Network News Music

“ABC News Special Report” Current Theme

admin — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:44:55 +0000

Throughout the years the graphics for ABC News Special Reports were regularly updated to fit in with the rest of the ABC News brand. The music however stayed the same. Finally in 2013, after much of ABC News had undergone a transformation with new music, the Special Report theme was updated as well. It’s composed by DreamArtists Studios.

DreamArtists Studios - ABC News Special Report theme

“World News” Current Theme

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 22:30:05 +0000

The new World News with Diane Sawyer theme is a composition by major Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer and sounds decidedly cinematic. It’s a total departure from the theme that ABC’s evening newscast had been using in some form or another since 1978. It continues a trend of movie composers doing news themes that was started by NBC which commissioned John Williams in 1985 to compose The Mission. On another Diane Sawyer program, ABC’s Primetime Live, movie composer Bill Conti composed the theme music. The theme debuted along with new graphics and a slightly refreshed set.

Hans Zimmer - World News theme

“20/20″ Current Theme

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 09:45:04 +0000

For the fall 2012 season, 20/20 was given a makeover. The darker and more dramatic look that was adopted two years earlier were replaced with a more colorful palette. The ABC news magazine still, however, does not have its own set. It’s taped in the World News studio. In 2013 20/20 co-anchor Chris Cumo left ABC News for CNN. He was replaced by David Muir. For the theme music, ABC turned to DreamArtists Studios, who composed the third new 20/20 theme in a row. The theme music has that big and bold sound (with a touch of cool) that has become synonymous with ABC News.

DreamArtists Studios - 20/20 theme

“Rock Center” Current Theme

admin — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 14:41:28 +0000

This news magazine is named after the location of NBC News headquarters in the GE Building at 30 Rockefeller Center. It’s NBC’s first new news magazine since Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric debuted in 1993. Rock Center is more serious than Dateline NBC which primarily focusses on crime. Rock Center also covers more topics whereas Dateline features just one story these days. While critics consider Rock Center a smart show, viewers haven’t shown it much love yet. Since the premiere it has changed time slots multiple times. And in the summer of 2012 the program was given new graphics and theme music. This is the show’s second opening theme. It’s a more dramatic and serious version of the original open.

Gordon Miller - Rock Center theme

“ABC Olympics” 2012 Theme

admin — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 11:00:46 +0000

For the two decades after the 1964 Winter Games, ABC made the Olympics a staple of their network and invented the way it is still televised today. The torch has since been passed to NBC which adopted many of the stylistic elements ABC pioneered, including the theme music. Bugler’s Dream by Leo Arnaud is synonymous with the Olympic Games because it has been used since the 1960’s by the network that has the broadcasting rights. For their coverage of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, ABC turned to DreamArtists Studios to capture the Olympic spirit. Given their background as concert orchestral composers, this was an assignment that played to their strengths. DreamArtists scored an Olympic theme package with an orchestra consisting of a massive brass section. There was, in fact, enough brass to fill 4 concert orchestras. Remarkably the theme was composed in only 24 hours. The result is a theme that is edgy and driving, with more percussion than Olympic themes at the other networks. The music reflects the truly grand scale of this world event.

DreamArtists Studios - ABC Olympics theme

ABC News Current Tags

admin — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 14:33:28 +0000

These are two of the tags that are used at the end of ABC News broadcasts. On air the music is accompanied by a voice-over saying: “More Americans choose ABC News to see the whole picture.” ABC went for a big and bold sound with a touch of cool, a formula that put GMA in the #1 spot.

DreamArtists Studios - ABC News tag 1

In version 2 you might note that the end crescendo sounds like a TV turning off which is done by using reverse effects. It symbolizes that ABC News is the complete news source — period.

DreamArtists Studios - ABC News tag 2

“Good Morning America” Current Theme

admin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:00:40 +0000

GMA wanted a new theme that sounded “hipper and fresher” but was still “thoughtful and interesting” to reflect the show’s increased emphasis on lifestyle and entertainment. For the third time in a row they turned to DreamArtists Studios. Principal composer Matthew Kajcienski explains the challenge in composing this new theme: “You want your demographics to be able to hook into it, rather than targeting a specific group while alienating others – and just create something cool. The key here was to keep the thematic material subtle but still give it a sound that could be identified easily through texture, orchestration, and most importantly a unique and memorable percussion track.” Given these demands, the process of composing the theme was different than usual as Kajcienski explains: “We actually began by composing the percussion track first as it had to hold interest completely on its own before adding the harmonic elements. Once we had that, we dashed the track with some melodic/harmonic color and kept things simple. As the new graphics have its own ‘hook’, the music had to in essence be the sonic representation of that.” The theme is part of an extended package that gives GMA’s rejoins and breaks a modern pop feel.

DreamArtists Studios - Good Morning America theme

“Today” 2012 – 2013 Headline Bed

admin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:36:07 +0000

On the same day that Good Morning America debuted a new theme, Today debuted a new headline bed. It has more of a driving beat to it than the previous version. Today also debuted new graphics and…a new open. But the new open mostly went unnoticed. In late 2011 John Williams re-recorded the open for Today in digital audio. At the same a new version of the Meet the Press theme was recorded. However, unlike the Meet the Press theme which saw significant changes, the Today open wasn’t changed that much, if at all.

