during wk.

[@alexanderarce3341]

​@@batmandestroys1978 that's crazy but those CRTs lasted longer than today's TVs

[@brandtfj]

I remember...after the star spangled banner, the station just pulled the plug, and you had "snow" it was like the world ended...it gave me goose bumps!

[@coolworx]

_They're Here...._

[@jaceyarnett4441]

I get spooky vibes from a lot of them! It's a weird feeling in the 21st century for the world to just shut down for the evening.

[@KSparks80]

When the broadcast turned to the snow, we always said the "ant races" were on. lol

[@markfahley2152]

I worked at the Radio Station at Kansas State..I had to open the station early and warm up the equipment before going on the air with my Sat. And Sunday jazz shows

[@Sailormac2]

Falling asleep in front of the TV back then was . . . an experience. If you didn’t get woken up by the white noise, you got a REAL rude awakening around dawn when the test patterns kicked in with their associated BEEEEEEEPs.

[@stephenr3910]

I used to wake up around 6:30 AM as a kid and watch the station come on the air. National anthem, morning prayer, lots of PSA's. And information about the towers and megahertz. And the license and seal of good practice.

[@BlackAndWhiteBand]

I'm 52 and I can still remember doing the exact same thing all the way into the early 80s. Mostly the syndicated channels in the Providence/Boston area would sign on around 5:30AM and it was exciting in a weird way. Kids today have no idea.

[@stephenr3910]

@BlackAndWhiteBand when my father was shaving upstairs with his electric razor, the picture would get static lines. I would sit there eating cereal and watching the test pattern with the monotone sound.

[@ChristopherHagee]

In late-1970s/early-1980s l'd occasionally watch WCAU-TV (Ch. 10), Phila., Penna., usually during wee small hrs., Sat. morning while it was still originally CBS-TV Network affiliate, as well as CBS O./O. sta. for "sign-off" in its entirety (comprising, N.A.B. Television Code disclaimer-sta. "sign-off" announcement-1960s-produced "Star-Spangled Banner" (U.S. 🇺🇸 National Anthem) film clip-"sign-off" sta. I.D.-closedown)

[@stephenr3910]

@@ChristopherHagee I went to college in the Lehigh Valley and watched that channel sometimes.

[@alexanderarce3341]

​@@BlackAndWhiteBandch.12 signs off around 2 on weekends

[@ryanbarker5217]

it's hard to believe i was alive at a time when t.v. stations actually went off the air.

[@sa3270]

And "technical difficulties" were common throughout the day.

[@kaymuldoon3575]

Yes, there was no such thing as 24 hour news or television back then.

[@darwincity]

There are still some stations that have « down times ».

[@Sailormac2]

@@sa3270 Oh, yes. Many a time when computers have decided to get cranky in the workplace, I’ve recited, “We are experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by” and gotten a “WTF?” glance from younger colleagues.

[@MrMenefrego1]

There was simply no television broadcasting after midnight when I was a kid in the '60s-'70s, but Oh, how we looked forward to The Jerry Lewis MD Telethon! During the telethon, we were treated to seemingly endless hours of great entertainment 24/7. During primetime, there were truly great TV programs to watch, just very brief hours of actual viewing time.

[@artiek1177]

I remember that. It seemed so exiting that the station didn’t sign off that night.

[@embyquinn]

9:24 I love this guy. No frills, no details about megacycles or radio listening, just "Time for us all to say goodnight! To bed!"

[@ELOVE4U]

😂😂😂😂😂 oh my God sound like he was tired too

[@gidzmobug2323]

That was WNAC-TV (now known as WHDH-TV).

[@tommyboy5455]

I miss when the channels all signed off at night. We live almost on the border with Canada, when we were kids the local stations played the US National Anthem then the Canadian Anthem at the end of the day. Seemed like much simpler easier times.

[@gidzmobug2323]

You must have lived close to the Canadian border.

[@player4life11111]

Those times were different. TV and radio on the border always had the best of both worlds. Even here in L.A. before the digital tv era, television signals from Tijuana would be seen here.

[@tommyboy5455]

@@player4life11111 I still live near the Canadian Border we get 2 TV channels and multiple radio. But yeah definitely different times back then hearing both National Anthems just after midnight.

[@player4life11111]

@@tommyboy5455 Those are extremely precious and priceless memories of another time! When TV signed off for the night, it was definitely time to go to bed. The world today is a different place, even in the way the TV and Radio are played.

[@tommyboy5455]

@@player4life11111 yes for sure. The fact we go 100mph 24/7 now makes very little sense. We are definitely not better or happier for it.

