I'm from NY and I do remember when TV stations signed off for the evening. That's was way before those infocomericals took over the over night hours and 24/7 broadcasts.
this was back when you saw this you knew it was time to get the hell to bed lol or the "snow" or buzzing sound woke you up, happened to me many times yrs ago.
@RoyKnable - And even WPIX's newscasts have become second-rate (or lower) - in fact, its presentation (which seems to match parent Tribune's bankruptcy) is worse than what is oft associated with public-access TV production values. From gold standard to cheap cubic zirconium in about a generation. Jodi Applegate? Please. She can't even come remotely close to what Pat Harper exemplified.
@RoyKnable Only thing good on the CW now is Smallville. When the network first launched after the UPN-WB "wedding," it had three good shows, Smallville, Everybody Hates Chris, and WWE SmackDown. SmackDown's still doing well. The CW, on the other hand...they've since lost Everybody Hates Chris, and Smallville's about to end. So after this season, there won't be shit left.
@TimelordR The only way you can get WPIX outside of the NYC area these days is in Atlantic City. The only problem, practically the entire schedule is blacked out due to Syndex. From what I understand, it's also available on New England cable systems in areas lacking a CW affiliate, but again, the syndicated shows are blacked out due to Syndex. And then there's Dish Network, where it's available with no blackouts in the Superstations package.
Just in case anyone's curious, the background music is the Alan Parsons Project's Pavane, from their debut album Tales Of Mystery And Imagination. Once I heard that, I was bugging. XD
@4evernate28 - Nice to know this. Now the only mystery is who's the voice of this sign-off? (Again, it sure ain't Bill Biery, Ralph Lowenstein or even Roy Whitfield - was it perhaps one of WPIX-FM 102's DJ's of the time?)
Yes, this is a rarity! Those National Anthem films are likely the oldest items kept and used by TV stations. I'll bet the one seen here was used by PIX in 1947...!!
@noahf67 - Since the 50-star flag was first unveiled in 1960, and WPIX started airing in color in 1965, and the Army "SSB" rendition as used for this film dated back to probably 1963, it would appear this film was from the late 1960's (and as aired here, very much faded by this point). Besides, WPIX didn't sign on until 1948.
The "SSB" film played for years by WPIX appears to have gotten around on other stations. A small snippet of this film (albeit a better-kept copy) was played at the end of the "SSB" film of KING Channel 5 in Seattle as of 1987, per:
watch?v=g66AySFDCyM
As for the film ran for years by WNBC and other stations - it has been referred to by Wikipedia as the "Mount Vernon SSB" exactly due to what 'fromthesidelines' described. Except this recording (my favorite of all) was the U.S. Army Band's.
In "The Star-Spangled Banner" sequence, the SAME soundtrack was also used in Channel 4's [WNBC-TV] version at that time- featuring "travelogue scenes" of Washington D.C. and its monuments, and a brief shot of the U.S. Marine Corps Band supposedly performing this...
In my 42 years, 31 of them watching New York television in one form or another, I have never , ever seen WPIX-TV (1979, back in the day) go off the air. This is amazing! Tap...YOU are amazing! Thanks to RAOS of course!
@OreckBoy1 - I have seen WPIX "leave the air until tomorrow" many times - but not like this. For the most part they had this "11 Alive" ID slide (or, if pre-1976, the prior ID slide with the original "circle 11" logo), no music, and Bill Biery (pre-recorded) reading the sign-off script - which started off with "At this time..." and, promo'ing WPIX-FM, referring to "the best in contemporary music."
@OreckBoy1 Yeah, this is the station that showed a few of my favorite shows including The Little Rascals, 3 Stooges, $50,000 Pyramid and the final syndicated season of Hollywood Squares in Vegas.
Here's something I always wanted to know...where did "Alive" come from? What was the origin of that campaign? (I know WPIX wasn't the only that used it)
@JMFabianoRPL "Alive" was written, produced and composed by Peters Productions in San Diego. It's first used was on KCST-TV in San Diego in 1974 under the banner, "39 Alive". It was Peters most popular station image package and quickly spread to stations across the country. In the summer of 1976, WXIA in Atlanta and WPIX in New York picked up the "Alive" package and quickly began airing fall promos called "A change is coming on..... 11 Alive" at the same time in Septmber 1976.
