Los Angeles station KABC ends its broadcast day in 1982, complete with the classic "High Flight" and beloved "Moog" rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner"
The "moog" rendition of the national anthem is my favorite. I love the way it shows still photos of everyday Americans, civilian and military. It really was a different country then.
@@ronniesanderson7922They were here, but not as prominent. The Iranian revolution was over 2 years earlier, the American hostages in the American embassy in Iran had been freed a year earlier. The United States was a diverse country with nearly 100 million less residents than currently. It was less than 20 years before the 9-11 attacks. Despite a divided government, we had less polarization and more bipartisanship for the good of the country and its citizens and sign-off editions that were like this, as infomercials were not yet legal and television stations would save electricity by going off the air for several hours instead of broadcasting just to fill air time as well. The United States population was about 234 million people in 1982, now about 332 million people, while world population was about 4.5 billion people and is now nearly double, at over 8 billion people estimated on the Earth. It was complex then, more complex currently.
I remember staying up late just to hear this; we were so much more a godly nation then. Seeing this reminds me of it. High praise for who posted this and saving for posterity for all of us.
@@kingkold Away with you Troll, to North Korea you go. I'm not your 'sonny boy'. And IF you read my post correctly then 'much more a godly nation' would be understood and Trolls like yourself would understand the place 'The Law' holds. Its not there for non believers like yourself to point out but its the Spirit of the Law and where our Hearts are while we are here.
I was born in SoCal March 26th 1975. I always enjoyed watching KABC from the earliest I could remember, until I left California late August 2016. I miss TV station sign offs.
My favorite "sign-off" was back in the late 70s - WMYK radio - K94 radio in Moyock, North Carolina. I would hear it from my dorm room in Norfolk, Va most every night at midnight. They would recite their technical credits to the main chorus of Fire on High by ELO and end with "Welcome to a new day"
The music for this sign-off was "Forgotten Dreams" by Leroy Anderson, the same orchestra that did "Sleigh Ride" and "Syncopated Clock". They later used this song for WQEW in New York City on December 27th 1998 during its final night on the air where Stan Martin made its final announcement about their goodbyes before the station becomes "Radio Disney".
I was just a kid in the 70's when this was out. Waaaay before the dreaded all-night "infomercials" ever existed! Used to look forward to watching this on Friday nights or early Saturday morning when we got permission from our parents to stay up all night, no school til Monday. But sometimes I snuck out of bed at night to watch this if I couldn't sleep. Patriotic then....Patriotic now! The days before 9/11 and mostly All-America only, nothing else!! You'll NEVER EVER EVER GET THOSE DAYS BACK!!! EVER!!!!!!!
Thanks for posting this. I have the special DVD with this excellent Air Force short and the only reason I purchased it. Now if you only had the beginning sequence with Raymond Burr hosting The Psalms that used to broadcast nationwide and at KHJ-TV 9 in the 60s and 70s...I loved the opening music that sounded like something David Raksin composed while Raymond Burr sat under a tree with the Book of Psalms. Remember that broadcast?
This was broadcast the year I was born. I had no idea that TV stations still signed off as late as the 1980's... this is the first time I've ever seen one of these. I think by the time I was old enough to stay up late, they no longer existed.
KABC-TV Channel 7 LosAngeles, the second largest television market in the United States after New York City, signed off at night until about 1990. KCET-TV Channel 28 Los Angeles, one of three PBS stations in the Los Angeles region, would sign off at least once a week at night through the 2000s. Some television stations on the higher-number UHF band still sign off at night and keep continuous color bars and a humming sound in place instead of television snow. Since the 2009 mandated conversion of most broadcast television from analog to digital, there are over 100, but under 200 television stations available in the Los Angeles region with an indoor antenna or outdoor antenna, especially of electrically amplified. Many of those are foreign-language channels, but some are English-language digital subchannels and some do go off the air late at night currently. They sometimes play the national anthem, but most that sign-off just go to color bars.
@robatsea2009 Thank you sooo much for posting this! This is my childhood. Great memories of me staying up after my parents fell asleep and watching T.V until sign off..What an amazing poem, music and narration..Thanx!