[@jaceyarnett4441]

I’m not from this generation, but some of them give me an eerie feeling but also calm. Anyone else feel this way and why?

[@gunnoir]

@jaceyarnett4441 You're absolutely right Jaycey, I was a kid in the 60's and a teenager in the 70's I always thought these sign offs were creepy and foreboding, and yes there somewhat comforting, I even remember when certain radio stations would go off air also.

[@gregorydensford7185]

It was totally creepy, but I loved it.

[@ostrich67]

Radio and TV broadcasters were trained to have a low, soothing voice. That sort of went away in the '90s as those old-school guys retired.

[@JonesMediaMan]

Absolutely. I grew up in the late 70s-early 90s, and there was a certain feeling of being disconnected and alone after sign off.

[@deathstrike]

That's what I loved about the old station sign-offs, they used terms like "Telecast" and "Kilocycles". Now it's digital broadcast and Kilohertz/Megahertz/Gigahertz. Your viewing pleasure in b&w and 240p color and "Technicolor". Now 1080p/4K/8K HD. But few sign-offs due to multiple broadcasting sites, satellite feeds, and 24hr round the clock. Good times in the Pre HD era. Pleasant voices, the National Anthem, and quality assurance.

[@1950Grendel]

I grew up in the NYC metro area in the 1950's. My mom was a night owl and sometimes let me stay up in the summer till the broadcast day was over. I had forgotten that they suggested you turn to radio after TV was done; mot of the stations there were owned by newspaper and multimedia companies, and radio was still bigger than TV in the early 50's.

[@gidzmobug2323]

KABC-TV was redirecting people to their AM station. After several years, they also added the FM side. This was when ABC owned all three. Now Disney owns the TV station, Cumulus Media has the station, and Merulo Media has the FM station.

[@dalekapler4487]

I've enjoyed it Great work

[@MikeS91712]

The very first signoff in this collection was from KYW Cleveland and was done by Gordon Ward. He spent most of his career at WTOL 11 in Toledo and married his wife on a live broadcast in 1962. Died in 2022.

[@johnnyelectron]

And Gordon Ward had the "Venner-Ward Report" on WSPD-TV 13 in Toledo before it became WTVG.

[@MikeS91712]

@@johnnyelectron I remember WTVG being WSPD but his time there was a bit before my memory. I remember Frank Venner as well. WSPD still exists as 1370AM/ 92.9FM

[@TheBoysTopSecretisOrganization]

only in ohio

[@Some_Guy_ontheNet]

@TheBoysTopSecretisOrganization 🚪 here's the door

[@misskitty4296]

I remember one from a NYC channel. It showed a skyline of apartment buildings with lights on in the windows, that one by one turned off while a very simple tic tocky song played. I always remember that. Probably late 60’s, very early 70’s. B&W

[@alromeo17]

That was WCBS-TV Channel 2 in New York City. That was not the sign-off. The apartment lights graphic was the bookend of The Late Show movie, after the 11:00 news. Lights went on as the movie began, lights went off when it concluded. The song was an alternate take of Leroy Anderson's "The Syncopated Clock". WCBS (and the 4 other CBS O&O stations) began using that Late Show intro/outro in 1951 and continued using it well into the '70's.

[@saraphinn]

These DJs were fire, such professionalism, I so love them

[@NYNick49]

Amazing stuff!! I am struck by the fact that several stations were independent, and not owned by a larger corporate entity. I don't think this is true today. Thanks for this great post!!

[@gidzmobug2323]

It does seem as though the list of independents is getting shorter. We only had three networks back then, and no UHF. NOW we have at least five networks, and digital channels. Ownership groups get larger and larger. We even have a cable company owning an entire network.

[@radgaltunes399]

Local station would sign off with a stirring rendition of The National Anthem, followed by "High Flight" recited over a montage of jet planes doing loops and zooms. I still remember parts of that poem. "Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth and danced the sky on laughter's silvered wings."

[@TheEmeraldMenOfficial]

Where to? I feel like this would be near an RCAF base :)

[@dragonmeddler2152]

...reached out my hand and touched the face of God.

[@TheSonnyhorse]

I remember as well, in the Bay Area. Those sign offs gave me such a strange feeling...hard to explain.

[@fmw63]

I remember this too in the DC area, I think into the 80’s!

[@DQ-su6qf]

In Los Angeles as well

[@MichaelGushue-tl8xd]

I remember as a kid recalling Joe Novenson doing the sign on and sign off for WFIL-TV (Channel 6) in the 1960's.

[@CONCERTMANchicago]

_I'm Immediately compelled to vote thumbs up. And haven't even watched video yet._ *That's how confident I am, already knowing will thoroughly enjoy this.* Only going by title and subject matter.