@JMFabianoRPL All I know from one of the writters of "Alive," Dave Shields, it was created for KCST first. It could be KCST's idea to brand themselves as Alive, but they were the frst to use the brand. Dave said to me that he wrote some of the jingles.
Many were the nights when (at the 4:40 mark in this video) a bleary-eyed young man (me) would rise from the sofa, shut off the set and go to bed. I miss this and I'm not even sure why. Maybe I just miss the idea that the world had powered down for the night. Thank you, TapThat. Your uploads kick ass and this is a great find indeed.
@DanZero77 You're right! WPIX-FM was a rock radio station at the time. It was on 101.9 FM. The station had a bunch of changes over the years. First, it went to a Top 40 station, and then to rock. By around 1982 or 1983, WPIX-FM went to a soft AC format where they played nothing but love songs and even some beautiful ballads as well. That lasted around 1988 or 1989 when it flipped to smooth jazz when it was "CD 101.9" which was WQCD after changing its calls from WPIX-FM.
@HomeoftheGoodGuys By around 2004 or 2005, the station flipped to some new age kinda format known as "Chill", but it failed miserably and went back to smooth jazz a year later in 2006. After 20 years of running the smooth jazz format on 101,9, the station flipped to a rock format known as WRXP which is "New York's Rock Experience" back in February 2008 where they trying to compete with WAXQ's "Q104.3" and "K-Rock", but 92.3 flipped to Top 40 as "Now" to compete with "Z-100". That's my story!
That one's pretty rare. I love that studio-shot flag with the fan blasting on it, and maybe a prod. assistant lying on the floor out of frame shaking the mast; that's unique.. nice clip
@MSTS1 - It did seem that the production of that "SSB" seemed to mirror that of "The Yule Log," because :38 into this film it crossfaded - in other words it was a loop. Wonder if 'PIX itself produced this film, given that no other TV station that I know of had the "SSB" in this specific form.
@wmbrown6 - I see at the 2:01 point of this video the flag film cross-dissolves into a loop (I use this technique too when necessary). It does seem to have the same film 'feel' of the Yule Log film loop. This was before Soft-Box bounce lighting. The old 60's Days of Our Lives opening has that similar film and lighting look too.
tapthatt2012 do you have any WXTV 41 or WNJU-TV 47 to have more SIN, Univision or Telemundo with promos, sign-on, sign-off, station ID, the preview or spanish commercials? Anymore?
It should be noted that pre-1978, the sign-off (with no music, and voiceover by Bill Biery) ended with this notice: "May we suggest if you'd like to spend some time listening to the best in contemporary music, you tune to WPIX-FM, 102 on your FM dial."
It was probably 1978 when the opening "The entire broadcast day of WPIX..." spiel was added to the script.
And it sounds like the soundtrack of this SSB (U.S. Army Band, natch') came from the following film:
@tapthatt2012 - As to the music heard over the promo for WPIX-FM, I remember that music from ads for the station at the time. As for the other background music - I'm as interested as you are. Sounds almost New Age-y. I'm wondering if one of WPIX-FM's DJ's from that rock format did this sign-off. Sounds like one of them. Just a question of who.
TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
zadoke123 2 days ago
The INTV logo seen at 1.04 is very similar to one used by ITV in the UK around this time.
franksmith109 1 week ago
wow good quality from an old tape
ChannelDuncan 1 month ago
I'm from NY and I do remember when TV stations signed off for the evening. That's was way before those infocomericals took over the over night hours and 24/7 broadcasts.
kidfrombrooklyn66 1 month ago
this was back when you saw this you knew it was time to get the hell to bed lol or the "snow" or buzzing sound woke you up, happened to me many times yrs ago.
