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Odd TV Memories

R

Route66Fan

Based somewhat on a post in the United States - National Radio thread "When automation fails...'. What are some "Odd TV Memories" that you all have.

I remember a day before WB affiliate KCWB-TV Ch. 29 (Now KCWE-TV.) came on-the-air for the first time (Saturday, September 14, 1996.) that they were doing some testing & running promos for shows that they were going to show once they came on-the-air.

In the Summer of 1998, I also remember PBS station KCPT-TV Ch. 19 having severe technical problems (They would abruptly lose the PBS satellite signal & have to show a static image of their then logo, with a female announcer saying something like "We have temporarily lost our satellite feed from the Public Broadcasting Service, Please Stand By.". Other times, KCPT-TV would show color bars or abruptly go off-the-air in the middle of a program. These technical problems would last anywhere from a few minutes to over an hour. The problems got so bad that I had to watch PBS station KMOS-TV Ch. 6 in Sedalia\Warrensburg, MO instead. I later learned that KCPT-TV was at the time installing & experimenting with equipment to broadcast Digital TV at around that time.

Sometime around 1999, about a year after KCWB-TV Ch. 29 changed it's callsign to KCWE-TV & network affiliation to UPN & acquired programming from Fox Kids. I remember trying to record a Fox Kids showing of an episode of the Magic School Bus off of KCWE-TV, but instead of recording the show, I instead recorded a color bar test pattern\Buena Vista Television slate for 3rd Rock from the Sun (A show that KCWE-TV did not have the rights to.).

Then around early 2017, On a Monday night at around 7PM Central, I caught, now CW affiliate, KCWE-TV showing CBS programming (The show was Kevin Can Wait.), The CBS affiliate in Kansas City, MO (KCTV-TV Ch. 5.) & CW affilate (KCWE-TV.) are not owned by the same company. This technical problem lasted for about 7 minutes until someone in KCWE-TVs master control noticed the error.
Finally, in late 2018, I was recording an episode of the CBS show, The Inspectors, off of KCTV-TV. During the show, KCTV-TV started having technical difficulties which caused the picture to keep fading in & out. One time when the picture faded out, they ended up showing what looked like virtual monitors which showed the network feed, the feed for Comet TV (Which they carry on Ch. 5.2.) & the feeds going to the Cable TV providers.
Here is a screenshot of what the "virtual monitors" looked like. kctvglitch.jpg

A few things that I would also like to know are what satellite transponders Fox Kids & Buena Vista using at the time, if any other TV stations had technical difficulties when installing & experimenting with Digital TV & also what virtual monitor software KCTV-TV was using.

Sorry for the long post. Thank you for reading.
 
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This isn't quite as involved, but I can remember being sick with the flu and watching The Mamas And The Papas sing "Monday, Monday" on "American Bandstand". I can't remember watching test feeds of any station that was preparing to go on the air. That would have been interesting.
 
I posted multiple accounts of TV stations screwing up here, and they happen way too often, but I'll list a few:

Multiple times the past few years where KAPP (ABC) would air a syndicated program like Rachael Ray, and the audio would cut out. You'd get this obnoxious "BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ" noise for anywhere from 10 seconds to 2 minutes. No one ever checks it. In the olden days, before MC went from KAPP to KXLY, the MCO would have cut it out, and displayed a technical difficulties bumper.

Multiple times (20+ times) where KCYU (FOX) would run Two and a Half Men reruns with ACT 2 BEFORE ACT 1. Who would mess that up? Meaning the first break was around 10 minutes in, then the opening act would air, the theme song and montage, into another commercial break a few minutes later that should have aired about 3 minutes after the start of the episode.

