How the heck did such a mistake happen when a rotating globe had been used as the BBC One logo for more than 20 years at that point!?!
Maybe it wasn't really a mistake, maybe whoever designed it never intended it to represent the world. Maybe they saw it as a globe rather than a planet.
For the record, the BBC Sport globe ident had an 11-year lifespan from 1988 to 1999. It was introduced for the Seoul Olympics in 1988, then re-launched in July 1992 for the Barcelona Olympics.
The 1992-1996 era had different coloured rings for different sports, e.g. blue for swimming, green for racing, gold for Olympics, multi-coloured for Grandstand. There were also a number of differently keyed versions of the jingle.
Then, in June 1996, a new brash, chunky logo was introduced at the start of Euro 96. A red/gold version was also used for the 1996 Olympics and 1997 World Athletics Championships. There were 3 different versions of the jingle this time.
This set of idents - my personal favourite - only lasted just over a year, until the big BBC re-brand in 1997 when this version was introduced. There were opening and closing versions of this one. There was also a very subtle variation in the jingle used sometimes, but I can only find examples of the regular version.
BBC Sport then had a major re-brand in April 1999, for the US Masters Golf, and the globe was no more - replaced by these rather uninspiring, messy (IMO) idents. There were two generic versions used for Grandstand etc, and also some sport-specific versions. These idents would signal the start of a bit of an identity crisis for BBC Sport. Previously the GFX set would be in the same style as the main globe ident, and this was the case initially from 1999. However, as time went on, the main GFX scheme moved totally away from the new ident which, in the end, had no relevance to the rest of the GFX package whatsoever.
The re-mixed version of the Grandstand theme tune was introduced in September 1999 and, IIRC, only lasted until January/February 2000.
In February 2003, BBC Sport totally re-branded into the yellow/black block scheme which (although continually re-freshed) still remains today.
t was also used on VHS and cassette tapes if I remember.
Even for years after both the parallelogram/stripes BBC logo and the globe ident were dropped, they appeared on those cassette tapes for as long as they were in production. I was never quite sure why the globe appeared on them in the first place given they seemed to have no other connection with BBC Sport, let alone why they continued to appear so long. I guess the licence from the BBC to the manufacturer must have stipulated specific use of that particular BBC logo.
t was also used on VHS and cassette tapes if I remember.
Even for years after both the parallelogram/stripes BBC logo and the globe ident were dropped, they appeared on those cassette tapes for as long as they were in production. I was never quite sure why the globe appeared on them in the first place given they seemed to have no other connection with BBC Sport, let alone why they continued to appear so long. I guess the licence from the BBC to the manufacturer must have stipulated specific use of that particular BBC logo.
The VHS tapes didn't use the proper BBC logo, either.
Indeed the BBC logo didn't match, this tape and sleeve I remember buying in 1998, not sure when they stopped
Sorry about the picture size btw.
Sky and Virgin also lent their brand to blank tapes too. There were to versions of the Sky tapes, one with the egg logo and one with the logo from 2000 IIRC.
I think they changed it in 1999 as you can see from this video when they also introduced animated holding slides and the great Grandstand theme remix which was sadly dropped (an opinion which will be controversial I'm sure).
WillPS, I count four if you include the TV Ark ident.
I agree with you on that - they're far to quick to listen to the traditionalists whenever a theme tune is updated rather than just give it a chance.
I think they changed it in 1999 as you can see from this video when they also introduced animated holding slides and the great Grandstand theme remix which was sadly dropped (an opinion which will be controversial I'm sure).
WillPS, I count four if you include the TV Ark ident.
I agree with you on that - they're far to quick to listen to the traditionalists whenever a theme tune is updated rather than just give it a chance.
I think this is more of a case of bad synthesisation versus a live orchestra/good synthesisation. In this case, the synthesised theme is very 90s/early 2000s, but has dated very quickly. The original theme was better, but by no means perfect.
Of course, there is always a reaction to theme tune changes - the BBC Election theme is one I remember, despite the fact the original hadn't been in use since the 1997 election (the 2005 being an updated version). Of course, if you ask people now the majority say the new theme is better - (I think) I liked it from the start.
