WGN Channel 9 - Newsbreak, 5 Minutes to Live By, Station Sign-Off & SSB (1/1/1979)

Here's a nice little New Year's bit from WGN Channel 9 - a Newsbreak with George Bauer, then a 5 Minutes to Live By segment, Station Sign-Off and the National Anthem (Star-Spangled Banner).
Theme music used for Newsbreak was "Effervescence" by Dorf van der Linden ( • Dolf van der Linden - ... )
This aired on local Chicago TV early Monday, January 1st 1979 during the 5:00am to 5:15am timeframe.
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 (or other cities occasionally); 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 preservation. 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 4,700+ (and counting) video clips available for viewing in our online archive, please visit us at:
www.fuzzymemori...

[@lavontreyclarke3285]

"This is WGN Television 9, in Chicago, wishing you a safe and happy new year."

[@schmitty139]

Chicago had a blizzard 🌬❄couple weeks after this telecast..1979

[@thomasbrown3356]

I was in 8th grade and getting ready for an extended holiday vacation, courtesy of the Great Blizzard. Had a blast playing in giant snow banks.

[@thomasbrown3356]

That weather forecast! Chicago winters used to be way more brutal than todays conditions. Didn't bother me as much as when I was a kid.

[@edramsay9280]

What was cool was that NEWSBREAK was live, even back before CNN got its 24 hour news sea legs going. I used to stay up and watch Channel 9 sign off at 3-3:30am almost every night---especially in the summer when I didn't have school. I remember this very well---this version of the national anthem was always creepy to me---very somber, like a funeral march.

[@scottthomas7870]

I'm a fan of retired Chicago television staff announcers, and only a few from my childhood and early adult years today survive. WGN had the most announcers who I knew by name. George Bauer, Bob Bell, Floyd Brown, Merri Dee, Carl Grayson, Jerry Golden, Steve Hunter, Len Johnson, Jack Taylor, and a lot more. Miss them all.

[@iliv4disc77]

How about Len O'Connor's commentary?

[@bethdibartolomeo2042]

I'm sure anyone who might have heard that newscast couldn't have imagined that later that year the Shah of Iran would become a name connected to a terrible hostage crisis.

[@lavontreyclarke3285]

"This is WGN Television Channel 9 in Chicago, owned and operated by WGN Continental Broadcasting Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tribune Company coming to you from the top of the John Hancock Building. This Seal of Good Practice is WGN Television's pledge to present the finest possible programs of entertainment, information and education to our community. It identifies Channel 9 as a subscriber to the Television Code of the National Association of Broadcasters. All rights in programs telecast by this station are reserved. These programs may be received in places where no cover, admission, entertainment, or mechanical operations charges are made, but no program may be used or reproduced in any other manner. We invite you to join us again a bit later this morning here on Channel 9. Until then, this is George Bauer and the entire staff of WGN Television, biding you all a very happy new year."

[@scrapper276]

My dad back in the day if I was up late at night when he heard the snow coming from the tv.Hewould wake up at night,and start yelling profanities at the top of his lungs.They used to run the test pattern continusly at night with that beeping noise that had no break in it with the colors of that pattern.He would really flip out if I accidentally fell asleep with the tv on.Looking back on it;that was hilarious.😂

[@timharper73]

Happy New Year fuzzymemories! Looking forward to more unearthed gems like this one in 2021! Thank you to whoever recorded this!

[@Tomovox_PAMS_Radio_JIngles]

Just incredible. But then, it's always incredible the thing Fuzzy Memories brings back to life. One of these late night "faceless" newscasts featured an explanation by one of the newsman as to why you had these things with only a slide showing. I'm probably missing that this was already discussed, but I thought it was interesting that it all boiled down to economics; it was cheaper to present these because you didn't have to pay a union member to work the cameras, turn on the lights, etc. I guess at this time of the night (or morning) the station felt nobody would mind not seeing who was behind the mic.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

A lot of stations did it this way back then.

[@andyrose5616]

Even at non-union stations, it wasn't very practical to have an on-camera news update early in the morning. The cameras they used at the time had vacuum tubes that took a while to warm up, after which they needed careful adjustment from an engineer to get properly registered.

[@redmanr5522]

1979 started on a Monday, just like 1990, 1996, 2001, 2007, 2018, and so will 2024.

[@phantom6226]

WGN was scheduled to sign on on 5:50 AM.

[@CrowTRobot-ni7zu]

Just 35 minutes off-air. That wasn’t common back then. I think most stations were still signing off for at least a couple hours, at the time.

[@jareddicarlo7816]

Father Patrick Tucker, it turns out, is still alive, and still a priest.

[@pauljr.harrington1905]

Have a great 1979.

[@AnthonyTorres1988]

I wish if you do have New Year's with Dick Clark the full broadcast on ABC. Please ?.🙏

[@pernelldh]

12:21 National Anthem film begins.

[@redmanr5522]

the national anthem must have been filmed in the late 60s or early 70s? when it first carried the business name Continental Broadcasting Company. (circa 1966 in the early days of the CBC business name).

[@CrowTRobot-ni7zu]

I find it interesting that they actually turned the transmitter off at the end, considering that they were going off the air for only 35 minutes.

[@SuperTony1968]

Happy New Year.

[@ianpavelko3827]

Happy 2021, gang!

[@luisreyes1963]

I was in middle school when this took place in '79. Also, does anyone know the name of the organ piece that plays at the beginning & end of the Sermonette? ✝️

[@alexlee6487]

WGN Continental Broadcasting Company is known today as Tribune Broadcasting

[@gidzmobug2323]

No. Nexstar has owned WGN since 2019.

[@KGMONEY1906]

Happy New Year!

[@SuperTony1968]

If You Have Any More Sign Off’s From Chicago Television w/Any Last Sermons Please Post Them. I Enjoyed Five Min.To Live By On WGN,Reflections On WLS,Meditation On WMAQ,& Thought For The Day On WFLD.

[@fayettebrown2312]

And also meditations on wbbm channel 2

[@milfordcivic6755]

Strange they'd be signing off at 5:15am

[@jareddicarlo7816]

Well, WGN’s hours were getting longer by this point, and it eventually dropped the sign-offs later that year.

[@timharper73]

@@jareddicarlo7816 I actually thought WGN completely stopped signing off in 1980 as that's when their ids would start showing their "serving channel 9 viewers 24 hours a day" slogan at that time. Even with WGN going 24/7, the station still would air a "legalese" or "courtesy sign-on" at around 5 AM or so to comply with the TV rules then of giving the channel number, call letters, owner & operator plus any other disclaimers. Then came the national anthem. After that was the start of the day's programming. And 9 did this up until at least 1994! Rick has one posted here from 1982 and there's several other documented videos scattered on KZbin (type "wgn sign on" - they'll pop up).

[@flatcapman]

@14:20 14 seconds work? Stick in your door jam you cheap bums. That tone under the static translated is "F*CK." in 400hz