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Ntropolis

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Posts posted by Ntropolis

    Classic Video Thread (pre-2008)

    in Classic Video

    Posted

    There are color bars. And then there are extremely rare color bars, worthy of a post here.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjVbW29VvGg

     

    You're probably asking, "What in the world is this?" It dates to March 9, 1994 and comes from a key chapter in the development of HDTV standards.

     

    In 1994 and 1995, the Queen City was king for high-definition television. PBS conducted HD testing for the Grand Alliance DTV system (which became ATSC A/53, the core of the ATSC 1.0 standard).

     

    A VHF and UHF transmitter were mounted on the old WPCQ-TV tower, which had been vacated when channel 36 carried out a signal upgrade in the late 80s. The two stations were WWHD channel 6 (10 kW in analog and 3.16 kW DTV) and WUHD on channel 53 (500 kW analog, 158 kW DTV). It is worth noting those are peak analog powers and the averages were quite low (page 12). Much like the WJW/31 tests in Cleveland, the Charlotte tests also included periodic analog transmissions to provide comparison.

     

    Channel 6 did not do much testing, with the reason being cable ingress. Ironically, WCNC was on channel 6. When WWHD was operating, it created signal interference for cable subscribers, so its activity was curtailed.

     

    While looking through old issues of the VHF-UHF Digest, I found a DX report, and then a picture, of WUHD. I had never heard of either of these stations, but the fact I wrote about it at the time is the reason why the uploader put this up!

     

    This was what Eric Voytko of McLean, Virginia, experienced on July 31, 1995:

     

     

     

    Eric managed to get a hold of WUHD's chief engineer, who promised to do more station IDs before tests ended in September. Eric ended up getting more than an hour of IDs on tape. The next year, the Photo News column of DX pictures featured what, until today, was the only pictorial evidence of the Charlotte HD tests:

     

    attachment.php?attachmentid=16756&d=1430862037

     

    Later that fall, ATSC A/53 was released, and the FCC adopted it the next year.

     

    So I wrote my post in 2015, and in August 2016, someone came by and asked for more information, saying they had two minutes of WUHD's color bars on tape from 1994. (In fact, this was at the start of the test period. WUHD had just taken the callsign two weeks prior, having originally been assigned WAHA. The WWHD calls given to the VHF had previously been given to two earlier test facilities in Washington, on channel 58 in 1986 and channel 59 in 1988.)

     

    Further solidifies why NC is “First in Flight, First in Digital TV!” (in addition to WRAL-HD, Wilmington the first market to go all-digital, and now WRAL-EX)

    • Like 6

    Classic Video Thread (pre-2008)

    in Classic Video

    Posted

    Speaking of WNYT, here are some WTOG commercials taken from around the time that the station was in the process of being sold to Viacom, and Hubbard was acquiring WNYT and WHEC in return. All I can say is, Scott Chapin and PSA’s galore!

     

    The commercial at 1:14 though... bahahaha

     

    I guess if you're into brunettes, you're out of luck?

    • Like 3

    Discovered composers & publishers of music themes

    in News Music & Voiceovers

    Posted

    I've had this theory for a while. I didn't get 100% confirmation from Ed Peters on the phone (or maybe I did), but since I already knew Peters Productions filed a trademark for "Together" for use in broadcast promotion (along with "Alive," "Belongs", "Believes," "Is Yours," etc.) and I assumed from the melody and logo that it was "11 Together."

     

    Then that would make sense for WNCT. They were "9 Alive" in the late 70s/early 80s but there's zilch from that period other than this logo...

     

    wnct0979.jpg

    • Like 5

    Classic Video Thread (pre-2008)

    in Classic Video

    Posted

    Last set of clips until the weekend... Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

     

    Georgia / Alabama / Louisiana - September 1994

    [MEDIA=vimeo]244040736[/MEDIA]

    Atlanta, Macon, Columbus (GA), Birmingham, Anniston, Tuscaloosa, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Lake Chuck.

     

    WTVM using similar graphics as WPDE at the time.

     

    And that’s one slick WDAM open for the era and market!

    • Like 2

    Classic Video Thread (pre-2008)

    in Classic Video

    Posted

    Not gonna lie, after seeing that NC Now open, all it was missing were announcing of "filmed before a live studio audience" + "in stereo where available" notice below. i was waiting to see what story they gonna tell on "tonight's episode". Cue the laugh track. Don't tell me they wouldn't 'fit in' between Full House and Family Matters. Perfect 'sitcom' open that captured the 90s, love it.

     

    UNC-TV has the very first edition of North Carolina Now from January 19, 1994 available online:

    http://video.unctv.org/video/2365158112/

     

    Eventually, the cheesy sitcom intro was dumped for a more conservative style. I'm not sure when this debuted, but it lasted through much of the 2000s up until 2011:

     

     

    In early 2011, the theme and logo were updated:

     

     

    In January 2016, North Carolina Now retooled itself as NC Now, going from airing from every weeknight to every Thursday night, dropping the host, and keeping the feature stories, but no more one-on-one studio interviews, etc.

     

    http://video.unctv.org/video/2365636628/

     

    Unfortunately, it appears NC Now is no more - the last episode was produced in April 2017.

     

    I'm not sure who did the 1994 theme, but I have a guess that the 2000s, 2011, and 2016 themes are custom compositions by Charlotte's Concentrix Music & Sound Design (as listed in

    ) who have done a bunch of award-winning work for UNC-TV.
    • Like 3

    Classic Video Thread (pre-2008)

    in Classic Video

    Posted

    Been waiting for digitaldave to post this again... I saw it a few years ago but it was taken off of Youtube.

     

    WAVY's "5:30 First News" open from 1992. My guess is that this came out in 1989 when the 5:30 newscast debuted. Certainly channels what then-sister station KXAS did with the "Night Team" opens... music intertitled in between the story teases.

     

    • Like 3

    Classic Video Thread (pre-2008)

    in Classic Video

    Posted

    I can't believe that actually made it to air...guess they didn't have time to fix the lights and do another take?

     

    The guy who uploaded it worked there at the time. He probably kept that take for kicks, or for a gag reel. I think he added the ID at the end since he's got a couple other WNCT vids on his channel with the same.

    • Like 2

    Classic Video Thread (pre-2008)

    in Classic Video

    Posted

    -That KFOR sample is mighty interesting. You can clearly hear the liner for the matching image campaign in that signature: "We are the strength of Oklahoma...4 Strong!"

     

    I am uploading something here that I believe is part of this theme (and sending it to the NMSA after 2 years). It is the audio of a 30-second sports promo that KFOR put up when Bob Barry, Jr. was killed in 2015. It has the same signature at the end. It must be from 1990 or 1991 when KFOR was still branding as News Team 4.

     

    Why is that important? 'Cuz KFOR changed out the Team for Channel in 1992. Listen to these promos, too!

     

     

    The theme is pretty terrible, but I want to see more of those awesome graphics. So much early '90s yellow-and-purple goodness.

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