KEBN Sign-On Sequence — 1994

You’re looking at the VERY beginning: the start of KRCW, a station that’s gone through three call letters in its existence (KWBP before, and KEBN before that). In the summer of 1994 they started running “text programming” — six-hour blocks of public domain movies and material, along with messages announcing their impending arrival as well as the WB network they would be carrying.

I taped this myself. My little mind was blown that I was witnessing the birth of a brand-new local TV station. I was fascinated with my discovery and throughout summer break I had it on every day. I figured I was the only one who knew, simply because I was living in the only house in Portland that didn’t get cable. I stayed fixed to the TV like I was watching a moon landing. I even knew this announcer’s technical jargon by heart: “KEBN operates on Channel 32 with an effective radiated power of 2.5 million watts visual, which is 50% of the authorized power….”

…I was a weird kid.