I recall a time or two where ABC test patterns showed up on KOMO Seattle's feed, but they would only last for a few seconds then get cut off. Seattle stations didn't do that bad when it came to technical issues.
However, there was that one day about 10 years ago where a fire caused millions in damage to Fisher Plaza's data control. Disrupted the TV signals that whole night into the morning. Once KOMO got a 'signal' back on the air, it was extremely bare bones. KATU Portland helped get their feed back on cable and OTA. I recall them airing syndicated shows in the wrong order. Wheel of Fortune aired at 4PM the next day after the fire, followed by Jeopardy (or was it an infomercial?) All the local commercials were PSAs with the KATU logo here and there. Their 'newscast' consisted of one or two cameras in front of Fisher Plaza with Steve Pool using an easel for weather...straight out of 1953. Graphics were extreme bare bones too, someone was able to get a KOMO logo bug on the lower right. I think there's a YouTube video somewhere.
KUNS-TV had no signal, just distorted static, and I think the STL calls. That went on for quite a while until they could get Univision's feed back. KVI-570 was off??? I think? KPLZ 101.5 was looping CDs from the xmitter building until they could get back in the building. No IDs, no DJs.

Couple times I've noticed KNDO screwing up the 'feed' and airing Yoke's Fresh Markets ads, and commercials for car dealers in Kennewick and Hermiston, and the ID was "KNDU-DT Richland"...More often that not nowadays it's them being out for days on end or having no audio, or the latest carriage dispute with DIRECTV. NBC 'Right Now'? They are the worst in terms of running a signal correctly.

One time KIMA Yakima (CBS) was running Big Bang Theory over the network. CBS went to local break and it went black. And stayed black. For over a minute! Then the commercials aired, interrupting 1-2 minutes of Big Bang. Not more than 5-10 seconds later the same ads interrupt the show AGAIN! Finally somebody noticed and we didn't get interrupted for the rest of BBT.

There's probably more but I'll end it there for now.
 
Interesting posts.

Sometime around 2004-05, KSMO-TV Ch. 62 (Then a WB affilate) used to show reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond & The Drew Carey Show on Saturday nights from 6-7PM. One Saturday evening, at around 6:10PM, I turned to Ch. 62 & they were having technical diffuculties & were showing a fullscreen version of the logo they were using at the time while playing some (possibly) satellite fed music. At around 6:20PM, they started showing an episode of The Drew Carey Show (The episode that was supposed to start at 6:30PM.) & then a few minutes later, they went back to showing the fullscreen version of their logo & playing music. Then at 6:30PM, they went into The Drew Carey Show. I don't remember if they had any more problems after that because I had changed the channel.

Somewhere around the same time period, I was watching & recording episodes of Home Improvement on KMCI-TV Ch. 38 at 9:30PM every weeknight, & on one night at around 9:30PM when KMCI-TV was supposed to start showing an episode of that show, for the first minute or so, they showed a Buena Vista Slate\Test Pattern with the name of the show, episode title & number, technical information, as well as a message at first saying something like "Roll Tapes at 00:30", followed by "Roll Tapes Now!". There was also an audio tone as well. this was followed by a few seconds of of some of the same information against a black background, followed by about 5 seconds of black screen before the episode finally started.

Also, once again around the same time period, I remember tuning to KMBC-TV Ch. 9 as well as their sister station, KCWE-TV Ch. 29, just a little bit after 11:00PM one evening, & both stations were showing a test pattern with KMBC-TVs' callsign in the bottom right corner on both TV stations. I had learned the next day that something had knocked out the power to KMBC-TV\KCWE-TVs' studios & that the equipment at their transmitter site had defaulted to transmitting the test pattern.

Also, around late January-early February of 2002, when we had a major ice storm in the Kansas City area, some TV stations in the Kansas City area were forced to go off-the-air, while others who lost power at their studios, but still had power at their transmitter sites were broadcasting test patterns & station ids' (PAX-TV affiliate KPXE-TV Ch. 50 was showing some kind of grayscale test pattern with Black, Gray & White bars, while then WB affiliate, KSMO-TV Ch. 62 was showing (What I think was.) a green screen with their station id & street address of their studio (At the time.) in White letters in the center of the screen.
 
