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
Greenwich Time Signal sometimes feature on the hour at other points during the show, and "Gemma Cairney's Early Breakfast Show" begins with the pips. Dev's previous "Early Breakfast Show" also featured the pips at the beginning, and on the half-hour/hour at other points, particularly at 06:00 before or after the "I'm Here All Week" track. The pips are also used at 19:00 on Saturday evenings at the start of Radio 1's 12-hour simulcast with digital station BBC Radio 1Xtra. BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio Five Live do not currently feature the Greenwich Time Signal in their scheduled programming. The BBC World Service