[@bringyourownsnake980]

Today's mature adults lived during the only couple of generations that will know the joy of being a kid that partied so hard they closed the tv station.

[@g.y.u3649]

I remember these! I wish I could find the black and white ones played in the late 60s-early 70s in Minneapolis, MN.

[@santafe37s]

A shame these stations don't use the "seal of good practice" anymore.

[@armorybrunotjr.3204]

That's because by 1982, the Television Code was phased out by Natonal Adssociation of Broadcasters.

[@moldyoldie7888]

Thanks for putting up this video. Looks like a lot of work went into it. "...for your viewing pleasure"? Nah. To entertain, inform, and educate. Well done.

[@1L6E6VHF]

You forgot ads for snake oil, LOL

[@emilyofjane]

My grandpa always tells me about how when he was a kid, television would start with Howdy Doody, followed by local and national news, and ended with the national anthem. I’ve always wanted to find a recording of it just so I could experience what it was like, you know?

[@stephenr3910]

They had film of Airforce planes in formation during the national anthem. And landmarks like Mount Rushmore.

[@antiquearchives-n4v]

My mom said that when she is a child (70s) in Portugal, RTP ended it's broadcasting with the sign-off announcement, national anthem and the test pattern which it is 8pm after the evening news. It went black and white then in Portugal until 1980.

[@dragonmeddler2152]

Our local TV station (WIBW-13) used to sign off with a reading of High Flight over airborne film of various USAF fighter and bomber aircraft.

[@blackwingy]

So did one of our stations in Los Angeles in the 70s.

[@davidchildress6432]

Fresno California had the bee

[@notvalidcharacters]

That says SO much about American values.

[@dragonmeddler2152]

@notvalidcharacters It was during the height of the Cold War during which years two RB-47 recon aircraft, based at our nearby Air Force base were shot down by the USSR (Russia). Yeah, these were our American values then. We were at war.

[@notvalidcharacters]

@@dragonmeddler2152 Oh we were not. Be serious.

[@rosswarren436]

Many channels in NC in the 1960s used to sign on with a color & contrast chart (not just electronically generated color bars which came later). We only had a Black & White TV, but I would adjust it to be able to barely see detail in the next to the darkest swatch. That way I knew the contrast and brightness were "perfect". LOL. I was only 10, but it was something to do and have fun with.

[@morahleahmusic]

I'm looking for one I sang on from Los Angeles in the 70s. It has the Pledge of Allegiance.

[@ianharrismartinez6534]

and New York

[@tesfaystifanos3105]

Los Angeles ca

[@Timmer5980]

I might have it

[@lilajagears8317]

I remember the pledge in L.A.

[@carolmiles2351]

Look for the Native American sign off.

[@nihilioellipsis]

dozing off with the late late show on and then waking up to the snow

[@charlesmandus574]

I remember that signoff from WPGH-TV, 53 in Pittsburgh back in 1971 when I was 5 ywars old. WE just got our first color TV and our first UHF-TV, WPGH-TV showed Speed Racer and when it went off the air, I remember crying when Speed Racer was gone.

[@LaptopLarry330]

WOR Channel 9, New York still showed episodes of “Speed Racer in the late-1970s and early-1980s.

[@gidzmobug2323]

KSBC-TV used to run Speed Racer back in the 1970s. Telemundo owns the station (now known as KVEA-TV).

[@SenileOtaku]

From back in the day when we had to wait for episodes (and be sure to be at the TV when it was on). I'd almost consider it cheating to just buy the DVDs, but I'm too busy to be waiting around for it anymore. Besides, these days I can watch the proper original versions of "Mach GoGoGo" including the ones that weren't dubbed for the US market.

[@gidzmobug2323]

@@SenileOtaku I would not look at DVDs as "cheating" (I used to tape programs when VCRs were big). You simy get to watch the program on your schedule.

[@ostrich67]

47:24 WPGH signed off and went dark on August 16th 1971 due to financial and technical problems. This was the announcement for that. They didn't sign back on until 1974.

[@kevinfitzmaurice4072]

48:22--The theme from the film "Goodbye, Columbus" was used for the KNBC-Los Angeles signoff.

[@Sailormac2]

And they had cool psychedelic graphics, too! Definitely one of the more distinctive sign offs!

[@renitaparkhurst3636]

Too many memories from my childhood and staying up late

[@aaronlewis2486]

KYW in Cleveland and WRCV in Philadelphia switched call letter and on air talent. WRCV in Philadelphia changed its call letters to KYW while KYW in Cleveland changed its call letters to WKYC. WKYC is still the NBC affiliate in Cleveland while KYW is now the CBS O&O station in Philadelphia.

