WJZ-TV 13, Baltimore MD Sign-Off 1981 

Gets people to bed, relaxed and prayed for the night!

Man, I remember those "inspirationals"' from very early on. I miss how stations used to sign-off.

I'm with you on that one. I'm from Baltimore and as crazy as it sounds, I loved the sign-offs. This clip really brought back memories. If someone starts a petition, I will sign it.

I remember they used to do an Oprah promo before she came to Baltimore where they'd say "what's an Oprah?" and then say to tune in on a certain date and find out.

The staff announcer doing the sign-off for Baltimore's WJZ-TV is the memorable Larry Walton.

WJZ, the greatest station in Baltimore.

The good old days of local TV, when they signed off for the night, and the picture changed to all snow.

Mr. (Richard) Sher is now at WMAR-TV2 moderating the panel discussion show that gave him local renown on Channel 13 on Saturday Nights but now on Sunday Mornings on Channel 2, "Square Off"

I will say one thing, It's hard to imagine one co-host(Richard Sher) is still with the station after all these years(since at that time, Dec. 1981), Reporter for the famed "Eyewitness News".

WJZ's test pattern was exactly the same design as was used by KYW-TV in Philadelphia, the only differences being: a) the call letters, set in the font that was approximated for Anklepants, was directly above the city/state of license in the inner lower left quad, and b) no '13 in a 13 in a 13'.

i live in baltimore and my aunt taped all of those shows and makes me watch them everyday ....she loves oprah

Wow we had the same old beat up national anthem print as well, only ours had so many splices in it that half the song was missing...

That wideo brought back late-night meoories from my Hometown(Baltimore,MD)TV station!

Sometimes I used to get TV signals from WJZ... on LONG ISLAND!

I miss the years of sign-offs!!

One of the best sign-offs I've seen on youtube.

Sure do miss these days the wholesomeness wow have things changed

Last I heard, Mr. Sher was still with WJZ.

Yep. And nowadays, the Westinghouse stations are CBS owned and operated. Only two of those stations (this and KPIX) still have the Westinghouse look, the other three sold out to the "CBS Mandate."

@Tomsonic41 TV signoffs were real and for an insomniac like me were dreaded. All stations were usually off the air by one or two o'clock. I grew up in between Baltimore and Washington and we were able to pick up stations from both cities. WTTG channel 5, a Metromedia owned station at the time, was the last to go of the air. It ran Perry Mason from 1 am to 2 am and that was it for the weekdays. During the weekdays the some UHF stations would run late night features. Ghost Host & Creature Feature

I love how he says "Baldimore."

Oh my. They are still writing "13" with the same font. Wowie Zowie

Oh yes! And I remember these religious messages at the end, too. When the network signed off, that's when I knew I stayed up too late.

Same goes for here in Detroit. If nothing else, those infomercials are very sleep-inducing. The sign-offs were more interesting, and back in the day I would sometimes stay awake just to watch a station go off at night before I went to sleep.

wow thanx for this vintage singoffsguy

Supposing this is 1981, the date would be Wednesday night/Thursday morning, December 30 & 31. Also, sign-off slides tended to keep for more than one season, as do many test graphics these days.

A ABC affiliate, but it was now a CBS owned-and-operated station.

@Baltimoreman78 Which it is. However, an unknown movie (which included the sign-off in the video) was sent about 1981 so that's why you are getting this title.

Anyone think of Poltergeist when they watch a sign-off?

Channel 13's ''Group W" font is Anklepants.

I'm a native Baltimorian and I remember this

You are so right on that one.

Oprah Winfrey before she got her own talk show and, eventually, her own TV network. Wish I was born before I actually was. I was born in the wrong era. Why didn't I live in the days before the 90s?

Ever notice WJZ didn't say they were an ABC station or even acknowledge that in anything even before the 1995 network affiliate switch.

WOW!!! Richard Sher and his Hair!!! LOLOL!!!