I sure remember this. As the announcement was for "Super Friends" at 7 am, it had to have been late Friday night/early Saturday morning. The ABC Television facility/KABC was on Prospect & Talmadge in L.A. The lot was also home to "American Bandstand" "Mr. Belvedere" "General hospital" and scores of sitcoms/game shows
The address of KABC-TV through the year 2000 was 4151 Prospect Avenue, Los Angeles. The moved to 500 Circle Seven Drive in Glendale in 2000, which was 2 years after they had done a 1998 redoing of their news set. They moved that when they changed locations.
The version of "Forgotten Dreams" (as heard over Len Beardsley's sign-off here) that I remember, is the one on this link: watch?v=VMDMSQWgBQ0 This one was used by sister station WABC-TV in New York for the close of their Friday evening editions of "Eyewitness News" through 1977. As you can see, there are some differences in the recordings . . .
And so did WNYE-TV in NYC used an updated version of the Moog SSB with stills of people from NYC, and it was used right up until the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
I remember this and I also remember when only channels 11 and 5 ran all night movies, Channel 11's LOS ANGELES MOVIES AT NIGHT and Channel 5's MOVIES 'TILL DAWN.
1:41 is the “High Flight” short which is the same film that it was later shown on KDKA-TV on 6/12/09 during the “Late Show With David Letterman” where the station signed off its analog broadcast forever. 3:59 is the Moog SSB which was the same film that it was shown on WNYE-TV (channel 25) in NYC back in the 1990’s with an updated version combining with this original with some minor tweaks.
There's also KNDX (KXND's sister station), and KBMY & KMCY (those 2 are owned by WDAY). All three also sign off for the night as well (but still transmit their ID throughout the night, as a still for KBMY/KMCY, and a still with animated background for KNDX/KXND). And KXMB (KXMC's sister station) signs off on Saturday & Sunday nights, but keeps it transmitter on and simulcasts its weather subchannel instead of totally going off the air. Otherwise, CBS' "Up to the Minute" airs overnight M-F.
For me announcers should say this "thought of the day" when playing sign-off notices: "We're about to go off the air once again. DON'T WATCH TV IN THE DARK, AND READ TV GUIDE, so that your color bars experience in front of the magic box will be more colorful!" It's because during dark sign-off hours you get nothing in front of the tube without holding (and reading) a copy of the latest TV Guide issue. This was how TV guide remind the viewers to "not watch TV in the dark" ('90s slogan of the magazine) - by letting the stations to air their spot before playing the sign-off notice; so that viewers can pick-up more entertainment and information from the paper even after stations go off.
I suppose for "thought of the day" to be done, they would have to bring back those announcers again, full time, just to do it every night in realtime. We don't really see that anymore in American broadcasting these days.
No, sign-offs on KABC-TV Channel 7 Los Angeles in the 1980s were every night, but this particular sign-off from 1982 had to be from a Friday night-Saturday morning, as "Superfriends" was a popular Saturday morning cartoon nationally on the ABC television network during the 1970s and 1980s
That's what I get for speaking up before I see the whole thing. The *first* plane shown is the Talon. Other visible aircraft include: F-4 Phantom II (in Thunderbirds colors), C-130 Hercules, C-5 Galaxy, C-141 (all USAF cargo planes), various civilian aircraft, KC-135 (from inside @4:40, refueling an F-105 Thunderchief), B-52 bomber lauching what appears to be an X-15, but I can't at this time confirm that.
They certainly did. They would sign off overnight and not get back on again until after sunrise. Nowadays, we live in a 24/7 society. And TV stations are now on 24/7.
Notice the swiggly line animation at the beginning. Those guys did a lot of commercials. I wonder if they do the red bull commercials, cuz they look the same.
I wish TV networks would sign-off again. The reason being so kids can go to bed earlier, and it saves energy and prevents global warming. The infomercials played at night are boring and stupid.
the first time that I noticed High Flight being used was in an episode of Mad Men (Pete Campbell goes to a lady's apartment), and I think that it was similar in that somebody recited the poem while a plane was flying.
What Len Beardsley didn't mention, was that KABC began it's first broadcast under the former call letters KECA, named after Earle C. Anthony. We sincerely hope you've enjoyed our broadcasts, and invite you to send your comments about our programming and operations.
