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Television news music is used by television stations to brand their news operations. Each television station uses an identifiable news theme; some themes are used by multiple stations while others are composed specifically for a certain station.
In the United States, news themes used on local television stations are typically organized into news music packages, with each theme within a package sharing a similar musical signature. A typical television news music package consists of anywhere from 50 to as many as 1000 cuts of music. One of the largest news music packages is Overture, created by Stephen Arnold Music. This package consists of a total of 36 themes and over 1000 cuts.
News music packages consist of the following: opens, closes, bumpers, topicals (promo beds), franchise opens/stingers, IDs, utility tracks, and billboards.
Stations within the same market area will always use different music packages, unless they are related to each other in some manner; this could be the case if two stations are owned by the same company or operated by the same company under a local marketing agreement (LMA), or one station contracts out its news production to the other. For example, in Fort Myers, Florida, ABC affiliate WZVN-TV is owned by Montclair Communications, Inc., while NBC affiliate WBBH-TV in the same market is owned by Hearst Television, which operates WZVN under an LMA. That said, both stations currently use This is Your News by Gari Communications. In newscasts airing on WZVN, NBC network ID stingers can be heard in the news opens, even though WZVN-TV is an ABC affiliate.
A case where the opposite of the aforementioned is true is in Denver, Colorado, where Fox affiliate KDVR and CW affiliate KWGN are owned by Nexstar Media Group.
Some news music packages are custom made for one station only, as opposed to syndicated packages which are used by multiple stations. While syndicated packages are normal in the industry, there are some stations that still use custom-made packages. Such examples include:
Some packages are custom-made for a specific station group company, or owned and operated stations and affiliates of a specific television network:
Some news music packages are accompanied by a station image package, featuring promotional jingles which often share the same musical signature as the parent news music package. Often, imaging packages include jingles for the holiday and elections. Such promotional packages first came to prominence in the United States in the 1970s, and had become widespread by the 1980s, used by many (though not all) television stations. Many memorable packages, such as Hello [6] and Turn to... by Frank Gari, were composed during this era, and some were even used on international and non-English stations.
Station image packages are designed to give a positive branding method for broadcast television stations. Many such packages from the 1970s and 1980s often portrayed stations in a community-oriented light, accompanied by footage of the stations' personalities participating in recreational activities and charity events with regular everyday people. [7] [8] By the 1990s, many stations had adopted a more hard-hitting approach to branding, resulting in a reduced demand for traditional promotion campaigns. However, a few stations which used Gari's Hello campaign briefly re-introduced it in the 2000s as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations. Davenport, Iowa station KWQC-TV, which had used the package into the 2010s, revived it in 2023 to commemorate 75 years on air. [9]
Besides standard news music packages, some stations had opted to use the soundtrack from some movies or other popular songs as their main news themes; examples include:
Certain news music packages used in the United States have also been used worldwide. Eyewitness News by Frank Gari has been picked up for use in overseas markets; it has been used by Hong Kong Cable News for its morning newscast, and POP TV in Slovenia for its main newscasts.
The News in Music (Tabloid Lament) (2017) by Thomas Meadowcroft is an orchestral work of TV news music specifically written for the concert hall. [16] Commissioned by the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra, the work positions orchestral news music, stylistically reminiscent of TV news music cues from the 1970s and 1980s, in a live, acoustic setting. [17]
WXIA-TV is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL. The two stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the north end of midtown Atlanta; WXIA-TV's transmitter is located in the city's east section, near Kirkwood. Atlanta is the largest television market where the NBC station is not owned and operated by the network.
KMOV is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power station KDTL-LD. The two stations share studios on Progress Parkway in suburban Maryland Heights; KMOV's transmitter is located in Lemay, Missouri.
KUSA is a television station in Denver, Colorado, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KTVD. The two stations share studios on East Speer Boulevard in Denver's Speer neighborhood; KUSA's transmitter is located atop Lookout Mountain, near Golden. In addition to its main studios, the station also operates a secondary studio and news bureau on Canyon Avenue in Fort Collins.
WRC-TV is a television station in Washington, D.C., serving as the market's NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Class A Telemundo outlet WZDC-CD. WRC-TV and WZDC-CD share studios on Nebraska Avenue in the Tenleytown neighborhood of Northwest Washington. Through a channel sharing agreement, the stations transmit using WRC-TV's spectrum from a tower adjacent to their studios.
