Beep at top of the hour on WBZ disappeared

[A Joseph Ross]

Well, they did stop playing Lillibulero at the top of the hour on the 
World Service.

On 9/26/2018 5:33 AM, Chris Hansen wrote:
> On 26/09/2018 04:38, A Joseph Ross wrote:
>> I think this may have been the last station to have that beep on the
>> hour.  I think BBC World Service still has it, but that can be a second
>> or two delayed.  I guess I'll have to start setting my watch by either
>> my cellphone or the Windows clock.  The beep on the hour has gone the
>> way of Jordan Marsh, WHDH radio, and the Red Sox talent for snatching
>> defeat from the jaws of victory.
> I'm a former Marbleheader who now lives in London, England. BBC Radio 4
> (news and talk station of the BBC in the UK) still has the series of
> beeps (called "pips" here) at the top of each hour (except at 6pm and
> midnight when it broadcasts the bells from Elizabeth Tower [Big Ben],
> which are now a recording since the bells have been silenced due to
> structural work on the clock and tower). However, only on LW, AM and FM
> are these pips (series of 6, with the sixth being the exact hour pip)
> accurate. On digital radio the sixth pip is always two seconds "late",
> while on internet radio it can be anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds late.
>
> There have been discussions as to how to synchronise the pips on digital
> radio--nothing has come of them. But removing the pips would mightily
> disturb the Colonal Blimps in the suburban and rural parts of the
> UK--they distrust change and would write nasty letters to the Times, the
> Mail, and the Telegraph. So the pips, inaccurate as they may be, remain.
>
> Interesting fact: The BBC announcers are schooled to be very careful not
> to talk into the pips--when they do, it's referred to as "crashing the
> pips".
>
> --
> Chris Hansen
>

-- 
A. Joseph Ross, J.D. · 1340 Centre Street, Suite 103 · Newton, MA 02459
617.367.0468 · Fax:617.507.7856 · http://www.attorneyross.com