Blog 1 - Understanding the purpose of television idents and the opportunities they present

In this task I will be explaining the purpose of television Idents and the opportunities they present. I will give examples and explain why it is best suited for it.

I will be talking about:

Identifying the channel

Identifying the channel means to see the Idents and know that it belongs to a channel and that the audiences know. The first ident showed national was in 1953 on the BBC when the commercial television stated to get bigger and the audiences need to be able to identify different channels.  The first ident that aired on BBC was nicknamed the "Bat's Wings". Since then Idents have changed a lot and the new technology have played an important part in their evolution. By 1960 BBC launched a new BBC TV logo which had the BBC logo in side of a circle which looks like an Earth. BBC did this to reimage themselves for the next generation. But they still the same logo to help previous generation identify the channel. The most famous ident of BBC in the 1960s was “The Glob” where the BBC TV logo would appear and voice would announce “This is BBC Television”. BBC Idents are different from each other but the audience will still recognise the channel because they still have the logo. 

Organising the schedule

Idents have a specific role to pay when it comes to keeping a channel’s schedule organised and on timed. It acts as break to keep the channel flow intact.  While channels are at their break Idents are used as an ideal chances to give the audience important information about next programming that is going to run on the channel. The information given to the audience may tempt them to continue watching on the channel or may tempt them to switch over to another channel. For example on the BBC One channel after a program, an ident comes and talks about what is happing in the next program, this may tempt people because they may find It interesting and continue to watch to the next program. For example the BBC One ‘Masai’ ident

Segmentation of the schedule

Idents provide segmentation of channel that are non-commercial like the BBC that do not have time between programmes for advertisement provide commercial for the next program like ITV and Channel 4. Idents segmentation to provide information about the channel and what changes are going to made if not, information regarding the programmes that are running and what coming next summer and breaks for the News and sports. 

Creating the right tone and appealing to the target audience

Idents are not just used for identifying channels and for keeping schedule on time, they are also used for providing the audience with information about the channel and reflect the type of programmes that are shown on it. For example BBC one ident in 2013 reflected “The Voice” showing the judges on their seats with the BBC one logo and a voice over talking about what going to happen on the show. Idents are important because they set the right tone for the channel and it creates an appealing environment for the target audience. Creating the right tone and atmosphere for the channel, allows the audience feel relax to watch the channel because ident is show them a smooth tone to the channel. The BBC Four channel has built its name on having more factual and informative programmes. So the idents of the BBC FOUR channel therefore reflected the programmes. So the idents of BBC FOUR are mostly gentle, harmony and peaceful. This reflects the fact that BBC FOUR programmes are for people who do not like so much action or enjoyment for the old people. Also it is important for idents to set the right tone for the channel to be appealing to the right age group. For example Cbeebies and CBBC have different idents that are appealing to different age groups. The Cbeebies idents are more childish and are crazy. The CBBC ident are more violent, which shows the channel is for big kids. 

Creating corporate identity

Nowadays TV channel are no longer restricted to one country, so people from other countries could watch programmes for BBC or Cbeebies. Therefore idents help channels to create a brand in a range of different whereabouts. The BBC helps to launch a corporate identity that can be identified by the audience and that can be sold across the world by using online platforms. Online platforms have grown since 2007 like the BBC iplayer and it is very important for corporation to recall the image that could be simply weakened in the online world. 

Creating a brand and encouraging

Creating a brand for a specific channel is very important. There is a lot to think about and it shows how it inspires them to stay faithful to that specific channel and to keep working with them. Idents allow endorsing the brand of a specific channel by showing the audience the logo and the style of the channel. Therefore the audience becoming familiar with the channel like the BBC which is known throughout different channel because of their logo and style. Therefore it is visual remembered of the channel and imprints the brands into the mind of the audience, like the BBC do with their brands and makes the audience want to watch the channel again. 

Branding of particular content

Idents can be used for branding a particular content on a channel by recognising a programme that belongs to certain channel, therefore brand the content. Also branding content can be used to provide a reliable theme across range platforms. For example the BBC Doctor Who ident where you see the Tardis which represent the content or branding the Sports news like BBC Sports with their website and own channel.

A marketing opportunity

Idents can also be used for promotion things regarding the content. For example ITV Christmas ident is promotion Christmas but also promotion a drama by showing the programme. Another example would be the BBC One Doctor Who Christmas ident where they are promotion the programme by using the season. 

Packaging and Re-packaging series of programmes or event

Idents are used to promote new series like the BBC did for the Doctor Who or promote big events like the 2012 Olympics idents on the BBC Three channel where it should something pick up big latters. Also the Sky movie idents where it shows different places with different creatures. 

Overall idents is very important part of channels, it provide time break for audience to go doing things. Also it promotes content by crafting the ident to the content specifics and providing information about the channel and programmes. Idents help channel in many ways.