Greenwich Time Signal Greenwich Time Signal The Greenwich Time Signal (GTS), popularly known as the pips, is a series of six short tones broadcast at one-second intervals by many BBC Radio stations. The pips were introduced in 1924 and have been generated by the BBC since 1990 to mark the precise start of each hour. Their utility in calibration is diminishing as digital broadcasting entails time lags. There are six pips (short beeps) in total, which occur on each of the 5 seconds leading up to the hour and on the hour itself. Each pip is a 1 kHz tone (about halfway between
BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra Shirley Bassey, Lulu, Lena Zavaroni and Anne Lorne Gilles. It also had its own BBC One programme, "Make Way for Music". They recorded 'inserts' for the many music and chat shows on Radio 2 and Radio Scotland, recording with artists including Cleo Laine, Georgie Fame, Carol Kidd and trombonist Don Lusher. With the ever-increasing air-time being given to commercial pop music, there was less time available for staff studio orchestras, the costs of which were becoming disproportionate to their use. In 1980 the BBC announced its intention to disband several of its staff light orchestras including the Northern Radio Orchestra,