Idents case study

Television Idents
Elliot Miller

Learning Outcome 1 - CRITERIA
Design & Purpose

Learning Outcome 1 - INTRO
• In this section you will discuss and explain the overall issues
regarding the design and purpose of television idents. You are to
respond to the questions set in the template. You are encouraged to
add extra slides where necessary and add images to illustrate your
points.
• You should use your notes to help you formulate your responses,
based on the following areas:
• Design: density of information; space and time; screen tempo; interaction
with viewers; information-led; entertainment-led
• Purpose: identity; branding; marketing; packaging and re-packaging;
scheduling; segmentation within scheduling

Purposes Q1 • Outline the core purposes of television idents [e.g. branding/identity for a
channel, conveying the channel’s personality, retaining viewers, informing
viewers, segmentation of broadcasting]
Television Idents are short segments of video shown between programs as a way of
representing the channel that you as the audience are watching, each channel has
their own specific style of idents, they are used to represent the borderline
personality of the channel in a visual way so that the audience knows what the
channels characteristics are, the type of programs that will be featured and the
persona of the channel as a whole. A lot of time and money is put into these short
segments as they have an important role in representing the brand of the company.
Even though they are only short in concession huge amounts of thought are put
into them, numerous amounts of different aspects are taken into consideration in
an attempt to retain their viewers, the channels will try to use these idents in an
attempt to relate to the frequent viewers of the channel by portraying and
representing their channels identity as well as showcasing the logo of the channel
to reinforce to the audience that they are watching their channel. As there are now
hundreds of different channels to choose from, companies now have to compete
with each other to make sure they retain their viewers, Idents are proving helpful in
this pursuit of retaining viewers, they are a way of welcoming viewers to their
channel as well as informing them on their channels personality.

Purposes Q2 • Explain some of the developments in broadcasting that have led
to type of channel branding and use of idents we see today
When British television first started out in the 1930’s there was only one
channel; BBC1, this remained the only channel up until 1955 when ITV was
first introduced, later to be followed by an added installment to the BBC
network in 1966 when BBC2 became the third British television channel to be
aired. This was then later followed by another independent channel called
Channel 4 in 1982 and the most recent addition being channel 5 which was
added in 1997. up until this point TV channels had little/next to no
competition, however when SKY came on to the scene things changed, people
could now have the selection of hundreds of different channels with a huge
selection of different shows and genres to pick from. This now meant that the
original channels had to compete with each other to retain viewers while at
the same time continuing to represent their channels brand and identity, this
brought around the development of channel idents. Originally channels such
as BBC1 and ITV didn’t need to put much thought into their idents, they would
mainly just be a simple short segment portraying the logo of their channel,
however now with the evolution of television and the vast range of different
channels, this urged top channels such as BBC one and ITV to start putting a
lot more thought into their idents, representing their channels identity
through the use of these short segments in an attempt to relate to their
audiences by portraying elements suited to their specific target group.
Channel 4 was the first channel to really take advantage of the use of idents,
they started to draw in audiences to really look at them and understand the
meaning of them instead of just waiting around for them to finish. It was in
2004 when they introduced their new look of idents, creating scenes of
everyday landscapes that would slowly track to one side while with the use of
CGI objects in the landscapes would come together to form the channels logo,
the number ‘4’. This brought about the new age of idents in which all the
other channels began to follow in suit creating their own eye catching idents
that convey their own channels personality.
2002 channel 4 ident
https://theident.gallery/c4-2002.php
2004 channel 4 ident
https://theident.gallery/c4-2004.php

BBC1 • Describe the current BBC1 ident design. How does this reflect the brand/identity of the channel? Why do you think have
chosen to do this? How does it compare to other channels
From the beginning BBC 1 has always simulated its branding logo with a
circle, originally it was an image of the globe representing their world
wide coverage on news, now they with their new branding image being
BBC one having change the number to the word, they now focus on
representing the circle as the letter ‘o’. We can see this representation in
their previous idents, for example the 2010 era of BBC one idents all relate
back to that symbolization of a circle, one of them being a birds eye view
of a circle of footballers all kicking a football into the center of the circle.
However now with their most recent installments of idents they have
strayed from creating idents that resemble the circle of their brand and
now instead capture groups of people from around the country taking
part in certain activities, a wide range of different activities, from exercise
classes to mountain rescue teams, night kayakers, tandem cyclists and
even a group from Llanwrtyd wells in Wales who take part in ‘Bog
Snorkeling’. The idea is present the vast weird and wonderful groups and
activities that take place across Britain. Their new focus branding identity
now revolves around this idea of ‘oneness’ meaning all together, their
idents feature mixed groups of people coming together to take part in
these certain activities. This reiterates the type of audience that BBC1 has,
they appeal to all types of people by the shows they feature, however
they mainly target their content towards an older audience. BBC1’s idents
in contrast to ITV’s are very similar, as they both draw in and retain similar
audiences groups they both have created idents which represent similar
personalities. ITV’s idents depict a wide range of different leisure time
activities similar to BBC1’s, they are live action single shots while blur is
added to the background to smoothly transition in the logo for ITV, they
both keep to the feel of welcoming and friendly footage of enjoyable
leisure time activities, however BBC1 take it that extra step further by
presenting much more abstract and odd group activities such as Bog
Snorkeling’.
2010 BBC1 Ident
https://theident.gallery/bbc1-2010.php
2017 BBC1 ident (Bog Snorkeling)
2013 ITV ident

