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CNN Made This Video In 1980 To Air During The Apocalypse
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 5, 2015
Modified Jan 5, 2015
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 5, 2015
Modified Jan 5, 2015
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Screenshot from the CNN sign off video
Media outlets often have obituaries banked for when certain notables die, so why should it be any different for when the whole world dies? When CNN launched in 1980, Ted Turner created a video that the network would air when the world was ending, as long as the world ending didn't cause any satellite problems. "We won't be signing off until the world ends," he declared, "When the end of the world comes, we'll play 'Nearer My God To Thee' before we sign off." This was, however, largely considered a joke, until now...
Jalopnik got a hold of the actual video, which has been on CNN's Mediasource archive systems under "TURNER DOOMSDAY VIDEO," courtesy of former CNN intern Michael Ballaban, who writes:
"So when Ted Turner said that CNN was going to be playing "Nearer My God To Thee"—the song the band supposedly played when the Titanic went down—as the heavens opened up, as the fiery finger of God rained salt and brimstone from the sky, as the Earth beneath our feet opened from below and swallowed everything above, as the last CNN employee, in the last surviving CNN studio in the world, witnessed the end of existence before them, he meant it."
But as we all know, the end of the world will sign off with a series of Vines.
Anyway, you can watch the video here, and as Motherboard points out, it may look familiar—in Gremlins 2, Media mogul Daniel Clamp pops a tape in and announced, "I thought this would never run." The tape runs, with a narrator telling viewers, "Because of the end of civilization, the Clamp Cable Network now leaves the air. We hope you've enjoyed our programming, but more importantly, we hope you've enjoyed... life."
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cnn
gremlins 2
ted turner
video
world ending
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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