Television ident
A
television ident visually identifies the
network or
station presenting a
television programme. It is displayed on screen, typically just before each programme and also at start-up and closedown (if a station does not broadcast round the clock). It may also be used to lead in and out of
commercial breaks. Idents can vary in complexity from a simple static image to a live-action film, or even
computer graphics generated on the fly (the idents used by
BBC Four from
2002 to
2005 are an example of the latter approach; its idents reacted to the sound of the
announcer's voice and
background music).
An ident is usually considered one of the most important elements in a station's branding. An example of a particularly well-known ident would be the
BBC balloon.
Television idents are also known as TV
blocks.
Ident is commonly used in the
UK and
Australia, among other nations, but not in the
U.S., where
station identification or ID is more common.
Image:Television ident - programme into own production caption.jpg|A best-practice flowchart of how British television went from a programme into another programme produced by the same companyImage:Television ident - programme into bought-in caption.jpg|A best-practice flowchart of how British television went from a general programme into an imported programme from another broadcaster or producer. Image:Television ident - local ident into promo into continuity.jpg|A best-practice flowchart of how British television went from an ident into a promotional film for a forthcoming programme into local continuity. Image:Television ident - ident into own programme.jpg|A best-practice flowchart of how British television went from an ident into a programme produced by the same company. Image:Television ident - ident into other producer's programme.jpg|A best-practice flowchart of how British television went from an ident to a programme produced by another company. Image:Television ident - ident into frontcap into programme.jpg|A best-practice flowchart of how British television went from an ident to a frontcap to a programme.Image:Television ident - advert to optic to advert.jpg|A best-practice flowchart of how British television went from an advert to an optic between adverts to another advert.*
BBC Television Idents*
NBC logos*
PBS idents*
Station identification*
MGM Idents*
Ident accessed 11 June 2006
*
ABC at Large accessed 11 June 2006
*
Telemusications accessed 11 June 2006
*
Ident - television idents and branding*
TV Room*
Site about ITV idents