KABC appears to have been the only one of ABC's O&O's which, after revamping their circular test pattern some time in the 1960's (albeit with the 'abc circle' logo taking up much of the TP in the center), kept it in more or less constant service up to the point where they went full 24/7 at the dawn of the '90's. (Sister stations WABC-TV New York, WLS-TV Chicago and KGO-TV San Francisco all gutted their versions of the '60's TP with color circular TP's during the 1970's and '80's.) Don't know when WXYZ-TV Detroit ceased using circular TP's in favor of electronic color bars.
Up to 1982, sister station WABC-TV in New York also signed off (and on) with the "Moog SSB." One of the last uses of this film on WABC can be seen on this sign-off from early Sunday, June 20, 1982: watch?v=p3ZLAC_dyAI
Let me further elaborate: The recording used for KABC's sign-offs was Leroy Anderson's original 1954 version; while the one WABC used for their Friday evening and weekend night "EWN" closes was Anderson's 1959 re-recording.
Yup, Len Beardsley was very creative in his sign-off announcements with his poetic cadence. He was already a veteran announcer at KABC by the time this aired.
Wow... He has such an eclectic music Resume. I’m going to assume that was him playing the Moog synthesizer. I didn’t know he co-wrote Our Day Will Come. Once again, much thanks Danny. You made my day.
Is this what you are looking for, /watch?v=228m3S88L6E? It was only put up recently and has only 72 views but that I'm quite sure that is Raymond Burr and someone is narrating the Psalms. Anyway hope this helped.
Len passed September 29, 2010 in Morrow Bay, California at the age of 92. He was a pioneer of early television and hosted a program called, “This is Jazz” in Seattle, Washington. Not sure when he retired from KABC-TV, but had a long, distinguished career. 2017 would have been his 100th birthday.
does anyone know if any television stations today still run "High Flight" & the Star Spangled Banner, or do they all just show those crappy informercials all night long?
Yeah, then it probably *is* just crappy infomercials these days....I can't imagine who actually watches them and calls the 800#'s enough for those companies to find it profitable to air them!
The "moog" rendition of the national anthem is my favorite. I love the way it shows still photos of everyday Americans, civilian and military. It really was a different country then.
Amen. No muslims in that clip.
@@ronniesanderson7922They were here, but not as prominent. The Iranian revolution was over 2 years earlier, the American hostages in the American embassy in Iran had been freed a year earlier. The United States was a diverse country with nearly 100 million less residents than currently. It was less than 20 years before the 9-11 attacks. Despite a divided government, we had less polarization and more bipartisanship for the good of the country and its citizens and sign-off editions that were like this, as infomercials were not yet legal and television stations would save electricity by going off the air for several hours instead of broadcasting just to fill air time as well. The United States population was about 234 million people in 1982, now about 332 million people, while world population was about 4.5 billion people and is now nearly double, at over 8 billion people estimated on the Earth. It was complex then, more complex currently.
Sign offs are beautiful to hear and see
Sign-off must have been on a Friday night; Saturday morning cartoons always began with "Super Friends"... THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT MEMORIES, Robatsea!!
This is something else to watch. I'm old enough to remember sign offs.
Vita Reed me too, dude
Vita Reed me to
Yes sir. I’m 57.
Friday night's were the best time to watch station sign offs.
Wow, does this back some memories from living in the LA area in the early '80s!!
Where you're living now?
I remember staying up late just to hear this; we were so much more a godly nation then. Seeing this reminds me of it. High praise for who posted this and saving for posterity for all of us.
The nation was never a godly sonny boy.
@@kingkold Away with you Troll, to North Korea you go. I'm not your 'sonny boy'. And IF you read my post correctly then 'much more a godly nation' would be understood and Trolls like yourself would understand the place 'The Law' holds. Its not there for non believers like yourself to point out but its the Spirit of the Law and where our Hearts are while we are here.
I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, and have fond memories of TV stations signing off.
I was born in SoCal March 26th 1975. I always enjoyed watching KABC from the earliest I could remember, until I left California late August 2016. I miss TV station sign offs.
Where's your hometown now?
@@TheRenard10 Roseburg Oregon
This is the first ever sign off video I ever saw. I've got to give props to my parents for telling me that TV used to not be 24/7.
You missed out!
tv signoffs discontinued in the 1990's
@@MisterPolitical1 Some local stations had sign offs in the 2000's too.