Non-Stop Music - Today headline bed

“See the Whole Picture” Branding Promo

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:03:40 +0000

This year ABC launched a new promotional campaign with the tag line “see the whole picture”. This image, which stresses relevance, is in response to the whirlwind of information coming at us these days. ABC News defines its mission to help us make sense of it all. The promos were shot with more a commercial-like feel using dramatic images of the ABC News team in stride. DreamArtists Studios – who did an incredibly successful branding campaign for ABC in 2008 that later turned into the 20/20 theme – was commissioned to compose the accompanying music. The music reflects the more contemporary feel of the promo.

DreamArtists Studios - See the Whole Picture promo

“This Week” Current Theme

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:00:11 +0000

Since George Stephanopoulos took back the reins of This Week, the well-received “Your Voice, Your Vote” theme was slightly altered to be used as the new theme for This Week. Former World News anchor Charles Gibson provides the voiceover that introduces Stephanopoulos each sunday morning. “Your Voice, Your Vote” is how ABC brands its election coverage for this election year. In prior years their coverage had simply been titled “Vote (fill-in-the-year)”. Along with a new name and new graphics a new theme was needed and so ABC turned once again to DreamArtists Studios. This new theme is a new arrangement of the “Vote 2010″ theme — a bit more driving and slightly less melodic. This was then spun out into an extensive new package including tracks of various moods and lengths.

DreamArtists Studios - Your Voice, Your Vote theme

“This Week” 2011 Theme

admin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:57:35 +0000

When Christiane Amanpour debuted on This Week, the program was relaunched with new theme music from trumpeter Chris Botti. But Amanpour’s tenure wasn’t an immediate hit with viewers and so changes were made. ABC in particular felt that the Botti theme was too reflective and soft for the “we get to the bottom of it” feel of the show. So they wanted a theme with a bold, exciting yet traditional sound reminiscent of the Brinkley days. ABC asked DreamArtists Studios to take their Vote 2010 theme as an inspirational start. The result was a sort of hybrid theme. Although you might think the thematic material is a combination of several ABC motifs from various eras, it sticks mainly to unique elements that DreamArtists Studios composed in combination with thematic snippets taken from the original ABC News theme. The result was a theme made up of a fanfare-like open, then a series of building plateaus each featuring a different musical motif, then finally a bumper building to a giant “ABC News” signature. A couple of months after the theme debuted, Amanpour left This Week and ABC started to use a slightly altered version of its election theme for the program. Some cues from the extended 2011 package are still used today, including the moving “In Memoriam” cue.

DreamArtists Studios - This Week theme

“Early Show” 2011 – 2012 Open

admin — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 05:00:00 +0000

This is based on the 1987 CBS Evening News package that was picked up again in 2011. It was performed and recorded at the end of June, debuting about a month later on the Early Show. It again unifies the branding of CBS News while also underscoring the Early Show’s hard news focus. With the cancellation of the Early Show, the new CBS This Morning started to use new theme music. However, this open is still used for other CBS News programs in the morning: the Morning News and Up To The Minute.

Trivers/Myers Music - Early Show open

“CBS Evening News” 1987 – 1991, Current Theme

admin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:43:32 +0000

This is not just the current theme for the CBS Evening News, it was also the first orchestral theme for the CBS Evening News. Before this theme was adopted in 1987, CBS News had a policy, imposed by CBS TV President Frank Stanton, that no music could be used. This policy dated back to the old days of TV news when many newscasts consisted of syndicated pictures with cheap production music. To prove CBS supplied its own footage, they decided not to add any music. Besides, their music library at the time consisted of music used for those old radio soaps. It was not appropriate for news. For a few years, they had a ticker sound as open/bumper/close, but from 1984 to 1987 they had no music at all in the open and the close! After a few years of seeing their ratings decline, while John Williams’ NBC News theme was popular with the viewing public, the executives at CBS decided to finally reverse their policy and commissioned John Trivers, Elizabeth Myers, and Alan James Pasqua to compose the theme. The music was recorded at the Fox sound stage and took 6 hours to perform. This theme was dropped in 1991, but only temporarily as it later turned out.

Twenty years later this theme made a remarkable comeback. When Scott Pelley took over as anchor of the CBS Evening News in 2011, this theme was picked up again. After five flashy years of Katie Couric, the new chairman of CBS News, Jeff Fager, wanted “to reach back into the DNA of CBS News”. Hence, they brought back their first theme music. They are using the original recordings, though they have been remastered slightly.

Trivers/Myers Music - CBS Evening News close

In the late 80′s they used different openings, but here you can find the one they used quite often. The opening that they have been using since 2011 is a bit different. It’s actually a remixed version of the last part of the long credit close above.

Trivers/Myers Music - CBS Evening News 2011 open
Trivers/Myers Music - CBS Evening News 1987 open

Here is the headline cue. CBS started using it circa 1990.

Trivers/Myers Music - CBS Evening News headlines

“Today” 2011 Royal Wedding Theme

admin — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 09:27:54 +0000

For the wedding of Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton in April 2011, the Today Show went all out with their coverage. The show broadcast from just outside Buckingham Palace in London for six hours straight. For the occasion, NBC commissioned special theme music.

Non-Stop Music - Today Royal Wedding Open

“Today” Current Election Open

admin — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 10:25:12 +0000

While all NBC News programs use the same graphics for their election coverage, they don’t all use the same theme music. Today has its own election theme since 2010. It’s part of a package consisting of various secondary themes by Non-Stop Music. This particular cut was also used to open the 60th anniversary special edition of Today. During that broadcast the Empire State Building was lit in the colors of Today and anchor Ann Curry wore a dress with the Today sunburst prominently displayed on it.

Non-Stop Music - Today Election Open