WRAL-TV 5, Raleigh NC Sign-Off 1989

[PGMEagle]

I use to be able to pick this station up with rabbet ears back in the day when I lived in Norfolk, VA use to watch this sign off when the station came in memories.

[niteholler]

i wish i could find a video of WRAL Night Owl Theater going to break with the theme music.

[TrexsterInNC]

As a c ountry, we are making very little history of this type any more. We were heroic at one time but that is fading fast.

[ShoreScout]

Back when a 4 minute segment of TV gave you a better grasp on US history than today's avg high school diploma !!

[pookerville]

This is, without question, the very best national anthem film ever! WBZ-TV in Boston used to sign-off the station with this film after their "Evening Prayer" segment!

[therealvegasjimmy]

This is the greatest Star Spangled Banner ever recorded. WAVE-3 TV in Louisville, Ky was another station that aired it so many times the poor thing finally fell to pieces, but the music and the visuals will always be there as a visual testament to the greatest nation to have ever existed. I never thought I'd get to see it again. It thrilled me in 1969 or 70 when it first aired, and it thrills me today. And if Al-Qaida doesn't like it, then screw you blue, towelheads!

[ibreuer]

National anthem sounds wonderful. Great way to sign off at night instead of re-airing junkworthy entertainment that often show a lack of moral fibre.

[SElement91]

Woooh Raleigh NC represent. haha

[usaruss]

I grew up on WRAL, saw this many times. Does anyone remember Dave Collins and the Channel 5 late movie? He introduced the film & commented on it during commercials. They ran a short devotional speaker right before signoff for a long time, a local Raleigh pastor. Kids today wouldn't have a clue of that. Does any station sign off any more?

[bryanac625]

I used to LOVE this! Like others here, I watched this on WDVM TV-9 (Wash DC) every opportunity I got when I was a kid. I had to get up early on Saturday mornings to work with my mom, so got dressed, turned the TV on and waited for it. I've loved American history since I can remember.

I seem to remember when they stopped showing it and I was very disappointed.

I didn't have any problem finding it on youtube but I wish I could find a good, sharp copy on a DVD somewhere.

[cameltrophy3]

I met Bob Debardelaben when I was in the 7th grade. He came to our school and talked about the weather. He was a very tall man, bald on top. He drove a VW Bug, if I remember correctly. I grew up watching WRAL. Charlie Gaddy was the head ancor of the news. Cool vid.

[luvin2fly]

I remember all this. It sucked too. At the time there was no 24 hour cable tv. If you were watching this, it meant that you had a boring night ahead of you. I can remember as a kid that couldn't sleep when the TV stations went off the air. You had to use you imagionation the rest of the night to find something to do.

This would be unholy in todays world to the kids. No playstions, Xbox, or even Atari. Many homes then didn't have all the gismo. Look at where we are now.

[tfstorres]

This would be "politically incorrect" today with confederate the flag and all...

[andeaver1937]

lol Raleigh

I'm from eastern north carolina but have never really spent any time in my state capital.

anyone know when stations did away with sign offs? I was a kid in the mid nineties and never remember these.

[semifullyauto]

how times have changed

[jmmclawh]

yeah... the infomercial was invented and stations went full throttle with it

[CuteZootSuit]

@jmmclawh

You can thank Ronald Reagan for that.

[CuteZootSuit]

Yes semifullyauto, times have changed so much.....for the worse!

[cpc24]

I remember Mississippi ETV (now MPB) running this for years.

[RaleighChickenMan]

When I was growing up in the '70s, Channel 5 would also play "Dixie" by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians before they played this.

[wiclark5]

I remember it too! That was the most soul stirring redition I ever heard. I hope SignOffsGuy can find it and put that up!

[chiefwiz]

I was a videotape engineer at WRAL in the mid-60s on the swing shift while a student at NC State. I would have sworn the version of Dixie was the Norman Luboff Choir. I clocked out at midnight and signoff wasn't until about 1am after the late movie.

[PGMEagle]

I remember when channel 29 WTAF in Philly used the Evolution SSB at sign on and sign off back in the 80s

[cfoster81]

I remember WDVM/WUSA in D.C. doing the "Flag Evolution" National Anthem througout the 80's into the early 90's. BTW, The great TV switch in Baltimore happened on New Year's day 1996 when WJZ-13 went from ABC to CBS, WBAL-11 went from CBS back to NBC and WMAR-2 went from NBC to ABC.

[wmbrown6]

Just curious if you (or anyone else) recall Channel 9 in Washington airing this "Flag Evolution SSB" in the 1970's when the station was still known as WTOP-TV.

[veluz330]

Does anyone have the October 5, 1986 WRAL-TV Sign Off?

[huggyface]

It still has the "Flag Evolution" SSB...and the same technical info during the sign-off announcement, that you'll find here. They used the same SSB from 1970's thru 1996.

