NBC chimes
Encyclopedia
The NBC chimes, named for the radio and television network
on which they have been used, consists of a succession of three distinct pitches: G3, E4, and C4 (middle C
), sounded in that order, creating an arpeggiated C-major chord in the second inversion, within about two seconds time, and reverberating for another two or three seconds. The intervals of this progression are up a major 6th from G3 to E4 and down a major third from E4 to C4. The chimes were the first ever audio trademark
to be accepted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
. Contrary to widespread belief, the "G-E-C" sequence is not a reference to the General Electric Company
(now a minority shareholder in NBC's current parent company), which did not acquire NBC until 1986; however, GE's radio station WGY in Schenectady, New York
was an early NBC affiliate, and GE was an early shareholder in RCA
, which founded NBC by creating it as a subsidiary.
The chimes were originally used a cue for radio stations across the network to begin broadcasting their station identification
s or local feeds. After their use as a formal network communications signal ended around the 1970s as the result of automation, the chimes has been used ever since as an audio logo or signature for NBC.
) must identify itself
by callsign and the name of the community where its broadcast license
has been issued, in compliance with Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) regulations. For example: "This is WHYY
, Philadelphia." Therefore it might seem efficient for a small radio network
(three to seven stations, for instance) to accomplish this chore by having a single announcer "on the network", whose voice is transmitted to all the local stations, read the short list of local callsigns and corresponding communities for about ten seconds each hour, during an extended broadcast period. However, this practice becomes quite inefficient as a network grows, consuming valuable commercial airtime. Hence it was determined in early big-network radio days that this job, among others, had to be done locally, on a pre-determined cue from the network itself.
The simplest way to accomplish this is with a spoken announcement (sometimes called an outcue), and its special format has a familiar ring. For instance: "We pause now for ten seconds for station identification
: this is the NBC Television Network". This phrasing alerts a local announcer to put him/herself on the air and formally identify the local station. The Today Show, broadcast for four hours live every weekday on NBC, uses a special spoken outcue for station breaks: "This is Today on NBC." Indeed, as a public relations technique, this task is often offered to a member of the live audience assembled in Rockefeller Plaza outside the Today studio. For the network pioneers at NBC in the late 1920s, a more simple, elegant and consistent solution than an announcer's voice, with its individual distinctiveness, was sought.
It was decided by a three-person committee
(consisting of Oscar Hanson
, a former engineer
of AT&T
, Earnest la Prada, an NBC orchestra
leader, and the NBC announcer
Philip Carlin) that the simplest way to do this would be to create a musical cue which would sound to signal the end of programs. Essentially, NBC wished to brand itself in sound, a sound that any listener would immediately recognize.
in Atlanta
which allegedly used it for its own purposes until one day someone at NBC headquarters in New York City
heard the WSB version of the notes during a networked broadcast of a Georgia Tech
football
game and asked permission to use it on the national network. The NBC chimes were invented by Robert Blanchard.
The company tested the chimes during 1927 and 1928 when it experimented with several possible combinations of notes. The first sequence consisted of the seven notes G-C-F-E-G-F-E. However, since the original NBC chime machine was an actual set of chimes which the announcer would play 30 seconds before the end of every half-hour to signal the end of a program, it was left to the announcers to play this trademark sequence without error, which was unavoidable with such a lengthy cue. The chime sequence was shortened to G-C-F-E and then, on November 29, 1929, the cue was shortened for the final time, and the three well-known notes G-E-C were heard on NBC radio for the first time.
Despite the relative simplicity and efficiency of the new, shorter chime sequence, problems still existed in other musical aspects of the sequence, such as the tempo
, rhythm
, and volume
at which it was played, as well as the musical tone
of the set chimes. Therefore the NBC chimes were mechanized in 1932 with a unit that could play the sequence perfectly and consistently. Richard H. Ranger
, a former Radio Corporation of America (RCA) engineer who also invented an early form of the modern fax
machine, invented the NBC chime machine that generated the notes by means of finely tuned metal reeds that were plucked by fingers on a revolving drum, much like a musical box
.
NBC had several of these chime machines made which they set up at major network locations across the country, including Los Angeles
, New York
, Chicago
, and San Francisco (which actually had two machines, a main one and a backup.) It is estimated that no more than a dozen of these machines were ever made, and even fewer are currently in existence.
