TV IDENTSBy Daniel

History • Idents have been around on Television and Radio since the early 1950, first appearing on the

BBC between program’s to identify its service. They are normally short clips of audio and/or video animation that have a purpose and design relating to the channel. Many channels normally create a new suite of idents when they are trying to re-brand themselves or when they are trying to add more or different programming to their channel. This is done to attract different or more broader audience members to fit with their new programming. They also use idents to establish their corporate identity that will reflect their target audience and their programming. Nearly all channels need and have TV idents for one or more of these purposes and that is why they are so popular in the television world today.

What is a TV Ident?

Idents are used to promote and inform the general public about a channels identity. They use idents as a style of branding Using many different forms of animations and short films as well as logos and theme tunes. That allow us to recognize shows of a specific genre of television, And allowing viewers to identify what channel their watching.

Here are some examples..

Purpose for a Ident

• Most things nowadays has a way of getting their product out there, in this case TV channels need a way to get their message across to their target audience in many ways they use idents as a way of branding their channel, keeping their viewers engaged occupied until the program returns with its next show etc.

• Most TV idents don’t usually change their idents but are able to make it evolve and adapt to each generation, culture and type of season.

The Two Main Reasons

• The first reason for making a TV Ident is because it’s a very cleaver way to attract an audience to a channel and making Them instantly recognize that channel, so without even thinking the human mind engages and identifies with what they are watching.

• The second purpose would be to establish and reflect the channels identity as well as the corporate identity, so if the content of the channel is comical they would have an ident that would make you laugh. If their content was factual their ident would reflect this. Adding on from this, channels can often use idents to rebrand themselves, so if they are going for a different look or genre of programming they would show this in their idents.

Design

• The design of the ident is also very important because it is 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 (identity). How the ident is design will reflect on how the audience will see them and can sometimes reflect on whether or not someone will watch the channel.

• The key points for the design of an TV ident are:

• Setting/ Time- Where is the ident set and in what time period? Is it in the past, present or future?

• Tempo- This is how fast/slow paced the TV ident is happening and can often be determined by the music in the background

• Audience interaction- Does the ident break the fourth wall? Do they interact with the audience? Does all the action happen inside the scene?

• Informative or Entertainment- Is the ident there to be informative or is it purely for entertainment purposes?

• Density- How much information is in the ident? How full/empty is the screen? How much space is there?

E4

• E4 are well known to use a variety of creative imaginative vibrant scenes that generally focus around a purple and white color scheme

• they often portray themselves as a fun young energetic channel suggesting that the programs aired on the show are relatable to their ident.

• It has been known that some idents are created from viewers meaning they gain more interest in the show also creating audience loyalty.

• E4 are successful in attracting their audience as statistics show over 3,668million people tune in daily meaning 21% of the population.

http://www.theidentgallery.com/player.php?id=E4-2007-ID-LIVINGROOM

BBC 1• BBC envisions the opposite of normal

TV channels their style of tranquility and serenity differs them from other channels.

• According to BARB up to 28,693 tune in daily

• Was known as one of the earliest channels to use idents in 1953

• As the BBC has also been bold and clear to their viewers and always central of the screen

• As they take up many different cultural themes as these would be the type of programs shown on the channel

http://www.theidentgallery.com/player.php?id=BBC1HD-2010-ID-WORLDCUP-1

Sky Movies

As you may know Sky provides a range of different genres of movies and has been for many years now. As you can gather from the idents Sky are not afraid to think outside the box and differ from every other channel offers the general public variety of all types of movies.

According to BARB’s database 426 thousand people tune into the channel daily meaning the audience that they’ve aimed for are met with their standards

Sky wants their viewers to feel as comfortable as they can make them possible making one of their brilliant ideas of incorporating the time of season or holiday into their ident, simply creating an appropriate design for the time of year e.g. Christmas. This in particular sky movie ident features a magical, fantasy world that you’re able to refer back to Christmas period the world created has a warm homely family feel atmosphere to it branding the channel generally more towards family audiences.

http://www.theidentgallery.com/player.php?id=SKYM-2011-XMAS-IDENT-1

Sky Movies

Film 4• Film 4 reaches a daily reach of 3,003 people

as their known for viewing showcase and classical films and themed nights.

• Film 4 does not only show mainstream films but also have a selection of arty classics and world independent cinema.

• The type of idents used by film 4 are edited into 4 sections of the screen some people usually have no idea why but its used to reflect film 4’s type of branding.

• As the four sections of the moving pictures which is broken up transform into the film 4 logo

http://www.theidentgallery.com/player.php?id=FILM4-2008-ID-COFFEE

Animal Planet• Coinciding with the launch of the HD

simulcast for Animal Planet, we wanted to give the brand a more confident and distinctive tone of voice, resonating with its audience, and intrinsically link the brand with our content. 

• Animal planet is all about Animals, wild and domestic. We created small worlds (Animal Planets), where iconic animals display their natural charm and quirky behavior , which makes them endearing to us.

• Animals are the stars of the show, expressing their natural personality in their respective, stylised environment. The logo is integrated in the environment where the animal action takes place.

http://www.theidentgallery.com/player.php?id=AP-2012-ID-BEAR-1

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