[ppierre2]

That film is very well done for the year he was on TV. It is a not badly done summary of US history ! :)

[huggyface]

If only they hadn't have left out anything post-Depression, leading up to the flag on the moon...they left out WWII, Cold War, Korean War, Civil Rights movement, JFK killed, Vietnam War starting, etc.-but in the interest of time I guess they had to omit some. Still a great moving SSB piece. WRAL-TV ran this clip for many years till they used a locally-made SSB in late 90's before they started 24/7/365 operations in 1998.

[smacnally]

I grew up watchin this also. I think Raleigh is the greatest city in the country! Go Athens Drive Jaguars!!

[scott9050]

I used to watch this ending all the time when growing up in the early 80's.

[risabe]

Okay, laugh if you want to, but that brought tears to my eyes. Very moving version of the Anthem.

I grew up watching Channel 5 and channel 11 from Raleigh and Durham, respectively.

[huggyface]

The only thing I find missing from this moving piece is the omission of historical pics from after the Great Depression onset until the lunar landing. The producers of the vid left out WWII, Cold War, JFK, Civil Rights Movement, etc., skipping ahead 40 years...did they not think that era was important, or maybe as they were running out of musical notes they just decided no more vids, and jump to the moon? Still a great SSB video.

[huggyface]

And WTVD ran the "Aim High America" SSB clip for awhile, produced by the USAF. I wasn't as big a fan of that one as I am the Flag Evolution one on 'RAL (the one we're commenting on here), but anyway...

[cougarkat]

I like the National Anthem as it plays after the annoucement!

[ddavenport]

Fuquay-Varina seems like a nice place to visit...

[jcatlett1976]

There's not much there. Lot of rednecks out that way though lol. Actually, it's not as bad as some parts of Harnett & Johnston Co.

[Jnelson09Returns]

It was fun to grow up there in the early 1990s.

[huggyface]

I moved to the Triangle just before the early 90's, from the Triad! (I'm in Florida now, but anyway) WRAL-TV is still tops in news ratings, with WTVD a "distant" second...I think. It's basically 'RAL and "everyone else" in rank behind them. WNCN is still struggling some against 5 & 11, with news...but they've got to be doing better than 28, which used to be NBC. Now they're that "MyNetwork" crap? Oh, didn't 40 switch to Spanish? Ahh, the Triangle. Memories, indeed. ;-)

[Jnelson09Returns]

Mostly right, Right, 28 doesn't even have news, and yes.

[huggyface]

I seem to remember 28 (and 40, WKFT, for awhile) had little 1-2 minute news "snippets" just before the top of the hour during prime-time hours, many years back. 28 sure was kinda lame for an NBC "affiliate" before NBC bought WNCN

[Jnelson09Returns]

Yeah. I never even watch 22 or 28. 22 was okay before Sinclair Broadcast Group got their right hands on them.

[huggyface]

Sinclair sucks anyway.

[Jnelson09Returns]

Amen!

[cougarkat]

Well, Sinclair started a News Central format for all its stations, including WB 22 (now CW 22) and it closed down that particular operation and outsourced the news to an ABC owned and operated. I think Sinclair is

F-cking sh-t ass corporation that should have been defunctional!

[huggyface]

Agreed! I no longer live in NC, but Sinclair owns WXLV (ABC45) in the Triad. ABC45 used to also do NewsCentral, but of course it was scrapped. Imagine a "big 3" network affiliate not having a newscast! Of course, ABC45 used to do an in-house produced newscast, but it was getting pummeled in the ratings by the other locals. WLFL also used to have its own newsshow, but no more. WTVD makes it for them now.

[Petemoss]

They don't sign off any more!

[michelec]

I remember seeing this version of the SSB on both WTAF and WNEW when I was a kid. Even back then it gave me goosebumps because the music and images were put together so powerfully. Thanks for putting this up.

[DavidBlues]

My god man....I'm 25 and I remember the sign off.

Damn I miss my hometown.

[MrSchimpf]

Awesome...this is also the same Anthem version/film that WITI (Channel 6) in Milwaukee uses when they go off the air. They used to all the time on Sunday nights, but now they only do so for DTV tower maintenance only. I think this is the best version of an anthem closing we have in our area; the others just use versions provided by the Marine Corps and the Navy.

[huggyface]

Don't forget the Air Force had several versions of the SSB, too! The USAF must have made at least FIVE distinct SSB clips that I remember seeing in the day, with the best one recorded on a Moog synthesizer.

[tsntana]

Re: "Don't forget the Air Force had several versions of the SSB, too!

The one with the split screen comes to mind. The flag in the center. The jet on the top half. And ariel shots of America on the bottom half.

Re: "...the best one recorded on a Moog synthesizer."

Our Univision affiliate used that one. It ended very similar to this one (with a shot of Earth, the moon, and the lunar landing).

[huggyface]

I remember seeing the one you're referring to, with the split-screen. WRDC-TV in Raleigh-Durham NC (then WPTF) aired it in the 1980's, and it was also aired by a few other stations in the mid-Atlantic. The "Moog SSB", called that as it was recorded on a Moog synthesizer, was used by at least 2 stations in the Triad NC area when I grew up there in 1980's. WLFL in Raleigh used it too. It started with Mt. Rushmore and ended with the lunar shots you mentioned. Best one, IMHO.

