Even as I write this BBC engineers are hard at work trying to find out what is wrong with the Greenwich Time Signal. The GTS is played in the seconds leading up to the top of the hour, ever hour on the World Service, less frequently on other BBC stations. Today someone noticed that it sounded a bit odd. Further listening confirmed that it was roughly a semitone lower than it should be. Nobody knows how long this has been going on for, nor what caused it, nor if the problem is affecting domestic radio as well as the World Service. One thing is sure; it will be fixed as quickly as possible. Listen now, before it is, and you’ll be hearing something unique.
Update (Wed 13 April):
Here’s a recording of World Service GTS last week - old_gts.mp3
And here’s what it sounded like yesterday - new_gts.mp3
(Many thanks to Mike Campbell)
Giles tells me that it was superstar DJ Kevin Stuart Leach who first spotted the changed GTS.