Anglynn74 2 months ago
Damn I miss the 70s .. so much cooler than nowadays
stringbenderE2E 4 months ago
I've found out all but one of the remaining translators, thus:
WCBS-TV: W53AA (now WKOB-LD)
WNBC-TV: W57AB
WNEW-TV: W64AA
WABC-TV: W66AA
WOR-TV: W71AK
WNET: W75AM
WNJU: W62AA
WTVG/WWHT: W60AI
Only WNYC-TV (whose translator was on Channel 79) is a question mark at this time.
wmbrown6 5 months ago
The was recorded via the station's translator W73AP, now WEBR-CD in 1979
shobielim 5 months ago
@shobielim - Can you advise as to the calls of the other New York TV station translators (i.e. Ch. 53 for WCBS-TV 2, Ch. 66 for WABC-TV 7) as of '79?
wmbrown6 5 months ago
What a same they no longer offer WPIX on Cable TV anymore like they did back in the 80's. I'd watch it.
TimelordR 10 months ago
@TimelordR
You're not missing anything. It's no longer the independent station you miss. Just another affiliate of a second-rate network now.
RoyKnable 10 months ago
@RoyKnable - And even WPIX's newscasts have become second-rate (or lower) - in fact, its presentation (which seems to match parent Tribune's bankruptcy) is worse than what is oft associated with public-access TV production values. From gold standard to cheap cubic zirconium in about a generation. Jodi Applegate? Please. She can't even come remotely close to what Pat Harper exemplified.
wmbrown6 10 months ago
@RoyKnable Only thing good on the CW now is Smallville. When the network first launched after the UPN-WB "wedding," it had three good shows, Smallville, Everybody Hates Chris, and WWE SmackDown. SmackDown's still doing well. The CW, on the other hand...they've since lost Everybody Hates Chris, and Smallville's about to end. So after this season, there won't be shit left.
johnissoevil 10 months ago
@RoyKnable The CW has always sucked.
MIKON8ERISBACK 10 months ago
@MIKON8ERISBACK
Make sure you respond to the right person. I never said it didn't.
RoyKnable 9 months ago
@TimelordR The only way you can get WPIX outside of the NYC area these days is in Atlantic City. The only problem, practically the entire schedule is blacked out due to Syndex. From what I understand, it's also available on New England cable systems in areas lacking a CW affiliate, but again, the syndicated shows are blacked out due to Syndex. And then there's Dish Network, where it's available with no blackouts in the Superstations package.
johnissoevil 10 months ago
Back in the day, when stations signed off, my parents said the stations would "go to sleep," lol.
JohnFenner76 1 year ago
Just in case anyone's curious, the background music is the Alan Parsons Project's Pavane, from their debut album Tales Of Mystery And Imagination. Once I heard that, I was bugging. XD
4evernate28 1 year ago 4
@4evernate28 - Nice to know this. Now the only mystery is who's the voice of this sign-off? (Again, it sure ain't Bill Biery, Ralph Lowenstein or even Roy Whitfield - was it perhaps one of WPIX-FM 102's DJ's of the time?)
wmbrown6 1 year ago
@4evernate28 - More precisely, the part from 0:15 to 1:22 on:
watch?v=Q2sHm0g14UM
Now, what's the music played towards the end of the sign-off and before the SSB? That's now the $64,000 question . . .
wmbrown6 1 year ago
@4evernate28 just listened to the original song. nice.
tapthatt2012 1 year ago
Now I can go to bed. Anyone who has trouble sleeping should watch this. It instantly makes you feel like it's 3:30am. Thank you, and good night!
spoonido 1 year ago
Yes, this is a rarity! Those National Anthem films are likely the oldest items kept and used by TV stations. I'll bet the one seen here was used by PIX in 1947...!!
noahf67 1 year ago
@noahf67 - Since the 50-star flag was first unveiled in 1960, and WPIX started airing in color in 1965, and the Army "SSB" rendition as used for this film dated back to probably 1963, it would appear this film was from the late 1960's (and as aired here, very much faded by this point). Besides, WPIX didn't sign on until 1948.
wmbrown6 1 year ago
The "SSB" film played for years by WPIX appears to have gotten around on other stations. A small snippet of this film (albeit a better-kept copy) was played at the end of the "SSB" film of KING Channel 5 in Seattle as of 1987, per:
watch?v=g66AySFDCyM
As for the film ran for years by WNBC and other stations - it has been referred to by Wikipedia as the "Mount Vernon SSB" exactly due to what 'fromthesidelines' described. Except this recording (my favorite of all) was the U.S. Army Band's.
wmbrown6 1 year ago
@wmbrown6 And to think I called it the Army SSB.
