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Analog Shutdowns

S

Stanislav

Almost a week ago, the final batch of shutdowns for full-time analog TV stations occurred.

Some stations made a big production out of the switch-off, with things such as special programs, guests, old clips, classic test patterns, etc. Some did the old hackneyed idea of focusing on the transmitter as it was killed. Some stations really went in for nostalgia. WFSB in Hartford, for example, replayed a kinescope of their original 1957 sign-on as WTIC-TV. KYW-TV in Philly also played up its history, coming full-circle by ending with a recreation of the W3XE test pattern from their early experimental days.

At the opposite extreme were some stations, even some very long-standing historic outlets, that made no hoopla about the shutdown, and simply cut the carrier with no announcement, sometimes in the middle of a program!

So, what, if anything, special did your own area stations do last Friday? Any of you record the event for posterity?
 
On the Atlanta board someone mentioned that
WAGA brought back the engineer who put the
station on the air in 1949 (he's now 99 years young),
and the station was referred to by its old nickname,
"wagga"; too bad they couldn't find a terrier that looks
like the station's original mascot. WXIA also brought
back the engineer who signed that station on (as
WLTV/8) in 1951. WSB, oddly enough, didn't do much,
except to bring back '50s/'60s-era news anchor Ray Moore.

In these parts, there wasn't much; Jim Goodmon, president
of Capital Broadcasting, owners of WRAL, was interviewed
just before WRAL shut down analog, but that's the only
special thing I saw. By the time I turned on the set, WFMY
had gone to that bilingual PSA (they switched over at 10 AM);
WUNC, WGHP, WUVC, and WRAZ had not shut down analog,
while WNCN had but had made no big deal about it.
 
In this thread ( http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=146042.0 ) on the Texas TV board, the big end-of-analog done by WFAA/8 is referenced and linked. Several already have commented around R-I that it was probably one of the better ones done. Ch.8 showed different aspects of it's history, including it's previous calls (KBTV) and location (where PBS station KERA/13 is now), black & white pix and newspaper clippings, exterior shots of it's current location from (probably) the 1960's, various interiors (including an open from their news, had to be the late 1960s), on-screen logos past/present, and brief images and clips of stories thru the years (JFK of course, Delta 191 crash, rescue of Jessica from the well, a 1957 tornado west and northwest of downtown Dallas). Then they showed an early 1970s era sign off with many exterior images around Dallas and Fort Worth, followed by a classic color station ID from 2 or 3 logos ago. Then snow and noise.
 
KDKA TV in Pittsburgh did a very nice analog sign-off clip. They cut away from Dave Letterman about 5 min early, then ran an old film of an Air Force jet fighter aloft while a patriotic poem was read. Then they played the national anthem, accompanied by station flashback footage starting today and working it's way back to the beginning, ending up on the WDTV Channel 3 test pattern. Links are available on KDKA's website and on YouTube.

WPXI TV on the other hand was deeply involved in post-game coverage of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup from Detroit. At about 10 before midnight, they ran a very brief reminder about the analog sign off, and showed their phone bank waiting to receive calls. Then they went back to coverage, and pulled the plug right in the middle of an interview with Pens GM Ray Shero (trivia answer now to "last person ever seen on WPXI in analog") By my watch it was about 2 min. early, I think to allow CW19 to fire-up their new digital signal on channel 11.

I did not see how WTAE TV handled this. The local rumor going around is that if Game 7 had gone into overtime, WPXI was prepared to pay a hallacious FCC fine, rather than shut down analog with the game still going.
 
Freddy E:
Could you tell me how to find the YouTube link to KDKA's final sign-off?..I'd like to do an article on my blog featuring 3 sign-offs, including KDKA, WLWT Cincinnati, and KYW Philadelphia..Unfortunately none of the Cleveland stations thought it was important enough to do any kind of special retrospective at their own analog sign-offs..Thanks..
 
easttxtv said:
In this thread ( http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=146042.0 ) on the Texas TV board, the big end-of-analog done by WFAA/8 is referenced and linked. Several already have commented around R-I that it was probably one of the better ones done. Ch.8 showed different aspects of it's history, including it's previous calls (KBTV) and location (where PBS station KERA/13 is now), black & white pix and newspaper clippings, exterior shots of it's current location from (probably) the 1960's, various interiors (including an open from their news, had to be the late 1960s), on-screen logos past/present, and brief images and clips of stories thru the years (JFK of course, Delta 191 crash, rescue of Jessica from the well, a 1957 tornado west and northwest of downtown Dallas). Then they showed an early 1970s era sign off with many exterior images around Dallas and Fort Worth, followed by a classic color station ID from 2 or 3 logos ago. Then snow and noise.
Click to expand...

As I mentioned on the Texas board, I think it would have been cool if
Ch. 8 had been able to get Don Morrow to come down and sign off
analog; he signed the station on (as KBTV) in 1949. Morrow, as any
of you who read my postings know, is perhaps best known as host of
the original "Camouflage" and as the Shell Answer Man (and has been
one of my favorite voice specialists since his "Camouflage" days).
But since his voiceover school meets in Danbury, CT, on Friday nights,
he probably wouldn't have been available.
 
FreddyE1977 said:
KDKA TV in Pittsburgh did a very nice analog sign-off clip. They cut away from Dave Letterman about 5 min early, then ran an old film of an Air Force jet fighter aloft while a patriotic poem was read. Then they played the national anthem, accompanied by station flashback footage starting today and working it's way back to the beginning, ending up on the WDTV Channel 3 test pattern. Links are available on KDKA's website and on YouTube.
Click to expand...

I thought I noticed Vic Miles at one point in that montage, before he began a nearly quarter-century run at WCBS-TV in New York.
 
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