Watch: Broadcasting Station To Bring Back National Anthem Tradition from 1950s

By Ryan Ledendecker June 17, 2019 at 12:05am

When my grandfather was alive, he used to tell me that “back in his day,” the three televisions stations he had access to would play the national anthem to mark the end of that day’s broadcasts. As a patriotic American, I always thought that would be neat to see.

Then along came the 1980s, when television networks began the switch to a 24-hour format, seemingly leaving no time for non-revenue generating programming.

However, much to my patriotic delight, Gray, a company that owns television stations in 93 markets across America, announced this week that it’ll be resurrecting the tradition of playing the national anthem.

According to Alabama Real-Time News, June 18 will mark the first day Gray Television stations all over the country will air “The Star-Spangled Banner” to mark the end of broadcasting for the day.

For some stations, it will be aired early in the morning to mark the end and beginning of broadcasting and for some other stations, it will be aired during the day and on holidays.

Even better, the particular version of the song that Gray chose to air features Reina Özbay, a 9-year-old musical phenom from Florida whose rendition of the song will give any America-loving viewer a full compliment of goosebumps.

According to Rare, Özbay began singing at the age of 4 and eventually went on to land her first acting gig in a gospel-narrative called “The Chosen.”

This little girl has pipes, and she absolutely nails singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Do you think more stations should do this?

The moving tribute shows brilliant landscapes, honors American troops and highlights the diversity and overall beauty of the United States. It’s exactly the type of video we all need to be shown on a daily basis.

Collin R. Gaston, Vice President and General Manager of one of Gray’s Alabama-based stations, WBRC, summed up perfectly why the good folks of his state will appreciate the move.

“Alabamians are proud of this country, and of the men and women who serve or have served for us,” he said in a statement.

“We live in the land of the free and the home of the brave, and it’s important to honor those who sacrificed so much to allow WBRC FOX6 News these liberties.

“That’s why I am proud WBRC will be joining other stations in the Gray Television family and broadcast the national anthem each and every day.”

In a day and age when television networks have unfortunately succumbed to pressure from the left when it comes to showing the national anthem during sports or other events, it’s so refreshing to see a company step up to the plate.

The national anthem should rise well above political ideologies and even sports figures, like Colin Kaepernick, who infamously chose to kneel for the national anthem because he was protesting racial injustice.

It’s a song which should — at the very least — remind all Americans of how amazingly blessed we are to live in the greatest and the freest country on the planet.

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