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crainbebo said:
I posted multiple accounts of TV stations screwing up here, and they happen way too often, but I'll list a few:

Multiple times the past few years where KAPP (ABC) would air a syndicated program like Rachael Ray, and the audio would cut out. You'd get this obnoxious "BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ" noise for anywhere from 10 seconds to 2 minutes. No one ever checks it. In the olden days, before MC went from KAPP to KXLY, the MCO would have cut it out, and displayed a technical difficulties bumper.

Multiple times (20+ times) where KCYU (FOX) would run Two and a Half Men reruns with ACT 2 BEFORE ACT 1. Who would mess that up? Meaning the first break was around 10 minutes in, then the opening act would air, the theme song and montage, into another commercial break a few minutes later that should have aired about 3 minutes after the start of the episode.

I recall a time or two where ABC test patterns showed up on KOMO Seattle's feed, but they would only last for a few seconds then get cut off. Seattle stations didn't do that bad when it came to technical issues.
However, there was that one day about 10 years ago where a fire caused millions in damage to Fisher Plaza's data control. Disrupted the TV signals that whole night into the morning. Once KOMO got a 'signal' back on the air, it was extremely bare bones. KATU Portland helped get their feed back on cable and OTA. I recall them airing syndicated shows in the wrong order. Wheel of Fortune aired at 4PM the next day after the fire, followed by Jeopardy (or was it an infomercial?) All the local commercials were PSAs with the KATU logo here and there. Their 'newscast' consisted of one or two cameras in front of Fisher Plaza with Steve Pool using an easel for weather...straight out of 1953. Graphics were extreme bare bones too, someone was able to get a KOMO logo bug on the lower right. I think there's a YouTube video somewhere.
KUNS-TV had no signal, just distorted static, and I think the STL calls. That went on for quite a while until they could get Univision's feed back. KVI-570 was off??? I think? KPLZ 101.5 was looping CDs from the xmitter building until they could get back in the building. No IDs, no DJs.

Couple times I've noticed KNDO screwing up the 'feed' and airing Yoke's Fresh Markets ads, and commercials for car dealers in Kennewick and Hermiston, and the ID was "KNDU-DT Richland"...More often that not nowadays it's them being out for days on end or having no audio, or the latest carriage dispute with DIRECTV. NBC 'Right Now'? They are the worst in terms of running a signal correctly.

One time KIMA Yakima (CBS) was running Big Bang Theory over the network. CBS went to local break and it went black. And stayed black. For over a minute! Then the commercials aired, interrupting 1-2 minutes of Big Bang. Not more than 5-10 seconds later the same ads interrupt the show AGAIN! Finally somebody noticed and we didn't get interrupted for the rest of BBT.

There's probably more but I'll end it there for now.
Click to expand...
Most of the TV stations in my area are, as far as I know, not hubbed except for CBS affiliate, KCTV-TV Ch. 5 & MyNetworkTV affiliate, KSMO-TV Ch. 62, both of which are owned by Meredith Corp. & were for a time hubbed at Merediths' WGCL-TV Ch. 46 in Atlanta, GA (I don't know if they still are.).

Prior to 2004, KSMO-TV was owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, but I don't know if, prior to that time if the station still had it's master control in Kansas City, or if it had been hubbed at Sinclairs' TV stations in Baltimore, MD (WBFF-TV Ch. 45 & WNUV-TV Ch. 54.).
 
Some time in the 1970s on a rainy Summer day I was watching a rerun of I Love Lucy on WKBW in Buffalo. At one point the rain got so heavy it looked like their STL went through a brief period of rain fade. Hadn't seen that before or since on a network affiliate station. I assume thier STL was in the 2 or 6GHz band and rain fade is unusual at those frequencies; rarely rained that hard in the Buffalo area when I was living there.
 
Bronx said:
Some time in the 1970s on a rainy Summer day I was watching a rerun of I Love Lucy on WKBW in Buffalo. At one point the rain got so heavy it looked like their STL went through a brief period of rain fade. Hadn't seen that before or since on a network affiliate station. I assume thier STL was in the 2 or 6GHz band and rain fade is unusual at those frequencies; rarely rained that hard in the Buffalo area when I was living there.
Click to expand...
I remember seeing a video somewhere on Youtube of KIII-TV Ch. 3 in Corpus Christi, TX in the mid 1980s' having similar problems, but theirs were caused by another TV stations STL interfering with theirs by way of skip. For some reason, I cannot seem to find the video anymore.
 
