The video, created at the direction of CNN founder Ted Turner before the network's 1980 launch,[2] is a performance of the Christian hymn "Nearer, My God, To Thee" performed by multiple members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine bands.

[8][10] In the 1990 comedy film Gremlins 2: The New Batch, the character Daniel Clamp has a similar "end of civilization" video ready to air on his news network.

"[11] The 1994 British television satirical comedy series The Day Today features such a broadcast in Episode 3, after Queen Elizabeth II and then Prime Minister John Major had a fight.

The film consists of a sequence of subtly humorous scenarios (stockbrokers spend "playtime" outside the London Stock Exchange jumping and skipping; a paramedic comforting an injured old woman gives her a brief kiss on the cheek; a man with a cigarette gets the offer of a light from a group of six-year-olds), all set against a backdrop of patriotic British music.

In the recording, Siegel announces the approach of the asteroid, confidently remarks that NPR would have the best analysis of the impact the day after, and assures listeners that they can still become members of their local public radio station.