@@TheRenard10 mostly in smaller cities
@@TheRenard10 I remember WRGB signing on early in the morning in the early 2000s. I was about 9 then.
My favorite "sign-off" was back in the late 70s - WMYK radio - K94 radio in Moyock, North Carolina. I would hear it from my dorm room in Norfolk, Va most every night at midnight. They would recite their technical credits to the main chorus of Fire on High by ELO and end with "Welcome to a new day"
I was already 18 in 1982 and always out hanging around the rock clubs in Hollywood at night so I rarely saw KABC7s sign-off
The music for this sign-off was "Forgotten Dreams" by Leroy Anderson, the same orchestra that did "Sleigh Ride" and "Syncopated Clock". They later used this song for WQEW in New York City on December 27th 1998 during its final night on the air where Stan Martin made its final announcement about their goodbyes before the station becomes "Radio Disney".
I was just a kid in the 70's when this was out. Waaaay before the dreaded all-night "infomercials" ever existed!
Used to look forward to watching this on Friday nights or early Saturday morning when we got permission from our parents to stay up all night, no school til Monday. But sometimes I snuck out of bed at night to watch this if I couldn't sleep. Patriotic then....Patriotic now!
The days before 9/11 and mostly All-America only, nothing else!! You'll NEVER EVER EVER GET THOSE DAYS BACK!!!
EVER!!!!!!!
Thanks for posting this. I have the special DVD with this excellent Air Force short and the only reason I purchased it.
Now if you only had the beginning sequence with Raymond Burr hosting The Psalms that used to broadcast nationwide and at KHJ-TV 9 in the 60s and 70s...I loved the opening music that sounded like something David Raksin composed while Raymond Burr sat under a tree with the Book of Psalms. Remember that broadcast?
This was broadcast the year I was born. I had no idea that TV stations still signed off as late as the 1980's... this is the first time I've ever seen one of these. I think by the time I was old enough to stay up late, they no longer existed.
KABC-TV Channel 7 LosAngeles, the second largest television market in the United States after New York City, signed off at night until about 1990. KCET-TV Channel 28 Los Angeles, one of three PBS stations in the Los Angeles region, would sign off at least once a week at night through the 2000s. Some television stations on the higher-number UHF band still sign off at night and keep continuous color bars and a humming sound in place instead of television snow.
Since the 2009 mandated conversion of most broadcast television from analog to digital, there are over 100, but under 200 television stations available in the Los Angeles region with an indoor antenna or outdoor antenna, especially of electrically amplified. Many of those are foreign-language channels, but some are English-language digital subchannels and some do go off the air late at night currently.
They sometimes play the national anthem, but most that sign-off just go to color bars.
Thank you so much for posting this video. Many a night I stayed up light during summer vacation watching tv. I've always loved "High Flight".
@robatsea2009 Thank you sooo much for posting this! This is my childhood. Great memories of me staying up after my parents fell asleep and watching T.V until sign off..What an amazing poem, music and narration..Thanx!
I sure remember this. As the announcement was for "Super Friends" at 7 am, it had to have been late Friday night/early Saturday morning. The ABC Television facility/KABC was on Prospect & Talmadge in L.A. The lot was also home to "American Bandstand" "Mr. Belvedere" "General hospital" and scores of sitcoms/game shows
The address of KABC-TV through the year 2000 was 4151 Prospect Avenue, Los Angeles. The moved to 500 Circle Seven Drive in Glendale in 2000, which was 2 years after they had done a 1998 redoing of their news set. They moved that when they changed locations.
The version of "Forgotten Dreams" (as heard over Len Beardsley's sign-off here) that I remember, is the one on this link:
watch?v=VMDMSQWgBQ0
This one was used by sister station WABC-TV in New York for the close of their Friday evening editions of "Eyewitness News" through 1977. As you can see, there are some differences in the recordings . . .
For the curious, the aircraft shown is a Northrop T-38 Talon, used as a flight trainer by the US Air Force (among others) to this day.
This has always been my favorite footage and audio of 'HIGH FLIGHT' . . .
Gillespie 003
OETA Used it
@@harrisonpolancopolanco9973 So did KTUL between the Moog SSB and the KTUL Television Code/ Sign-Off Announcement.
KCOP also used the Moog national anthem in the early '80s, surprisingly KABC still used it in 1989!
