Music Sets the Tone for CBS Evening News
Posted on Fri, Jun 10, 2011 @ 10:15 AM
When Scott Pelley quietly slipped into the anchor chair on CBS last week there were several not-so-subtle hints that the Couric era was over. The old stylized map of the globe showed up on the back wall of the set (paging Walter!) and the CBS News music that ran 20 years ago returned. Want to hear it?
Music is one of those parts of newscasts that are "fun" to play with for people in our business. But frankly, I wish more stations and networks would leave it alone - especially themes that are distinctive. A good piece of music can help define a brand and shouldn't be changed with every new administration. The "old" CBS news theme - from 1987 - will sound plenty familiar to most viewers. (Given the demos of the CBS Evening News, viewers will be taken back to the prime of their lives hearing this stuff!) It's interesting to note that Walter Cronkite didn't even use music when he anchored - CBS used the sound of a teletype machine. Now that's distinctive audio!
-John Altenbern