WBBM Channel 2 - Seal of Good Practice, SSB, & Station Sign-Off (1981)

Here's a more complete sign-off sequence from WBBM Channel 2 (as compared with this circa 1978 sign-off www.fuzzymemori.... Includes:
Station ID / promo for The Rockford Files for 4:00pm (voiceover by ??)
Television Code "Seal of Good Practice" notice (the same 1965 design variant as on this 1979 sign-on), followed by approximately 30 seconds of black and then showing the SOGP again (voiceover by Jerry Harper) www.fuzzymemori...
National Anthem, a.k.a. "CBS SSB"
Remainder of station sign-off, with different ID slide from other aforementioned clips - station logo with ITC Avant Garde Bold for channel number, call letters and city of license, and different shot of Chicago skyline with shot of John Hancock Building where WBBM's transmitter was / is located (voiceover by Jerry Harper)
Animated station ID (voiceover by Bob Carrington)
Approximately 12 seconds of black, followed by EIA color bars and tone
This aired on local Chicago TV early Thursday, January 8th 1981.
This was from a tape donated to The Museum of Classic Chicago Television as part of The Heather Bricker Collection.
About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:
The Museum of Classic Chicago Television's primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s and early 80s, primarily) recorded off of any and all Chicago TV channels; footage which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. Even though (mostly) short clips are displayed here, we preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical purposes. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to DVD, and to view more of the 4,500+ (and counting) video clips available for viewing in our online archive, please visit us at:
www.fuzzymemori...

[@staticmunk7777]

sweet staticy sound of analog I miss it so much

[@wendyhermes]

Somehow, it was more pleasant to wake up to the "off the air", color bars, after falling asleep on the couch, than it is to annoying infomercials. Give me the National Anthem over the "Vacuum Shark", any day.

[@mrquiet2009]

I would love to have either that or a good old fashioned late night movie over any infomercial. So, I am completely with you.

[@DOMtheGrasshopper]

Hear, hear. 👍

[@sillygoose635]

it really wasn't.

[@theclasscalico]

It's interesting to look back at sign-ins/sign-offs as they become increasingly less prevalent as 24 hour television is becoming more common; although, admittedly, I was not alive, nor did I experience this, or many other sign-offs in my lifetime, it's fascinating to see how television has changed, may that be for better or for worse.

[@525Lines]

They were starting to do 24 hour broadcasting about this time. I remember you could get up and catch some cheezy movie on TV at 3am.

[@staticmunk7777]

+525Lines I miss those goodtimes a lot like the komo fourmost movie those were timeless

[@samanthanickson6478]

tv code of good practice? man this was way before the Kardashians

[@Lovejazz01]

This was spooky to me as a child, I thought they shut down the whole world when this happened lol!

[@timharper73]

According to a discussion on Fuzzy Memories' website where this clip first originated, this WBBM sign-off seems to have occurred after the airing of the Late Show movie "The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell" around the time frame of about 5:30am. Meditation would usually be shown before their sign-off. I'm thinking MC couldn't get the film up in time hence the delay after the SOGP and then the repeating of it. Guess they just decided at that point to just run the SSB in order to quickly get to the sign-off. Great to see this as these types of recordings are becoming more scarce to discover these days.

[@hf6150]

20 seconds of dead air = NOT "good practice"

[@hateut]

Tv channels need to go back to these days imo.

[@sillygoose635]

they shouldn't.

[@toddcharry]

The Seal of Good Practice, killed off in 1983 and trashy TV began. Oh and it also limited the number of minutes of commercials per hour.

[@bethdibartolomeo2042]

Limited? Commercials seemed a lot shorter back in the 1970s and 1980s from what I've seen of commercial slate videos on Fuzzy Memories/Museum of Classic Chicago Television.

[@toddcharry]

Beth Di Bartolomeo Sorry, I meant that the commercials in a set period became unregulated when the Television code of conduct was no longer in effect.

[@MeanMrTibbs]

I remember they being a ton of commercials back in the 70s. Now, when I watch reruns, I'm seeing alot of full scenes that they cut out back then to make room for more commercials.

[@patrickrancourt869]

this was a good old times ...... thanx God 4 the 80's

[@saxongreen78]

Rockford...recently relegated to the afternoon slot by Magnum PI.

[@MirkoMazzoni2000]

The Seal of Good Practice needs attention as this gets shown twice!

[@wmbrown6]

What I'd wanted to ask, was when WBBM would have ceased use of their old-style B&W CBS test pattern (which was shown during "down times" as late as 1973) and replaced them with the electronic color bars as seen here.

[@fayettebrown14]

it's about time!

[@MrIveyIsBonkers]

Is that the same SSB used in Poltergeist?

[@hf6150]

Re: the promo at the top - I wonder if WBBM could be seen IN Rockford then.

[@bdaddyn678]

Now this is replaced by the all night infomercial block. Lots of paid programming. God I wish I made all those "tiny" classified ads in various newspapers so that I can supposedly make "good" money so I won't have to keep up with the Kardashians anymore. smh

[@goanimate3556]

Can you do WIFR and WTVO Rockford sign offs?

[@devinty718]

WBBM. Not WCBS!

[@dt2phillips]

Any microwave relay signals?

[@sdgojdfpghj]

3:00 to 3:10, I think something is being violated here. :)

[@MeanMrTibbs]

Right, like I'm gonna write to CBS for they permission before I tape Sanford and Son. They gotta be on crack.

[@TheEpicMario]

I hated how this used to happen. I stayed up late at times to turn on ABC or CBS, and I get the color bars. I’m honestly glad Television is a 24 hours a day 7 days a week thing now