I love this. It used to give me a creepy little thrill when I heard it as a kid, especially coupled with the dramatic way the radio announcers would read the news then. I have it for my text ringtone now. I'm sure no one under about 40 appreciates it or even knows what it is.

"...CBS News I'm Christopher Glenn."

Growing up as a teen in 70s I still have affinity for the old AM 📻 news sounder. Brings back memories of WCBS NY

I miss hearing the original CBS News Sounder I had become accustomed to hearing countless times growing up in the 1970s & through the 1990s. I despise the new digital version, which doesn't have the same effect on me. R.I.P., CBS News Sounder.

Shewww.. I'm glad I ain't the only retro radio news sounder geek out here who remembers these dulcet tones of their youth! :)

I absolutely love this sounder!

Etched in most of our memories! Riding in the car as a kid on the AM radio, as only ONE memory. :)

Have always loved this old news sounder. Reminds me of being a kid in the '70's and me and my family driving through the desert from visiting grandparents in Blythe, CA on our way back to L.A. and KNX(the L.A. CBS affiliate) being one of the few radio stations we could get a strong signal from out in the boonies and driving late at night & hearing this news sounder. Had kind of a creepy yet dramatic effect hearing it out in the middle of nowhere late at night. Loved it!

I remember this as a kid in the 70s. Such a sweet sound

Once upon a time, every hour there was this sounder that you just heard, followed by: "CBS News, I'm Christopher Glenn. These are the stories this hour......" A very familiar sound growing up from the late 60's to the mid 80's on the radio back then. In 2001, some wise guy at CBS production studio got a hairbrained idea to "update and modernize" this classic sounder, and as a result ruined it. Now, the sounder is more like a kid beating on an electric keyboard. Thanks for posting this classic.

I’ve been listening to CBS Mystery Theatre the past few years and keep hearing news sounder at conclusion of episodes. Like most have commented, In the 70s I grew up hearing this too only difference I was hearing on Montreal radio. Don’t recall if it was CFCF or CJAD that also used it as lead in to their newscast. Hearing it 50 years later also invokes all kinds of sentiments of the 1970s. Like somebody posted, I’m relieved to know I’m not only geek who remembers this 😂

As a child born in '72, and growing up in the '70s and '80s in the South Puget Sound region of the PNW, I lost track how many times I heard this sounder on KIRO 71 (710) AM broadcasting from up north in Seattle, which was what my mother had our NuTone intercom system tuned to (if not the MOR/"Beautiful Music" stations like KSEA-FM and KBRD-FM), as she tended to various housekeeping tasks or just read through the newspapers. Nearly 50 years later, that sounder still projects a unique combination of creepiness and awe. It commanded your attention, for sure - and still gets mine.

I recall as a kid circa 1969 my family taking a road trip around Baltimore & my dad had the car radio tuned to CBS news & I'd hear this every once in a while. From then on whenever I heard that tune I'd think of Baltimore.

Wow, those were the days 🎉

Oh man that SOUND! They say smells bring back the past most powerfully, but this really brings back some kind of childhood feeling. It definitely was a freaky sound but ridiculous at the same time - like some bug-eyed space virus using your speaker as a medium. I was born in 1968, so his must have continued a little while past '69. So cool.

You wouldn't think a "noise" for a news broadcast could be so glued to my brain. But this particular one is. I heard it a billion times growing up especially on 850 KOA in Denver. To this day it really grabs me when I hear it. Just as powerful as when I was a kid. I guess I'm old and lame. But the new sounder CBS uses on the radio doesn't have the same effect on me. I guess I am old. No, I am old and lame! Or, is it I miss "those insignificant BUT SIGNIFICANT" times from the past. I guess it's a little of all that.

In 1969, I recall the CBS radio news sounder being a little lower and slower, which they partly retained for their sports capsules. Our affiliate at the time was WBIE (Marietta GA) and that's where I heard it.

That music scared the holy crap out of me when I was a kid. Our CBS tv station used that for their weather bulletins.

I can remember that sound when I woke up for school and my Mom was getting ready for work. Simpler times.

This reminds me of when I was really little and my dad listened to KRLD 1080 in DFW. They do a modern version now and it took me back.

I think this sounder/jingle was produced by Hugh Heller. I read in an interview that he thought it was probably the most recognized thing he ever did because it was used for so many years.

Wish they still had these, I loved them.

this thing used to give me nightmares esp at an eerie hour of night and particularly when followed by a death announcement or something

As a kid in the 70s and 80s, I loved this sound. Its was funny & powerful, Plus a rush of youthful good feelings...

That was jarring to me, especially after listening to the music that the news came on, in the middle of the night.

Yes! That's the one I hadn't heard for so long... Thanks for posting!

I had come from UW-Madison in the early 90s to NYC for a semester as an intern for a large company. I remember hearing this at the local bodega where the radio was on, and thought, _What a weird sound!_ I've only heard it a few other times since then, but it's very memorable. How sad that it's gone away. The CBS sound I really remember from childhood is the one-note chime at the start of prime time every evening, and somehow I sussed out that it meant the signal had switched from our local CBS TV affiliate station to the national network feed.