The technical purpose of the mechanical chimes was to send a low level audio signal of constant amplitude that would be heard by the various switching stations manned by NBC and AT&T
engineers, but not disturb the listening audience. This would serve as the system cue for switching the myriad local stations between the NBC Red Network
and NBC Blue Network feeds as scheduled, as well as signalling the pause for local station identification immediately thereafter. In essence, it was the audio equivalent of a traffic signal. Because of fears of offending commercial sponsors by cutting their live network programs off in mid-sentence, the mechanized chimes were always rung by an announcer pushing a button in conjunction with the program’s conclusion; they were never set to an automatic timer, although heavy discussions on the subject were held between the Engineering and Programming departments throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
On November 20, 1947, NBC filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to make the chimes a registered service mark for identification of radio broadcasting services, the first such audible service mark to be filed with that office. Registration was granted on April 4, 1950; the registration number was 0523616, serial number 71541873. This registration expired on November 3, 1992, as NBC Radio became part of broadcasting history. However a separate service mark registration was made in 1971 for identification of television broadcasting services (serial 72349496, registration 0916522). While this registration is still active, the chime was heard for the final time on the NBC television channel in 1976, the 50-year anniversary
of the chime; the chime is now used only for various smaller purposes on the channel.
. Television flagship WNBC
in New York kept the sound of the chimes alive, though. In 1974, it incorporated the sequence into the opening of its synthesized theme music for NewsCenter 4 (sharpening the pitch by a half-step). The stinger was heard at the opens to the newscasts' 5, 6 and 11 p.m. hours. Eventually, NBC Radio adopted WNBC-TV's NewsCenter 4 stinger as its top-of-the-hour news sounder. With alterations (and a brief interruption in the early 1990s), WNBC has used a form of the chimes on its newscasts ever since.
The music used on NewsCenter 4, NBC Radio-TV Newspulse by Fred Weinberg, was later used for NBC Nightly News
in the 1970s and NBC News bulletins/special reports in the 1970s and 1980s. The usage of the NBC chimes continues in local newscasts on NBC stations to this day, in fact many NBC stations play the NBC Chimes at the end of the weather segment of the newscast, when the extended forecast is shown.
In 1976, the chimes were revived nationally in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the network. Modern musical versions of the three-note chimes are still in popular use on the NBC radio and television networks (and are the opening and closing notes of the current edition of the NBC Nightly News
theme song), as well as in the closing logo of NBC Universal Television Studio, the TV production arm of NBC's current immediate parent, NBC Universal
.
From 1982 to the early 1990s, most NBC voiceover promos at the end of network shows would begin with the chimes. From 1982 to 1987, the chimes would blend into an instrumental version of the promo slogan that NBC would be using at the time.
The Today Show made the chimes the centerpiece of its theme in 1978, resolving a legal dispute between the network and the composers of the musical Godspell
. The musical composers felt that the Ray Ellis
-penned closing theme Today used since 1971 (which was also the show's opening theme since 1976) was lifted from the classic Godspell song "Day by Day." Using the chimes as his template, Ellis composed a new theme song, which stuck.
Although Today has used a segment from John Williams
' NBC News music package The Mission
since 1985, Ellis's revised composition has been used on and off during portions of Today ever since.
NBC News uses a version of the original chimes for special breaking news reports
that interrupt regular programming on the network and/or its stations.
NBC's on-air promotions for the fall 2008 television season featured the chimes prominently alongside the new slogan "Chime In". Several used alternate versions tied to specific shows' themes: for example, ringing telephones for The Office; the ringing of cash registers for Deal or No Deal; and objects striking metal for America's Toughest Jobs
.
The use of chimes as an audio logo is not unique, as other broadcasters, including Britain's ATV
and Mexico's Televisa
Canal de las Estrellas
have used similar chimes. The Canal de las Estrellas chimes, for example, consist of eight musical notes.
and WJZ until the wanted person communicated with the PBX operator. The list contained the names of the following NBC executives:
The list also included names of personnel from Engineering, Press, Programming, Traffic, and Service departments.