[@armorybrunotjr.3204]

Staff announcers of interest: Gordon Ward, KYW-TV, Cleveland (1956) Clark Smith, WLWC, Columbus,OH(1956) Royal Parker, WAAM,Baltimore (1957) Jerry Damon,WRCA-TV,New York City (1958) Don Dowd,WABC-TV,New York City (1958) Lou Steele,WNEW-TV,New York City (1959) Jerry Roberts, WNTA-TV, New York City (1960) Bob Waldrop,WNBC-TV,New York City (1960) Bill Rice,WABC-TV,New York City (1964) Matt Thomas,WNBC-TV,New York City (1964) John Henning,WGBH,Boston (1964) Tom Gregory,WNEW-TV, New York City (1964) Gregg Oliver,WTOP-TV,Washington (1964) Robert Jeannette,WGBH,Boston (1970) Bill Barry,KTLA,Los Angeles (1972) Jack Byrd,WETA,Washington (1972) Mac McGarry,WRC-TV,Washington (1973?) George Lewis,WBFF-TV,Baltimore (1975) Jack Downing,WBOC-TV,Salisbury,MD. (1975)

[@dongabenski783]

Gordon Ward later came to Toledo where he was co-anchor with Frank Venner on the Venner/Ward report on WSPD TV-13 for years.

[@freedomanbar584]

NBC,PBS,CBS,ABC,FOX

[@RickinBaltimore]

George Lewis of course in Baltimore was Captain Chesapeake

[@armorybrunotjr.3204]

Bill Rice was the longtime announcer of various ABC news programs, such as "The ABC Evening News" and "World News Tonight".

[@markasflood8196]

Do You Have Any Sign-Offs From The Local Hampton Roads VA Market?

[@stephenr3910]

I remember watching an early morning show called "Reading Without Letters." It had a priest giving lessons to the camera to teach literacy using pictures that looked like letters. My father told me, "Don't watch this anymore. It's beneath you."

[@davidcouch6514]

In the 50’s and 60’s the Miami Florida stations would stay on the air overnight Hurricane passing through.

[@kylebulger4240]

When did tv closedowns in the USA end and 24/7 broadcasting begin? All I know was that the UK stopped doing closedowns and national anthems in November 1997 when the BBC News station was launched

[@karlstuber6399]

HBO would go off the air 30 minutes after I got home from work.1979, not sure how many years this went on.

[@Sailormac2]

Oh, God, I remember when we first got cable in the late ‘70s, HBO wouldn’t even sign on until about 5 pm! Before they started programming they’d run a reel of promos designed for cable companies to record and insert into other channels. In the summer, I always made sure I’d turn on the TV in time to see those promos. It gave you that feeling of seeing something you weren’t supposed to be seeing!

[@mickflaire]

I'm still trying to find the sign-off film made specially for KGSC Channel 36 in San Jose, California, USA that was a quasi-religeous cartoon with the 1968 Bill Medley (Righteous Bros.) song "Peace, Brother, Peace", as the soundtrack. I believe it was produced and used in 1970 as KGSC's end of broadcast day sign-off. The reason I termed it as quasi-religious is because I vaguely remember animated images of doves & stained glass windows like the kind found in churches, and maybe there were images of crosses too.

[@Hypatia52]

I remember watching these as a kid...a very sickly kid. I've always lived in either Oregon or Washington, so any station starting in W is "exotic" to me. I do remember when living in E. WA. that the strongest station was from NBC in Spokane signed off after 1:30 with the technical info and the peacock, and some signalling that I never understood, then going to static which always seemed spooky, for some reason. By '67, they started at 6am with the Pledge of Allegiance and the morning news and farm report on the Chicago commodities market.

[@plunkervillerr1529]

At 75 I remember this type of broadcasting in the New England area.

[@harmonysinger8077]

Me too

[@monaural2.988]

It’s AMAZING these exist at all. I wonder if any of the early morning farm reports of the 50s and 60s are anywhere?

[@radiomindchatter7994]

The nights were different then.. When the TV signed off..listened to the radio🌙

[@sa3270]

Or went to bed at a decent hour.

[@colettenasielski1533]

REALLY LOVE THIS

[@briancunningham3155]

I was born in New York City in 1956, and quite vividly remember the star-spangled banner at or about midnight. Sometimes my Dad and I would go fishing in Moriches Bay in Long Island in the wee hours of the morning. As we were getting ready for our drive, I would sometimes click on the television set, and see what was on. In those days, TV sets had tubes in them and they took a few moments to warm up. You would finally see a white dot in the center of the screen, then the scrambled picture lines, and then the actual picture which you sometime had to fix the picture from skipping! I saw that all of the stations CBS, NBC, ABC as well as WPIX, WOR, WNEW and PBS either had the snow, or a still pattern with the station call letters or with a native American with a steady high tone.