BBC2 • This about the design and style of the BBC 2 idents we discussed, what do they represent and
how does this reflect the channel?
BBC2’s 2013 selection of idents depict wonderful views through a cut out
of the number ‘2’, in some cases they can be of vast natural landscapes such
as mountain ranges or a sunset beach, a rough sea at night crashing through
the rock side or the view of the sky while driving under trees, all of which
end with the camera pulling out to present this view being seen through
the cut out shape of number ‘2’. The design of these has been chosen to
represent what the channel has to offer, presenting the number 2 as their
channel and the landscapes seen through them as the content they have to
offer, this represents their channel as being a gateway into these idyllic
landscapes and views, the natural beauty of the earth we have around us
can been admired through watching their channel. Not only do the idents
present natural landscapes for the viewers but in some they also present
futuristic scenes such as the ident set in what looks like an advanced future
city with flying cars and huge sky scrappers. I feel the purpose of this
addition is to also present the wide range of genres that can found on their
channel, from nature documentaries to distant future sci-fi series, the point
of which is to portray their channels mixed blend of genre by the use of
symbolizing the number ‘2’ as their channel as being some sort of a portal
into these wonderful fictional and non fictional worlds. BBC2 is renowned
for their mixed-genre channel audience appealing to a broad adult
audience and is said to carry the widest range of knowledge building
programming. There are clear contrasts between BBC1’s idents compared
to BBC2’s, BBC1’s focus on the people while 2’s doesn’t feature any people
in theirs, they focus on the scenes and settings that can been seen with the
content their channel features, they do this because their audience knows
what to expect when watching their channel, mostly informative and
entertaining content will be shown.
2013 BBC2 idents

ITV • Considering the ITV idents we watched, what does this say about the channel? How does
this compare to BBC1 or Channel 4? How have the ITV idents changed since the versions
we watched? Why do you think this is?
ITV’s channel idents represents similar personalities to that of BBC 1’s,
they both appeal to similar audiences and promote similar programs. The
company recently rebranded its image in 2013 by introducing a new logo
as well as dropping the 1 to make it just ‘ITV’, this brought around a new
set of idents to go with their new branding image. The most current idents
used in session are the 2014 range, these all feature mainly slow motion
single shots of everyday leisure time activities such as ballet dancers,
cyclists, lounge dancing and lake swimming. This use of focusing on
everyday British life represents the focus of their idents, the audience for
this channel is a mix of all diverse backgrounds, a blend of everyday British
people so by reincorporating this idea into their idents it appeals to their
mixed audience, welcomes them with friendly and soothing colours and
tones in correlation to the peaceful soundtracks used over the footage.
Their use of continuity announcers also correlates to this idea of them
having a mixed audience, as an aim to appeal their product to all religions
around Britain they have started to implement announcers with a mixture
of different accents, this helps their appeal as viewers from different
regions can then relate to the announcer they are hearing if they share the
same/similar accent to theirs. This is an improvement from their past
announcers as before announcers would mainly all feature a received
pronunciation accent, this could often sometimes put off an audience as it
isn’t always the most appreciated accent to listen to and over the years the
appeal for the accent has diminished, more northern and regional accents
are now a preferred option due to its appeal to a larger audience.
ITV in comparison to BBC 1 current
idents
ITV 2014 range of current idents