NEPatriot 1 year ago
@NEPatriot - Oh, the recording was the "Army SSB" all right. I'm referring to the films themselves.
wmbrown6 1 year ago
In "The Star-Spangled Banner" sequence, the SAME soundtrack was also used in Channel 4's [WNBC-TV] version at that time- featuring "travelogue scenes" of Washington D.C. and its monuments, and a brief shot of the U.S. Marine Corps Band supposedly performing this...
fromthesidelines 1 year ago
In my 42 years, 31 of them watching New York television in one form or another, I have never , ever seen WPIX-TV (1979, back in the day) go off the air. This is amazing! Tap...YOU are amazing! Thanks to RAOS of course!
OreckBoy1 1 year ago 3
@OreckBoy1 it is a freat find. the music alone gives a whole different feel to the sign-off. RAOS is the man.
tapthatt2012 1 year ago
@OreckBoy1 - I have seen WPIX "leave the air until tomorrow" many times - but not like this. For the most part they had this "11 Alive" ID slide (or, if pre-1976, the prior ID slide with the original "circle 11" logo), no music, and Bill Biery (pre-recorded) reading the sign-off script - which started off with "At this time..." and, promo'ing WPIX-FM, referring to "the best in contemporary music."
wmbrown6 1 year ago
@OreckBoy1 Yeah, this is the station that showed a few of my favorite shows including The Little Rascals, 3 Stooges, $50,000 Pyramid and the final syndicated season of Hollywood Squares in Vegas.
269848 7 months ago
creepy.
MrGamespecialist 1 year ago
Comment removed
nynewsguy7 1 year ago
Here's something I always wanted to know...where did "Alive" come from? What was the origin of that campaign? (I know WPIX wasn't the only that used it)
JMFabianoRPL 1 year ago
Comment removed
nynewsguy7 1 year ago
@JMFabianoRPL "Alive" was written, produced and composed by Peters Productions in San Diego. It's first used was on KCST-TV in San Diego in 1974 under the banner, "39 Alive". It was Peters most popular station image package and quickly spread to stations across the country. In the summer of 1976, WXIA in Atlanta and WPIX in New York picked up the "Alive" package and quickly began airing fall promos called "A change is coming on..... 11 Alive" at the same time in Septmber 1976.
nynewsguy7 1 year ago
@nynewsguy7 But where did they get the idea for naming stations "Alive" from?
JMFabianoRPL 1 year ago
Comment removed
nynewsguy7 1 year ago
Comment removed
nynewsguy7 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@JMFabianoRPL All I know from one of the writters of "Alive," Dave Shields, it was created for KCST first. It could be KCST's idea to brand themselves as Alive, but they were the frst to use the brand. Dave said to me that he wrote some of the jingles.
nynewsguy7 1 year ago
Many were the nights when (at the 4:40 mark in this video) a bleary-eyed young man (me) would rise from the sofa, shut off the set and go to bed. I miss this and I'm not even sure why. Maybe I just miss the idea that the world had powered down for the night. Thank you, TapThat. Your uploads kick ass and this is a great find indeed.
PhantomPlayland 1 year ago
WPIX-FM... the station that didn't know what format to identify itself with!!!!!! I am willing to say that was a radio-style announcer there.
DanZero77 1 year ago
@DanZero77 You're right! WPIX-FM was a rock radio station at the time. It was on 101.9 FM. The station had a bunch of changes over the years. First, it went to a Top 40 station, and then to rock. By around 1982 or 1983, WPIX-FM went to a soft AC format where they played nothing but love songs and even some beautiful ballads as well. That lasted around 1988 or 1989 when it flipped to smooth jazz when it was "CD 101.9" which was WQCD after changing its calls from WPIX-FM.
