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

The ident was first made in 1953 by BBC and this was because with the introduction of new channels such as itv channels then needed to differentiate themselves from one another and the way they done is is by creating idents. One of the most well-known idents from BBC is the globe that was used in 1963. The first ident used by BBC was nicknamed the "Bat Wings" due to its similarities to a bat wing.  As time went past the idents for these channels did along with it due to new technologies being introduced. A television ident is vital for so many purposes. Having a specific ident enable the channel to be recognized by the audience, if it is reliable and useful it means that it more likely for the audience to remember the ident. It also make it organised through a program which suggest the audience would be able to see the program on time with missing it.  Also television Ident is used to allow the audience to identify what coming on television next. The reason why the Ident was one of the most important way of completing the goals of identifying between different channels was because they were able to be used at any point during the broadcasting of the channel.

During the early 1990s there was an arrival of satellites television which meant that tv idents where then becoming more known as the satellites enabled people to spread channels around the country which made it more easier for people to speak to each other and speak to their viewers letting them know what the popular programs that’s on tv.

Organising the schedule

The television ident are mostly made for the purpose of giving a channel an identity so it can stand out from the rest of the channels because it will draw more audience. This links to the main reason and purpose of the rest of the channels through the use of television ident. Television ident are also created in a particular way that would represent a specific television channel. This suggest that an ident play a very important role when it comes to a channel schedule organising. This is good and could work perfectly because the idents are created to be creative, to be short and to sink in to everything that the television channel is represented for and what it represents toward the audiences.

Additionally, an ident gives the audience the opportunity to gain important information about the programme and it will allow the viewer to keep watching the programme as it grabs the audience attention. For example the BBC three ident shows us what will be up next on the tv. This suggest that the viewers could know what they’re watch next ‘Family guy’, therefore they’re not having to switch to channels like 4OD, itv etc which are competitors with BBC.

Segmentation of the schedule
Segmenting the schedule is very important when it comes to keeping the channel well structured. The idents play an vital role in achieving this. For example you can use idents to add time in between programmes to control the scheduling so you can fill in the remainder of the time and so there wouldn’t be no time wasted. The BBC is a non-commercial channel so it does use advertisement between their programmes like channels such as itv or channel 4. Channels like itv and channel 4 use advertisement because that’s the way of making their money by inserting in commercials. The BBC is all about personifying their channel and marketing purposes which makes their idents have a main specific purpose. Placing idents during segmenting of the schedule can also promote other programmes. For example on the day they show the programme such ‘dog display’ which would usually start late in the evening, during the day the ident would show a dogs running around the bbc logo to represent what is coming up during the day.

Creating the right tone and appealing to the audience
an ident is a chance to provide the audience with information about the channel. It can easily show the type of programmes that are shown on the channel. It is significant as it set the right tone for the channel it is appealing for the target audience because when BBC four arrived it built its reputation on having more informative programmes. The initial idents therefore reflected this by being more formally written.  It is also important that the tone is set for an appropriate age group of the channel. Channels like the CBBC and Cbeebies show different idents that are appropriate for the different age groups they relate to and aimed for the more younger generation rather than the older generation.

A BBC Four and Cbeebies ident are different types of age groups. The bbc four ident has a calmer approach for an older audience. The cbeebies ident is for younger age group for children below the age of seven. The cbeebies ident is a short ident with two yellow bubbles bouncing around which is fun and it links to what young children would do.The idents are colourful with a lot of movement and has a good vibe about it so it can interest the kids which makes the parents happy because it is appropriate. If i saw a cbeebies ident about books and uses formal vocabulary and with no colour it would be boring to children and they would show no notice in watching programmes on it. 

Creating corporate identity 
Television channels are no longer limited to one country. Creating corporate identity helps to create a brand image in a range of different locations. Consistency across a range of channels such as the bbc enable the channel to start a corporate identify that can then be sold across the world and globally.
Creating a brand and encouraging brand loyalty
Building a brand is extremely important for a channel. This allow a brand to be loyal to the particular channel. An ident helps to support the brand of a specific channel by broadcasting to the audience so that they can be familiar with the logo and the structure of the channel. By them doing this would make the channel more popular. 

Branding of a particular content 

Building a brand for a particular channel is very important as allows the audience to stay loyal to the particular channels that they enjoy watching. Also ident  allows the brand to promote a specific channel by allowing the audience to become aware with the channels logo and the style of the channel. An ident is a visual reminder of a particular channel. It also mean the audience would remember the brand which would make the audience more likely to watch more about the channel.

A marketing opportunity-

An ident can be used to identify and makes the audience feel the need to be involve. Furthermore, Idents can change the feel of a channel and can become a way of supporting new shows that happen during the year. Idents can also link with online sites for example channel such as BBC sport can promote the website as well as the channels itself. Channels try to keep things familiar to the audience which means  channels will use a similar sort of ident to promote their channels.

Packaging and re-packaging a series of programmes of events- Idents are a good when it comes to promotional tool as they are used to promote things such as Christmas because they are new and exclusive episodes that are shown only in the Christmas period. They are also used to do things such as new films that have never been viewed on television that are shown at Christmas so are advertised in that period.