[@antiquearchives-n4v]

Well you're right! I was born in 2012 in Portugal, but since I was 8/9 years old I found out the first time that I found an US Sign-off with the national anthem recorded in 1977, WCBS. I know all of the TVs in America signing off without clips or PSA/National Anthem/American Orchestra clips. And by the way, you «heard» the National anthem before the static at midnight. Is that from you heard the US anthem from WCBS? Or WBAF-TV in Baton Rouge?

[@johnr5252]

Suggestion for all of society; shutdown everything from midnight to 6 am every day. That includes the internet. Force everyone to take a break and focus on something else.

[@luisreyes1963]

Good Luck with that, Comrade. 🤨

[@Sailormac2]

The winner here is the marching band spelling out the station’s name and then playing the National Anthem. I can just hear the station manager saying, “Hey, if we have to do this sign-off thing, we’re gonna do it with STYLE!”

[@gidzmobug2323]

KCET, the local PBS station, along with the USC band.

[@patrickmulligan6004]

love the sign off

[@luisreyes1963]

Too bad nobody does it anymore. 😢

[@followerofjulian1652]

1:01:55 Part of the first movement of Alan Hovhaness' Symphony No. 2, Op. 132, Mysterious Mountain. Remarkable that this music would be used!

[@talon1706]

I think it was Channel 2 in Buffalo New York That signed off with " Do you know where your children are?" When going off the air. Back in the late 60's,early 70's.

[@Dratchev241]

it's 10PM do you know where your children are?

[@TheJhn924]

WKBW channel 7... It's eleven O'clock. Do you know where your children are?

[@davidchildress6432]

Fresno California did the same thing

[@Sailormac2]

@@Dratchev241 OH GOD, Channel 5 in New York used to do that and I found it creepy as hell. I always half-expected it to be followed by, “WE DO! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”

[@gidzmobug2323]

Channel 11 here in LA (MetroMedia owned then) did that before the 10 pm news.

[@fixman88]

47:10 Wait, a QSL card for a TV station? Wow.

[@bernierecker]

in 1956 i was not born yet but 1975 and so on i was just kids back then thos tv sign off the air that reilly old that would be time went my mom and my dad word kids back than.

[@warlaker]

"Public interest" and "responsibilities to the community" If only those were still so today, but all that is long gone.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

You can thank Ronald Reagan for that.

[@Staszu13]

3:10 for WCAU that is John Facenda AKA Mr NFL Films

[@PatGleeson123]

Boy, TV signing-on in the morning here in Ireland would have been inconceivable. TV didn't even exist until the late 50's / early 60's. Even then in the south it didn't sign-on until early evening. It wasn't until the 90's that TV signed-on regularly in the morning.

[@steadyc9277]

Wow!

[@josephpetrino1741]

I read that with an Irish accent.

[@johnhouston9764]

Wow not until quite recently.

[@blockcl]

This is weirdly addictive.

[@jerryhorn4697]

48:08: The announcer for KBOI, Channel 2, in Boise, Idaho. Are you speaking from down inside the city's sewer?

[@NelvanaFan1971]

Lol😂

[@kurttoy5035]

I would like to see, in addition to the WPGH sign-off, those from KDKA-2, WTAE-4, WIIC/WPXI-11, and WPTT-22, other Pittsburgh stations.

[@brentonyancheck4861]

Also WJAC, Johnstown/Altoona

[@ostrich67]

47:24 WPGH signed off and went dark on August 16th 1971 due to financial and technical problems. This was the announcement for that. They didn't sign back on until 1974.

[@kurttoy5035]

And has been with the Fox network since its inception in 1986.

[@Cnasielski66]

I remember WCAU when Gene Crane was there and still is

[@thewkovacs316]

i still remember when stations would sign off god im old

[@Thetrueking-gr2ss]

You're not alone. Same here

[@petebradt]

@@Thetrueking-gr2ss I'm ***69*** in two weeks.

