[Critique]

As much as I loved that era of David Lowe’s BBC News music, I’m not instantly sold on picking it back up in isolation twenty years later. It seems a bit jarring at the moment but maybe that’s the nostalgia.

What it does show though is that short titles work if the music doesn’t feel so painfully slow! The tempo of the old music versus the current main theme is probably the same/not that different, but the current theme feels so lethargic in comparison, even when they keep cutting and cutting the theme down to make the title sequence shorter.

[kookaburra]

It could be worse. Few things:

- get back to the catwalk or start to use the main background screen or side on display for story specific graphics. The standard locked on shot kills momentum and doesn’t say appointment viewing/flagship hour at all.
- drop MM’s name from the titles and her intro spiel. People watch the BBC because it’s the BBC, not down to a presenter.
- return of the bug looks good. Now get rid of the constant red and one line supers

[DTV]

Hmm. Agree about the nostalgia. But maybe its time. They need a new theme update. Its been around for quite a while. IMO its shifting into WPVI 6 "Moving Closer to Your World" territory. A theme thats being kept around for nostalgia's sake. Then its going to be hard to change it going forward. 24 years, its had a a good run. Its a good theme. Icon even. But maybe it needs a new composition or a new take on it. By a completely different composer.

IMV, it's nothing like [shoehorned US news clip]. Nobody is nostalgic for the BBC News theme, nobody normal is hearing it and thinking 'that takes me back'. It's kept on because it a) doesn't need replacing (the fundamentals might be 25 years old, but the current version is by no means immediately dateable) and b) is massively distinctive and recongisable (a major plus for a piece of international news branding). I've never seen anybody off this forum complain about it, indeed, if anything, it is weirdly popular.

The only rationale for dropping the Lowe music is 'change for change's sake', i.e., that some people on this forum a bored by it. That's it. In the many times this has been brought up, I'm yet to see a convincing argument for why it continuing is detrimental to the BBC News brand or a replacement would improve it. Even another redux is hardly going to change minds - the pro-Lowe crowd will love it, the thirteen who want it replaced will continue to roll their eyes (usually until it's replaced by something referencing the 1980s Fenton themes, a genuine nostalgia trip).

[ViridianFan]

Get the negative out of the way first, I really am n it not a fan of the power point graphics. There’s simple but impactful and high standard and then there is sinple primary school play on PowerPoint and the news channel feels more like the last one.

It is so nice to hear something different. I always thought it was one of many mistakes in the 2008 rebrand having the same theme for both national and news channel.

I agree as mention earlier, but it does seem odd having a 1999 theme amongst the current set how I’m hoping they use some of the 1999 ones again. I think it would be a huge error to change the theme music. The benefit to changing the theme wouldn’t outweigh lose of brand recognition theyd loose by changing it. I to think they need to get back to that original sound. They’ve almost gone back to what this theme was replacing a big orchestra pieces. I

[FactorFiles]

One funny thing about the opening titles is that considering they're reusing the old music, you'd think they'd also borrow the 'zoom out' that happened when the theme resolves back to the tonic key in the bass - would help to actually motivate the animation and lock it into the music. But it's like they don't even notice that stuff anymore even to copy it.

youtu.be 

[Hemsright]

As much as I'm still not a fan of the titles, I adore the updated version of the original World Today theme from the 2000s

Hopefully they can now inject a little more personal identity into News Now and Verified Live to bring them up to the same standard as The World Today, The Context and WNA

Bit of a personal view but I think Verified Live & News Now are just placeholder programmes until the actual programmes like "The World Today" get finished. I mean whats the point of making studio graphics, music or..anything for a programme that you know is going to be replaced anyway?

[harshy]

If they are going into the past might as well bring back GMT instead of News Now complete with Catwalk and a different background behind the presenter.

[all new phil]

People here pretending they like this update:
   

[harshy]

Compared to other updates this has been by far the best one, the only other decent update was World News America but that’s hardly seen in the UK, it was also completely unexpected.

[Keith]

Compared to other updates this has been by far the best one, the only other decent update was World News America but that’s hardly seen in the UK, it was also completely unexpected.

I wonder if Maryam had any input into the titles and music used, given that her name is in the programme?

As per others, it wouldn't surprise me if "BBC News Now" and "Verified Live" (along with "The Daily Global") are/were essentially temporary stop-gap names. There may have been a reluctance to use programme/brand names such as 'The World Today' soon after the channels merged, as it would have looked even more like UK viewers were simply getting BBC World News. I wonder if other World News brands might slowly creep back in, such as 'Global'.

Arguably they could rebrand the 9 to 11am section as "UK Today", reusing the old News 24 name. It would also give it an excuse to be more UK focused, at a time of day when I gather there's fewer global viewers watching. Non-UK viewers could also have a few pre-recorded programmes during the back half-hours at this time.