Goodbye Channel 32

I was at our transmitter site the other evening. It's about 15 miles outside of Abilene, and not a place I am required to go very often. In fact, the most recent visit was my third in the last 30 years. The first two were just before KTAB signed on the air in October of 1979.
The first found the Channel 32 antenna on the ground. The 75 foot antenna weighing thousands of pounds would later be lifted to the top of the 500 foot tower where it is bolted in place..free standing up there. No wires to hold it in place. It has seen a lot of lightning, strong wind and ice in those years.
The second time I was at "the mountain", was the morning KTAB signed on the air for the first time...October 6, 1979. I had just recorded the sign-on for the station. (A very last minute deal when I asked, "Has anyone recorded the sign-on?" No one had). In those days, before 24 hour broadcasting, we would use the sign-on as the official welcome. "Good Morning. KTAB-TV in Abilene, Texas, now begins another broadcast day..." followed by the National Anthem. At night, the sign-off. "This concludes another broadcast day..." followed by the National Anthem. Both included some legal requirements which the FCC mandated we (and all radio and tv stations) include. The sun was just rising over the eastern horizon, when the transmitter officially started broadcasting the KTAB-TV signal on analog Channel 32. Back in '79 we didn't think twice about an "analog" signal, that's all there was.
My return to the mountain 30 years later was because there isn't just analog, there is also digital. And the government was ordering us and all telecasters to stop our traditional analog transmission and go digital. (The feds sold off the analog frequencies to cell phone companies so there could be more cellular phone traffic than there is now. Some tv's won't turn off the analogs until June 12th.)
On May 12th, KTAB turned off its analog transmitter for the last time. Chief Engineer Glen McCandless had the honor. Glen and I are the only two remaining original KTAB employees still on the payroll. We both joined KTAB-TV on August 20, 1979. It was appropriate I think that Glen and I were there to turn off the transmitter, since we were both there 30 years ago when it was turned on. We did live reports from the transmitter site on May 12th during the 5 and 6pm newscasts. Photographer Danielle Reeves did a great job with the camera, showing what was going on.
Glen turned off the transmitter at 6:15pm while we were doing a live shot.
So, on October 6, 1979, my voice was the first heard on KTAB..."Good Morning...." And on May 12, 2009, my voice was the last heard on KTAB analog... "Goodbye Channel 32"....

H1N1

How are you feeling? Wash your hands lately? Think we're talking and doing too much about H1N1? We now have confirmed "probable" cases of swine flu. 6 children from Merkel. All the cases were mild and the children have recovered. Merkel and Trent schools will be closed until May 11th. The "probable" samples now go to CDC in Atlanta where a third test will confirm swine flu (or not).
Congressman Randy Neugebauer says altho it may seem overkill, the government has to plan for the worst and have everything in place in case the flu really does spread like wildfire. It would be tough to play catch-up. So, he thinks, better to be cautious.
Dr. Zane Travis of the Health District has had more air time than me, as we cover the swine flu. He still encourages not to panic. Even if you get it, its pretty much like any other flu. Not good, but most will survive.
Lots of school activities... concerts, end of year banquets, field trips, sporting events... all cancelled at some Big Country school districts. Merkel and Trent closed until May 11th. Can't remember anything like this, especially when not much has happened. Again, erring on the side of caution.
Our newscasts this Friday (5-1) were extremely interesting. Dan needed time to cover storms in the viewing area. News needed time to cover the flu. And David wanted time for sports. And we start and stop on time (most of the time). So, as they say in Hollywood, a lot of what we wanted to say "ended up on the cutting room floor." Altho, we tried not to cut any of the important information.
Producer Mark, reporters Victor and Megan and Manny, live truck operators Danielle and Andrew, director Russell, production crew all had a real workout. Shooting, writing and editing more stories than usual, chasing storms and setting up live shots, producing newscasts with ever changing content, putting a newscast on the air which was more "seat of the pants" than normal. This is another one of those days that confirms as correct, the decision to get into broadcasting. It is easy to walk away from an informative and entertaining half hour as we did at 6:30 and 10:40, and know we gave our best effort and provided the viewers with information they needed. Thanks all. Team work.....