WGHPiedmont 8, High Point
NC Sign-Off from late 1987

This is among the very first sign-offs that I recorded using my original two-head Emerson VHS VCR. The SSB is locally produced and features Piedmont Airlines planes arriving at and taking off from Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro. A couple of years later, Piedmont would merge with what's now called US Airways. WGHP-TV 8 was my area's ABC affilliate for its inception in 1963 until it was purchased by Fox Broadcasting in 1995.

WGGT-TV 48 (now WMYV)
Greensboro, NC Sign-Off
from Autumn 1988

The first Channel 48 in Greensboro was known as WUBC-TV. It was the Triad's first independent UHF station and was on the air for only a couple of years in the late 1960s. I have a few faint memories of that station as a child just staring grade school. A decade after WUBC-TV left the air, Channel 48 returned as independent WGGT-TV in 1981. This 1988 sign-off clip features video clips of the skylines of Greensboro, High Point, and Winston-Salem as they looked then. Since then, several new tall office buildings have been added to all three cities. In 1996 WGGT became WUPN-TV, The Triad's UPN affilliate. In mid-2006, Channel 48 became an affilliate of My Network TV and changed its call letters to the current WMYV-TV.

WGHPiedmont 8, High Point
NC Sign-Off from Autumn 1988

Very similar to the 1987 clip described above, but has a woman announcing (whose name I do not know) and a brief video clip of then VP and General Manager David Boylan welcoming input from viewers. The clip utilizes the same Piedmont Airlines SSB clip as the 1987 version.

WNRW-TV 45 (now WXLV)
Winston-Salem NC Sign-Off
from Summer 1989

This sign-off clip features several video shots of the Winston-Salem skyline as it looked at the time (several more tall buildings has since been erected). It is followed by a U.S. Air Force SSB that ends with an apparently local video shot of the U.S. flag waving. Pay particular attention to how the station logo and color bars appear after the SSB. For some tidbits of the history of Channel 45, see the description for the WXLV-TV sign-on below.

WRDG-TV 16 (now WGPX)
Burlington/Snow Camp NC
Sign-Off from Summer 1989

The late Sunday night sign-off from what was then a 24-hour Christian television station. By the early 1990s it changed its call letters to WAAP-TV and become a more entertainment-oriented indie. In 1996 Paxson Communications bought Channel 16 and it became WGPX-TV and an affiliate of the new PAX Network in 1998 (now ION Television).

WAAP-TV 16 (now WGPX)
Burlington/Snow Camp NC
Sign-Off from June 1993

This clip is from the former WRDG-TV (see above listing) which by this time had become a "family-friendly" entertainment-oriented indie, though it still carried a number of the former station's religious programs. No announcer is heard, only a montage of vintage U.S. Coast Guard images accompanied by the Coast Guard's theme song, Semper Paratus. This is the only TV station sign-off clip I've seen that honors the Coast Guard. Whether WAAP-TV or the Coast Guard itself put together the montage is not known. My thanks to John Willis, publisher of the Coast Guard News for e-mailing me the information.

WGGT-TV 48 (now WMYV)
Greensboro, NC Sign-Off
from June 1993

A no-frills sign-off, with CGI-animated clouds and a male announcer. In 1991, finacially-ailing Channel 48 began simulcasting the programming of then-FOX affiliate WNRW-TV 45 (now WXLV-TV ABC 45), an arrangement which lasted until 1996 when Channel 48 became WUPN-TV, the Triad's UPN station. Since June 2006, its known as WMYV-TV and affiliated with My Network TV.

WGHPiedmont 8, High Point
NC Sign-Off and Sign-On
Montage from June 1993

A video montage of Triad-area folks at work and play as well as some views of numerous Triad landmarks. Among these are the Old Guilford Mill near Greensboro and the Reynolds Building and Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem. The clip utilizes slow-motion and time-lapse videography with New Age music and no announcer. This was also used by Channel 8 at sign-on time as well as sign-off until the station's purchase by FOX in 1995. My apologies for the rather dark-looking video, for that's how it was recorded.

WFMY-TV Channel 2,
Greensboro, NC National
Anthem Clip from 1994

The Triad's long-time CBS affiliate used this SSB clip at 5 AM Eastern time throughout much of the 1990s, with some variation in the logo at the end. This 1994 clip is preceded by a public service announcement featuring the Two Crash Dummies and Don Knotts as Deputy Barney Fife. The spot was produced mixing classic footage of Barney from The Andy Griffith Show and new footage with the Crash Dummies. Since then, Knotts and Lorenzo Music, who did the voice of Vince the Crash-Dummy, has passed away.

WNRW-TV 45 (now WXLV) and
WGGT-TV 48 (now WMYV)
Sign-Off from 1 January 1995

The New Year was only about three hours old when I captured this clip. As you'll notice, the station's logo also includes WGGT-TV 48 (Greensboro) along with Channel 45, for the two stations were jointly airing Fox programming at this time (Channel 48 would eventually become WUPN-TV). This was the last sign-off clip used by WNRW-TV, for later that year it would become WXLV-TV and be affilliated with ABC (see below).

WXLV-TV "ABC 45", Winston-
Salem NC First Sign-On
Sunday, 3 September 1995

Sunday, 9/3/1995 was a big day in Triad-area television, for that day WNRW-TV, the area's Fox station (see above), became WXLV-TV and an affilliate of the ABC Television Network. The clip opens with color bars, followed by a lenghty sign-on announcement. After this, we are greeted by VP/General Manager Donita Todd (probably via tape), which announces the premiere of News 45 later that evening (News 45 would run only six years, however). WXLV-TV 45 began in 1979 as indie WGNN-TV. The following year it became WJTM-TV, and around 1985 its call letters were changed to WNRW-TV and affilliated with the new Fox Television Network. Early in 1995, WGHP-TV Channel 8, the Triad area's ABC affilliate for 32 years. was purchased by Fox Broadcasting, which resulted in Channel 45 switching its network affilliation to ABC.

WLXI-TV 61, Greensboro NC
and W18BG, Danville VA
Sign-Off from Summer 1998

A late Sunday night sign-off featuring only a male announcer, acoustic guitar accompaniment and computer-generated graphics of what the announcer is saying. WLXI-TV began in 1984 as a music video channel, sort of the Triad's answer to MTV. Early in 1986 the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) purchased Channel 61. The Illinois-based Radiant Life Ministries (now TCT Ministries) purchased the station in 1991 and has maintained its ownership since then.