The Successes and Failures of TV Idents

A successful; ident is one that will brand the channel well in a short a mount of time and is able to stick in the minds mind so when they see the indent they automatically associate it to what type of shows the channel is going to other e.g. The one that Sky Sports use is quick and simple but gets the message across as it shows what type of things it is going to report on and then finishes ith the name of the channel.

FailuresIn 2002 the BBC launched a new ident, this included 3 handicap men in wheel chairs attempting to dance. It is considered to be one of the most controversial idents ever launched by the BBC, some viewers accused the BBC of being overtly politically correct while others were dismayed that the longstanding globe motif had been replaced after 39 years. The idents aired for the final time on 7 October 2006, at 1:10am in which a montage of idents was aired together, ending with the rarely seen 'Ballet' ident. The new idents made their debut on 7 October 2006 at 9:58am marking the end of the 'Rhythm and Movement' idents, which had defined the channel for only 4 years. This should be considered a failure for the BBC as it only lasted for 4 years whilst the previous one had lasted for 39 years which shows it was never really accepted by the public or at least considered to be good enough for such a big channel.

This ident was launched in 1991 for BBC One, which caused a few issues. Although it had remained similar to its predecessors the length of the ident annoyed certain people as it was too long with a slow tempo. In total it lasted for 1 minute which for a ident is too long as most of them can be as short as 6 seconds to 30 because the ident is just there to brand the channel and give the audience a idea of what type of channel this is ,so because this one was so long it frustrated people. The ident aired for only 6 years before being removed to the archives. Although the idea of the ident looked good to the public because of its long running time it put people off.

This was the ITV ident from 2003. This ident is considered a failure for two main reasons, the first one being it only lasted for one year before being removed and replaced and the second reason because it was so simple it looked as if their was no real effort put into it with the technology that was available at that point in time. It was very basic and not that interesting to see compared to what other TV companies had at that point in time so because of this when people saw this ident they wouldn’t be able to establish what type of channel this is compared to other idents where they have distinguishing features to let the audience know what the channel is about, the main flaw with the design was because the background seemed to plain and the dark blue didn’t work well as it is often considered a negative colour due to it having a depressing and sad mood to it so to use that colour on a ident which is for a channel as big as ITV was a bad thing.

From this you can see that the majority of time when an ident fails it is because it is too long which becomes boring for the audience as they just want to see the show or it is too plain and gives no information on the channel and fails to brand it successfully.

Successes

The current ITV ident will be considered a success because it has kept things simple in a good way but also due to its colours and the type of area it is set in it makes it seem more interesting. To start of with the colours on the ident are really good, this is because they are bright blends of yellow and also it’s a sunny day in the city with a clear sky. This is great because by using these colours it makes the audience feel more positive and happier unlike the one used in 2003 which was very dark and boring. Also the background is also really good, this is because there is actually something there unlike the 2003 one but most importantly about the background it looks interesting, this is because it is something different as this is a English channel we expect it to be a English city which you often think of as dark and rainy which is very dull, however the designer of this ident has made everything bright and happy which makes

the audience feel more at ease than if they had used dark colours. The windows on the building change from being a dull silvery color to bright yellow which makes us feel like it is summer which makes the audience also happier as we find summer one of the happiest times of the year due to its warmth.

The fact that they have used buildings in this ITV ident tells that there is a sense of professionalism about their work and it will be done to a high standard, the fact it is also set in a city may tell us that the channel will offer shows which people in big cities will enjoy more than people in the countryside.

This ident was introduced in 2009 and is considered a success for TV idents. The reason for this is because the BBC had designed certain idents for certain shows so for example this ident is used on Match Of The Day. One of the many things that has made it so good was the fact that it suited the actual show about to be shown, it wasn’t some people dancing or any random

hippos but people kicking a ball like in real football. Although the background has been made dark which is usually a bad thing to do because dark colours are not considered not to be happy the ball has been made bright red so that it stands out more and because it is the only thing that is bright in the whole sequence we only focus on the ball like in real life football where you are not meant to take your eyes of the ball. Another good thing is that they are kicking the balls in a circle which relates to their older idents where they had the globe so to keep some of the old features they had from before they have decided to get the people into a circle which represents the globe which tells the audience that the BBC is a global channel.

This ident is considered successful because it has remained similar to the previous idents Sky Sports has had. Unlike other channel idents where they have had to make massive changes over the years Sky Sports keeps a similar ident each time, this one should be considered successful because of its ability to last through so many years and because the ident just by seeing it gives you a clear impression of what the whole channel is all about which in this case is sports.

This ident has a fast tempo which is one of the reasons it has had its success, This is because it is a news channel so instead of having a long ident they have gone for one that is quick, brands the channel in a few seconds, tells you what you are going to get and gives the name, this is all done in around 6 seconds which is perfect as it then goes straight into the news which is what the audience wants.

Also another successful thing about this ident is the fact that it shows the how modern and up to date with technology Sky Sports is as a corporation, the reasons for this is because it is able to afford new ways of viewing the channel for its viewers so in the ident it shows the platforms that are available to the public such as the; Laptop, IPhone, IPod, IPad and of course normal TV.

This ident works really well with its target audience which is mostly made up of men from the early teen ages to quite late on in their life, in the ident it shows you what the main topic of the channel is which is football but also appeals to a wider audience as it does still cover other sports. Because it shows the audience what it covers in the ident it is considered successful.