Unit One - Task One - Understanding the purpose of television idents and the opportunities they present

The purpose of a ident 

• Identifying the channel 

The ident can identify channels in many different ways like having the logo of the channel on the screen or a theme tune of the channel playing. They could even just have someone say what channel it is while something that relates to the channel that people can easily remember what the channel is. 

The first ident appeared  in 1953 for the bbc as television began to expand and the viewers needed to be able to tell the difference. People nicknamed this indent the ''bat wings''. Then the famous ident of the globe appeared in 1963. 
The globe was the main part of bbc as after the symbol for the bbc was a circle as shown in the video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xOCBj_PACE

• Organising the schedule (telling you what is on) 

The indent can also be used to tell people what is coming up next on the channel for example if u was just watching eastenders it will tell you when it is back on next week or the next day then it could also say that ''The Voice'' will be coming on next. The indent has the important role when it comes to keeping a schedule.the indent is to provide to the viewers with the key information about programs on the channel they are watching.

• Segmentation of the scheduling (providing a break for non-commercial channels)

As shown by the video above it could also be used to provide a break for channels that are non-commercial channels so the people who have to talk on these shows will have to talk for a long time so they are able to play this and provide a break for them.They could also show this when they need to change things around like get someone ready for a interview or to change people around.they could also provide more information for example what is coming up next or information about what the viewer has watched.They could also provide a variety of programming.

• Creating corporate identity (being used off air/on merchandise)

 Television are no longer restricted to one country so the ident therefore helps to create a brand in a range of different location. consistency across a range of channels such as the BBC helps to establish a corporate identify that can be sold across the world. with the growth of online platforms like the BBC-iplayer it is vital for corporations to retain the image that could be so easily diluted. 

• Creating a brand and encouraging brand loyalty

Building a ''brand'' for a particular channel is vitally important. An dent helps to endorse the brand of a particular channel by allowing the audience to become familiar with the logo and the style of the channel. It is a visual reminder of a particular channel and imprints the ''brand'' into the mind of the audience. This in turn encourages them to stay loyal to that particular channel.

• Branding of particular content (e.g. Sports, News)

Ident can be used to identify programs that may be coming out in the future for example there was a ident for ''The Voice''. They can also use it to provide a consistent theme across a range of platforms.

• Creating the right tone and appealing to the target audience

the ident must show what the channel is so people know what channel they are watching. They also need to take into consideration about the target audience if it is suitable for them for example the news would have more formal ident for the more older viewers that want to watch the news and then you would have more funny ones for the more unserious channels.

• A marketing opportunity

An ident is a clever promotional tool. The ident can be used to promote new things that are coming out for example if it was christmas they could make a christmas one as shown below.

• Packaging and Re-packaging a series of programmes or event (e.g. a season of programmes, sports, national event)

Often ident are used to promote large events or a new series of programmes. For example for sky movies one it shows all the movie types and it gets the viewer interested or they will remember it.