HBO promos with sign-on (October 16, 1979) 

1:39 DTMF Tones

Thank you so much for posting this! Very cool of being able to see a complete HBO sign-on sequence as these are ultra rare to come by. Also a big thank you to whoever recorded and preserved this moment.

The teleprompter ran all day during weekdays because until the mid-1980s, HBO was 24 hours a day only on weekends. Every weekday at 3:00pm ET, HBO would run a promo reel to cable outlets they could use on their own. It included a long promo of at least 2:30, shorter :60 and :30 versions, an HBO This Weekend promo (you see it in the video above), and I believe some sports or special events promos. The entire reel usually lasted around 15 minutes and then it was back to the teleprompter scroll. In the later days of this before they launched 24/7, the accompanying music was usually two classical music pieces on an endless loop. I'd love to figure out what they were -- I was a teenager back then and just don't remember. Sign on in the early 80s was often a shorter form show like that NFL thing they used to run or Dick Cavett's Remember When... documentary series.

Bravo!!! I remember seeing this and listening to this music while I did my homework as a kid. Is it possible to post more of that blue teleprompter to identify the music on Shazam. I have identified the current song from being from LA Express, Nordic Winds.

I’ve heard another song before this song before HBO signed on from the late 1970s. Wondering what was that song, before Nordic Winds? Hope the other song could be available at iTunes Store?

This was around the time our city first got cable. I remember it was still OTA, but you had to get a special antenna to recieve it. Local channels weren't included, so you still had to use your regular antenna. And we only had 13 channels back then. And we thought that was an absolutely insane amount of channels. Then over the next 3 years, our channels doubled to about 29, and they actually wired our house for cable in that time.

The music is by Return To Forever.

Also Starring In The Amsterdam Kill, Bradford Dillman!

Wow, Daylight Savings Time didn't end until Oct. 28th in 1979. I almost thought it was a mistake, but it's correct. Great rare clip here; thanks!

Nice footage here!

Must find the boxing kangaroo movie!