The "fourth chime" was also used to notify affiliates and their employees of pending urgent programming. This variant saw such use during wartime (especially in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor
) and other disasters, most notably the Hindenburg disaster
in 1937. According to NBC historians, the last official use of the "fourth chime" was in 1945, shortly after the end of World War II
. However, according to a handwritten note appended to an NBC internal memo originally dated 1964 on the history and usage of the standard chime, this chime variant was used one final time in 1985 to symbolize the merger with GE
. This recording of this variant exists.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
on which they have been used, consists of a succession of three distinct pitches: G3, E4, and C4 (middle C
Middle C
C or Do is the first note of the fixed-Do solfège scale. Its enharmonic is B.-Middle C:Middle C is designated C4 in scientific pitch notation because of the note's position as the fourth C key on a standard 88-key piano keyboard...
), sounded in that order, creating an arpeggiated C-major chord in the second inversion, within about two seconds time, and reverberating for another two or three seconds. The intervals of this progression are up a major 6th from G3 to E4 and down a major third from E4 to C4. The chimes were the first ever audio trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
to be accepted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,...
. Contrary to widespread belief, the "G-E-C" sequence is not a reference to the General Electric Company
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
(now a minority shareholder in NBC's current parent company), which did not acquire NBC until 1986; however, GE's radio station WGY in Schenectady, New York
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
was an early NBC affiliate, and GE was an early shareholder in RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
, which founded NBC by creating it as a subsidiary.
The chimes were originally used a cue for radio stations across the network to begin broadcasting their station identification
Station identification
Station identification is the practice of radio or television stations or networks identifying themselves on air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name...
s or local feeds. After their use as a formal network communications signal ended around the 1970s as the result of automation, the chimes has been used ever since as an audio logo or signature for NBC.
An elegant solution: the station break
The chimes were originally conceived to help solve a problem inherent in early network radio broadcasting: the vast majority of which was live, rather than pre-recorded. At the top of each hour, any individual broadcaster (on radio, TV or other broadcast bandBroadcast band
A Broadcast band is a segment of the radio spectrum used for broadcasting.-See also:* North American broadcast television frequencies* Dead air* Internet radio* radio networks* Music radio* Old-time radio* Radio astronomy* Radio programming...
) must identify itself
Station identification
Station identification is the practice of radio or television stations or networks identifying themselves on air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name...
by callsign and the name of the community where its broadcast license
Broadcast license
A broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
has been issued, in compliance with Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) regulations. For example: "This is WHYY
WHYY-FM
WHYY-FM is an NPR member station serving the Delaware Valley area, which is the metro area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is located in Philadelphia. Its transmitter is located in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia.-History:...
, Philadelphia." Therefore it might seem efficient for a small radio network
Radio network
There are two types of radio networks currently in use around the world: the one-to-many broadcast type commonly used for public information and mass media entertainment; and the two-way type used more commonly for public safety and public services such as police, fire, taxicabs, and delivery...
(three to seven stations, for instance) to accomplish this chore by having a single announcer "on the network", whose voice is transmitted to all the local stations, read the short list of local callsigns and corresponding communities for about ten seconds each hour, during an extended broadcast period. However, this practice becomes quite inefficient as a network grows, consuming valuable commercial airtime. Hence it was determined in early big-network radio days that this job, among others, had to be done locally, on a pre-determined cue from the network itself.
The simplest way to accomplish this is with a spoken announcement (sometimes called an outcue), and its special format has a familiar ring. For instance: "We pause now for ten seconds for station identification
Station identification
Station identification is the practice of radio or television stations or networks identifying themselves on air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name...
: this is the NBC Television Network". This phrasing alerts a local announcer to put him/herself on the air and formally identify the local station. The Today Show, broadcast for four hours live every weekday on NBC, uses a special spoken outcue for station breaks: "This is Today on NBC." Indeed, as a public relations technique, this task is often offered to a member of the live audience assembled in Rockefeller Plaza outside the Today studio. For the network pioneers at NBC in the late 1920s, a more simple, elegant and consistent solution than an announcer's voice, with its individual distinctiveness, was sought.
It was decided by a three-person committee
Committee
A committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole"...
(consisting of Oscar Hanson
Oscar Hanson
Oscar Edward "Ossie, King Oscar" Hanson was a professional ice hockey centre. He played in 8 NHL games for the Chicago Black Hawks.-External links:...