WNBC is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo station WNJU. WNBC's studios and offices are co-located with NBC's corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan; WNJU's facilities in Fort Lee, New Jersey, also serve as WNBC's New Jersey news bureau. Through a channel sharing agreement with WNJU, the two stations transmit using WNJU's spectrum from an antenna atop One World Trade Center.
WJXT is an independent television station in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It is owned by Graham Media Group alongside CW affiliate WCWJ. The two stations share studios at 4 Broadcast Place on the south bank of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville; WJXT's transmitter is located on Anders Boulevard in the city's Killarney Shores section.
WNCN is a television station licensed to Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States, serving the Research Triangle area as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on Front Street in north Raleigh, and its transmitter is located in Auburn, North Carolina.
WFAA is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Decatur-licensed independent station KFAA-TV, which provides a full-market high definition simulcast of WFAA's main channel on its UHF physical channel assigned to channel 8.8, due to long-term issues involving WFAA's digital VHF signal.
The NBC chimes are a sequence of three tones played on National Broadcasting Company (NBC) broadcasts. Originally developed in 1927 as seven notes, they were standardized to the current three-note version by the early 1930s, and possibly as early as 1929. The chimes were originally employed as an audible programming cue, used to alert network control engineers and the announcers at NBC's radio network affiliates. They soon became associated with NBC programming in general, and are an early example of an "interval signal" used to help establish a broadcaster's identity with its audience.
Edward Woodley Kalehoff Jr. is an American television composer who specializes in compositions for television, known for his work on the Moog synthesizer. Kalehoff composed the musical themes to the game shows The Price Is Right and Double Dare, as well as for ABC World News Tonight and Monday Night Football.
Frank Daniel Garofalo, more prominently known as Frank Gari, is an American singer-songwriter and composer.
WESH is a television station licensed to Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, serving the Orlando area as an affiliate of NBC. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside Clermont-licensed CW affiliate WKCF. The two stations share studios on North Wymore Road in Eatonville ; WESH's transmitter is located on Brown Road near Christmas, Florida.
WISH-TV is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is locally owned by Circle City Broadcasting alongside Marion-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV and low-power, Class A Get affiliate WIIH-CD. The stations share studios on North Meridian Street on the near north side of Indianapolis; WISH-TV and WNDY-TV also share transmitter facilities on Walnut Drive in the Augusta section of the city's northwest side.
WTWO is a television station in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States, affiliated with NBC. Its second digital subchannel serves as an owned-and-operated station of The CW. WTWO is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to ABC affiliate WAWV-TV under joint sales and shared services agreements with Mission Broadcasting. The two stations share studios on US 41/150 in unincorporated Sullivan County, where WTWO's transmitter is also located.
WDAF-TV is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Summit Street in the Signal Hill section of Kansas City, Missouri.
KLFY-TV is a television station in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with CBS. Its secondary subchannel serves as an owned-and-operated station of The CW Plus as it is owned by CW majority owner Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located on Eraste Landry Road in Lafayette, and its transmitter is located in Maxie, north of Rayne.
WTXL-TV is a television station in Tallahassee, Florida, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios are located on Commerce Boulevard in Midway, Florida, and its transmitter is located near unincorporated Fincher, along the Georgia state line.
KXII is a television station licensed to Sherman, Texas, United States, serving the Sherman, Texas–Ada, Oklahoma market as an affiliate of CBS, MyNetworkTV, and Fox. Owned by Gray Television alongside Telemundo affiliate KAQI-LD, the two stations share studios on Texoma Parkway in northeastern Sherman, with an additional studio on South Commerce Street and Elks Boulevard in southwestern Ardmore, Oklahoma. KXII's transmitter is located along US 377 in rural northeastern Marshall County, Oklahoma.
KWQC-TV is a television station licensed to Davenport, Iowa, United States, serving the Quad Cities area as an affiliate of NBC. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on Brady Street in downtown Davenport, and its transmitter is located in Bettendorf, Iowa.
615 Music is a broadcast production music company based in Nashville. 615 Music was founded by Randy Wachtler and composes television news music packages as well as custom image campaigns for television networks and stations around the world. 615 Music has operations in Los Angeles. The name 615 Music is derived from Nashville's area code (615), which is where the company is based.
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