This electronic theme was used to open nearly all NBC News programs of the era, including Nightly News, Meet the Press, NBC News Digest, and NBC White Paper, a documentary series. Even Today wasn’t exempt from this early attempt at corporate branding. However, after a few weeks, that show returned to its beloved Ray Ellis theme. The only program given its own unique music during this time was the newly launched NBC News at Sunrise.
The rotating globe graphics that accompanied the music became iconic, though not for the right reasons. Many viewers noticed what seemed to be a mistake—Earth appeared to be spinning in the wrong direction. In reality, NBC intended for it to simulate the view from a spacecraft as it passed over the planet. Ultimately, NBC relented and, in 1984, reversed the globe’s rotation.
This was also the same exact theme used at the end of WNBC’s analog sign-off back in 2009.
Ch 7 Australia also used a variation of this at some point. Except it didn’t include the full NBC chimes to separate it from the original. There’s a bumper on youtube with the same globe animation, graphics, but no Peacock and the program is simply called “News Overnite.”
Meant to add, NBC Radio News also used this. The anchor would say “NBC Radio News” while this played. Mutual Radio News continued to use it after it purchased NBC Radio News. I wonder when it was composed as it sounds like something from the 40’s or 50’s. And I remember the controversy about the direction of the globe. TV Guide’s “Cheers and Jeers” section pointed it out after it debuted.