[KL7AA] "The Tick": It's the time, all the time...

[JD Delancy]

Word on the street is that the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology is close to signing a Lease Management Agreement with Clear 
Channel Communications, Inc. for its flagship Time and Frequency station 
WWV, Fort Collins, Colorado <http://tf.nist.gov/stations/wwv.html>.

Clear Channel Radio's consultants have demanded some changes to the 
sound of the station, which broadcasts time of day, standard frequency, 
and other information 24 hours per day, saying that the old format is 
"dull and predictable."

Additionally, WWV's traditional modulation level of 50 percent for the 
steady tones, 50 percent for the BCD time code and 75 percent for the 
voice announcements was deemed "not loud enough." The station will 
reformulate itself as "The Tick."

WWV's program director Hickory Zeitgeist says that the station has 
already added some snappy new announcements to the rotation, which can 
be heard by clicking the clock.

http://www.lownoiserecords.com/wwv_the_tick.html