Channel Idents

Idents are all around 20 seconds long, the first 10 seconds are interesting and involve a lot of action but then the second half is less interesting but still has some movements. This is because this is when the announcer is talking so they don't want the viewer to be distracted by the picture on the screen, nor do they want them to be bored.

No idents contain people speaking, this is due to the fact that the announcer will be speaking, so if there's speaking in the ident it will confuse the viewer.

Idents contain the channel name. This is to inform the viewer what channel they are watching. The ident matches the theme of the logo. BBC1 is round like the O in one. BBC3 is pink and the ident is very pink as well. And ITV is yellow and so is the sand on the beach.

Channel idents are there for several reasons. The main, I would say, is to have time for the announcer to tell the viewer what show is up next, what is on later when the next episode in the series is on. This makes the audience stay on the channel rather then browse other channels. This wasn't always the case though, before 1998 there was only 5 main channels, (BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5). But in 1998 Sky was introduced, which meant people were getting a lot more choice, so channels have to make an effort to make the viewer stay on the channel.

In my examples, all three of them have an announcer. BBC Three is more casual as the channel is primarily for young people, this gives the channel a more friendly face and is more of a friend type channel rather than it being a parent to the teenagers it tries to stay on the same level as them.

ITV seems quite formal, the announcer simply says what needs to be said there's no jokes or anything. But she has a friendly voice and the actual image is quite comedic, you have people being disturbed by wind and a persons skirt going up, which doesn't really match the tone of the announcer but I think it's their way of not keeping the channel to formal.

BBC1 again seems quite friendly. The voice over has a friendly tone and the yellow colouring makes it seem homely.

Idents are also there to remind the viewer or people who have just tuned it what the channel is. All three idents have the logo featured in their ident. This is just there to confirm what channel it is.

Idents also give a visual representation of what the channel is about. BBC Three again is for young people so the ident is quite "random" and quirky. ITV shows a family and I think a lot of programs they show is for families. The BBC1 ident is interesting to look at but it's not overly crazy which shows how they show just normal programs.