Editing Greenwich Time Signal (section)

== Similar time signals elsewhere ==

Many radio broadcasters around the world use the Greenwich Time Signal, or a variant thereof, as a means to mark the start of the hour. The pips are used in both domestic and international commercial and public broadcasting. Many radio stations use six tones similar to those used by the BBC World Service; some shorten it to five, four, or three tones. On some broadcasters the final pip is of a different pitch.
* [[Australia]] – Pips are used on [[ABC Radio National]] and [[ABC Local Radio]] at the top of every hour, as well as on [[Fairfax Media]] talkback stations- [[2UE]], [[3AW]], [[4BC]] and [[6PR]]. In Australia, the news pips are closer to 735&nbsp;Hz and each of the six pips lasts for half a second. After each pip, there is half a second of silence.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/0-lsc29hkww Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20190202055405/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-lsc29hkww&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite web|title=ABC Radio incoming News sound| date=8 December 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-lsc29hkww|website=YouTube|publisher=Google, Inc.|access-date=3 April 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The pips were discontinued on [[ABC Radio Sydney]] on 23 November 2023 to coincide with the station's 100th anniversary.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-11-23 |title='Irrelevant and irritating': The familiar beeps heard every hour to disappear from radio broadcasts|website=ABC News|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-23/abc-switches-off-the-pips-irrelevant-digital-age-smartphones/103137592 |access-date=2023-11-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-29 |title=Goodbye pips! |url=https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/sydney-mornings/goodbye-pips/103039482|website=ABC Listen|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=2023-11-23}}</ref> 
* [[Brazil]] - Some news stations, such as the national station [[Radio Bandeirantes]], and the regional stations [[Radio Guaíba]] and [[Radio Gaúcha]] broadcasts a similar time signal every 15 minutes. In Radio Bandeirantes, there is 5-pips signal (called as "fifth signal"), broadcast every 15 minutes. In Radio Gaúcha, a four-pip signal with three tones in 920&nbsp;Hz and the last in 1360&nbsp;Hz is broadcast every 15 minutes. The musical radio network Atlântida FM, which broadcasts to the states of [[Rio Grande do Sul]] and [[Santa Catarina (state)|Santa Catarina]] transmits an audible signal every 15 minutes, composed by the first four notes of the song "[[Here Comes the Sun]]".<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/3r1vSEwsCI0 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20201122174306/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r1vSEwsCI0 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |title=Como surgiu o sinal da Atlântida? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r1vSEwsCI0 |website=YouTube | date=9 November 2020 |access-date=2 May 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* [[Bulgaria]] - On all [[Bulgarian National Radio|BNR]] radio stations, the pips are broadcast on the hour. Five short pips and a long pip is broadcast between :55 and :00. The time signal broadcast at 15:00 EET is from Bulgarian Institute of Metrology.
* [[Canada]] – The [[National Research Council Time Signal]] was broadcast daily on [[Ici Radio-Canada Première]] at 12:00 EST/EDT and on [[CBC Radio One]] at 13:00 EST/EDT. It was Canada's longest running radio feature and had been broadcast every day from 5 November 1939 until 10 October 2023.<ref>{{cite news |last=Taekema |first=Dan |title=The end of the long dash: CBC stops broadcasting official 1 p.m. time signal|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/cbc-stops-broadcasting-national-research-council-long-dash-time-signal-1.6988903 |website=CBC News|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=10 October 2023 |date=10 October 2023}}</ref>
* [[Egypt]] - [[Nile FM]] broadcasts pips similar to the BBC on the hour at 07:00hrs daily at the start of the Big Breakfast show with Rob Stevens and Nadine. 
* [[Finland]] – On [[Yle]]'s radio services the pips are broadcast on the hour.<ref>{{cite web|title=Yleisradion aikamerkki on radioklassikko|date=7 July 2008 |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2008/07/07/yleisradion-aikamerkki-radioklassikko|access-date=14 August 2022|language=fi}}</ref>
* [[Hong Kong]] – A six-pip time signal is used on [[RTHK]]'s radio channels.<ref>{{cite web|title=Time Synchronization with Hong Kong Time System|url=http://www.hko.gov.hk/gts/time/Clocksyn.htm|website=[[Hong Kong Observatory]]|access-date=29 September 2017}}</ref> The signals, which are provided by the [[Hong Kong Observatory]], are broadcast every half-hour during the day and on the hour at night, immediately before the news headline reports.