[Jnelson09]

I grew up in Fuquay-Varina.

[huggyface]

I grew up in Greensboro, but could get WRAL over-air...and I remember this wonderfully-produced SSB being on 'RAL both sign-off and on for many years! The Bible Broadcasting Network played the audio for this when they used to sign off back in 1982-3 ish, I recall.

[interpreter]

Funny, WRAL used to play 'Dixie' for many years right before Star Spangled Banner. They probably don't talk about that too much now.

Must have gotten too politically incorrect !

[Jnelson09]

You're right about that, interpreter. Hell, they had Jesse Helms as a commentator.

[interpreter]

Word Jnelson09 -

Executive Vice President, no less!

They still have yet to post an answer to when they stopped showing the 'Dixie' segment.

That Shrader blog article was pushed to the archives, like everything else. The guy had a web link to the story of them doing it in 1960, but didn't work very hard to get the answer that I requested, though.

[JamesCraven2007]

I remember that on WTAF-TV (now WTXF Fox 29) in the late 1970's and early 1980's as well. The music, BTW, occasionally is played for the Macy*s 4th of July Fireworks show.

[jsutiger07]

I remember this. It still come on where I from which is the Missisippi educational television network. It comes on every sunday night.

[tsntana]

Re: "I remember this. It still come on where I from which is the Missisippi educational television network. It comes on every sunday night."

What is the condition of the film (or whatever media they're using for it now)?

Our NBC affiliate here in South TX used it throughout the 80's (I remember it after LATER with Bob Costas). Toward the end of that decade, the film was so degraded and the sound was really scratchy.

[huggyface]

Just curious, are you in San Antonio? If so, do you get WOAI-TV (NBC, channel 4)? I went to SA in 2004 (Final 4 trip), and loved it! I hope to return sometime. And I bet many kids these days would look at you "funny" if you told 'em how stations used to sign-off! Signing off? What's that? LOL

[Tuberboy104]

And this was the original National Anthem that Ch. 5

WNEW TV used until the Fall of 1978; and the Station tried its own video composition of the NA using the same music. However one month after WNEW switched over to WNYW TV Ch 5 in May 1986, Fox 5 went back to using the SSB Anthem until the Fall of 1987.

[caa1000]

The Anthem here was like 1970 made. I don't know if the film would have been banned, due to the use of the Southern Flag on it.

[wmbrown6]

Actually originated in 1971 - that was the copyright as seen at the very end of this SSB as played for many years by WNEW-TV (now WNYW Fox 5) in New York.

[Tuberboy104]

So did WTAF TV Ch 29 in Philadelphia!

[wmbrown6]

That I remember well . . . though I've lived in New York all my life, I used to live in a house which got that channel at certain times of the day.

[huggyface]

Could you get other Philly stations in NYC?

[wmbrown6]

Well, WPHL/Ch. 17, for starters . . .

[huggyface]

How about WPVI (ABC6), or WCAU (NBC10), or KYW (CBS3)?

[wmbrown6]

Nope, sorry . . . although when I lived where I lived, WCAU was a CBS O&O and KYW was the Group W-owned NBC affiliate.

[huggyface]

Oh yeah, the 2 stations switched in 1995 right? Same time that WXLV/WGHP flip-flopped in Triad NC, and WFOR/WTVJ traded networks in Miami...

[wmbrown6]

And also two other notable swaps in '95: WJZ/WMAR in Baltimore and WBZ/WHDH in Boston.

[huggyface]

I know WJZ (13) and WMAR (2) switched (didn't recall the year LOL)...but correct me if I'm wrong, is WBZ-TV now CBS, and WHDH NBC? I know WBZ radio is 1030, and a CBS news station.

[wmbrown6]

Again, these switches were in early 1995. WBZ-TV went from NBC to CBS, while WHDH-TV went the other way - and remain so to this day. (And with that, Channel 7, also taking into account its prior calls of WNAC and WNEV, had affiliations at one time or another with all three "major" networks - ABC, CBS and NBC.)

[huggyface]

Wow...interesting history. Thanks. I don't know as much TV stuff about stations way up north (New England), but know more about what's in the mid-Atlantic and the "Deep South." Are you in NY, NJ, where?

[wmbrown6]

New York. But I was once to Boston for a week in the late 1980's . . .

[huggyface]

Cool...I've never been north of the Philly area myself (in 2000), but maybe I'll get up to Boston sometime. Or go overseas.

[j85]

Great job at posting this. I grew up in eastern nc and channel 5 was one of the two stations I would watch growing up (wtvd channel 11 was the other)I loved channel 5 news with Charlie Gaddy along with Tom Suiter doing football friday which was a must watch for any high school football player after a fri. night home game.

[huggyface]

Could you pick up anything from Greenville/New Bern? (7/9/12) Charlie's been gone from 5 awhile now, but I think Tom Suiter's still the head sports dude.