In early 1983, heavy winds and rain in the Bay Area knocked most of the TV stations off the air for the better part of an afternoon.
The Sutro broadcast tower, used by most TV stations, was knocked out, and, for whatever reason, the only channel not showing a black screen was KTVU, channel 2 in Oakland...which was showing an ID slide...for KQED, channel 9!
 
Back in the '80s I remember watching a "Leave It To Beaver" rerun. I believe it was on WGN. At the end of one of the show's segments and before the commercial, they showed a slide that said "Insert Commercial Here." Like the show, the graphic was B&W and obviously not a modern day slide. It must have been on the original film.
 
Can stuff found on VHS tapes count? i.e. the hundreds of home-recorded TV tapings I've found?
- A 1989 KNBC broadcast of Miami Vice had several seconds of black after a Pontiac Grand Prix commercial. Finally a Wendy's ad was cued but was then interrupted by KNBC introducing a news teaser.
- Another from 1989 - a late night broadcast of Island of the Blue Dolphins on TBS went into an ad for a Time Life compilation, and suddenly the commercial cut out, the tape stopped and sat on black. They put a Superstation Movie Presentation bumper up for the rest of that minute-long timeslot.
- A 1988 Murder She Wrote episode on WJBK went into a locally-inserted commercial for Grey Poupon, and CBS color bars popped up twice during the ad - then they finally threw it back to Murder She Wrote JIP.
- A 1995 KTLA recording of Back to the Future features a Goldeneye commercial being rewound on the air, followed by a lot of black.
- One more, a broadcast of Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction? on our local FOX KCYU in 1995. A commercial for Catholic Credit Union aired, and somehow paused for several seconds then started playing again. They were behind going back to the network...
 
crainbebo said:
Can stuff found on VHS tapes count? i.e. the hundreds of home-recorded TV tapings I've found?
- A 1989 KNBC broadcast of Miami Vice had several seconds of black after a Pontiac Grand Prix commercial. Finally a Wendy's ad was cued but was then interrupted by KNBC introducing a news teaser.
- Another from 1989 - a late night broadcast of Island of the Blue Dolphins on TBS went into an ad for a Time Life compilation, and suddenly the commercial cut out, the tape stopped and sat on black. They put a Superstation Movie Presentation bumper up for the rest of that minute-long timeslot.
- A 1988 Murder She Wrote episode on WJBK went into a locally-inserted commercial for Grey Poupon, and CBS color bars popped up twice during the ad - then they finally threw it back to Murder She Wrote JIP.
- A 1995 KTLA recording of Back to the Future features a Goldeneye commercial being rewound on the air, followed by a lot of black.
- One more, a broadcast of Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction? on our local FOX KCYU in 1995. A commercial for Catholic Credit Union aired, and somehow paused for several seconds then started playing again. They were behind going back to the network...
Click to expand...

Have you been doing any VHS hunting lately crainbebo?
 
crainbebo said:
Can stuff found on VHS tapes count? i.e. the hundreds of home-recorded TV tapings I've found?
- A 1989 KNBC broadcast of Miami Vice had several seconds of black after a Pontiac Grand Prix commercial. Finally a Wendy's ad was cued but was then interrupted by KNBC introducing a news teaser.
- Another from 1989 - a late night broadcast of Island of the Blue Dolphins on TBS went into an ad for a Time Life compilation, and suddenly the commercial cut out, the tape stopped and sat on black. They put a Superstation Movie Presentation bumper up for the rest of that minute-long timeslot.
- A 1988 Murder She Wrote episode on WJBK went into a locally-inserted commercial for Grey Poupon, and CBS color bars popped up twice during the ad - then they finally threw it back to Murder She Wrote JIP.
- A 1995 KTLA recording of Back to the Future features a Goldeneye commercial being rewound on the air, followed by a lot of black.
- One more, a broadcast of Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction? on our local FOX KCYU in 1995. A commercial for Catholic Credit Union aired, and somehow paused for several seconds then started playing again. They were behind going back to the network...
Click to expand...