And so did WNYE-TV in NYC used an updated version of the Moog SSB with stills of people from NYC, and it was used right up until the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
@10031981 I assume KLCS-TV (Los Angeles PBS) played the Moog SSB in the late 1970s-80s at 9:00pm before signing off.
OETA (PBS Stations from Oklahoma) used the high flight poem film during sign off since 1970's, 80's and 90's
I remember this and I also remember when only channels 11 and 5 ran all night movies, Channel 11's LOS ANGELES MOVIES AT NIGHT and Channel 5's MOVIES 'TILL DAWN.
+marissa pierce correction. LOS ANGELES AT NIGHT MOVIES
LMAO i remember channel 5 and 11 would show horror movies and Martial arts flicks and weird ass sci fi films.
Very cool, I was a kid living in LA at this time.
very beautiful ending with american anthem congratulations
1:41 is the “High Flight” short which is the same film that it was later shown on KDKA-TV on 6/12/09 during the “Late Show With David Letterman” where the station signed off its analog broadcast forever.
3:59 is the Moog SSB which was the same film that it was shown on WNYE-TV (channel 25) in NYC back in the 1990’s with an updated version combining with this original with some minor tweaks.
There's also KNDX (KXND's sister station), and KBMY & KMCY (those 2 are owned by WDAY). All three also sign off for the night as well (but still transmit their ID throughout the night, as a still for KBMY/KMCY, and a still with animated background for KNDX/KXND).
And KXMB (KXMC's sister station) signs off on Saturday & Sunday nights, but keeps it transmitter on and simulcasts its weather subchannel instead of totally going off the air. Otherwise, CBS' "Up to the Minute" airs overnight M-F.
For me announcers should say this "thought of the day" when playing sign-off notices: "We're about to go off the air once again. DON'T WATCH TV IN THE DARK, AND READ TV GUIDE, so that your color bars experience in front of the magic box will be more colorful!" It's because during dark sign-off hours you get nothing in front of the tube without holding (and reading) a copy of the latest TV Guide issue. This was how TV guide remind the viewers to "not watch TV in the dark" ('90s slogan of the magazine) - by letting the stations to air their spot before playing the sign-off notice; so that viewers can pick-up more entertainment and information from the paper even after stations go off.
I suppose for "thought of the day" to be done, they would have to bring back those announcers again, full time, just to do it every night in realtime. We don't really see that anymore in American broadcasting these days.
No, sign-offs on KABC-TV Channel 7 Los Angeles in the 1980s were every night, but this particular sign-off from 1982 had to be from a Friday night-Saturday morning, as "Superfriends" was a popular Saturday morning cartoon nationally on the ABC television network during the 1970s and 1980s
I used to stay up late watch national anthem when I was very little.
This poem was written on the back of a letter home to mom.
He never made it back.
Love you mom!
Pray for me, as his mom did.
He died in battle?
@@gidzmobug2323 as far as I know. God love him and his family.
@@gidzmobug2323
ruclips.net/video/klbZzEO4zaE/видео.html
@@gidzmobug2323
ruclips.net/video/bLGPvxrdS8U/видео.html
That's what I get for speaking up before I see the whole thing. The *first* plane shown is the Talon. Other visible aircraft include: F-4 Phantom II (in Thunderbirds colors), C-130 Hercules, C-5 Galaxy, C-141 (all USAF cargo planes), various civilian aircraft, KC-135 (from inside @4:40, refueling an F-105 Thunderchief), B-52 bomber lauching what appears to be an X-15, but I can't at this time confirm that.
They certainly did. They would sign off overnight and not get back on again until after sunrise. Nowadays, we live in a 24/7 society. And TV stations are now on 24/7.
Notice the swiggly line animation at the beginning. Those guys did a lot of commercials. I wonder if they do the red bull commercials, cuz they look the same.
This is a Hollywood station..even the sign-offs have to be dramatic.
+warlaker Most large market stations were this way.
Thanks a lot for posting this!!! Loved it!!
Also-Thought for once I'd be the first to post a comment!
I wish TV networks would sign-off again. The reason being so kids can go to bed earlier, and it saves energy and prevents global warming. The infomercials played at night are boring and stupid.
the first time that I noticed High Flight being used was in an episode of Mad Men (Pete Campbell goes to a lady's apartment), and I think that it was similar in that somebody recited the poem while a plane was flying.
