Retro 1987 - WDTN-TV2 Sign-Off - Dayton, Ohio TV History

The station sign-off for WDTN-TV 2 in Dayton, Ohio that was used in 1987.

Commentary:
"We just watched the full station sign-off for WDTN-TV 2 in Dayton, Ohio that was used in 1987. This included the end-of-day station announcement, playing of the national anthem and the test pattern.

Sign-off announcements were used back before TV stations became 24 hours. Like we saw in the video, it usually described technical aspects of a TV station and was often followed by a playing of the national anthem in some form. In this video the sign off announcement described technical aspects of Dayton station WDTN's transmitter. It was followed by a local high school band playing the national anthem in front of the Air Force Museum. The band was from Stebbins High School and was probably filmed back in the early 1980s or even the late 1970s. You may think the colors are wrong for Stebbins, but in 1987 Stebbins colors were still blue and gold. After the band finished, a test pattern was shown.

TV stations weren't always 24 hours. Back in the old days many of them signed off the air after a day of programming. This usually included some playing of the national anthem like you saw in the video.

Before the days of cable, stations would actually sign-off leaving nothing but static like the famous scene in the 1982 movie Poltergeist. After the national anthem played and the TV switched over to static, the little girl approached the TV, hearing ghosts, and declared, "They're here." It was a great scene for its time. But unfortunately today its as novel and outdated as pay phones, triptiks and encyclopedia salesmen.

Once stations started being carried by cable systems, many continued to broadcast a test pattern with their logo or call letters like we saw with WDTN-TV 2 in Dayton, Ohio.

When this video originally aired, many of the stations in Dayton had already switched over to 24 hours. In fact, when I ran across this video I was surprised to see that channel 2 was still signing off as late as 1987. But if I think back, I kind of remember that being the case.

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Retrograde 5/5
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