Editing Greenwich Time Signal (section)

==Usage==
The pips are available to BBC radio stations every fifteen minutes, but, except in rare cases, they are only broadcast on the hour, usually before news bulletins or news programmes. Normally, [[BBC Radio 4]] broadcast the pips every hour except at 18:00 and 00:00 (at the start of the ''Six O'Clock News'' and ''Midnight News'' respectively), and at 22:00 on Sundays (at the start of the ''[[Westminster Hour]]'') when they are replaced by the striking of [[Big Ben]] at the [[Palace of Westminster]]. On [[BBC Radio 2]], the pips are used at 07:00, 08:00 and 17:00 on weekdays, at 07:00 and 08:00 on Saturdays and at 08:00 and 09:00 on Sundays.

The pips were used on [[BBC Radio 1]] during ''[[The Chris Moyles Show]]'' at 06:30 just after the news, 09:00 as part of the "Tedious Link" feature, 10:00 (at the end of the show) and often before ''[[Newsbeat]]''. As most stations only air the pips on the hour, ''The Chris Moyles Show'' was the only show where the pips were broadcast on the half-hour. [[Chris Moyles]] continues to use the pips at the beginning of his show on [[Radio X (United Kingdom)|Radio X]]. The pips were previously used at 19:00 on Saturday evenings at the start of Radio 1's 12-hour simulcast with digital station [[BBC Radio 1Xtra]]. The pips were also used on Radio 6 Music for a rare occurrence. It took place between 2009 and 2011 on weekdays and the pips were played at 10:00 (end of the breakfast show) and at 19:00 (end of the drive show). 

[[BBC Radio 5 Live]] broadcast the pips at 06:00 between 2000 and 2008.

[[BBC Radio 3]] and BBC Radio 5 Live does not broadcast the pips.

The [[BBC World Service]] broadcasts the pips every hour.

Pips were also heard on many [[BBC Local Radio]] stations until the introduction of a new presentation package in 2020. A rare quarter-hour Greenwich Time Signal was heard at 05:15 weekdays on Wally Webb's programme on local radio in the east of England until it ended in March 2020, as part of his "synchronised cup of tea" feature.

In 1999, pip-like sounds were incorporated into the themes written by composer [[David Lowe (television and radio composer)|David Lowe]] to introduce [[BBC News|BBC Television News]] programmes. They are still used today on [[BBC One]], [[BBC Two]], [[BBC World News]] and [[BBC News (British TV channel)|BBC News]].

The BBC does not allow the pips to be broadcast except as a time signal. Radio plays and comedies which have fictional news programmes use various methods to avoid playing the full six pips, ranging from simply fading in the pips to a version played on ''[[On the Hour]]'' in which the sound was made into a small tune between the pips. ''[[The News Quiz]]'' also featured a special Christmas pantomime edition where the pips went "missing", and the problem was avoided there by only playing individual pips. The 2012 project ''Radio Reunited'' used the pips to commemorate 90 years of BBC Radio.