[@notvalidcharacters]

Wasn't that long ago. I remember TVDXing Miami Ch 2 WPBT (from Vermont) one night, and when they signed off the signal was replaced by WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge, 1400 mile skip. I know from where I lived that that was right around 1991. Come to think of it I was signing my own FM station off the air each weeknight at that same time -- using something like the scripts here but I would riff on them: "WKXE operates with 3000 watts of power, a few of them even in stereo". And some nights I had music left over so I just stayed on the air past midnight with bonus radio. Nobody ever caught me ;)

[@thewkovacs316]

@@notvalidcharacters that's cool. i dont ever remember one station replacing another after sign off

[@clyde642006]

In Las Vegas in the 70s & early 80s channel 3 KVBC would play Simon & Garfunkel “Sounds of Silence” when they went off the air. 🎶

[@cpcva724]

Back when in the middle of the night there was truly nothing to watch on tv. There was one station in my area (south-eastern VA ) that didnt sign on until 530 pm. WYAH was founded by Pat Robertson from the 700 Club. For years he ran the station on a shoestring budget. Not sure what time they signed off. It's now WGNT a CW affiliate.

[@gidzmobug2323]

How did they think people would copy programs if VCRs were not around in the 1960s? Wow, WNAC has a super-short signoff (9:22)

[@solinus7131]

There were film video cameras then

[@dylaninpieces2]

@Adam Stabelli Also, Quadruplex tape machines.

[@1L6E6VHF]

It was about 1970 that 1/2" inch open-reel monochrome video recorders became affordable to fans interested in them (about $1000 USD).

[@1L6E6VHF]

@@solinus7131 There were home movie cameras that were affordable for home movies by 1940. You had to mail your film to Kodak, who processed your movie, and sent it back to you.

[@notvalidcharacters]

Kinescope?

[@luisreyes1963]

Too bad you didn't get any vintage sign-offs from Chicago TV stations, especially from WGN-TV, WFLD or WSNS.

[@syxepop]

Normally that would be the gig for The Museum of Classic Chicago Television ( the link to their webpage is giving me "security problems", so you should find it through their YT account ). They're considered the curators for Chicagoland broadcasting.

[@tesfaystifanos3105]

Wgn-tv 9

[@JoanSmith-t7k]

NO, in the 1960s and 70s we never had a Channel 3 ; BUT, I miss it, when the announcer used to say KNXT Ch 2, in Los Angeles ...😢

[@tannarbuck7908]

My dad told me how the T.V. Would sign off every night and you weren’t able to watch it like you can now all night long I wondered if at least the radio stayed on so you could still be entertained or entertain a party and this video answered that yes it did

[@notvalidcharacters]

Some radio stations signed off, some didn't.

[@sushi_donut]

This reminds me of Reviewbrah and VORW TheReportOfTheWeek 📻

[@fratzogmopars]

I guess the television code has gone out the window nowadays.

[@JHollowayNetwork]

What about the 1963 TV signoffs including the NYC stations? (WCBS, WNBC, WNEW, WABC, WOR and WPIX)

[@ortizramon]

I'm surprised by the amount of airwave watts these station transmitter pump out.

[@JTSunriseMusic]

SuperCool

[@jerryhorn4697]

47:25: The announcer for WPGH, Channel 53 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, knowing this was the station's final day, sounds so depressed.

[@LaptopLarry330]

WPGH Channel 53 did indeed return to the air, and are still broadcasting today.

[@kurttoy5035]

I wonder who the voice was. The only announcer names from that incarnation of WPGH 1969-71 that I know of are Pat Fitzgerald and Mel Berman.

[@joeadams-iv9yb]

One station i would listen to in Louisiana would go out with dixieland sung by Elvis Aaron Presley.

[@littleprincess4417]

That was KTBS-3. Not sure why they didn’t include the sign off from them, but they were expressly mentioned at the beginning.

[@srb725]

@@littleprincess4417It might be because of the Dixieland song.

[@littleprincess4417]

Probably because of the idiots who want to totally destroy the southern heritage. @@srb725

[@axy56]

How many sign off audio are found on website

[@stringercorrales6627]

I think tv stations should sign off instead of airing horrible talk shows and infomercials all night. Except Comet TV and H&I. They know what they’re doing at night.

[@ciesaro]

Call me weird but as a kid seeing that NAB seal of approval used to scare the hell out of me

[@notvalidcharacters]

Actually that strikes me as a very healthy reaction. Your mendacity radar was functional.

[@1950Grendel]

Me, too. There was another of the "Town Crier" that looked like the Quaker Oats guy but with a frightened expression. That scared me, too.

[@stephenr3910]

​@1950Grendel I forgot about the Town Crier.

[@cw9583]

The Civil Defense symbol used to scare me.

[@joshgalka9414]

Cool!

[@kevins6114]

When did KYW operate in Cleveland (and not in Philly)?

[@jefflowe2377]

KYW ( Group W ) in Philadelphia . same company .

