WDVM-TV 9 (now WUSA) Sign-Off 1980 

I remember watching this nearly every night back in the late 70's and early 80s. I actually looked forward to it till the tv went off. Before the Mediation there was the jet take off and the guy in the plane watching the sky as the poem was recited, I loved them. Now in 2021, I actually live where the Meditation was filmed, in Hawaii,, and I am literally standing here at work near the ocean, and the imagery has not changed, it's amazing.

Remember this very well from working overnights in a DC newsroom (not Ch.9). In the 1980's that meant being by myself. Very eerie to hear it alone in a quiet room at the end of the day. Thanks for bringing back a fond memory.

I stumbled across this one purely by accident. I too remember staying up late on the weekends as a kid watching tv. I fought sleep just to see "Meditation" I can't tell you how well I slept afterwards.

Im stunned, speechless even. I havnt seen or hear this since c. 1977 as a small boy. It was mysterious and hypnotizing as well as frightening, watching this on Friday nights alone in the dark while exhausted mother slept.

Gorgeous. I've been looking for this film for 28 years. It's the only rendition of "Meditation" I've heard that features the whole orchestra and not just violins and is actually much more lush- especially when the waves crash @ 1:28. I used to turn to Channel 9 in my youth at 12:55 AM (or whatever time it was) to watch the station go off the air. (I even remember an older design of the SEAL OF GOOD PRACTICE and a male announcer from the 1970's with a somewhat creepy voice.) Thank you for this.

This is awesome...I used to love this sign off as a kid!!! I was saddened when WUSA stopped using it in the mid-90s and I've been looking for it on old videotapes forever. Thanks for posting this!!!

I used to go to my grandma's every summer, I recorded this with a little cassette recorder and played it ALL THE TIME. I never knew its name or seen it again until now. You gave me joy Ive rarely known by my being able to hear AND see it again.

I remember seeing this sign off when I was growing up. This brought back memories back when I was a teenager back in the eighties. Thank you for posting! You can use this to show the teenagers of today to show that TV wasn't always 24 hours! Back when we were teenagers TV wasn't 24 hours and we surivied.

This brought back many fond memories from the seventies. Thanks for posting.

I will never forget this. It’s a cherished childhood memory of staying up with my grandma in Bryans Road Maryland to watch channel 9 sign off. It’ll always be WTOP-9 to me. (Locked out of my 88Rocker account) so here I am 😊

UNBELIEVABLE!! I haven't seen this since WTOP days after SHOCK aired all those K GORDON MURRAY Mexican horror films on Sat night! Down time done right!.meditation..what a time capsule...thanks ever so much for this post!

Ravishing treatment of Massenet's "Meditation." This film used to lure me into the living room from the age of 8 on and watched it practically every Saturday night when the station went off-air around 1am (Saturday was the only night I could stay up late) and watched the complete sign-off with the NAB seal, Renee' Chaney, and the national anthem. Funny the things you remember from your childhood.

When I watched this at night when I was a kid back in D.C., I thought they were broadcasting the end of the world. I remember climbing in bed and thinking, 'We're all gonna be in heaven in the morning.'

thanks for the memories i remeber seeing this when i was a kid before the meditation video they also had a video of a jet fighter flying higher and higher untill he touched the face of god will never forget it

Wow! I cannot believe that I found this on You Tube after a very quick google search. It brought back so many memories. I used to stay up just to hear the :Meditations" music. They added the National Anthem collage a few years later. The whole sign off process was a good thing, to let people know it was OK to shut down and get some sleep and stop al the corporate craziness for a few hours. Again, thank you for posting this and giving me back at least the memories of my innocent youth.

The female announcer was Renee Chaney from WGMS Radio, she was the announcer between Bill Neal and Mike Lewis.

I'm from the Washington Area, and will mention that it was originally known as WTOP, or "Washington's top news", but the TV station is now known as WUSA, and WTOP is now a radio station at 103.5 FM

Channel 9 has had some excellent staff announcers:Lee Shepherd,John Douglas, Bill Neal and here Renee Chaney,who was working at WGMS, and Mike Lewis.

At most stations, "meditations" would have meant a preacher. Quite surprising simply to have music and nature scenes.

Most powerful version of the Star Spangled Banner ever including that prelude fanfare! I wonder who arranged that version of the SSB?

Oh man.... I remember the meditation video back then... the music sounds relaxing.

And I gotta find the "All the lonely people" sign off, and the one with the fighter jet and the guy says, "reach out and touch the face of God."

Thank you so much for posting this! I have never forgotten it and thought I'd never see it again. :)

I grew up watching Wheel of Fortune on channel 9.

When I was a little girl I watched all the sign offs of all the twin cities tv stations before I went to sleep

WOW, I recall this so well. I have not seen this since being in my teen, so I started looking for it tonight. I'm so glad it was here on RU-vid. Thanks so much for posting it. That meditation song was so relaxing way back when (still is) and that has always been my favorite video montage with the anthem. What memories that brings back to me. I also recall wondering what to do after the stations had signed off. YEP, stations actually went off the air at night way back then folks, lol!

Well speaking from experience ( Marine Detachment, USS Saratoga way back in the old days). The scene at 1:46 is what it looks like in the evenings out at sea.

0:01 Heard this song from a WNEW-TV sermonette back in 1983

This is the best country that ever existed, or ever will exist , but she’s under attack. Our fallen soldiers would turn over in their graves to see what it’s becoming. A damn shame.

