Flyers warmed up to remix of 6ABC’s iconic ‘Action News’ theme song, and fans went nuts

Ahead of the Flyers blowout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday night, both teams warmed up to a familiar jingle.

As the Flyers and the Blue Jackets circled around on the ice at the Wells Fargo Center prior to the first drop of the puck, team music director and DJ Reed Streets surprised everyone by dropping a remixed version of “Move Closer to Your World,” the catchy, iconic theme song of Action News on 6ABC.

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Streets said he’s never used the famed jingle before, but decided to add it as part of his rotation of warm-up mixes that play prior to the game after seeing a fan poll on social media.

“[I] always want the opening to be big when the players take the ice," Streets said. “I’m always looking for local things to use in games and I remember on Flyers Reddit the Channel 6 theme was voted best idea for a new goal song... No matter what age you are, that song is Philadelphia."

The remix certainly got the attention of fans in the stands, who flooded Twitter with supportive statements and calls for the Flyers to make the jingle the team’s official song.

Even Good Morning, America cohosts Michael Strahan and Robin Roberts spent time Wednesday morning grooving to the tune:

The Flyers certainly could use some positive music press. Last year, the team was dogged by fans for dropping Kate Smith’s version of “God Bless America” after videos emerged of the popular singer belting out racist lyrics earlier in her career.

Outside of the Rocky theme song (or, “Gonna Fly Now”), there’s perhaps no other piece of music more identified with Philadelphia and its residents. “Move Closer to Your World,” which has largely gone unchanged for the better part of 50 years, was originally composed in 1972 by noted jingle writer Al Ham. It was actually a popular news theme for stations across the country, but by the 1990s most ditched the catchy jingle for more modern theme songs, though WNEP-TV in Scranton continues to use a version of the tune.

Back in 1996, the network experimented with an updated version of the song, featuring the work of 400 musicians from the London Symphony and London Philharmonic. But angry viewers flooded 6ABC’s switchboards, and the new jingle was pulled after just four days.

“I didn’t realize how emotionally attached people were to our theme,” then-news chief Dave Davis told former Inquirer TV columnist Gail Shister. “I’m certainly willing to admit we made a mistake.”