Channel 4 • What do you think about the Channel 4 ident designs? How do they reflect
the channel’s identity? What do they convey about the channel?
Channel 4’s range of idents have been some of the most influential
towards other channels, they first brought out there new look of
idents in 2004 which paved the way for a new era of TV idents
created with computer generated imagery. Instead of using plain
coloured backgrounds along with the logo of the channel between
adverts and programs, they decided to begin to add more personality
and creativity with their idents, coming up with creative uses of CGI
to create landscapes and objects that formed their famous ‘4’ logo.
This famous logo has now brought around a new era of channel 4
idents, the use of the logos segments has been furthered into new
idents, more abstract ideas have been formed where the segments no
longer form the logo but the viewers still know what they represent
as it has gained so much recognition viewers already know what the
segments represent. Channel 4’s new range of idents focus of
adventure and mystery with their short narratives that now create
whole new tropical worlds and scenes like within the jungle ident.
Channel 4’s ideologies are displayed in these new idents, they are a
channel which seeks to inform and educate its viewers, adventurous
exploration idents represent this seeking of information. Their
content portrays the odd and peculiar aspects of life in
documentaries, which again is represented within their new idents
with the channels new abstract look and style of their idents, placing
narratives in long lost jungles and other mysterious realms.

Channel 5 • What do you think about the Channel 5 ident designs? How do they reflect the
channel’s identity? What do they convey about the channel?
Channel 5’s idents represent a simple idea, they use the number of 5 as
a depiction of their logo, unlike the other channels which use a
distinctive logo to represent their channel in their idents, channel 5
takes a different approach. Their ident design is mainly a mash up of all
the other channels before them, as they were the most recent channel
out of the 5 their ideals are basically a blend of all the others. Their
idents feature a main character which the camera will focus on as they
suddenly notice or visually latch on to a certain subject, this subject will
be in a multiple of five and can take the form of anything, whether
that’s a 5 dogs in the back of a pick up truck, 5 rainbows off in the
distance, 5 parrots landing on a woman’s balcony and so on and so on.
The idea is simple and is used to make their channel easily recognised,
if there is five of something that means channel 5. the way in which
they represent their channels identity is through the shots they use, for
example with the ident of the child in the car se see him presented as
being bored looking out of the window, he then sees the 5 rainbows
and instantly his expression change with a glee smile, this is a
representation of what they believe they make their viewers, the 5
rainbows are a representation of the channel and the characters
expressions are a representation of how their channel makes people
feel. They present positive representations to convey their channel and
what its identity presents.

Learning Outcome 2 - CRITERIA
Opportunities and Limitations

Learning Outcome 2 - INTRO
Opportunities and Limitations
• This section concerns the opportunities and limitations of onscreen
graphic representations. This section should expand on the points
you made in section 1.
• You should consider more closely the audience and requirements on
the broadcaster to engage with their audience, discussing how they
may have successfully/unsuccessfully achieved this.
• Think about the discussions and examples from the lecture [some
points to consider will be listed in the PP for the lecture]
• Add slides to expand your points and definitely add illustrative stills,
etc!

TASK 2 - Learning Outcome 2
• Select 2 different channels to look at, each of these channels should
be aimed at different audiences [for example, E4 and BBC4 or CITV
and BBC1, etc].
• You should:
• Outline the style and design of each set of idents [include examples]
• Comment on the visual elements, such as colour, font, imagery, motion and
composition, for each suite of idents
• Explain how each suite supports it’s intended audience
• Consider the restrictions or challenges in trying to develop a brand/ident
package for the selected channel’s audiences
• Compare the sets of idents, what characteristics are similar or different?

Some starting points
• Which channel uses this ident?
• How long is the ident?
• What are the sounds used within
the ident?
• What is the content of the ident?
• Was the ident created using
animation or live footage?
• Who is the target audience for
the ident?
• What are the
settings/characters/props used
for the ident?
• How does the ident relate to the
TV Company?
• How is the TV Company
advertised?
• What are the good points about
the ident?
• What are the bad points about
the ident?
• Is the ident effective? Why?
• Does the ident have a hidden
message?