Growing up we would hear this all day long, while traveling from our home in Michigan to my parents home in West Virginia. I hear this tone and all the memories come back. I guess the only way for this to be more memorable is to follow the toner up with a Karen Carpenter song...on the radio

God, I know, what a haunting sound, it's great, brings back memories riding with my mom and dad listening to AM radio.

You knew something was seriously wrong when you heard this alert.

I remember hearing this from the late 60's through the 70's every time we would visit my grandparents. They always had the same radio station on during the day which was a CBS affiliate, (1290 AM, WICE Providence). And Saturdays included the sounder for CBS Radio Sports Central USA, with Win Elliot.

The only thing scarier than the sounder itself was hearing it with "This is a CBS NetAlert Bulletin." 😳

I love this sounder. I was three in 1969. When I heard this, I knew shit just got real!

Outstanding. On the other hand, I cannot stand the digitized orchestra version they use now.

Count me as one of the people who miss this old sounder. I grew up in the 70's on Long Island and my parents always had WCBS 880 on so it was a common sound. It was also jarring because it was also used for "Radio Net Alert" reports. I have an MP3 that I found on the internet years ago that was made of a net alert about the New York City blackout in July 1977. CBS Radio Mystery Theater is playing and you can hear five network alert chirps in the audio, silence and then this sounder announcing a "Radio Net Alert". A version of that alert without the Mystery Theater audio or chirps is at radiotapes.com/CBS/CBS_News_7-13-1977.mp3. I also recall a variant of this sounder that was used for the intro to a CBS Radio Sports that sounded like a marching band at the end with drums.

I well remember this tone before and after listening to the cbs radio mystery theater at night.....

The same one from 1969 to approx December 2001. I remember hearing that sounder for many years on KCBS 740 AM.

I haven't heard this sounder since the 1970's-early 80s! You were really listening to CBS Radio News back then when most young people were tuning into great top-40 radio on AM before the shift to FM. I miss that sound. I wish they made it for download as a ringtone. The 80s-90s version had the classic element and was good but when they started using it (2001?), I hated it! I have two versions of the CBS Radio News sounder on my phone. The 1980s-90s sounder is what I use, but I'd rather have the one from 1969. It was the greatest! Wished it was made for download. CBS Radio played this sounder during Net-Alert Bulletins or Special Reports when news broke. Beautiful sound! Thanks so much for posting!

So many news sounders back then used atonal/whole-tone scales for their dramatic top-of-the-hour radio newscasts.

I miss the CBS "sports" sounder which was a lower pitch of this version.

I love the news sounder since I was a kid, and I hope that CBS and WW1 needs to bring this classic sounder back. I missed the sounder since it was last used back in 2001, but I hate the updated version with a modern sound. Please bring it back!

When CBS Radio mattered. Thanks for posting!

Can an electronic "news time" tune manage to both reassure and frighten a person? It's doing it on me... I think one of Calgary's old AM stations used it, perhaps CFAC.

I was trying to remember which radio network had that theme.

Best. News Sounder. Ever.

That would be a good message ringtone...

WBT AM Radio news sounder from those days. WBT radio has turned into a world class radio station.

The "four tones" announcer in the '70'1 was CBS staff announcer Bill Martin, then in the '80's it was another CBS announcer, Alan Berns.

Now THIS is what I miss. Don't like the new one too much. This catapults me to my childhood. Great memories.

Sometimes they would play this sounder very loud and it would scare the heck out of you. I guess that was the best way they could've gotten your attention to listen, LOL

Wbbm am. At the top of the hour thru today CBS chime. I remember laying down on the couch listening to WSB Atlanta at like 3am and what woke me up was that CBS Chime kinda scared me lol. It was the middle of the night too you know

"CBS RADIO NEWS, I'M FRANK SETTAPANNI....."

Thanks for uploading this, it brings back pleasant childhood memories

Reminds me of late night road trips in the back seat of our Mercedes 240-D, when I was a kid--late 70's thru 80's Charlotte, NC. WGIV and WBT, & 1310 WGSP radio.

That beat was sampled by Newcleus' Jam On It!

As the decades come and go, the CBS News sounder grows increasingly martial-sounding.

By Raymond Scott. He also did the CBS "In Color" electronic bumper music.

I think the CBS radio news sounder is recorded on a Moog synthesizer!!

It seems that many of the commenters here remember hearing this sounder during long trips through the middle of the night. Me, too! :0)

Great!!! I LOVE IT!!! I also love the CBS Sports sounder that was based on THIS one. It sounded like a marching band. :) :)

I think they used this on SCN Radio in Panama’s Canal Zone, early 1970s!

For those of you that want to hear a more recent version of this classic CBS News Sounder, there is one in a KZfaq video incorrectly entitled, "1983 CBS Radio News Sounder In Its Final Days", which was recorded in 2000.

