Phillips-Magnavox 'Connecting to WebTV' sequence (complete w/ Philips-Magnavox patch bank)

The WebTV dial music in its entirety without any interruption. Footage sourced from a Phillips-Magnavox MAT-976, recorded from S-Video and audio sourced from its stereo outputs.

Before anybody asks, yes the visuals are looped. There's a message box that pops up if it can't connect, and the only way to get rid of that is to loop a portion of it (or if it's hooked up via landline, which I do not have, plus given how WebTV services are off since 2013/14.)

Some of the instruments may sound off considering the fact that the Philips-Magnavox boxes use a different Beatnik (audio engine WebTV relies on) patch set than what the songs were encoded to play with initially. Sony and a few other manufacturers' boxes would switch patches after the loading screen, but Philips-Magnavox boxes do not, or at least that's what I think.

I do not care if you post this outside of this channel.

[SYCHOTIC]

I must have watched this at least 100 times. I don’t know if I miss the Webtv this much or just the past. It was magical logging on to this.

[musiclove]

For anyone curious, the composer of this theme was Brian Salter. He did lots of tracks for WebTV along with Thomas Dolby, the founder of Beatnik.

[drpinky]

Legend has it they still haven't arrived in the city to see the wizard.

[kevinthompson]

Ah the memories of hearing this music as I wait to look up Mortal Kombat 2 fatalities.

[blanchfor]

I'm 15 years old again after watching this video. Magical

[MiketheratguyMultimedia]

My first experience with the internet, late 1997 / early 1998. Great times.

[gabrieladerre]

I met my husband on WebTV! It was in the 2000s. I lived in a rural area, so its what I had to work with! But man I feel old AF now! My head would explode from sheer frustration if I tried using anything this slow now! 😹😹😹

[georgewashington]

and as of a couple months ago, you can now connect your webtv to an emulator and experience some of the old screens. even the music.

[coolcliff]

This was my first experience with the internet back when I was 10 years old in 98.

[blagoyavichrod]

I remember if the music went on too long, that meant you're outta luck. You ain't connecting.

[studiotime]

Thanks for posting this. My first time on the internet was with our webtv we bought. We had the original Magnavox then the Magnavox "plus" version after that. It was a magical experience then getting on the net for the first time and on a tv in your living room. Will never forget it. To cure my nostalgia craving I even bought a new unused Webtv remote on ebay and keep it next to my other modern ones as a joke. Ya I'm weird ha.

[RangeRov]

Rumor has it, this person is still waiting to connect.

[Deasy]

That loading bar was the biggest tease I'd ever met. There was nothing more satisfying than finally seeing that screen flash black to your homepage. Thanks for the memory blast!

[Rosemary]

I changed mine in settings so I would hear the dialup modem sound instead of the music. I loved webtv so much, it changed my life.

[janluofficial]

Never in my entire life have i heard a better connecting song

[PapaCoco]

As a very young kid, like 5-6, my grandparents had this and I thought it was the COOLEST shit at the time. Cool memories.

[lwvmobile]

12 year old me again with my family's first Internet device.

[Scoogi]

That instrumental...😢 I miss these days, food n snacks was normal, ppl was normal being themselves, no one try be so independent due to social media, grandparents were grandparents, it was safe to go outside at night, Hawaiian punch tasted good, and life conversations was exciting...Yelp this instrumental made me think of the old life from that time...smh

[chevyky]

Oh how I loved my webtv. I really miss it. It was a great way for an older guy to prepare for getting that first computer. I had several web pages back then that I made with the help of my webtv. Thanks for posting!

[Sonicsky]

I fondly remember sneaking downstairs when I was 4 and hiding so I could listen to the BGM of the WebTV as my mom was browsing the web at 11 pm. There was one specific one that used windchimes as the main instrument, and our Magnavox unit made it sound very different from the ones I have found on the internet. *sighs* oh well.