Lo1- Sourcing information

What is an ident?
An ident is a short sequence show in television between programmes to
identify the channel. It usually lasts around 30 seconds. It can be a moving
image or a visual representing the brand, the channel, usually scheduled
before the following programme.

There are many purposes to having idents, the main one being that it
identifies the channel. It can raise the viewing figures as, for example, if
someone was flicking through channels, and the noticed a fancy ident they
are likely to be drawn to it and watch it. This also places an image of that
channel being represented in their head, which means it will be
memorable to them in the future.

For example, from looking at the image

on the right hand side, you are able to
see how the ident represents the
upcoming show, which in this case is
Family Guy. This can be informative
to the viewers as it is cle
0arly showing whats up next. Having
the u4pcoming programme linked in
with the ident also attracts specific
viewers, so people who like the show.

Ident design is very important! This is due to the fact that it is basically
the main way a company will get across their message and the purpose of
their ident to the audience and will be the main representation of the
companies image.
The main points for the design of a TV ident are:
o
o
o
o
o

Setting/time
Tempo
Audience interaction
Informative or entertainment
Density

The ident above symbolises a romantic movie about to be shown on

channel 4. The setting is outside which is made known to the
audience as its dark. The light is reflected from the moon and wind
is used to create movement in the girls hair. The time period isnt
noticeable as theres no informative material to suggest it.
The tempo of the ident is slow paced, matching the music in the
background.
The ident is personal between two people. Therefore there isnt
much interaction with the audience.
The ident has both informative and entertainment value. It is
informative as it shows the viewer what type of film is coming up
next and visually it informs them that it is based on romance. It has
an entertainment value as its something a viewer can watch and
maybe be interested in.
Apart from the type of show coming up next, there isnt much
information included in the ident

The history of the BBC

The BBC is considered as the most historical and arguably one of the
most important channels on our television. Each year the public
pays a fee of 145.50 for a TV license, just to pay towards the BBC.

The BBCs mission is to enrich peoples lives with programmes and

services that inform, educate and entertain. They have a vision of
being the most creative organisation in the world. The BBC has a
high value of trust and is independent, impartial and honest.
Audiences are at the heart of everything they do and they take
great pride in delivering quality and value for money.
In 1964 the first ident was a continuation of the
BBC-tv ident of 1963. It featured the globe on a
white background with a black outline. The
original ident had a BBC-tv logo. This was
changed to just BBC when the channel was
launched. The Globe represents that they are a
worldwide service.
1966 - While the BBC 1 ident symbol remained, a
"watch-strap" globe was introduced in 1964,
showing the globe in the middle of a striped band

1969 - The first colour ident was introduced. A

blue and black mechanical globe rotated while a
curved mirror placed behind made up the famous
image.

1972 - The globe and colour scheme remained

the same, but a rounder, italic font was used for
the ident introduced in 1972. They used this
Italic font for several idents.

1978 - A new blue and yellow globe was

introduced. The colour was added using
electronics and a new big bold font was
introduced.

1981 - A colour change was made to the globe yellow became green. The caption also changed
to a double line version (similar to the BBC 2 logo
of the time). This is a font which was used a lot
during the 80's era.

1985 - The new rotating gold and blue BBC 1

globe was introduced, it was the first time that
BBC 1 had abandoned mechanical models and still
slides and used a completely computer generated
image. The gold font is used to make it look more
formal and luxurious.

1991 - The COW globe was replaced with a new

on-screen image designed by Lambie-Nairn (who
worked on the Nine OClock News ident). The
design was a swirling world of shadows and
reflections.

1997 - The new style BBC ONE ident and logo was
dominated by the red and yellow globe balloon.
The balloon was filmed flying over 10 different
British locations. Also the BBC logo was no longer
in Italic and was opted to change to a bolder logo.