, a former engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
of AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
, Earnest la Prada, an NBC orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
leader, and the NBC announcer
Announcer
An announcer is a presenter who makes "announcements" in an audio medium or a physical location.-Television and other media:Some announcers work in television production , radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, news updates, station identification, or an introduction of a product in...
Philip Carlin) that the simplest way to do this would be to create a musical cue which would sound to signal the end of programs. Essentially, NBC wished to brand itself in sound, a sound that any listener would immediately recognize.
History
The chimes came to their familiar configuration and sound after several years of on-air development. They were first broadcast over NBC's Red and Blue networks on November 29, 1929. However, there are disagreements about the original source of the idea. One story is that they came from WSBWSB (AM)
WSB — branded AM 750 and 95.5 FM News/Talk WSB — is a commercial radio station licensed to Atlanta, Georgia broadcasting a news/talk format. The station transmits with 50,000 watts of nondirectional power day and night, enjoying clear-channel status on its broadcast frequency according to the U.S...
in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
which allegedly used it for its own purposes until one day someone at NBC headquarters in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
heard the WSB version of the notes during a networked broadcast of a Georgia Tech
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
game and asked permission to use it on the national network. The NBC chimes were invented by Robert Blanchard.
The company tested the chimes during 1927 and 1928 when it experimented with several possible combinations of notes. The first sequence consisted of the seven notes G-C-F-E-G-F-E. However, since the original NBC chime machine was an actual set of chimes which the announcer would play 30 seconds before the end of every half-hour to signal the end of a program, it was left to the announcers to play this trademark sequence without error, which was unavoidable with such a lengthy cue. The chime sequence was shortened to G-C-F-E and then, on November 29, 1929, the cue was shortened for the final time, and the three well-known notes G-E-C were heard on NBC radio for the first time.
Despite the relative simplicity and efficiency of the new, shorter chime sequence, problems still existed in other musical aspects of the sequence, such as the tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
, rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
, and volume
Volume
Volume is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by some closed boundary, for example, the space that a substance or shape occupies or contains....
at which it was played, as well as the musical tone
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
of the set chimes. Therefore the NBC chimes were mechanized in 1932 with a unit that could play the sequence perfectly and consistently. Richard H. Ranger
Richard H. Ranger
Richard Howland Ranger was an American electrical engineer, music engineer and inventor. He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of John Hilliard and Emily Anthen Gillet Ranger, He served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I, earning the rank of Major...
, a former Radio Corporation of America (RCA) engineer who also invented an early form of the modern fax
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
machine, invented the NBC chime machine that generated the notes by means of finely tuned metal reeds that were plucked by fingers on a revolving drum, much like a musical box
Musical box
A music box is a 19th century automatic musical instrument that produces sounds by the use of a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc so as to pluck the tuned teeth of a steel comb. They were developed from musical snuff boxes of the 18th century and called carillons à musique...
.
NBC had several of these chime machines made which they set up at major network locations across the country, including Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, and San Francisco (which actually had two machines, a main one and a backup.) It is estimated that no more than a dozen of these machines were ever made, and even fewer are currently in existence.
The technical purpose of the mechanical chimes was to send a low level audio signal of constant amplitude that would be heard by the various switching stations manned by NBC and AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
engineers, but not disturb the listening audience. This would serve as the system cue for switching the myriad local stations between the NBC Red Network
NBC Red Network
The NBC Red Network was one of the two original radio networks of the National Broadcasting Company. After NBC was required to divest itself of its Blue Network , the Red Network continued as the NBC Radio Network.It, along with the Blue Network, were the first two commercial radio networks in the...
and NBC Blue Network feeds as scheduled, as well as signalling the pause for local station identification immediately thereafter. In essence, it was the audio equivalent of a traffic signal. Because of fears of offending commercial sponsors by cutting their live network programs off in mid-sentence, the mechanized chimes were always rung by an announcer pushing a button in conjunction with the program’s conclusion; they were never set to an automatic timer, although heavy discussions on the subject were held between the Engineering and Programming departments throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
On November 20, 1947, NBC filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to make the chimes a registered service mark for identification of radio broadcasting services, the first such audible service mark to be filed with that office. Registration was granted on April 4, 1950; the registration number was 0523616, serial number 71541873. This registration expired on November 3, 1992, as NBC Radio became part of broadcasting history. However a separate service mark registration was made in 1971 for identification of television broadcasting services (serial 72349496, registration 0916522). While this registration is still active, the chime was heard for the final time on the NBC television channel in 1976, the 50-year anniversary
Anniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...
of the chime; the chime is now used only for various smaller purposes on the channel.
