[Neil Jones]

youtu.be 

After an ident and a few seconds of black, it appears that the Sky box used to record this from automatically changes to Channel 998 so I’m guessing this was because the EPG slot for ABC1 was removed rather quickly and therefore the box defaults to 998?

Yeah the default channel for Sky boxes is 998. When you power them up (from "red light" off) that's what they'll come back to.
I believe if something happens with the channel you're watching such as in the case of ABC1 where Disney pulled the plug on it, or there's some other issue it'll retune to 998.

Must be noted though: That video is almost certainly edited down to remove 10mins worth of black, as look at the timestamp on the search and scan banner. ABC1 closed at 12pm I believe. The banner says 12:13pm, which suggests the EPG entry went bye bye at that point and the box retuned.

Also of note: Disney were going to close it on October 1. For whatever reason it was pulled back by 5 days.

[Si-Co]

The latter was a thing that happened every so often - ISTR someone who worked in continuity at the time said that the colours could just be changed with a rotary knob - and they'd sometimes make it pink on valentines or whatever.

I seem to remember reading about an announcer who changed the colours to something “spooky” for a Hallowe’en promotion or similar, but was then unable to change them back and the globe or clock went out looking very odd!

[JamieMurph25]

One clever sign-off from after the late movie comes courtesy of Nederland 1 (now NPO1) in the Netherlands. Presented by Catholic leaning KRO (later became known as KRO-NCRV, after merging with Protestant leaning NCRV in 2014), the end clock cleverly used a still from the film they were broadcasting, the 1953 thriller 'Niagara', starring Marilyn Monroe, notably the bedroom scene where she was asleep in bed. This was a one-off by the way.

This is from YouTube channel, Jeugdtelevisie: www.youtube.com 

[Roger Darthwell]

One clever sign-off from after the late movie comes courtesy of Nederland 1 (now NPO1) in the Netherlands. Presented by Catholic leaning KRO (later became known as KRO-NCRV, after merging with Protestant leaning NCRV in 2014), the end clock cleverly used a still from the film they were broadcasting, the 1953 thriller 'Niagara', starring Marilyn Monroe, notably the bedroom scene where she was asleep in bed. This was a one-off by the way.

This is from YouTube channel, Jeugdtelevisie: www.youtube.com 

NPO1 still closed down in 1998? Blimey, when did they began broadcasting 24/7

[BlueFrog]

One can only wonder what was happening behind the scenes when Granada Plus closed.

I still wonder if any footage exists of its closing. Obviously I have my doubts as it was all last minute, unless if someone really liked Pie in the Sky.

[WillPS]

One can only wonder what was happening behind the scenes when Granada Plus closed.

I still wonder if any footage exists of its closing. Obviously I have my doubts as it was all last minute, unless if someone really liked Pie in the Sky.

It was probably less of a surprise than you might have imagined. I don't think anybody working for GSB would have been under any illusions about the state of the marriage which paid their wages, or what ITV3 meant for them longer term.

I don't remember any job losses being reported and indeed it wasn't long before ITV took complete control of men&motors (which was the last remaining GSB operation after Plus went).

It's bizarre to think that this was a time when Freeview capacity was easier to come by than Sky EPG slots...

[Rex]

One can only wonder what was happening behind the scenes when Granada Plus closed.

I still wonder if any footage exists of its closing. Obviously I have my doubts as it was all last minute, unless if someone really liked Pie in the Sky.

The original ITV3 thread on the blue place had some interesting articles about the closure, one did reveal that employees were told that Plus was going to be switched off 10 minutes before it was closed. It wasn't a total surprise that ITV were looking to restructure their multichannel offerings, but the speed at which they acquired a channel and closed it is unprecedented

[VMPhil]

It was all because ITV wanted a Sky EPG slot for ITV3 and they clearly decided at the 11th hour that they wanted it from launch.

[JAS84]

The original ITV3 thread on the blue place had some interesting articles about the closure, one did reveal that employees were told that Plus was going to be switched off 10 minutes before it was closed. It wasn't a total surprise that ITV were looking to restructure their multichannel offerings, but the speed at which they acquired a channel and closed it is unprecedented

Figures it had to be short notice like that. Had they known when they were going off air they'd have surely changed the schedule so as not to disappear mid-programme.

[lookoutwales]

Some Australian oddities for you - in particular from regional rather than metropolitan stations (now largely indistinguishable following aggregation - some areas have to make do without even a local news service)

A rare Aussie example of IVC from SES-8 Mount Gambier in South Australia from 1990 - one of the last wholly-owned independent stations before being eventually taken over by the WIN Corporation. The newsreader in the preceding local news bulletin (a late night repeat) pulls double duty here as your in-vision announcer.

youtu.be 

Next, two pseudo sign-offs from GTS-BKN in Port Pirie, SA (or Central, as they called themselves) from 2002 / 2005 - making no secret of the fact that the playout crew are clocking off and they're handing over to a direct feed of Channel 7 in Adelaide overnight.

youtu.be 

As you can see, the station had been bought by Southern Cross by 2005 and gradually began phasing out the local branding. Its local news - latterly broadcast from Tasmania - was axed without warning earlier this year.

youtu.be 

A little hi-jinks from MVQ-6 in Mackay, Queensland from 1986 - a seemingly standard closedown, except the transmission controller wants to do something to mark his last night on the job. Watch till the end...

youtu.be 

And to conclude, from deep into remote Queensland - a friendly word from ITQ-8 in Mount Isa...any trespassers will be prosecuted.

youtu.be