Just shy of 30 years after its introduction, the Today Show replaced its iconic opener composed by John Williams. The new theme, which has a more modern feel but remains orchestral in nature, is by the custom music division of Warner/Chappell Production Music. NBC attempted twice before — in 1994 and 2004 — to replace the Today’s opening fanfare. Those times it quickly returned. This time around, the new music had a much better reception.
WCPM Custom’s music was gradually introduced to viewers. It’s essentially a variation of the music that Today had already been using for elections and other special broadcasts. Meanwhile, Williams’ music was relegated to just the 7 a.m. open. Bumpers, promos and opens for the other three hours, had been using different music for quite some time.
WCPM Custom – Today open
WCPM Custom – Today open (longer version)
WCPM Custom – Today headline bed
(102 votes, average: 4.29 out of 5)
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I have to say that this theme is beautiful and epic, and I just want to compare this to Lee Sanders’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment fanfare, David Engel’s MGM/UA Home Video fanfare and David Arnold’s iconic score from Stargate.
Also, the current theme music to Today pretty much follows that contemporary kind of trend of orchestral music across film, TV and home media.
Like the MGM/UA Home Video and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment fanfares, the theme has an uplifting, triumphant and dramatic mood.
LOVE the Today themes. I wish we had access to more themes, including the bumper music. If you watch, you know they have a different bed for each break. The bumper for commercial break #1 is on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWClyeaqkR8
Yes!