I definitely remember this one. I was litttle back then as i remember being in the back seat of our old car we were going through.town in 68or 69 and this would come on the radio

"CBS News, this is Doug Poling."

Colin Cowherd has been using this to introduce his on-screen guests.

Funny, I keep playing this and it's driving my dog crazy! Maybe I should us it as a ringtone to let my Dogs know Daddy's Home!🐕🐕🐕 When WSM-AM, Nashville, went to CBS News in the late 90s, "I think" CBS was still using this retro sounder.

That recording of the CBS News Sounder seems to be running at the wrong speed. It seems about 50 cents "sharp" (too fast). I always assumed that the tone at the beginning was the audio marker for the top of the hour. In the UK, they have the BBC "pips" from the Greenwich Observatory. I have been something of a CBS fanboy since I was a kid. I made my first radio in grade-school when we lived in San Diego only a couple miles from the KFMB-AM transmitter back when they were on 540KHz (now a channel assigned to Mexico) KFMB was the CBS affiliate in San Diego (AM/FM/TV). KFMB radio (AM & FM?) seem to have disappeared. Then we moved to the Los Angeles market where I listened to KNX (CBS Owned & Operated) when the news station was on AM 1070KHz (now moved to FM 97.1MHz). And now I live in the Portland Oregon market where I listen to KXL (another CBS affiliate) where the news operation on 750KHz moved to their FM channel at 101.1MHz.

Classic CBS Radio News theme used from the late-1960s to about the late-1980s or early-1990s. I love it!

Cloudy at 35° at 11:59 a.m. This is Alan Sheppard, WROW News.

Heard this on WTOP for years, I think as recently as the 2000s.

I think for now on when i see or hear major breaking newstory. I'll play this audio clip whenever i tell someone.

CBS News, this is Dallas Townsend....

This was the sound during Watergate on WTOP 1500 AM. A great former Post Newsweek station and all news since March 17th 1969. The twang before the sounder was always 1/2 second after the time on the phone. The news cast was 6 minutes long compared to the 3 to 4 minutes now. You would also here a very quick two tone click to and from commercials.

My Gr.GrandMother on this station & 1010 WINS ALL DAY

Back in the late 80s, KCCI used 0:07 as their severe weather sound.

"This is Doug Poling reporting on the CBS Radio Network." Colin Cowherd also plays this sounder when introducing his "Cowherd Global Network" guest on Fox Sports Radio's "The Herd".

Memories and sonic artifacts of days gone by. WBEN-AM in Buffalo NY was an affiliate of the CBS Radio network. The A-440 tone signified the top of the hour. How'd they realize this? Did they borrow Columbia University's electronic music studio?

WBBM-AM in Chicago still uses a sounder with this tune. And the same tone at the beginning, for that matter.

It almost sounds like a flip phone 0:05

The CBS World News Roundup!

I think my favorite sounder was the one the ABC Information network used from the late '60s (its inception) till some time in the late '70s.

many a morning in the 70s waking up to hearing this coming out of the kitchen...

NBC radio had a news chime about the same time in the 1970’s that used the 3 note trade mark chime with a fast echo .

“Set your time with WCBS. Four tones will follow. The final loudest one marks the exact time.”

I always loved this sounder until I heard "CBS News. Elvis Presley, the king of popular music, has ...

When I heard this penta tune, I knew something was wrong somewhere…..

WWJ News Radio 95 in Detroit...Love It!

Too bad you don't have the CBS Radio Sports sounder, I would really love to hear that one again!!

CBS Radio News, I'm Aaron Ladner

Cool bass line! 0:07

Originally from Des Moines Iowa, KCCI the CBS affiliate used this tone to announce severe weather bulletins. On youtube its listed as KCCI severe weather alert. Used to scare the shit out of me as a kid......

Wish they would go back to this sound. Really hate the orchestra sound they have now.

Bing! Da-na-na, _nunna-na._ Diddy-diddy-dink-diddy-dink-diddy-diddy-dink... Yep. That's the sound. alright. This just in: FM radio hasn't been the same since the advent of "Clear Channel." Good Rock-N-Roll doesn't get played on the radio anymore, now it's mostly boring, one-sided talk, or annoying bubblegum pop. Film at eleven.

I miss this Sounder. They replaced it in 2001 with the goofy sounding one they use now.

i could dance

I grew up with the jingle used in the 1980's and 1990's. CBS has made it (as well as the bad jingle currently in use) available for use as a ringtone: www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-radio-news-ringtones/ . The 1969 version does not yet appear to be downloadable. It and the 1980's version definitely have a greater mood of urgency.

A partial of that is inside another video on KZfaq. Search for "Classic CBS Radio Stagers and Sounders."

I miss that sound with CBS radio news. Now it's similar except they add a symphony orchestra sound. They also do not use that little chirp sound before the CBS News sounder comes on. I know I hear it on WBEN radio in Buffalo, NY area

I wish I could find the old CBS Radio Sports intro, which was a variation on this news sounder.

This is the sound of my parents sleeping in their room with white noise.