The chimes go modern
Their use as a formal network communications signal ended around 1971, the result of automationAutomation
Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...
. Television flagship WNBC
WNBC
WNBC, virtual channel 4 , is the flagship station of the NBC television network, located in New York City. WNBC's studios are co-located with NBC corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan...
in New York kept the sound of the chimes alive, though. In 1974, it incorporated the sequence into the opening of its synthesized theme music for NewsCenter 4 (sharpening the pitch by a half-step). The stinger was heard at the opens to the newscasts' 5, 6 and 11 p.m. hours. Eventually, NBC Radio adopted WNBC-TV's NewsCenter 4 stinger as its top-of-the-hour news sounder. With alterations (and a brief interruption in the early 1990s), WNBC has used a form of the chimes on its newscasts ever since.
The music used on NewsCenter 4, NBC Radio-TV Newspulse by Fred Weinberg, was later used for NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
in the 1970s and NBC News bulletins/special reports in the 1970s and 1980s. The usage of the NBC chimes continues in local newscasts on NBC stations to this day, in fact many NBC stations play the NBC Chimes at the end of the weather segment of the newscast, when the extended forecast is shown.
In 1976, the chimes were revived nationally in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the network. Modern musical versions of the three-note chimes are still in popular use on the NBC radio and television networks (and are the opening and closing notes of the current edition of the NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
theme song), as well as in the closing logo of NBC Universal Television Studio, the TV production arm of NBC's current immediate parent, NBC Universal
NBC Universal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company engaged in the production and marketing of entertainment, news, and information products and services to a global customer base...
.
From 1982 to the early 1990s, most NBC voiceover promos at the end of network shows would begin with the chimes. From 1982 to 1987, the chimes would blend into an instrumental version of the promo slogan that NBC would be using at the time.
The Today Show made the chimes the centerpiece of its theme in 1978, resolving a legal dispute between the network and the composers of the musical Godspell
Godspell
Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...
. The musical composers felt that the Ray Ellis
Ray Ellis
Ray Ellis was an American record producer, arranger and conductor. The orchestration for Billie Holiday's Lady in Satin is probably his best known work in the jazz vein.-Biography:...
-penned closing theme Today used since 1971 (which was also the show's opening theme since 1976) was lifted from the classic Godspell song "Day by Day." Using the chimes as his template, Ellis composed a new theme song, which stuck.
Although Today has used a segment from John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
' NBC News music package The Mission
The Mission (theme song)
"The Mission" is a television news music package composed by John Williams in 1985. Originally commissioned for NBC's national news programs, the theme has also been used on some NBC affiliates for their local newscasts....
since 1985, Ellis's revised composition has been used on and off during portions of Today ever since.
NBC News uses a version of the original chimes for special breaking news reports
Breaking news
Breaking news, also known as a special report or news bulletin, is a current event that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming and/or current news in order to report its details. Many times, breaking news is used after the news network has already reported on this story...
that interrupt regular programming on the network and/or its stations.
NBC's on-air promotions for the fall 2008 television season featured the chimes prominently alongside the new slogan "Chime In". Several used alternate versions tied to specific shows' themes: for example, ringing telephones for The Office; the ringing of cash registers for Deal or No Deal; and objects striking metal for America's Toughest Jobs
America's Toughest Jobs
America's Toughest Jobs is a reality television show that lasted one season and aired on the American television network NBC. It pitted contestants against each other as they attempted a series of difficult and dangerous jobs...
.
The use of chimes as an audio logo is not unique, as other broadcasters, including Britain's ATV
Associated TeleVision
Associated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
and Mexico's Televisa
Televisa
Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...
Canal de las Estrellas
Canal de las Estrellas
Canal de las Estrellas is one of the cornerstone networks of Televisa, with affiliate stations all over Mexico, flagshipped at XEW-TV in Mexico City. Many of the programs of Canal de las Estrellas are seen in the United States on Univision, Telefutura, and Galavisión...
have used similar chimes. The Canal de las Estrellas chimes, for example, consist of eight musical notes.
