The Newsroom

Greatest News Themes of All Time

(August 2016)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
VM
VMPhil
This look from Five News seems to be a very marmite thing in the pres world - I personally loved the whole thing, the music, the titles, the set, the little sting after the headlines. Shame it was only used for a very short period.

ST
STV Today
I still love Scotland Today early to mid nineties. Always made me stop and take notice the news was coming on. The set was also good for its time
DB
dbl
tmorgan96 and Mouseboy33 gave kudos
WH
Whataday Founding member
Interesting how most have chosen more pompous and in your face themes than the beeps and drums of BBC News.
VM
VMPhil
Well we're the pres geeks, we love the stuff that favours the presentation as much as possible. That's not necessarily good for everyone else though.
AN
Andrew Founding member
Some versions of Central News above, but in my opinion the best one was this one


I agree that both London Tonight themes were great

When it comes to ITV National, this was always simple and powerful
SP
Spencer
Some versions of Central News above, but in my opinion the best one was this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoOdY-lQmJE


Don't tell me someone at Lambie Nairn hadn't seen those titles when designing the current ITV News branding. Wink
DV
DVB Cornwall

Nationwide .. full version - edited.

and love this one


Breakfast TIme
MS
msim
It has to be the 1989-1993 Breakfast News titles. The perfect combination of an epic theme (updated from 1986 Breakfast Time) and amazing visuals - the way that map becomes a C that circles the globe and become a giant 'BBC' just as the theme begins to peak!



And a special mention too of the extended The World Today opening from the World Flags era
Last edited by msim on 11 August 2016 10:43pm
GE
Gareth E
Mentioned this on other threads in the past, but this one used to scare the living daylights out of me when I was a youngster. Generally because it meant really bad news. But for a regional news theme, it's pretty stirring - appropriate considering Northern Ireland has never been a 'cat-stuck-up-a-tree' kind of nation/region.



Then of course there's this little gem from the south-west.



Was always hugely impressed by the grandeur of the BBC's regional news themes before the beeps arrived.

Also, I'll always have a soft spot for:



And it would be rude not to associate that with this. Yeah, I know it's not "proper news," but I don't care. It'll get you smiling if nothing else . . .

FO
fox1
These are my 'epics' (for what it's worth. Taped by me as a kid):

10 Eyewitness News 1989


ITN Morning News 1989


KHON Honolulu 1996


Ten Eyewitness News

5PM Opener | War in the Gulf

And.. last but not least, FOX 11:
http://www.newsmusicnow.com/2/thexpackage/xpackageclose.mp3

and CBS 3 Eyewitness News (2003):
http://www.newsmusicnow.com/15/newsinfocus/nifprimaryopen.mp3
Source: http://www.newsmusicnow.com/


I had totally forgotten that they'd mixed the pompous news theme with the earlier breakfast news theme to make that!

This is my all-time favourite (the 'flying fish fingers') - with added BBC1 clock.

Loved the sense of all the news coming into London and then being beamed out to us. And a pretty majestic tune to boot.

Yes. I agree, and I have very early memories of this.
Last edited by fox1 on 12 August 2016 8:27am - 4 times in total
RD
rdd Founding member
DJGM posted:

ITN from 1995 to 1999, the last great tune where the ITN brand was dominant. The set to accompany this was dull as though.


The music that replaced it, as I recall, has been used on other news broadcasts in other parts of the world. I think we had a discussion about it on this very forum some time ago. It was even used in the radio news bulletins that were featured in the Saints Row 2 video game usually after the completion of


If it's the 1999-2004 theme you are referring to, while it omits the bulletin-specific introductions (which the Early Evening News dumped early on anyway) and is edited a slight bit differently they are otherwise almost the same piece of music. I've listened to them together just now and I'm not sure the 1999 theme is different enough to even be classified as a re arrangement.

Both are, in any events, arrangements of Johnny Pearson's "The Awakening", the old News at Ten theme and elements of which still feature in the ITV News theme today.

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