Q1 • Outline the style and design of each set of idents [include examples]
E4’s latest range of idents focus’s on an animated robot character in the shape of the E4 logo, the
idents use live footage of multiple different locations, one being a café that’s name changes each
ident, another being a caravan park with one of the caravans name changing each time as well. The
animated character is seen in all these idents, making him the main focus for the attention of the
audience while also bringing focus to the channels logo. As the channel is part of the youth genre the
style and design represents this genre, the idents are designed to be amusing and entertaining for a
younger target audience, the ident suite features a number of different locations and each has its own
variations, for instance the cafés title change, the text on the sign the robot holds changes, one saying
‘mountains are lame’ whilst climbing a mountain, these changes brings a witty aspect to the idents
making them more original to the channel while also effectively engaging the audience as they look to
see what the text on the sign or the cafés title or more each ident.
BBC1’s newest range of idents features live footage of groups of individuals of all ages, races and
genders all taking part in a mutual hobby, for instance one group are taking part in swimming in the
sea’s of Clevedon, as is told in text over the ident. Motion graphics are used to present the channels
logo, first we see ‘ONE’ shown in large bold white font, which is then followed by an animation effect
of a handwritten ‘ness’ to form the channels new theme of ‘Oneness’. This theme is represented in
the style and design of their new sets of idents, presenting groups of all people coming together to
take part in these activities, forming this ‘Oneness’. The groups are represented positively, showing
them to be smiling happily, diegetic sounds are used depending on the location in which the ident
takes place, for the sea swimmers from Clevedon the sounds of the beach and its surroundings are
used over the footage.

Q2 • Comment on the visual elements, such as colour, font, imagery, motion and
composition, for each suite of idents
In the range of E4’s idents the visual elements consist mainly around the animated E4 robot,
along with his pet dog, visually the most notable element that takes the focus of the audience
is the use of text on screen that changes throughout each ident. The colour scheme for E4 is
purple, this has been represented throughout nearly all of E4’s channel history, the vibrant
purple represents their channel identity and is notably recognisable as their style. For instance
the E4 robot is coloured with the distinctive purple and white highlighting. The font most
recognisable in their idents is the text displayed on the robots sign, the white font is the same
as what the channel has always used for its idents and text, keeping to its similar channel
standards, simple and easy to read, aesthetically pleasing with its neatness. The main use of
motion graphics within their range of idents is the animated E4 robot, along with the sign he
holds, to save time filming over and over again they just edit in new text to keep the idents
fresh and new.
BBC ones range of idents visual elements features groups of people taking part in an array of
different activities, the visual aspects don’t consist of much as they are fixed cameras
displaying the groups taking part in their certain activity. The colours used throughout vary as
there is no longer a coloured theme to their idents, what used to be a favoured red theme has
now been replaced with the white animated ‘oneness’ theme. This oneness theme is seen
through all their new range of idents, the ‘ONE’ is placed in large bold white font while the
‘ness’ is added in over as if being handwritten with the curves and flicks of the pen.

Q3 • Explain how each suite supports it’s intended audience
E4 is a youth orientated channel focusing its content towards an age group of 16-24 years olds and
predominantly a more female audience according to YouGov profiles. They are an entertainment
channel that mainly features comedy programs for a range of ages such as ‘How I Met Your Mother’
and ‘The Big Bang Theory’. To match with the content they show and the audience they try to appeal
to, their idents must also appeal to them also, and it does, by featuring witty text and illustration
throughout their idents they appeal to the comedic side of their intended audience. The visual
elements of the idents are rich with things to take note of in various different screenings, the caravan
park ident displays this well with its use of amusing caravan names such as ‘Gilf attack’, ‘Gilf’ being a
phrase found in youth slang which again appeals to this younger intended audience, a man in the
background can be seen vandalising over a caravan with different text each ident, one of which
saying ‘I will kill again’, their uses of weird and abstract visual elements all links back to their channels
identity as well as its intended audience.
BBC one is an arts and progressive channel which features a target audience age range mainly middle
aged and older, unlike E4, BBC one covers more serious topics with its content, such as the news and
various documentaries, so in turn this attracts a certain range of audiences. The identity of BBC one
has always been the idea of togetherness. This has been represented in their logo and idents since
the start, with its use of imagery with the globe all the way up to today with their newest suite of
idents portraying the idea of oneness, they appeal this to their audience by presenting these groups
of mixed ages, genders and races coming together to from this ‘oneness’ by taking part in a variety of
weird and wonderful activities, from exercise classes to bog snorkelling, BBC one show all of them in
an attempt to appeal to their large audience around the country.