WMAR 2, Gaithersburg MD Opening June 2002

she has come a long way hasn't she

It's just the quality of the film that aired--rather beat up and with a good amount of hiss in the audio. Wonder if WJZ-TV dubbed it onto that videotape thing--lol! Anyhow, during a bit of DXing in 1990, I saw 'JZ's sister Westinghouse station KYW-TV in Philly sign-off using that same film.

I dont think any station signs off anymore

It was called "SmokeEnders" (like your current Lindora for weight loss) and they took big ads in TV Guide (I have tons of TV Guides from the late 70's and early 80's with SmokeEnders in Los Angeles-Orange Co.) fyi. Joe

Eu assisti ha 18 anos do 2005 e a 18 anos do 2006

yup, it's Oprah Winfrey

@zefallafez Yep, and before that The Odd Couple. Those were the days!!

WJZ was an ABC affiliate back then before it switched to CBS in 1995.

If only the news could be like it used to and tell the truth about God instead of saying Mother nature that is fake. The news now could be better with more heart.

I believe this was December 1979,because the WJZ-13 abc logo is from the 1979-80 season.

Corian Reid Can you blame her?

And until the "Moog SSB" came along, WABC-TV, Ch. 7 in New York also used this "Navy SSB" film. (So, I.I.N.M., did WXTV/Ch. 41.)

Those were the good old day---I would not listen to any other station--WJZ Oprah was great--I knew she was headed for bigger and better things

So they just cut off the transmitter as soon as the National Anthem was over? I thought that was just for effect in the movie Poltergeist...

Where is the one sign off where the guy says "and touch the face of a God."

Nice.

Beverly Burke??

The year is 1979!

Breaking News got rid of the Sign-Off!

she seems almost... human.

Richard Sher during his Harpo Marx period.....

The only hint that WJZ was an ABC affiliate here, was that diagonal stripe and circular cutout on the I.D. slide, as in use then by ABC. One question I have here: Who was the announcer on duty that night?

WJZ-TV 4 Baltimore Sign-Off 1993

Who's the girl in the promo?

I thought I saw Richard Sher on a panel show recntly. I'm seeing post about him passing, is this true?

Good . video

WOOOOOOOOOW a broke Opera

God obviously didn't give Richard Sher as much as Oprah!

ddavenport-- Isn't that the truth? All too often, and I'm just as guilty of this as anyone else, we don't take the time to think about some of the precious gifts that God has given us in our lifetime. Perhaps, the greatest gift that we take for granted is our own lives, which some of us have come close to losing so many times.

God is the Greatest. Creator of all Humans and all knowing. This Man is smart.

WJZ was an ABC affiliate back then.

richard sher is still with wjz and still reports

Three guesses (the first two don't count).

richards afro is bigger then oprahs. lol

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@Baltimoreman78 Why would that be lazy? WJZ was ABC's longest-running affiliate until it was purchased by CBS as part of its merger with Westinghouse in the mid-1990's.

Who's that woman with Richard Sher? lol :p

Wow, Oprah looks young :). And that print is...awful. Although I can see where Star Wars got the inspiration for Luke's fighter pilot jumpsuit in the original film...

Or as of this writing, by 'seanmc31076': watch?v=OnXcdt9HrtE ('1980 WJZ All Night Movie Intro') watch?v=65rqE-5LcVU ('1981 WJZ All Night Movie Opening') watch?v=9dvl5LDTPcI ('1981 WJZ All Night Movie Intro') By that yardstick, this clip HAD to be December 1979 at the very least.

@SuperGoldfish1999 day took er jobs

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@grannie530 No that is terrible! What would you have to watch then?!?!

Man. Oprah ditched Richard. Screw Oprah, hahaha.

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HELLO JESUS PLEASE TV STATIONS US NAVY NATIONAL ANTHEM SIGN-ON announcement.SERMONETTE ON WJZ-TV 13 BALTIMORE 1980S THANKS JESUS ON RU-vid

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Too bad no one wants to live in Baltimore anymore. At least that's what our President would tell you. :-/

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Pushy Dem Oprah ! Hell I left Baltimore 1981 because of bad politics tax and pretentious Rules !

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