WCBS TV New York Analog TV Sign Off June 12th 2009

[MultiJesse1995]

0:00 to 0:11 - end of soap opera on analog tv 0:11 to 0:12 - goes to comercial on digital 2.1 (including cable and satelitte) 0:13 to 0:49 - special psa from wcbs-tv (analog only, ceaseing analog for good) 0:50 to 2:05 - national anthem 2:06 to 2:10 - test pattern 2:10 to 3:32 - hash 3:33 to 4:03 - test pattern (again) 4:03 to 5:20 - national anthem (again) 5:20 to 5:44 - special psa from wcbs-tv (now operating as a nightlight station) 5:46 to 6:26 - dtv let's get ready nab video thx.

[APyleOfVinyl]

I hope they bring analog TV back. Stupid US government screwing the lower classes again. I hope one day we can revolt and bring back real television.

[JMcgo1979]

I remember when this would be the end of broadcasting for a channel and would resume again at 4 or 5am. Times have changed.

[ImDavidGurney]

I liked the flag better when we had 49 states.Let's kick out Hawaii for forgery.

[buckeyedej]

The best NTSC signoff, by far, was KDKA-TV's. Forget the others.

[rescuedogs100]

fantastic video. thank you for documenting this for future generations to enjoy. on a side note i believe as we switch over to digital are no longer discoverable to intelligent life in the universe. this may be one of the reasons why we have not yet intercepted any alien communication, they could have switched to digital broadcast before we started listening to the universe in the hopes to find intelligent life beyond our earth.

[rbussard]

Analog gone - TV gone in my area. The nearest TV station is 45 miles away and broadcast digital signal - I don't have a converter for this old TV. Most of my friends don't use TV that much so they just shoved the beasts onto the local religious station that still is in analog on channel 27, 29 or 53. Now what was gained by this move?

[djthereplay]

@rbussard

What is gained in this move is ... airspace for first responders .... The First responders that most conservative politicians want to keep away from funding, since they are so dead set in trying to cut funds for Government Businesses. Also, Television Stations can now broadcast more programming blocks on by creating different networks under that same station.

Cont`d on my next post.

- Dwight

[djthereplay]

@rbussard

Cont`d from my last post.

Television Stations and Networks can now make networks to broadcast Specified Programming Blocks 24 Hours a day without cramming blocks of programming on the main station or network, and without using so much airspace. Example, say Your Local News Station is Ch. 2. Ok, It's still Ch. 2, but now it broadcasts its' programming on Ch. 2 .1, or 2-1, Much like radiostation channel.

Cont`d on my next post.

- Dwight

[djthereplay]

@rbussard

Cont`d from my last post.

Example: Say Your Local Station is Ch. 2. It's still Ch. 2, but it now broadcasts on 2 .1, or 2 - 1.

Say like they do Local Sports, or Local Weather. Ok, If you like Local Sports, and they carry that, well, they could do that on Ch. 2 . 2 or 2 - 2 24 hours a day, and If you want weather 24 hours a day, then they could do that on Ch. 2 . 3 or 2 - 3 24 hours a day without using up too much airspace or cramming the programming on the main station.

- Dwight

[djthereplay]

@rbussard

Cont'd from my last post.

What I just told you is just my example of how Digital TV Broadcasting for the full powered networks would work. Your Local Station(s) might not be Ch. 2, but I wanted to say that as an example ONLY.

In other words, This is just My Translation of Digital Television.

The whole idea is ... More Free Over The Air Programming without using all of our nation's airwaves.

Thanks for reading my post(s)

- Dwight

[ARCTICCUISINE]

@JT2095 It's currently illegal to run a full-powered TV station with an analog signal. Only low-powered stations are still allowed to broadcast in analog.

[JT2095]

are there any stations in america that still broadcast analog?

[SmashSomeCrap]

@JT2095 there are still some low-power stations and a few translator stations

[martbd]

Why switch off the signal in the middle of a program, instead of waiting until the end?

[bluenowait]

@shadyshade I SAID GOOD DAY!!

[Adam10Rocks]

WCBS New York, New York/Morris County/Hudson County/Essex & Union County/Monmouth County/Ocean & Monmouth Counties, New Jersey, United States Of America - ? Sign Off (June 12, 2009 (Friday))

[digitalmasterdata]

super excellent and great ! NYC analog tv signals no more !! WTC antenna ? past history :)

[JMFabianoRPL]

@shadyshade The announcer is not a morning person...

[TiberiousNeruda]

After seeing what the New York stations did for their analog shutdowns, I am convinced that the final signoff that WLWT (Cincinnati, channel 5) did was the classiest in the country, respecting the history that analog covered and delivered to our homes (though admittedly with a heavy local bias).

Considering that the format was used for nearly seven decades of the 20th Century, it deserved more than the unceremonious switchflip most videos here show.

[sheahamrick]

@TiberiousNeruda WFAA (Dallas-Fort Worth) had a great signoff, too.

[77Happy77]

@TiberiousNeruda WNBC's was the classiest.

[caseybellafc]

A Proper Closedown (Sign Off). At Least They Were Bettert Than WNYW

[4yourentertanetwork]

0:48 Good Day LOL

[sigit15]

@4yourentertanetwork Can they still switch it back on as fastas they signed it off?

[4yourentertanetwork]

@sigit15 nope

[4yourentertanetwork]

@sigit15 no

[4yourentertanetwork]

0:49 Good Day LOL

[TaylorMMontgomery]

I love Brian Lee's "good day." made me giggle.

[abseconPC]

i still get a analogue station i live in atlantic city, Nj and the station is in Willmighton DE channel 45

[PancakesoftheLove]

@abseconPC

There are *few* stations left on the air. They're half-power "relay" stations used to broadcast signals too far away for full-power stations to transmit.  Which since digital transmissions can be picked up via antenna, you may have a channel that is too far away to pick up without an analog relay.