[@aprilbillingsley2835]

That’s correct

[@LaptopLarry330]

KYW operated in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1950s and to the mid-1960s, when they gave the call letters to a Philadelphia TV station, and then took up the call letters of WKYC, which is still in use at the present day.

[@notvalidcharacters]

Actually KYW started in Chicago 1921, moved to Philly 1934, Nineteen years later it launched its TV station having bought WPTZ from Philco. Three years later Westinghouse and NBC worked a trade where KYW and WPTZ would move from Philly to Cleveland and NBC's WTAM (radio) and WNBK (TV) would move in the reverse direction. The traded stations assumed the callsigns WRCV in Philly and KYW in Cleveland. They simply swapped licenses and renamed the stations. But nine years later after much legal wrangling FCC ordered that the trade could not stand and had to be reversed; at that point (1965) WRCV-TV in Philly Ch 3 became KYW, as did the radio station.

[@gsnfan]

20:30 Same sign off used for decades even after the call letters changed to WPVI in 1971.

[@gidzmobug2323]

WABC's signoff has not changed much, either.

[@Sailormac2]

Channel 6 had a very elaborate signoff video at one point featuring news anchor Jim Gardner narrating: “This is Philadelphia! City of Liberty!” (Cue city scenes, inevitable shots of the William Penn statue and Liberty Bell, etc.) I saw it not too long ago, either somewhere online or during the tribute Channel 6 did when Jim Gardner retired.

[@tonypanzarella9387]

Some serious ground loops present.

[@JoanSmith-t7k]

NO, you didn't show it, Ch. 52 while it was still in English, before it became Telemundo; I used to watch it signing off, at 7:30 P.M. It even had its own theme song, I recorded the theme song on my 1950s tape recorder so I wouldn't forget it, it turned out, I didn't have to record it because I memo - rized it over 50 years ago !!!😮

[@jupiterinaries6150]

I always liked the one where that pilot is flying a plane .

[@MarkWhich]

We slept very well back then, NO TV or any little technololgy gadget to keep us awake.

[@The1trueking1966]

You suck

[@samuelward1188]

Tv must've been good back then and then when it would sign off at night because it wouldn't run as it does now I wish I was around to see that

[@davidchildress6432]

I was it was

[@RedArwBus]

KYW 3 IS NOW CBS 3 IN PHILADELPHIA

[@MeowCockadoodledoo]

47:25 wow....signing off at unusual time due to underfunding. too bad.

[@roncaruso931]

The sign offs always had our National Anthem. The sign on always began with prayer. Not a bad idea to go back to that.

[@santafe37s]

A shame we can't go back that way again.

[@BobPagani]

Yes, we definitely need superstition shoved down our collective throat more.

[@notvalidcharacters]

Oh yes, let's go back to a poem about war and bombs and rockets and flag fetishism that never even bothers to mention a country's name, what could possibly go wrong with that.

[@roncaruso931]

@notvalidcharacters Go eat a marshmallow. That out national anthem. Your probably a liberal who voted for feeble Biden. If not, then your a millennial who has a brain like mush.

[@Surf456]

​@@notvalidcharacters 🇺🇸 🇺🇲 Yes! 🇺🇸 🇺🇲

[@keithhyttinen8275]

Ours in Detroit had a speech by George Washington with something about leading "sheep to the slaughter" or something.

[@notvalidcharacters]

Now THAT would be singularly appropriate for a boob tube channel.

[@briane173]

I wanna know how a Cleveland TV station got to use the KYW call sign when every other station east of the Mississippi had to use a "W" in theirs.

[@ostrich67]

Other than KDKA that is. Probably they were assigned that before the rule was established.

[@Dratchev241]

@@ostrich67 correct assigned before the rule its also how a lot of the plain states have W calls. if I am not mistaken KYW call was originally issued to Chicago. also the tv station actual callsign is KYW-TV KDKA call is also KDKA-TV the non -FM -TV is for the AM station. another odd thing with callsigns you can have say WABZ in buffalo while WABZ-FM in Indianapolis and WABZ-TV in Atlanta.

[@BobPagani]

@@Dratchev241 Multiple stations with the same call letters is a fairly recent phenomena.

[@Dratchev241]

@@BobPagani not really. unless you could the 1940s/50s as fairly recent.

[@BobPagani]

@@Dratchev241 I think it's more recent than that.

[@cateclism316]

I have to admit I was waiting for the national anthem after these! BTW, whatever happened to the Television Code?

[@luisreyes1963]

It was abandoned in the 90's when infomercials started to appear on the air.

[@gidzmobug2323]

It was eventually ruled to be unconstitutional back in the 1980s.

[@notvalidcharacters]

@@gidzmobug2323 That's pretty much impossible. "Television codes", empty as they are, are not federal laws.

