Seeing that historical sign off made me cry and smile, and when I saw the old 8 logo jumping around at the end, my mind was stuck in nostalgia!! This was great! I love how most stations did their old sign offs when they switched to all digital!
That was really a beautiful montage... I found it stirring, and I've never even set foot in Dallas! Productions like this make me miss the "warm" quality of film that is rarely seen on television anymore.
This is a real treat for me. I wish they done the sign-off in Colorado Springs, CO before they flipped the switch to digital on June 14, 2009. Before flipping the switch from analog to digital, the nightly Sign-off was the most dignified thing WFAA has ever done. I wished stations in Colorado Springs had done the sign-offs before they flipped the switched to digital that day.
This music theme actually started in the mid-1970s, and it was the closing theme of the first 5 pm newscast Channel 8 ever had. It was not only used at sign-off, but also at the end of News 8 at 5 with Bob Gooding. Bonus points if anybody can locate the opening theme to that same newscast, which was a little different but of the same vein.
the music for that sign off was the same the ABC affiliate in Miami, WPLG 10, would use for their long credits for the end of their newscasts around that same time. Very interesting. Thanks for putting it up!
The day of the digital transition, I managed to catch the tail-end of this sign-off on the station's newscast as me and my family have cable. This is quite possibly the best ever analog TV sendoff. Thanks for uploading! Someone should do a simultaneous side-by-side video of WFAA's analog and digital signals (not just the final minute side-by-side one shown on the newscast) as the transition happened.
@wdmassoc Awesome work...love how you framed the shot of the WFAA tower from the JFK Memorial... 1:39 look how bare the skyline is without Reunion Tower! I'm on vacation in Dallas from Norfolk, VA and came back for the first time in a few years. Could not believe how much downtown Dallas has grown!
Sadly KDFW just flipped the switch as well,the FCC took over at noon broadcasting that how to set up your converter box thing,i just barley made the WFAA sign off and i saw the last few moments of it,Thanks so much for posting the whole thing!!
The train station depot was in Rockwall. The part right afterward was the old Leonard's subway in Fort Worth. There was a parking lot on the far north side of downtown where you could park, get on the subway, and it would take you underground to the basement of the Leonard's store. Dillard's ended up with the retail area, the rest of the complex became Tandy Center, which continued the use of the subway till the mall closed a few years ago. I rode it once, was really neat.
KTVT/11 and KXAS/5 simply flipped a switch. I think KDFW did their switch either during or just before their noon news. I'd like to see that one - my little USB DTV tuner can only get one channel at a time, and U-Verse has been carrying the digital channels for some time now, so there was no analog shutoff to be recorded from there. This was the first time I'd ever seen the WFAA sign-off. Pretty classy. Too bad they didn't play the National Anthem.
I agree. It was a beautiful sign-off video. Having worked with film and video, I believe the "warmth" of this production actually is the result of good camera work, editing and music selection rather than the film itself. I've seen beautiful analog and HD video work just as "warm" because of great creativity and technical skill. The best 70mm IMAX film stock can end up a crappy production without a good cameraman, director and editor.
Well, if this sign-off was from 1970, Arlington Stadium was known as Turnpike Stadium, and the Rangers hadn't moved yet. And the Cowboys had just moved into Texas Stadium - my guess is that this was produced early in 1970, and nobody had shot any film of Texas Stadium yet.
it has now been 40 years since the final days of the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike. December 1977, tolls on I-30 were coming to an end, it is now December 2017.
Between 2010 and 2013, analog in Australia will be switched off forever. But I still have a set top box (in the USA it's converter box) that can pick up digital channels.
That’s a beautiful sign off, but that logo at the end with the 8 jumping around is kinda creepy ngl. And it’s even more creepy here since right after that, it will cut to snow. Also, for the late 60s and 70s, that sign off is very well worked. That looks like an 80s sign off, can’t believe it aired in the 70s and even the 60s, it’s so high quality too.
There's no recorded analog sign-off for KSAT, although I know there is a recorded KSAT sign-off on RU-vid and Jared, KSAT did indeed use the same music as well but it was shortened to about 45 seconds of what WFAA did since the ending of that African Trilogy is about 1 minute 42 seconds long approximately from what I timed it as. The only San Antonio analog sign offs that are shown on RU-vid are from KENS-TV, and sister stations of WOAI, KMYS 35 CW and KABB FOX 29 had analog sign-offs as well recorded on RU-vid as far as I know. For JakeMG the user on here that has that recorded KSAT sign-off goes by username of sptweb that he uploaded 10 years ago which is the only KSAT sign-off in exsistance as far as I know, and as far as I know the only other San Antonio sign-off other than that in exsistance is KMOL/WOAI-TV 4 also by this same user.
I'm surprised there was no playing of the national anthem. Still, though, as corny as it may sound, it gave me goosebumps to watch that. And I'm from NY! Well done and thanks for posting!
I'm fairly certain that the B&W footage of people crying around the 30-second mark was from 11/22/63. I'm guessing they thought that footage would be more identifible than a one or two second shot of Abraham Zapruder being interviewed at the studio.
When the FCC initiated that rule it grandfathered in WFAA-TV, because it was co-owned with WFAA-AM/FM. It also allowed WOAI-TV in San Antonio to go back to using those call letters in 2002because it's co-owned with WOAI-AM.
That was used for the close of newscasts on WPLG Miami in the mid to late 1970's when it was called "newswatch 10" and anchored by Ann Bishop and Glenn Rinker.
It was also used as a news theme for fellow ABC affiliates including WJLA (Washington DC) and WTVC (Chattanooga, TN). However, the final few minutes of the Neil Diamond song - as heard in the WFAA sign-off - was never used on the air to close the newscasts.
