Introduction
A television ident is a logo for a particular station, which is unique and distinguishable against other TV stations. Ident is short for "identification" so the viewer can immediately recognise what channel they are watching. Idents can also help the audience to develop an expectation of what sort of things the channel may show. For example a television station broadcasting serial dramas would not benefit from using images and symbols that would appeal more to children, as younger people would not likely be the audience to the channel's content.
Origin
Television idents originate from the 1950s, where the first to be used was by the British Television Service, which has since changed names to become what we now know as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on 2nd December 1953. Before then the British Television Service was the only broadcaster on television so there was not a demand for station identification. But the commercial success of television began to rise in the early 1950s, hence why the British Television Service was the first broadcaster in the world to include station identification. The first ident for the British Television Service was known as "Bat Wings" and could be seen on television sets for its duration between 1953-1960. Below shows a still image of the Bat Wings ident:
Since then, the British Broadcasting Company has seen many changes to their television idents, including the BBC TV globe which was used between 1960-1964, which is shown below:
The British Broadcasting Company launched a second television channel in 1964, so this made way for a change of name to the existing BBC channel and a new ident. The "Watch Strap Globe" ident was used between 1966-1969 on the newly named BBC1 (formerly British Television Service.)
Above: The BBC1 Watch Strap logo (1966-1969)
The next iconic ident was first seen on 15th November 1969 and this was known as the Nexus Orthicon Display Device (NODD.) This ident was very different to previous ones as the BBC began to broadcast in colour. The introduction of the word "colour" into the ident was a friendly reminder to viewers who were still watching their the station on a black and white television set, that it was possible to buy a new one, and upgrade their television licence (which would mean more profit for the BBC.) The ident was called the "Mirror Globe" and it was updated again in 1974, which followed the same theme, but used different colours and font.
Above: The 1969-1974 version of the BBC1 Mirror Globe ident
Below: The 1974-1985 version of the BBC1 Mirror Globe ident
The following ident was first seen in 1985 and it was called the Computer Originated World (COW) and a new on screen clock was released too, matching the blue and yellow colour scheme. The reason for the replacement of the ident was that the BBC felt computer graphics had advanced significantly in the nine years since the release of the previous ident. After all the broadcasting business is a highly competitive business, and so each station wanted to do better than the other. At that time ITV were new competitors on the market and midway through the 1980s, Channel 4 came on the scene too. With more competitors, meant that the BBC needed to update their graphics to keep with the times.
Above: The Computer Originated World ident used by BBC1 between 1985-1991
The final globe ident to be seen on the BBC was first seen on screens in 1991 and it was called the "Virtual Globe." The series of idents varied, with different colours being used, depending on which programme followed, though the transparent globe remained the same throughout. This ident was designed by the same person who designed Channel 4's first and original ident in 1982; Martin Lambie-Nairn. A new on-screen clock matching the smoky colours theme with the transparent globe was released too.
Above: The Vitual Globe ident used by BBC1 between 1991-1997
In 1997 the ident on BBC1 changed again, noticeably a lot, with computer generated globe designs being scrapped, and being replaced by short films of a hot air balloon floating around several locations in the world. The red and orange hot air balloons did have a map of the world on them, which still follows on with the globe theme, which had been used as the main basis of previous BBC1 idents. The original set of idents were filmed on location, however later on to save the costs of filming the balloon many times over, the balloon was digitally added to the footage. This way the BBC were able to produce 59 different variations of the Balloon ident, some which were used to promote special events, such as the Sydney Harbour for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games and a football stadium for the Euro 2000 games. This set of idents were also the first to be placed in widescreen, since it became increasingly popular in the early 21st century. The launch of BBC Online in June 2000 meant that the URL for the website was included in the idents from then. Another change was the station became known as BBC One, as apposed to BBC1, and the company has kept to this change since.
Above: One of the Balloon idents used by BBC One used between 1997-2002. This particular image shows the balloon over Cley next the Sea.