Yeah, It can count.
 
I have a few old examples from a long time back...

The first would be from KTNT-TV channel 11 in Tacoma, WA (now KSTW) in the early seventies, which was airing a "Star Trek" rerun and inadvertently ran the audio from a car ad on top of a scene in "Star Trek" in which Captain Kirk is looking at the bridge of the Enterprise -- as the camera is panning around the bridge, the audio is describing the "modern" features of some car. As a kid, I thought it was pretty funny.

A few years later, in December of 1974, my sister was a regular viewer of "Batman" reruns on KTVW channel 13 in Tacoma, WA (now KCPQ). She watched part one of a two part Batman at 5 PM, turning off the TV when she was done. Unknown to her, a bankruptcy judge had just ordered the station off the air, so right after she turned off the television, the station shut down it's transmitter. She never did get to see the conclusion of that two-parter.

KTVW was subsequently sold in bankruptcy auction to the Clover Park School District, which brought the station back on in January of 1976 as KCPQ (the call letters it still has today, even though it returned to commercial operation in 1980 and is now the Fox affiliate for Western Washington). During their first few months as a public TV station, they actually carried Saturday night wrestling (a carryover from when it was a commercial station) in an attempt to bring new viewers to public TV. It didn't work and the wrestling was soon gone -- but I'm guessing that it may be the only public TV station that carried wrestling. It also probably helped contribute to the perception in Seattle that Tacoma was Seattle's blue-collar, downscale stepchild.
 
Wow - so Batman was the final program carried on the old fuzzy and poor signal of KTVW. I have a TV Guide from 1979 out of Western Washington and it has KCPQ's PBS listings. Lots of the programs normally seen on KCTS and to some extent, KTPS, with a few not carried on either. Of course I have never found anything on tape from the PBS 13, nor have I ever seen any video of KCPQ's PBS programming from the late '70s.
 
Some other things that I remember are sometimes seeing videotape countdown leaders at the beginning of shows (For some reason, usually seen on PBS station KMOS-TV Ch. 6 Sedalia\Warrensburg, MO.),

A technical difficulty moment on KMBC-TV Ch. 9 Kansas City, MO, during an early Saturday Morning showing of the kids show Capelli & Company (What had happened was a commercial break had ended & instead of going back to the show, the picture went black for 15 seconds & then showed a fullscreen KMBC-TV id for another 15 seconds followed by more black screen for about another 20 seconds, & then another fullscreen KMBC-TV id. During the 2nd KMBC-TV id, It starts off silent, but then you hear the tape the episode of Capelli & Company was on being rewound & then slowly speeding up to normal playback. I actually have this one on tape & remember seeing it when it appeared on TV.

I also remember seeing EBS tests in the early-mid 90s' (Before the switch to EAS in 1997.) that (From what I remember.) had the Civil Defense logo on them.

Thank you for all the interesting posts.
 
Those video countdown leaders may actually have come from a satellite feed for PBS and not from a tape.
 
I remember WJTV Jackson, MS aired a sitcom in reverse after someone apparently pressed the rewind button. I've seen WLBT accidently cut to the news set by mistake and shows the anchors fixing their hair and neckties while the camera operator is focusing their camera.
 
crainbebo said:
Those video countdown leaders may actually have come from a satellite feed for PBS and not from a tape.
Click to expand...

I was sort of thinking that. What was weird about some of the countdown leaders that I remember seeing was that some of them included the logo that KMOS-TV was using at that time. From what I remember was that, often times, KMOS-TV would show a station id, (I think after this was when I would see the countdown leaders.) followed by a local underwriter spot & then they would start the national (Or local.) program.
 
sack said:
Just recently I noticed that TV Land ran the same episode of MASH back to back.
Click to expand...

And probably ran the same episode in back to back 36 minute timeslots!
 
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