The Please Stand By Dog

Back in the 1970s, a television channel in local Nashville, Tennessee struggled desperately to maintain its status as a broadcast station after climbing out of bankruptcy. The station's programming schedule was erratic. There was a significant decline in the quality of shows being aired, rendering the channel nearly dysfunctional. Technical difficulties were rampant, with persistent audio issues that often made broadcasts worse. 
Additionally, the station was plagued by frequent false alarms which disrupted programming. In one instance, there was a technical fault, aired in such a way that no one can exactly explain. Unknown as to which date it occurred, when the channel was seized during commercial break, it was unclear if it was a directed hijacking or just a sick, twisted prank.
Following the airing of an Anti-Drug PSA created by Hanna Barbera, the screen would cut to black and reappear on a splash screen with a drawing of a little, yellow puppy, holding a plug behind a blue sign that read “Please Stand By." The screen would stay on like this for a moment more before the video would go out again and reappear differently. The dog had changed, its face no longer cute looking and more unblinking. Somber music would play over the video for a maddening while. 
The background slowly faded away as the music came to a halt and just left everything in total darkness. In those seconds, it was quiet and seemed like it'd just stay there. Then, it just happened out of nowhere, when the dog’s face changed to that of an expression I cannot understand, ears perked up, making this indescribable haunting noise. 
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As I am viewing this, this one clip catches you off guard. Not long after, the dog was gone, and so was the text on the blue square leaving the screen empty… leaving you with nothing but the plug. Commercials continued on as if nothing even happened. WZTV hasn’t accommodated to the nightmarish clip since then and it seems as if they’ll never give a clearer explanation to this clip.
Category:Television
Category:Hijackings