Carlton and other Regions

Does anyone like Carlton or other ITV Regions, with very different looks, different names, they are all muddled up, I think ITV needs to scrap all ITV Regions and Start all over again.
What would you call the regions? I think all regions would have the same Idents and the names would be like ITV Midlands, ITV South West and ITV Wales

I like the idea of regions! Totally national channels lack the identification with where they serve. I mean I always felt a small sense of awe when all the regions came together for something like the Telethons it was like visually tying all the regions together through ITV - a bit like the results of the Eurovision when they go round all the countries. People identify with their region and ITV has been a factor in this - for example people in the South West call ITV Westward after their now defunct local station. People like the establishment (media and government) to be close to them, hence all the devolution of the past 5 years. This country's always had a tradition of different areas being in competition with the others, north vs south, yorkshire vs lancashire, wales & scotland vs england and ITV is a part of that. And I *totally* disagree with you on the naming of regions ITV Midlands, ITV Wales, ITV London; etc - I prefer it to have a bit of imagination if you're going to regionally brand places. Although, companies which you can't obviously identify with the region they serve is a cause for confusion. I personally think the 82-92 ITV was the best - every region was identifiable with their region. That is the whole point of ITV - ITV is a *federation* of regional companies which is why it is called Independent Television - lots of independent television companies coming together! If they are going to abolish the regionality then they would have to dump the ITV name and call it Channel 3! I know everyone will say those days have gone but there are still elements of regionality and I think most people would like more regionality! You lose the regionality - you lose ITV.

Regional Identities seem so small and pathetic to me.

I can understand the regions having their seperate Identity on production boards, but if ITV want to stand any chance of competing, in this global world, they need to appear strong. And having a good brand accross the board achieves that.

Regions have their place though, so with ITV, perhaps their idents could involve shots of different areas of the region, animated then the ITV 1 logo.

And a generic ident with shots from all the UK.

The ITV London and ITV North West logos should only apply in voice only.
What i mean about this is... When announcing programmes they should say something like, This is ITV1 in the South East, now for The Bill. etc.

but the visual logo should just be ITV 1.

I think one of the quirks and likeable aspects of the ITV Network is its reach to a local audience. What would ITV be without Channel Television or Border. Just look at Border's website and you will know exactly what I mean.

However, I think this is threatened by the recent explosion of everything in the field of corporate identity and corporate activity. People like Carlton and Granada concentrate more on their profits and global position and God knows what, rather than the whole purpose - local programming and presentation.

Don't get me wrong, Carlton does a great job on ITV (in London anyway), but this doesn't mean it should try to take over every other company in its path.

Well said Thames, couldn't agree more.


(Edited by Mich at 9:00 pm on July 24, 2001)

Having just said what I have said, I totally agree that if ITV is to succeed, they need a really strong image - and this they haven't got. Sorry for being hypocritical and completely disagreeing with my own point of view, but all of the network needs to get together and think how they can standardise ITV's presentation.

However, this does not mean scrapping anything remotely regional or destroying an individual region. They should keep their names, keep their logos, just make a point of saying they are part of ITV. If people like SMG, Carlton and Ulster are reluctant to do this, they have to remember they were the ones who took up the licence in the first place.

When you say ITV is to succeed in what terms do you mean succeed? If you mean in terms of selling their programmes abroad then surely the most important thing is that the programmes are of a decent standard not who makes them.

If you are talking about the ITV brand being successful - it already is. I think its very derogatory to assume that the British public can't understand the concept of 15 stations coming together to form a network. For the brand to be successful it has to identify with its audience which the regionality did/does - Thames you identified with London, Westward with the South West; etc etc.

Presentation is not the highest factor when selling a product - if you want ITV2 to be watched put decent programmes on it, if you want ITV Digital to get subscribers give the customer what they want.

People know that Channel 3 is ITV and that the regional contractor is a part of ITV.

Why not celebrate diversity and encourage creativity in presentation instead of trying to slap labels on everyone in a bout of corporatism?

Erm... good?

I am stuck with them all the time! I personally would quite like to see just a national 'ITV' with local opts like on the BBC for local news updates. This could also free up some funding for the smaller regions such as Border, allowing them to improve their news service.

In my opinion, anyway.

It's all too easy nowadays to dump tradition. If they were to scrap the regions, they would be scrapping fifty years of a system that does work, and discarding the legends that are Thames, LWT and Granada. Britiain should be proud of it's television services. We've got a high quality system, the BBC, one of the few, if not the only service in the world not to be taken over by adverts. The ITV network, a unique system of regional companies and identity. Channel Four, another public service broadcaster which delivers such a wide range of programmes, and with a highly successful British film devision FilmFour. Our television service is run properly, compared to half the rubbish produced abroad.

ITV regions are important for the areas outside the main cities and hubs of the UK, they are one of the few sources for local news.

And even in the cities, what would ITV be without London's Weekends with LWT?

If ITV regions went, so would gradually any sense of local programming.

Well I have to say that a standardised ITV with a strong regional identity *is* possible, and I'd rather have a nationally-standardised presentation with, say, a locally-sourced ident and announcement, with the region dominant in the logo (maybe with regional scenes and the region's logo in view). The only way of doing this I feel is to create a template of how a regional ident should look like, then let the region put it's own imagery into that template. Can't be difficult in 2001, surely?

By doing this you would combine a strong corporate image with regional identity, and regions (particularly the smaller ones) could even opt for (gasp) in-vision continuity if they so wished in their allotted time-slots. It would be cheaper and a lot more effective than the pathetic empire-building we've seen over the last decade in Glasgow, Leeds, London, Cardiff and Southampton, each having their own spin on how an identity should be made.

Scrap the lot of em, have self-operating regional opt-outs for idents/continuity/regional promotions and public service announcements etc, with main continuity from London. Let the regional station have complete control over it's regionality within the 'template' rules, and even (whoa!!) have a regional/national DOG on-screen at all times to promote the brand.

So much better than the mish-mash we have at the moment. ITV needs a strong brand but this must not be achieved at the expense of regionality, which many people, particularly as you get further from London, are very attached to.

(Edited by jase at 10:24 pm on July 24, 2001)

Why is it so important that a viewer in the Grampian region should see the same continuity and branding as a person in the Westcountry region?

Does ITV, sorry -- 'itv', gain or lose viewers because the pretty symbols are different all over the place?

The only way ITV can compete as a whole is to have good programming -- and within that concept I mean scheduling as well as the programmes.

Having unified graphics doesn't really do much apart from keeping Lambie Nairn in business (or English Pocket or whatever they're called at the moment).

(Edited by Andrew Wood at 12:35 am on July 25, 2001)

Oh well they don't have a hope in hell then!