[@gidzmobug2323]

@@notvalidcharacters Carter's DOJ filed an antitrust action against the National Association of Broadcasters. Long story short, there was a consent decree after the legal action.

[@Thetrueking-gr2ss]

Cool stuff

[@franktillman295]

What about the Vietnam era National Anthem 🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@rpmcanada1971]

How to get rid of blinding white backgrounds (when Audio only)? Quite annoying. Black background and white writing is much better...

[@jerryhorn4697]

57:15: Washington has GROWpower??? Oh I'm laughing!!! Nowadays, Washington, D.C., has BLOWpower and WOEpower and NOpower!!!

[@montysmith6355]

KVOR CH13 in Sacramento California was a ABC station and just a few years ago they swapped with another station KXTV CH 10 a CBS station to become the ABC station and CH 13 became the CBS station ,and that really confused the people here and three months before the switch was made both stations explained it to the people ....confused ?.yes but it worked itself out in the end

[@keithhyttinen8275]

How did Cleveland have a station with call letters that started with a "K"? I thought the FCC had the K west of the Mississippi River. And "W" east of the river.

[@thepathoforion]

It changed in the 60’s. KYW became WKYC and WJW became WJKW.

[@LaptopLarry330]

WJKW returned back to WJW Cleveland, Ohio, and still uses these call letters today.

[@notvalidcharacters]

@@thepathoforion No, it didn't. KYW was made to move back to Philadelphia where it still operates today (radio and TV). FCC ruled that the 1956 swap between Westinghouse and NBC had to be undone. I remember that swap growing up.

[@halah34]

It came from KYW-AM. Some of the first AM radio stations were randomly assigned ship call signs without regard to location. KDKA and KQV in Pittsburgh are a couple others still in existence. Also, the river wasn’t always the dividing line, it used to be roughly the Rocky Mountains. WHO in Des Moines, WOAI in San Antonio and WRR in Dallas are a couple that come to mind.

[@notvalidcharacters]

@@halah34 WBAP in Fort Worth, west of Dallas, is one I remember DXing from chidhood. And of course the NIST has WWV in Fort Collins and WWVH in Hawaìi, although to be fair WWV moved there from Maryland. I scored a QSL card from the moment they made the switch.

[@thepathoforion]

How about a video compilation of old test patterns?

[@LaptopLarry330]

There are some videos of old test pattern cards available for viewing here on KZbin.

[@1L6E6VHF]

Interesting that WFIL had a superpower facility- more than 100kW on the VHF low band. Did they get a waiver for the superpower operation, perhaps because they had to make up for the short tower?

[@purpleskysproductions4656]

They actually co-owned that tower with WRCV 3 (now KYW 3)

[@notvalidcharacters]

I don't think 100kW is all that much for a TV station...

[@1L6E6VHF]

Inasmuch as we're talking about the maximum peak output on USA Channel 6, the maximum power allowed was 100kw peak power - the same power fields applied to ALL of the VHF-low band. TV stations on Channels 7 through 13 had that limit with 316,000 watts. UHF stations had a limit of 5,000,000 watts. Stations did not need to use the maximum power, though the majority of stations did use the maximum.

[@titanytofficial_]

Cleveland looks so little. (KYW 3 1956)

[@LaptopLarry330]

Eventually, the TV station gave the KYW call letters to a Philadelphia TV station, and became WKYC.

[@notvalidcharacters]

@@titanytofficial_ No. Larry's wrong. Again. NBC and Westinghouse had traded Philadelphia/Cleveland stations 1956. The KYW callsign moved from Philly to Cleveland. Nine years later FCC ruled that that trade had to be undone, and the KYW callsign returned to Philly, where it's literally on the air right now, radio and television. When I was a wee tyke our Channel 3 TV and our AM 1060 were called WRCV; when I got to be a young teen they changed to KYW. They're still KYW now.

[@titanytofficial_]

@@notvalidcharacters I know

[@JoanSmith-t7k]

At 50:36, No, I don't remember that ...

[@gidzmobug2323]

What happened with WPGG? Are they back on the air?

[@luisreyes1963]

WPGG is now WPG-FM, a talk radio station based in Atlantic City, NJ.

[@avisittodonnalandcapecoral]

@@luisreyes1963and what about the ABNCB Star Spangled Banner in Sign-offs?

[@luisreyes1963]

​@@avisittodonnalandcapecoral How should I know? 🤷‍♂️

[@sa3270]

Mega-"cycles"?

[@AmethystLeslie]

1:09:33 Oh hey, I guess Channel 41 in NYC was always a Spanish-language channel judging from this person's accent. That's Univision.