Ever notice how other stations in Texas always call themselves by the name of their national affiliate? There's FOX 4, NBC 5, CBS 11... but not ABC 8. That's because Channel 8 is beast enough to just go by its call sign rather than depending on ABC for legitimacy.
This is the case all over the US. In Dallas the other stations are owned by the networks. Fox owns KDFW, Fox4, CBS owns KTVT, CBS11 etc. Your point it correct, WFAA was the number 1 station and we felt our Calls WFAA were far stronger than ABC.
KHOU Channel 11 (CBS) in Houston would go by their call signs as well. Then again, both KHOU and WFAA are sister stations, owned by Belo until Gannett bought out Belo (which Gannett split into two companies, Gannett handling print and Tenga handling radio and television). The slogan "The Spirit of Texas" is used by both stations.
@AndyHogue That's the old Leonard's Department Store subway train, later changed to the Tandy Center subway. Unfortunately it's long since retired and dismantled.
Have not thought about the clip at the last with the old circle 8 logo and blue background (took me back!).... My dad would have liked the clip of the News open in color with Bob Gooding--he thought the world of Bob. This analog phase-out sure beats what some of the other stations around the country have done for their transitions. Ch.8 continues their grudge against Tracy Rowlett also, even though Tracy worked there for 25 of Ch.8's first 50 years.
@Hectorson3 I've seen it referred to as "Working For All Alike" or "World's Finest Air Attraction." Usually, though, call letters don't really stand for anything, but people assign meanings anyway. WBAP-TV in Fort Worth used to be thought of as "We Bring A Program" (but some said it stood for "We Bore All People"!)
The Kennedy Memorial downtown (which the tower is seen through at the beginning and end) wasn't built until 1970 either, which also rules out this running anytime during the 60s. It's a shame that they had Pete do it. They really should have had someone with a lot of Channel 8 history handle the sign-off. Was Troy busy that day?
@AndyHogue That was in Fort Worth, on the north side of downtown was a huge store called Leonard's. They used a train/trolley/subway to take customers back and forth between the store and a big parking lot about 3 blocks away. After the complex became Tandy Center and Dillard's bought out Leonard's the system was still used. Now, sadly the complex is being re-purposed and the train system was closed; the parking lot is now part of Radio Shack's current headquarters facility.
and to add, the original K/W line was about 300-400 miles further west. one thing which was happening was the was fear they would run out of W call letters for the east coast back in the 1920s. now if you google the K/W line you might get a sense of where the original line was.
That 1 old color news open did have Verne in it, but you couldn't see him up close. Almost any newscast with Iola would have probably had Tracy on it also, and I'm sure they would have used a close-up version of Iola than to crop Tracy out of a wider shot.
Good thing they gave us a little bit of history..but I think what would've been better would be the full length TM Spirit Phase I theme (or Phase II), playing over all this. Besides, while WFAA's been on the air for 60 years, they've had their Spirit of Texas slogan for 25 of them.
You forgot that Troy retired, and he only does weather-related stuff on occasion now. I can't remember if he did last year's Santa's Helpers or even 2007's (he retired in 2007, and next month will mark 2 years since his retirement).
@AndyHogue I actually got to ride it once, during the Tandy Center years. Kinda quaint and rickety, like an old revived streetcar. If you go to Google Images and search "Tandy Center Subway" you'll see pix of the car in Ch.8's signoff (from Leonard's time), the one I rode (more squared-off and has Tandy Center's logo on it), the track, the Tandy Center complex, and the remote parking lot.
In other news: Dan and anyone else who might work at a call-letter station: I'm starting a project to get everyone's Station Anniversary Specials uploaded to RU-vid, so I can curate them into a channel or some such. If you're reading this, and you work for one, and their specials *aren't* already uploaded, any chance you could see what you could do about that? Some fantastic local TV in those things.
Can I purchase the Sump'n Else show and The Group And Chapman show which were television bandstands on WFAA with Ralph Baker Jr and Ron Chapman, who were both KLIF-AM broadcasters? I know I saw a Sump'n Else open and imagine that they have videos in the vault considering that they have been located at Communications Center for 51 years.
God bless Texas, for me it's Texas or Illinois, no way am I going back to live in Illinois where I was born. I may not have been born in Texas but this has been my state of residency for the last 17 years, been here since summer 2000. So obviously, I'm gonna live and die right here in Texas, Go Cowboys! -Sun. 6/18/2017
2:50 on your deathbed leading up to the last flashbacks of your life as a dallasite viewer of WFAA before the impending doom of eternal death, or static.
They didn't do anything special - just went to colorbars then began running the nightlight loop (FCC informational video) until about July 12. Then they just turned off the switch. Too bad, too, because KXAS/WBAP was the first TV station in Texas - there's some definite history there. NBC doesn't really care, though...
Actually, not a bad idea and not for a April Fools Joke. Many TV stations run something like a sign off/sign on at about 5am on Sundays. I think it would be a great presentation..especially with updated footage. Anybody up for a faux sign off?
it finally happened! Texas Rangers have won the World Series! congratulations, 2023 champions! Cowboys won their first super bowl in 1972, Mavericks won their first NBA finals in 2011, and now Rangers won their first world series in 2023. C R M ---COWBOYS RANGERS MAVERICKS!
This was the digital cutover. Unless you were a nightlight station (one that would continuously broadcast information about the DTV switchover and where to get a converter box), you had to shut down the analog transmitter after the signoff.
@dan1701a Ohhh lmao!!! Yeah I've heard that bout WBAP lol. But I've been told by a person from WFAA says that it stands for "working for all alike" I was just quizzin people. :3
@SignOffsGuy I think it is the music but it is a National Anthem but it is a Seal of Good Practice! LOL because there is no national anthem but they having a Seal of Good Practice!
