Favourite News Themes

I know that variations of this topic appear every so often, this of course being TV Forum; as it's been a while I thought I'd start a new thread, so that we can share our favourite news themes. Anyway, being the anorak that I am, I'll start with some of mine:

RTL Nieuws, the Netherlands, 1998 and 2003 (1998 starts at 4:17, 2003 at 6:16)



The 2003 theme is probably my favourite of any news programme, anywhere (apart from the BBC) - I love the way the drums, beeps and horns all come together to create a theme that, IMO, really makes you sit up and pay attention.

Staying in the Netherlands, and next up is the 2005 theme to NOS Journaal, the news on Dutch public TV. This and the 2003 RTL theme above were both composed by a guy named Stephen Emmer, whose father used to present NOS Journaal in the 70s and 80s.



Going south to Belgium, and we have the current theme to VTM Nieuws, introduced in 2013. My first impression on hearing this was that parts of the opening wouldn't sound out of place in a Hollywood film, but I think it suits the programme, which offers a slightly more populist agenda than public broadcaster VRT.



Closer to home, and you can't deny how iconic this theme has become:



Perfect for an apocalyptic rave :



Though I have to say that this is my favourite version:



Last, but not least, in all its bombastic glory, here's the 9 O'Clock News from 1993:



Honourable mentions for the Sky News theme of 2005, still in use today (albeit heavily watered down), which I would have put up here also, but there isn't really a decent YouTube video of it.

EDIT: Also, I would like to draw your attention to the following two websites:
http://www.networknewsmusic.com/wp/ (features various themes from American news programmes)
http://www.nieuwstunes.nl/ (ditto, but from Dutch newscasts)

I must stress that I have nothing to do with either website, but they're definitely worth a look, IMO.

I definitely love this topic idea! And I definitely love the 1993 9'o'clock news theme from the BBC that you posted here.

As for me, being French, I'll probably have a sort of national bias ^_^" and here's a confession: I could listen to the various current Franceinfo themes all day long – heck, after all, I already listen to them in my car .




They were composed by Jean-Michel Jarre, no less. My favourite variation being the "technical problems" theme… (split in two halves in the following video; starting from 4:10, roughly; actual theme re-start is at 6:49)


Going back in the past, I feel the urge to scream HOW MUCH I love the theme for France 3's "19/20" around 1993 and 1997. Whether the music used during the regional-to-national switch, or the actual newscast's intro and outro itself (outro at 21:54 in the next video).


(the large bar was made to contain a hh:mm:ss clock)

I should also mention i>Télé's countdown in 2008 (probably a tiny bit BBC-inspired)
>>> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ld2cnCBqa_vyGiM9vOFwonQ45zTe75Pr/view?usp=sharing (audio only)


And I am still seduced by an Arte's news theme used only from 2007 to 2008:
>>> https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x517dte (could not embed)


Elsewhere in the world, my favourite, currently-on-air news themes are those of KAN-11 in Israel, RTV SLO's Dnevnik in Slovenia, and Russia-1's Saturday news.


And when it comes to international "vintage" themes, I am probably forgetting a lot of them, but I have a fondness for the themes from Radio-Canada's 2005 Téléjournal, Rustavi 2's Kurieri in the early 00's in Georgia, Basque Country ETB's Gaur Egun in 2010, and Belgian VRT's Het Journaal also around 2000.

Always loved the BBC "lighting bolts/Tower" theme.
One of favourite local news themes is the WGN News 1993 (unafiliated/independent). It was big and important sounding and has a great signature. The visuals of skyline across the Lake Michigan probably helps (lol)

That FranceInfo music really is fantastic.

I do like some of the themes Sky News had in the Early Noughties. Firstly the 2002 version and then the 'mad pianist' version - the latter was pacy and worked brilliantly.



Similarly some of the old News 24 music was great. Firstly the flags music has aged very well and the original David Lowe News 24 music (complete with foghorn) is still my favourite version of the BBC News music.

And while the theme is bombastic as hell and Wolf's presentation is ludicrously overdramatic, the Situation Room music is certainly attention grabbing

Here's the lot of them:

I really, really love the franceinfo themes that you shared. They are really inspired and modern - and I think some other broadcasters could take a leaf out of their book - but then, I do quite like Jean-Michel Jarre's stuff. The 19/20 themes were interesting - I don't think I've ever heard anything like that on any news programme before.

The VRT theme you posted is certainly unique - personally, I prefer the theme that came after:



In fact, I love that whole look - very clean and modern. I think VRT have had some really wonderful presentation for its news over the years, and the current look is no exception, IMO.



That mad pianist version is great - and is so much better than the theme we have now, IMO, which I find rather lacking. I like the 2002 theme as well - that had to be replaced with the mad pianist theme due to copyright issues.

Ah yes! This album wasn't released in a lot of copies but it contains all the elements created for the Franceinfo radio station, though a lot of them are also used on the tv channel. However, sadly the "technical problems" theme isn't on the disc, as it's one of the tv-only variants. But it contains some other great themes and beds, such as the one for the debate programme Les informés (starting at 17:10 on the video you provided) and the "waiting" bed (starting at 42:32).

Have to agree Franceinfo really does have a lovely music package. Authoritative, catchy, modern...

A few from me:
VRT Het Journaal (2008-2013)
This look and sound really is one of my favourites, even now 10 years later, it's amazing. It could've launched this year and still be modern, relevant and unique. Such a catchy hook to the music!


Al Arabiya News Channel (2003-)
I'm a big fan of Al Arabiya's theme music, created by David Lowe. There's some definite BBC News hints in there, but like the BBC, it's stood the test of time. This theme has been on-air since 2003, largely unchanged too.


Five News (2003-2005)
A theme often forgotten - the Five News orchestral theme from 2003 - I loved it!

I Love The Misson (both the NBC and Seven News versions). When you hear the special report musix you get chills.

I love the BBC’s theme as its my ringtone (I think its the NC version). Along with ITVs.

There is one German or French broadcasters theme I love.

I wish I could elaborate more but I am on my iphone.

Wait. Copyright issues? What was that?

If I remember rightly, the 2002 theme was withdrawn after a composer claimed that Sky had plagiarised the previous theme, which said composer had written, without their permission. Hence, the mad pianist theme was swiftly written and introduced.

I have a soft spot for that internationalist-French-synth-orchestral-pop sound, if you will.

I really liked the Euronews 2008 music. It had the perfect tone that struck the right balance of strings and electronic. I've never been able to track down who actually wrote it.



The franceinfo: music is great, and I'm also a big fan of the France 24 sound that debuted in late 2013:



One that's not typical of US television: WBZ in Boston from 2007. A guitar riff to grab your attention, a nice bed of music over the headlines, and then a very simple introduction read by the anchor over the open.