I have wanted to see some old school DC TV Sign-offs. By the by, I noticed the announcement began somewhat similar to channel 5 (WNEW/WNYW's) announcement. Ironically, NEW/NYW's sister station is WTTG. Wish I could see a sign-off of that station and the other DC stations.

S Korea (kbs, Mbc, sbs) uses anthem to open and close their stations back in the days at 6am...and some radio stations as they do now...wish US could continue to open with anthem and close...since now it’s 24 hrs

From the time the first TV stations signed on in the 1930s and 1940s, up until about 15-20 years ago, all U.S. TV stations signed off around 2-4 am and didn't come back on the air until around 5-6am. Beginning around 1995 or so, however, most TV stations began operating 24/7, save for many stations affiliated with Fox, The WB, UPN, and now-a-days, The CW and My Network TV as well as ION and most independent stations, who still sign off around midnight-1am and come back on the air around 4-5am.

Was WTOP-TV when owned, first jointly by CBS and The Washington Post, then Post-Newsweek. Under the 1976 FCC cross-ownership order, which banned newspapers from owning stations in cities where they published, traded with The Detroit News' WWJ-TV/Detroit. WTOP-TV became WDVM, WWJ-TV became WDIV. Gannett later bought The Detroit News and changed the calls to their current WUSA-TV. Gannett split its newspaper and TV interests in 2017; the TV side took the name Tegna.

I still have my 1991 autograph with the meteorologists of channel 9 in my photo album.

Now THIS is a signoff!

I want to say I remember WNOK-TV, now WLTX, channel 19 in Columbia, SC used this for it's sign off. Memories are vague, but I'm pretty sure I can recall seeing this after the CBS Late Movie when I was a little kid.

The Flag Evolution "SSB" was produced by a New York graphics firm, Saxton Graphic Associates, Ltd., in 1971. In fact, as seen on WNEW-TV in New York up to 1978 and on WITI in Milwaukee, after the final shot of the flag on the moon, it dissolved to the copyright notice: "© 1971 Saxton Graphic Associates, Ltd."

Some of the footage in the Meditation film was also used in the "Navy Hymn" clip used by stations like KNBC, KHQ, and WTVT.

That's from the Mormon Church, way back in 1971---also used by KTTV in L.A. in the '70s

I only wish this had the High Flight that aired just before the Meditation,. Ah, the simplier tmes.

Wow, television stations were signing off as early as 1980, wow.

I truly love this music. I would stay up hours and hours to listen and view this rare moments of song. Do anyone know the theme to the music that came on on channel 9 during the sixties of the tv show, "Picture for a Sunday Afternoon." Thank You.

Yeah, the High Flight. And in the end the voice says, "...and touch the face of God."

@bryanac625: that's right... US History 101!!! even though it is a brief summary of what our past was like.. the best parts were the declaration of independence by benjamin franklin, the emancipation of slavery (freedom) during the civil war period by abraham lincoln and the great depression and world war II beginning before franklin roosevelt took over.. and to top it off, neal armstrong claimed the moon by posting the flag on there .. them guys were the noble heroes of the piece

whoever did this knew what was to come and installed help

And best of all, the National Anthem is none other than the "Flag Evolution" version. I wonder who performed that!

@ShogoYahaagi I used stay up for this too, and also the "this is for all the lonely people" song.

Funny how you remember things as simple as a tv sign off...but its clear from these posts this sign off meant something to a lot of others too..exellent. my prior post is in good company...Danny O'Donnell

God bless our country

Earlier than that even.

Did you forget Glenn Brenner?

Plz post the WTOP and WDVM sign-offs from the 1970s with the classic NAB Seal Of Good Practice.

@88Rocker Isn't it the simple aspects of life that are missed the most, such as a drive-in theater, a galvanized steel trash can, an old play ground set or even a simple chalk board, a piece of chalk or a chalkboard eraser? luckily, there are still some stations that do sign off, there is a local tv station that still does that up around the oh-mich. area, every friday & saturday night at around 2:08 am. then sign on around 6:00 am.

Who did that piece of music for meditation on wdvm channel ,9 in Washington

thank you, however, I know this. what I am in search of is the afternoon theme to picture to the

angelpleasant-- What year did WUSA move from 40th and Brandywine Streets to their current location?

6yrs 4yrs now 2yrs has anyone ever discovered the name of the orchestra playing this beautiful version of Meditation?

I was brought up in a more gracious era. -A.D.B.

The late night sign offs all mellow were after CBS late late shows or movies til dawn

@sr71ablackbird You are so right!

I asked the same question, and the regulars on here don't seem to know. It won't hurt to keep trying, though . . .

It was using Opening and closing prayer of DZRH Before sign on and off using Massenet meditation year in the 70's to present day

Published on Aug 12, 2013

I love US history and I loved watching this when I was a kid. Glad to see it again here on RU-vid. I never knew it had a name. But since that time I've learned that I have ADHD. I'm saying this here because they say that ADD is like having the channel changing in your mind again and again. And watching this video now, with its zooming in and out on the picture, and flipping through some of the pictures very rapidly, I can see why I liked it so much.

I think all of them, save for Mike Lewis, may be either retired or deceased, or both.

The tune from meditation from thaïs

Just curious, who was the announcer who handled WDVM's sign-off that 1980 night/early morning?

picture aftern movie

wusa9 cbs owned by tegna

you must be from d.c.

I see a figure skater

its really creepy

analog horror

0:00 Jules Massenet meditation from thaïs

wusa9 cbs owned by tegna