HomeoftheGoodGuys 1 year ago
@HomeoftheGoodGuys By around 2004 or 2005, the station flipped to some new age kinda format known as "Chill", but it failed miserably and went back to smooth jazz a year later in 2006. After 20 years of running the smooth jazz format on 101,9, the station flipped to a rock format known as WRXP which is "New York's Rock Experience" back in February 2008 where they trying to compete with WAXQ's "Q104.3" and "K-Rock", but 92.3 flipped to Top 40 as "Now" to compete with "Z-100". That's my story!
HomeoftheGoodGuys 1 year ago
That one's pretty rare. I love that studio-shot flag with the fan blasting on it, and maybe a prod. assistant lying on the floor out of frame shaking the mast; that's unique.. nice clip
MSTS1 1 year ago
@MSTS1 - It did seem that the production of that "SSB" seemed to mirror that of "The Yule Log," because :38 into this film it crossfaded - in other words it was a loop. Wonder if 'PIX itself produced this film, given that no other TV station that I know of had the "SSB" in this specific form.
wmbrown6 1 year ago
@wmbrown6 - I see at the 2:01 point of this video the flag film cross-dissolves into a loop (I use this technique too when necessary). It does seem to have the same film 'feel' of the Yule Log film loop. This was before Soft-Box bounce lighting. The old 60's Days of Our Lives opening has that similar film and lighting look too.
MSTS1 1 year ago
tapthatt2012 do you have any WXTV 41 or WNJU-TV 47 to have more SIN, Univision or Telemundo with promos, sign-on, sign-off, station ID, the preview or spanish commercials? Anymore?
AlvaJr 1 year ago
I have now seen everything.
TAP THIS!!!!
RolloSmokes 1 year ago
@RolloSmokes the search never ends my friend!
tapthatt2012 1 year ago
Thanks. This is really great. Best to you for finding this.
gli7utubeo 1 year ago
@gli7utubeo hav a friend helping with the search. shout to him!
tapthatt2012 1 year ago
This particular "SSB" film, in its image, seems an update of a film from the 1940's, per:
watch?v=fCw2Q-t8g5o
wmbrown6 1 year ago
It should be noted that pre-1978, the sign-off (with no music, and voiceover by Bill Biery) ended with this notice: "May we suggest if you'd like to spend some time listening to the best in contemporary music, you tune to WPIX-FM, 102 on your FM dial."
It was probably 1978 when the opening "The entire broadcast day of WPIX..." spiel was added to the script.
And it sounds like the soundtrack of this SSB (U.S. Army Band, natch') came from the following film:
watch?v=7HHTuLrTTh0
wmbrown6 1 year ago
Also . . . it's surprising to see WPIX as a member of the Association of Independent Television Stations. I see WOR had company by this point . . .
wmbrown6 1 year ago
@wmbrown6 Now that I've also seen that WPIX was also an AITV member, was WNEW ever one?
DanZero77 1 year ago
@DanZero77 - Can't say for sure . . . but if WNEW were an INTV member, they certainly didn't advertise it!
wmbrown6 1 year ago
The only question is, who's the announcer on this one?
wmbrown6 1 year ago
(CONT'D) Also . . . what became of the old B&W WPIX TP for them to have used SMPTE ECR 1-1978 color bars with their 400 Hz tone at this point?
But as for the SSB . . . it's EXACTLY as I remember - except by 1979, the film had become as faded as what WCBS used for their own SSB.
wmbrown6 1 year ago
@wmbrown6 any idea what music is playing behind him? never heard that voice before.
tapthatt2012 1 year ago
@tapthatt2012 - As to the music heard over the promo for WPIX-FM, I remember that music from ads for the station at the time. As for the other background music - I'm as interested as you are. Sounds almost New Age-y. I'm wondering if one of WPIX-FM's DJ's from that rock format did this sign-off. Sounds like one of them. Just a question of who.
wmbrown6 1 year ago
@wmbrown6 Either it's a really laid-back Lowenstein, or perhaps a 'PIX-FM jock.
RolloSmokes 1 year ago
@RolloSmokes - My money's on the latter (one of the 'PIX-FM jocks of the period; but it's just a matter of which one).
wmbrown6 1 year ago
Noooo! It's The WPIX Sign off!
ThePreviewsGuyReturn 1 year ago