The chimes quoted in music
Many composers have used the NBC chimes as their signature for their news packages, many of which were made exclusively for NBC stations. Some songwriters have quoted the sequence as well. A few examples include:- NBC Stations by Edd KalehoffEdd KalehoffEdward Woodley "Edd" Kalehoff is a music composer who specializes in compositions for television.-Notable pieces:Composer of about 1,000 pieces, mainly for television, his credits include the majority of cues used on The Price is Right as well as the Nickelodeon game show Double Dare, a music...
- The Tower by 615 Music615 Music615 Music is a broadcast production music company based in Nashville, Tennessee. 615 Music composes television news music packages and custom image campaigns for many television networks around the world. 615 Music also operates out of Los Angeles...
- The Rock by Stephen ArnoldStephen Arnold MusicFounded in 1993 by Stephen Arnold, Stephen Arnold Music is a Dallas-based music production company, specializing in Television news music. With additional offices in San Diego, California and a studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the company services television networks, cable channels, TV stations,...
- The NBC Collection by Frank GariFrank GariFrank Gari is a popular singer and songwriter from the late 1950s and early 1960s. His best known songs as a performer are "Utopia" , "Lullaby of Love" and "Princess" , all of which hit the U.S. Top 40 in 1961. He co-wrote with Roger McGuinn the song Beach Ball for Bobby Darin...
- "Let's Go" by Ray CharlesRay CharlesRay Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
on his 1961 album Genius+Soul=Jazz - L.A. Groove by Groove Addicts
- "Do Your Thing" by Isaac HayesIsaac HayesIsaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
The "Fourth Chime"
The variant sequence B - D + G = G, based on a G-major arpeggio in second inversion, was known as "the fourth chime". According to an NBC Interdepartment Correspondence memo, dated April 7, 1933 documents the conception and initial purpose of the fourth chime. The memo states "In anticipation of the Spring and Summer months, when many in key positions will not always be available at home telephones, the following Emergency Call System will go into effect on Monday morning, April 16." The memo goes on to say that whenever a fourth tone is heard on the network chimes rung at fifteen minute intervals, it will indicate that someone on an attached list is wanted. Upon hearing this fourth chime, all personnel on the list are instructed to call in to the PBX operator to ascertain whether or not the Emergency Call is for them. The chime would continue at fifteen minute intervals over stations WEAFWEAF (AM)
WEAF is a gospel music formatted radio station in Camden, South Carolina. The station is currently owned by Colonial Radio Group and is licensed to CRG president Jeff Andrulonis. Much of the programing is featured from the Rejoice! Musical Soul Food satellite feed.-History:At one time, this...
and WJZ until the wanted person communicated with the PBX operator. The list contained the names of the following NBC executives:
- John F. Royal
- John W. Elwood
- Frank Mason
- J de Jara Almonte
The list also included names of personnel from Engineering, Press, Programming, Traffic, and Service departments.
The "fourth chime" was also used to notify affiliates and their employees of pending urgent programming. This variant saw such use during wartime (especially in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
) and other disasters, most notably the Hindenburg disaster
Hindenburg disaster
The Hindenburg disaster took place on Thursday, May 6, 1937, as the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, which is located adjacent to the borough of Lakehurst, New Jersey...
in 1937. According to NBC historians, the last official use of the "fourth chime" was in 1945, shortly after the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. However, according to a handwritten note appended to an NBC internal memo originally dated 1964 on the history and usage of the standard chime, this chime variant was used one final time in 1985 to symbolize the merger with GE
Gê
Gê are the people who spoke Ge languages of the northern South American Caribbean coast and Brazil. In Brazil the Gê were found in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Piaui, Mato Grosso, Goias, Tocantins, Maranhão, and as far south as Paraguay....
. This recording of this variant exists.
External links
- The NBC chimes (MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format), as registered with the United States Patent and Trademark OfficeUnited States Patent and Trademark OfficeThe United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,... - The NBC Chimes Museum
- History of the NBC Chimes
- Listen to NBC Chimes past and present
- NBC chimes machine
- The NBC Network Chimes (Antique Wireless Association, 1979)