WNAC-TV Promo and Final Sign-Off

Video recordings of the original licensee of Boston's channel 7, WNAC-TV, seem to be rare. But here we have unearthed an image promo that dates to the fall of 1981, near the end of Channel 7 under RKO General ownership.

General Tire and Rubber Company (later known as RKO General) operated Channel 7 from the station's first sign-on in 1948 until May 22, 1982, when New England Television Corporation began operation of the station as WNEV-TV. RKO General was deprived of WNAC after the FCC concluded it was unfit to possess a broadcasting license.

The promo seen here appears to be an in-house production rather than one made by an advertising agency. Possibly, it was created by RKO East, the east coast division of RKO General's video production business. RKO East was located in the RKO General Building in Boston's Government Center with Channel 7 and its sister radio stations, WRKO-AM and WROR-FM.

After the promo is WNAC-TV's final sign-off on May 22, 1982.

Today, the WNAC call letters are used by a small station in Providence, Rhode Island, that carries Fox programming. It has no connection with the original WNAC.

A few pieces of trivia:
* The original Ginsu knife commercial was produced by RKO East at WNAC in the mid-1970s.
* The studio camera seen in the promo at :28 is an RCA model TKP-45. It was designed chiefly for remote and handheld operation. Channel 7 used it for studio productions with an add-on remote control system, long before robotic cameras became commonplace at stations. The camera was nicknamed "Morris" by personnel.
* The announcer heard in the station sign-off is Leif Jensen. He was a longtime booth announcer at WNAC, beginning there in the 1960s and remaining at the station through the early years of WNEV's ownership. As of 2010, his son Gregg is employed as a news anchor by Boston's WBZ-AM.

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