Q4 • Consider the restrictions or challenges in trying to develop a brand/ident
package for the selected channel’s audiences, write them down here:
There are many restrictions that developers have to take into consideration before creating their
brand/ident package, one of the most important being the restrictions on the content they
present depending on the audiences age, for instance with E4 as its content is aimed towards a
young audience it must withstand from using content considered too profound for audiences
under the age of 18. this means that the content they show in their ident packages must remain
child friendly up until past 9pm, this is know as the watershed, broadcasting codes are set in
places for television and radio shows and broadcasters must follow these rules, the rules put
sanctions in place of what can be shown on TV before the 9pm watershed as this is scene as point
in which most under aged children will have gone to bed. This unsuitable material can include
everything from sexual content to violence, graphic or distressing imagery and swearing. A
challenge they will face is to ensure they keep their audiences engaged and as their intended
audience is young its even harder to keep them engaged so they need to keep their content fast,
entertaining and interesting to look at.
BBC ones main focus with their use of idents is ‘oneness’, they aim to promote the diversity of our
country through their use of idents. The challenging aspects of doing this is to maintain a fair
presentation of this standard, Ofcom provides a number of rules and regulations set in place to
help promote these standards. This is to ensure programming does not allow to condone or
promote discrimination of any kind, whether that be race, gender or sexual orientation. BBC
follows these standards and takes it one step further by including the promotion of diversity
within their idents, with the theme of ‘oneness’ they promote good ideologies which represent
our countries welcoming acceptance to all diverse groups, making sure to never single any one
out.

Q5 • Compare the sets of idents, what characteristics are similar or different?
As E4 and BBC ones target audiences are completely different this is recognizable
within their use of idents, E4’s content appeals towards the young audience with its
comedy shows like ‘Big Bang Theory’ so its use of idents contrasts greatly with that
of BBC ones. E4’s ident style is more comedic while BBC ones presents more
professional standard, with serious narratives while still presenting positive
ideologies. BBC uses very little motion graphics while E4 are predominantly known
for its interesting uses of aninimation with their older range of idents. They both
employ aspects of live footage into their idents, placing the audiences in a number
of different locations, with BBC they focus on the aspect of presenting groups of
people from certain places around the country while E4 just use different locations
such as cafés, campsites, bus stops and mountains. Both channels focus on their
brand identity and how they represent their brand within their idents. E4 uses the
animation of the E4 robot and their brand representations while BBC one portrays
the famous ‘ONE’ while including the theme of ‘oneness’. The scale of visual
complexity between the two channels idents is also notable, as BBC one goes for a
more simple approach with its still camera shots of people, on the other hand E4
present for hectic environments, such as a busy caravan park showing kids running
around, people partying in their caravans and others vandalizing property.

Q6 • Which set/suite of idents is the most successful in your opinion? Why
do you think this?
In my opinion I feel that the E4 suite of idents are most successful, though I do like
the idea of BBC ones theme with ‘Oneness’ and how they strive to present the
channels diversity but I feel that actual content of the idents are lacking
entertainment value, they are quite bland and simple, I feel that the idea is strong
but could do with a better approach, for instance a detailed look at what these
groups actually do. the idea of presenting various groups taking part in different
activities around the country is a good as it informs audiences on things they might
not have already known, however in comparison to the success of these to E4’s I
would have to give it to E4. Their ideas are original and successfully meet the
standards of the audience they are targeting, as I am part of that age group I do
feel engaged with the idents, they entertain me and not only this but they make
me want to look out for them, to see what new verity of amusing text they have to
offer each time. E4’s ident have always work well with the channel that they are,
especially now with the introducing of a formidable for character for the audience
to grow fond of, there is a lot of detail thought into making the idents from the café
name change to the text scratched into the robots back, its all an aim to amuse
and engage the audience and its done well in my opinion.

Q7 • What other issues do you think producers need to consider in their production of onscreen
graphic representation? This could be to do with duration, for example when continuity
announcers are used, appropriate content, the issues of viewer generated content, etc?
One important issue that producers must take into consideration is the time duration of the
idents that they are airing. TV broadcast time cost money and in this business a lot of
money goes into the advertising of companies and products, whether this is inside the
channel or other businesses paying for air time. Producers must make sure to consider their
idents duration as they don’t want to take up too much time away from paid advertisement
as this is how most channel create their revenue. For E4 this will be an important issues to
consider as they are a channel that consists of out of house produced programs and
advertisement, as a scheme to create their revenue, BBC one is different as they are a
company funded by the public through subscriptions to TV licenses so they do not need to
feature advertisement. Duration will still need to be considered in their idents as ones too
long will lose the attention of the audience and in turn will bore them. The use of continuity
announcers is also an important issue for producers to think about, their choices of
announcers can play a big part in the appeal to audiences, for example BBC one now
employ a range of announcers from different regions around the country, this means that
audiences have a better chance of relating with the announcer that they are hearing, they
may feel more welcomed by them if they share a similar accent. This has changed from
what it used to be when all announcers share the same received pronunciation accent,
which today would put some audiences off as it is an accent that can have negative
connotations linked towards it.

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