The set of idents that followed were called "Rhythm and Movement" and these were first seen in 2002. The reason for the change of ident was that BBC One saw a change in control, and the new controller (Lorainne Heggessey) did not believe that hot air balloons said a lot about the channel to its viewers, compared to competitors (ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5) who's idents were a lot more modern and entertaining. She believed hot air balloons were dull and boring, so she ordered a review into the branding of the channel, which saw the Rhythm and Movement idents being broadcast on our screens from 29th March 2002. At this point BBC One retired it's use of the globe theme which had been consistent through all previous re-branding of idents for 39 years prior to that. The Rhythm and Movement idents captured short films of people dancing various types of dance and sports including Tai-Chi, Bollywood, Skateboarders, Tango, Haka, Capoeira and Acrobats, to name a few. This was the first ident to not include an accompanying clock, since the introduction of the digital era (satellite television) meant that it was difficult to synchronise an analogue clock with digital television formatting. This also meant that the television channel stopped closing down during the night, due to the introduction of 24 hour programming. During previous idents, the station used to close down for the night and resumed programming at 6am the following day, and during the closing sequence, the British National Anthem (God Save the Queen) played accompanying the BBC One logo (the same happened on BBC Two, with that channel's logo instead.) Though the introduction of satellite television meant that BBC One and Two could broadcast programmes 24 hours a day, which was another reason why the Rhythm and Movement idents did not require a clock.
Above: The Capoeira version of the Rhythm and Movement idents used between 2002-2006 on BBC One.
The final ident to date used by BBC One is the "Circle" idents, where the theme is a film of something (whether it be animals or people) moving around the BBC One logo in a circle. BBC One gained a new controller in 2006 (Peter Fincham) and his reasoning for the change of idents was that he believed the channel had strayed too far away from it's heritage (the globe idents) so he wanted to incorporate a circular theme to them. He also believed that due to BBC One's wide variety of programming that the idea of a circle to him "brings people together" and so the BBC designed these idents with Red Bee Media. Some examples of the Circle idents are: Hippos, Bikes, Helicopter, Lawn Circles, Kites and Neon. These idents were also a lot more diverse than the Rhythm and Movement idents as they could include animals and other activities, rather than just dance and sports. Like the Rhythm and Movement idents, no clock has been produced for this set of idents.
Above: One of the current BBC One Circle idents (Hippos) which have been broadcast between programming since 2006.
Examples of Television Channel Idents
1. BBC One: Circle Idents
I have already discussed the BBC One's history, and the reason for this ident is due to the heritage of the BBC which followed a globe theme, and so this most recent ident tried to return to that similar theme. The former chairman of BBC One also stated that the idents symbolise people coming together, similar to what families may do in front of a television screen if they watch it together.
Above: An example of the BBC One Circle idents (Kites) which have been broadcast between programming since 2006.
2. BBC Two: The Window on the World Idents
Above: An example of the BBC Two Window on the World idents (Seascape) which have been broadcast between programming since 2007.
3. ITV 1: Curvy Logo
Over the years, ITV (formerly known as ITV1, have used many iconic idents between programming. Though January 2013 saw re-branding of all ITV channels, and the introduction of the new curvy logos. Each ITV channel (ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4) all saw their own individual colour schemes, though the font remained the same through them all. The other change was that ITV1 became known as ITV once again, as it used to (before the introduction of the other ITV channels) to try and retain some heritage in the channel's history. The reason for the channel's change was to reflect everyday life of the British public, which executives of ITV felt had not happened in the channel's idents before. The logos for the ITV channel are seasonal, with many variations of footage being played in the background, some of examples of the seasonal footage are below:
Winter: Hot air balloon, Fish 'n chips, Pug wash and Tumble dryer.
Spring: Dance crew, Horse, Bungee jump, Bowling
Summer: Meerkats, Water slide, Sun cream, Sand castle
Autumn: Surfers, Hula hoop, Fireworks, Festival
Above: An example of the ITV ident, which has been broadcasted on screen since January 2013.
4. Channel 4: The "4" logo breaking apart
In October 2010, Channel 4 updated it's ident which already included the "4" logo breaking apart with real life footage around the outside of it. The new idents included:
Scrap yard ident
Blackpool ident
Abbey ident, the Bunnies at Bayham Old Abbey near Frant, East Sussex
Above: An example of the Channel 4 Abbey ident, which has been broadcast since 2010.
5. Channel 5:
Examples of Television Production Company Idents
Sources
1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_BBC_television_idents