TVS used the sheep in 1988, and then again in 1992 (cost saving I'd have thought). As far as I recall it was TVS who used them first. Certainly in the latter years of TVS, they were selective of which ITV network package they used, especially at Christmas.
That is very odd, the announcement is a bit strange too - she's stumbling over her words which aren't exactly the standard station slogan (and slightly inaccurate of course)
I wonder if it was something experimental that the crew that day came up with and tried, but wasn't very good so was never seen again?
Also note the promo for Thames Monday night schedule after the news!
Last edited by Inspector Sands on 26 September 2016 10:10am - 3 times in total
That is very odd, the announcement is a bit strange too - she's stumbling over her words which aren't exactly the standard station slogan (and slightly inaccurate of course)
I wonder if it was something experimental that the crew that day came up with and tried, but wasn't very good so was never seen again?
Or, it was an error (either they cued up the ident rather than the clock by mistake and switched before realising it looked a mess live on air, or they switched too late and it went to air as-is), and the announcer stumbled because something odd was happening on the monitor?
I recall something similar happening at Tyne Tees once; the keyed background to IVC was set to the normal background rather than the 'Lookaround' programme being shown, and rather than just leave it the TC decided to change backgrounds a few seconds in, switching to 2 or 3 programme slides before landing on the correct one. Announcer Kathy Secker looked down at her monitor and appeared visibly puzzled, but carried on without losing her place. The announcer's name-check aston appeared several seconds later and was quickly flashed on and off, which kinda suggested that the TC was having a nightmare behind the scenes!
Last edited by ttt on 27 September 2016 8:48am - 2 times in total
As someone posted in the comments to that video, you can hear the thud, as the camera stopped.
I always remember once, in the early 80s on STV, before a news programme, the STV clock appeared to be at the wrong time, or something was wrong with the clock. In addition, in the top right hand corner of the screen, was an alphanumeric code. No idea why. There was also, probably connected to this, no continuity announcement.
As someone posted in the comments to that video, you can hear the thud, as the camera stopped.
I wonder about that though. Was it coincidence? Why would the announcer's microphone be within earshot of the clock/ident/camera arrangement when the announcer is sat in a studio (IVC being in place at this point)? I'd have thought the two would have been in completely different rooms?
More likely I'd have thought, is that the announcer had some control over what element came up, and was hitting something on the desk to stop the camera?