The Mission (theme music)
Appearance
"The Mission" is a television news music package composed by John Williams in 1985. Originally commissioned for NBC's national news programs,[1] the theme has also been used on some NBC affiliates for their local newscasts.
The package consists of the following four parts:
- The Mission (for NBC Nightly News, first aired on September 9, 1985);
- Fugue for Changing Times (for Before Hours, a 15-minute early morning business news program hosted by Bob Jamieson);
- Scherzo for Today (for The Today Show); and
- The Pulse of Events (for special breaking news reports and Meet the Press).
The main theme was updated on March 26, 2007, in preparation of Brian Williams succeeding Tom Brokaw as the anchor on Nightly News.
Australia's Seven Network adopted the original theme for its news bulletins in the late 1980s. Seven has since updated its version of the theme thrice - independently from NBC.
Before 2015, the intro for the news of the Radio Television of Djibouti also used to feature a short part of this theme.
Footnotes
- ^ "TV SET". The Miami Herald. December 8, 1985. p. 63.
NBC commissioned John Williams to write new music for NBC News and uses it for Today...