CBS to Change Theme Along with Anchor

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RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

And there will be new music when Katie Couric makes her debut as host of the CBS Evening News next month. New anchor - new theme. CBS viewers will no longer be hearing this:

(Soundbite of CBS Evening News theme music)

Unidentified Man: This is The CBS Evening News.

MONTAGNE: That's the theme music the program has used for the past 15 years. The art of composing a news theme is no easy task. It was dramatized in this scene from the film, Broadcast News.

(Soundbite of movie Broadcast News)

Unidentified Actor: It starts off with this very high-tech syntho-sequency-type thing, like this.

(Soundbite of synthesizer playing)

Unidentified Actor: The strings take (unintelligible).

(Soundbite of singing along with synthesizer playing)

MONTAGNE: To create the new theme, CBS commissioned Oscar-winning movie composer James Horner.

(Soundbite of Titanic theme music)

MONTAGNE: Music from the movie Titanic won James Horner two Oscars, and he's been nominated for seven other films. And more than 100 movie scores under his belt, it's a safe bet that James Horner's new theme will be far better than the theme from Broadcast News.

(Soundbite of movie Broadcast News)

MONTAGNE: From NPR News, this is MORNING EDITION.

Steve Inskeep will be back with us on Monday. I'm Renee Montagne.

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