What Len Beardsley didn't mention, was that KABC began it's first broadcast under the former call letters KECA, named after Earle C. Anthony. We sincerely hope you've enjoyed our broadcasts, and invite you to send your comments about our programming and operations.
I believe that the announcer is then-station manager John Severino.
No. That is the late, great Len Beardsley.
Stations that still sign off include KHOU, KVRR, WDAZ , WTKR, KXND, WAGM, KSFY, KTXA, WOAY, KXMC and WDAY.
KABC appears to have been the only one of ABC's O&O's which, after revamping their circular test pattern some time in the 1960's (albeit with the 'abc circle' logo taking up much of the TP in the center), kept it in more or less constant service up to the point where they went full 24/7 at the dawn of the '90's. (Sister stations WABC-TV New York, WLS-TV Chicago and KGO-TV San Francisco all gutted their versions of the '60's TP with color circular TP's during the 1970's and '80's.) Don't know when WXYZ-TV Detroit ceased using circular TP's in favor of electronic color bars.
it's not one that I am familiar with myself but it definitely sounds like something fascinating to see
Up to 1982, sister station WABC-TV in New York also signed off (and on) with the "Moog SSB." One of the last uses of this film on WABC can be seen on this sign-off from early Sunday, June 20, 1982:
watch?v=p3ZLAC_dyAI
Nah it still being used during the 80s there is a 1989 sign off from this channel that still featured the same version as this video.
I never understood why stations would put up a card telling viewers the tech details of their transmitters.
A 7 a.m. sign-on seems kind of late for a Los Angeles O&O, even on a Saturday morning.
Am I the only one that's reminded of the Enclave Radio from Fallout 3 whenever I watch this?
The version of the anthem in this sign-off is the same one used in "Local 58".
@RCaIabraro My thoughts exactly. As it was played on Moog :D
Let me further elaborate: The recording used for KABC's sign-offs was Leroy Anderson's original 1954 version; while the one WABC used for their Friday evening and weekend night "EWN" closes was Anderson's 1959 re-recording.
.....of the entire staff of KABC ........TV! LOL
Miss Jennifer Banks Love that.
Yup, Len Beardsley was very creative in his sign-off announcements with his poetic cadence. He was already a veteran announcer at KABC by the time this aired.
KOOL !
Anyone reminded of Poltergeist?
I wonder how many kids (and young adults) have never seen a TV station sign off like this... and whatever happened to the sign off sermonette?
Not all stations had that. KABC did not; they usually just had a signoff edition of the news.
arranged by the late Mort Garson
Danny Eyheralde Thank you so much for that information Danny.
Wow... He has such an eclectic music Resume. I’m going to assume that was him playing the Moog synthesizer. I didn’t know he co-wrote Our Day Will Come. Once again, much thanks Danny. You made my day.
@@TheGlass50 your welcome/
This must be the "A Clockwork Orange" version of The Star Spangled Banner.
They're heeeeere....
Is this what you are looking for, /watch?v=228m3S88L6E? It was only put up recently and has only 72 views but that I'm quite sure that is Raymond Burr and someone is narrating the Psalms. Anyway hope this helped.
@basmati, wonder if Len Beardsley is still there?
Sorry, he's long since passed away.
wmbrown6 😔 thanks. I had not known that.
He was replaced by another announcer, Dean Weber, then Roger Carroll.
Len passed September 29, 2010 in Morrow Bay, California at the age of 92. He was a pioneer of early television and hosted a program called, “This is Jazz” in Seattle, Washington. Not sure when he retired from KABC-TV, but had a long, distinguished career. 2017 would have been his 100th birthday.
There here
4:00 NICKELODEON
2000-2009
3:58
Makes me wondering if there is a link for this version of the anthem.
does anyone know if any television stations today still run "High Flight" & the Star Spangled Banner, or do they all just show those crappy informercials all night long?
Why so much aviation imagery on television?
patriotic images during the cold war
Yeah, then it probably *is* just crappy infomercials these days....I can't imagine who actually watches them and calls the 800#'s enough for those companies to find it profitable to air them!
Take a tip, take a lesson, you'll never win by messin..with the people at the freakin' FCC.
3:59