[gladfan1989]

Those answers will never be revealed in analog.

[MrUnidyne]

How fitting that the last image in analog was the old b/w test pattern!

[TSMontana]

That's awesome they did the Star Spangle Banner sign-off. Where do you see that anymore?

[umahuma4]

June 19, 2009 is a moment in TV broadcasting history.

[SailorCallie]

I'm lucky to have cable/satellite so that I WOULDN'T have to buy a digital tuner.

[Jophie12]

@k4nbc Who the hell cares, we have no freedom anymore anyway. Ghetto rat obama

[NowhereMan1966]

Back during World War II, my mother and her sisters, they were very young kids, when a radio station signed off during the night, they would stand up in bed and salute.

[RubiRubisimo]

I swear, that announcer sounded uber pissed. I remember seeing this though. Classic. :)

[richartrod]

If you were an analog TV station about to have the plug pulled on you forever, you would sound pretty mad, too. The announcer is the same one you hear on CBS network promos, and here sounds a little less tense than his usual commercials, like for "Survivor" and "CSI".

[mubd1234]

That announcer seems angry.

[richartrod]

The announcement referred to an 8-minute video about the US digital TV transition, what and why it happened, and how to get the new digital channels on analog TV's using converter boxes. WCBS-TV aired this video continuously for 30 days on analog channel 2. "Nightlight" referred to WCBS being the last analog signal on for the above purpose. The off-camera announcer does CBS network promos, esp. dramas and reality shows, hence his dramatic voice.

[JMFabianoRPL]

Cool nod to the classic test pattern...but could that announce be less enthused?

[keiichiudagawa]

anpanman!

[Musicasis]

Is it true they took out the analog equipment so now they can't just flip the switch back to analog?

[supertrouper]

They should have kept the nightlight program for 3-4 months or better yet for one year to make sure everyone is ready for DTV. I don't think having the nightlight program for only a few weeks was enough because many are still not going to be ready for it in that short amount of time. They need to turn it back on to continue the nightlight program for a longer time period like for a year.

[PluckyUnluckyDucky]

But people were hearing about the switch for more than a year, so many people should've been prepared earlier.

I hate procrastination.

[aviator1212]

Thanks for all the great comments. Unfortunately the July 13th signoff from nightlight mode was unceremonious. The transmitter engineers just flipped the switch and we went to hash.

[RolloSmokes]

And they did it at around 6:00 AM, six hours late. They may have been the very last full-powered analog on the air in the U.S.

[Musicasis]

You know if there is any video of it? i would liked to seen it

[Disneydanny]

@aviator1212 Corned Beef hash? (hits cymbal)

[rblaster]

Classic sign-off and sign-on. I'm very grateful you posted this. I was involved in the switchover as part of my job, and our building lost power that morning and sent everyone home. I stayed as long as I could to catch the transition (on 13, 11 and 7) but was on the train going home when WCBS switched off and was out of range with my Watchman. I thought it was to be at 2 PM when I would have been in range...but unfortunately, was not.

I am still hoping someone caught the shutoff July 13.

[Musicasis]

I wonder if they can still switch it on,one day and if anyone would know?

[SubaruB4RSK]

Thank you so much for uploading this! I've been hearing so much about this signoff.. I only did WABC but I was not home when WCBS signed off.

[dan1701a]

On July 12, don't forget to record WCBS-TV off the air to get their final, final signoff (assuming they do one). WNBC's final analog signoff was brief, given that they didn't have much equipment feeding the analog transmitter, but it was kind of classy.

[Jerseysson27]

Yes we want to see it!

[Musicasis]

Did you see it?, i am trying to fine on Youtube if anyone posted it

[Musicasis]

I did'nt see WCBS-TV go off on July 12, did they just shut it off? wish there is a video posted on here

[Musicasis]

I wonder if they just shut it off by flipping the switch?

[polypolyman]

wow... really wanted to see this... thanks for posting!

[IPteevee]

I wanted very much to see this live but I missed it. Thanks for the catch!

Most stations seem to have paid very little homage to their 60+ years of analog NTSC broadcasting; many made little or no reference to their history. At least CBS did it up fairly nicely

[Jigglypufflove33]

One time on my cable TV during a terrible storm, the cable signal went off and it said "No Signal"! I am going to test CBS 2 to see the nightlight video!

[HomeoftheGoodGuys]

There's only one thing missing on this analog signoff is the classic SSB film that WCBS-TV originally had the shot from Washington DC and the long forgotten NAB's Television Code logo which was the "Seal of Good Practice" on it. This NAB TV code logo was long gone. :(

[dan1701a]

Yeah, so is the Television Code itself.

[HomeoftheGoodGuys]

Never saw this sign-off before, I have a cable box, but it doesn't sign off except the analog one. It's great to see the classic WCBS-TV test pattern again but this a recreation of the old test pattern that WCBS-TV had for the past 60 years. I guess they should add it onto Jawman's site. Thanks a million buddy!

[wmbrown6]

It's a recreation, all right. I don't think WCBS used the original TP since the early 1990's.

[mnestic]

Kind of weird how it signed off only to sign back on. :)

[richartrod]

Yeah, it is weird, but this was how the CBS stations in New York and L.A. would sign off on the weekends back in the 70's and 80's; a legal sign-off, a test pattern for a little as 5 minutes to as long as one hour, then have the legal sign-on. At least WCBS-TV did an old-school analog signoff; KCBS-TV and sister station KCAL-TV here in L.A. both did a hard shutdown in the middle of a program at the weird time of 1:10PM. No live streaming coverage except through their websites.