* [[Israel]] – On Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation hourly radio news, five tones (part of a recording of Kol Israel's original beeps) play counting down to the hour. Right as the hour starts, a jingle starts playing, the end of which includes the IPBC's [[Sound trademark|sonic ident]] and an a cappella singing the name of the broadcaster "Kan".<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Z70Y_d2h25I Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20190202055405/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z70Y_d2h25I&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z70Y_d2h25I|script-title=he:תאגיד השידור הציבורי "כאן"- אותות הפתיחה והסיום של החדשות ברדיו|date=22 May 2017|website=YouTube|publisher=Google, Inc.|access-date=22 May 2017|language=he}}{{cbignore}}</ref> This jingle replaced the original six tones that played on [[Kol Israel]]'s hourly newscasts, with the sixth tone being longer. As of 2017 (when public broadcaster [[Israel Broadcasting Authority|IBA]] got shut down and replaced by the IPBC or "[[Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation|Kan]]"), the intro got changed and added a jingle. In 2023, this jingle was replaced with a new one. This jingle is played twice, before the headlines, which are now read at 30 seconds to the hour, and then immediately following. The second iteration includes the tones counting down to the hour, which were left as a "memorial to the historical soundtrack".<ref>{{cite news|date= 3 September 2023|script-title=he:לראשונה מקום המדינה: שינוי היסטורי במהדורות כאן רשת ב|trans-title=For the first time since the establishment of the state: a historical change in the Kan Reshet Bet news report|url= https://www.kan.org.il/content/kan-news/local/512064|language=he|newspaper=Kan News|location= Israel|access-date=2023-09-03}}</ref>
* [[Japan]] – [[NHK|NHK Television]] formerly used three short pips played at :57 to :59 of the clock ident and a longer three-second pip from :00 to :03 just before the start of news programmes.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/WTXl_zR88OE Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20190202055405/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTXl_zR88OE&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTXl_zR88OE|script-title=ja:時報|trans-title=TV Clock|date=9 June 2015|website=YouTube|publisher=Google, Inc.|access-date=29 April 2016|language=ja}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXGknxAjgj0| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202055403/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXGknxAjgj0&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=2 February 2019|script-title=ja:NHK 1987年 ニュースOP集|website=YouTube|publisher=Google, Inc.|access-date=29 April 2016|language=ja}}</ref> The longer three-second pip can however be crashed shortly after the :00 mark on certain special events or if there was time constraints.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/WWi7QS_vOps Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20190202055403/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWi7QS_vOps&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWi7QS_vOps|title=昭和から平成への変わり目|website=YouTube|publisher=Google, Inc.|date=6 December 2007|access-date=29 April 2016|language=ja}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* [[Netherlands]] – In the NPO (Netherlands Public Broadcasting), the signals have been around since 1948, when six pips were used. In 1991 they went down to three. Broadcast of the traditional pips stopped with the last transmission at 7:00 on 2 October 2018, leading way to a new design with three pips that count down to exactly the full hour and make way for a short tune.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Vanaf vandaag: vernieuwde 'pips' op NPO Radio 1 |url=https://www.nporadio1.nl/homepage/12058-vanaf-maandag-vernieuwde-pips-op-npo-radio-1 |access-date=11 November 2019 |language=nl}}</ref> Other radio stations may still use the traditional beeps at every hour.
* [[New Zealand]] – [[RNZ National]] plays the six pips at the top of every hour. Additionally, a [[bird call]] is played before the 7:00 and 9:00 news on Morning Report.<ref>{{cite web |title=RNZ's pips are changing - Can you hear the difference? |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/514073/rnz-s-pips-are-changing-can-you-hear-the-difference |website=[[Radio New Zealand|RNZ]] |access-date=23 September 2024|date=12 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Little |first1=Paul |title=Squawk-back radio: RNZ bird call turns 50 |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-listener/culture/sqwawk-back-radio-rnz-bird-call-turns-50/LYTKKRIEIBEOZHG6P5VZZD2K2I/ |website=[[New Zealand Listener]] |access-date=23 September 2024|date=4 December 2023}}</ref>
* [[Russia]] - Russia's state radio channels broadcast six tones (five little pips and one short beep). The duration of the sixth pip depends on the current hour: it is 100 ms at midnight Moscow time ([[UTC+3]]) and increases by 20 ms every hour, up to 560 ms at 23:00 UTC+3 (the first five pips always are 100 ms long). Russia's state television [[Channel One Russia|Channel One]] broadcasts six tones too (at the end of a short melody) before newscasts and [[Vremya]] (the primetime news program).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Russia - Channel One - Vremya («Время») - Intro/Outro (Russia Day - 12/06/2022) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbtPWSX3Dcg&t=10|website=YouTube|publisher=Google, Inc.|access-date=17 December 2022}}</ref>
* [[United States]] – [[NIST]] operates a [[speaking clock]] audio-only station, [[WWV (radio station)|WWV]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division/time-distribution/radio-station-wwv|title=Radio Station WWV|website=NIST|access-date=2 December 2024}}</ref>