ITV schools on 4 25th anniversary

If you're on Facebook, (me, Si-Co and several other users) set up a ITV Schools fan group a while ago:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/136492176419987/
Doing well with 79 members!
Feel free to join!

I shall join Ben!

Regards other programming before schools programmes, as already stated C4 began at 13:30 weekdays prior to ITV Schools on 4 starting. On a video on TV-ark (which hopefully will be reinstated soon) there is a clip of that first ever opening. The C4 trade test sequence had oracle, 4-tel teletext and ETP-1, changing over every 15 minutes. Usually, ETP-1 was the last thing shown, before they faded to black for a minute then introduced the first programme of the day.

On that historic first morning, Oracle pages were being shown when, at 09:26;57 they suddenly crashed out. We were then left with a black screen for one minute, before the ITV Schools on 4 logos glided onto the screen, and the start up occurred. Environments was the first ever proper ITV Schools on 4 programme. I say proper, because during the 1987 general election, ITV schools was shown a couple of days on 4, but using the normal ITV Schools sequence.

The presentation was awesome. I really did miss it when it went and before I was reunited with it thanks to the internet. As a child, I wasn't aware of the situation with Channel 4 and January 1st 1993 had no significance to me at the time, certainly as I lived in the Granada region where there were no noticable changes to the ITV service. I can still feel the stomach-churning disappointment I experienced in Autumn 1993, when I first noticed that it had all gone, to be replaced by a much shorter sequence with a digital clock, complete with anti-stress whale music.

I always felt that the roto and its music, 'The Journey', were really under-appreciated by the rest of the kids. They all loved 'Just A Minute', understandably, and would join in with it but would just look at the roto all disinterested and in anticipation of the clock/Just A Minute. I found the roto mesmerising. Loved how the ITVs were coloured on the external faces and monochrome on the sides and reverses, plus the reflections on the surface. I used to really enjoy it when treated to a good run of the roto sequence. If you got 15 seconds of it, you were doing well. It was rare to get more than half a minute and I would be extremely disappointed on the occassions where the roto gave way to the clock almost instantaniously; something that I think became more common as the years went. I loved the once-in-a-blue-moon event when I would get to hear the brass section in the middle of the piece. I don't think this ever happened at school. I think it was either half term or if I was off sick and I'd watch all the junctions to see if I could get a long roto. The opening junction confused me; again, something I'd only see at home, as we never watched the first programme on in school. The roto came together at the beginning, rather than being already on the screen and the music seemed to be a different arrangement. It was always the same length (1 minute) too. The clock behaved as normal. It was not until this presentation appeared on the internet that I learned that it was actually the 1st minute of normal roto sequence, which I would never see be transmitted in other junctions, albeit edited to give way to the clock after a minute rather than after the full six minutes. Anyone know if the full seven minute sequence (6 min roto + 1 min clock) was ever played out on air during its run?

One final comment; I felt that another great aspect of this presentation was that it really gave the 80s-design 'rainbow' ITV logo a breath of life and did it justice. It never looked nearly as good in 2D and not animating. Also, 'ITV' branding was very low key before 1989 and virtually non-existent in some regions; ITV Schools On 4 allowed this logo to take centre stage. It worked so well that even the coporate identity of 1989 left it unscathed.

Great comments there, Mr Kite.

The word 'epic' is over-used these days but I think The Journey comes pretty close...

You're right about the ITV logo - the Schools junctions were the one place where it seemed to fit perfectly, colours and all.

The whole thing flowed and worked so well - the visual transition between roto and clock, paired with The Journey and Just A Minute being in the same key.

I agree, I always loved the 'Roto' more than the 'Just A Minute' clock...though of course it was always best as the full package. As for the music, both pieces of Music just added to the magic...truly magical Television.

I wonder if the ITV rebrand can come up with anything as interesting as the ITV Schools package, 1989 idents set or even the 1999 idents set?

Today is the Day

But here the thing does anyone else know/remember/see "The journey" was not always used but two other pieces have been used, for the ITV rotation.

* Animations, Library piece by Dave Hewson
* I never been able to found it.

Does anyone else remember? AND YES a lot of places have this wrong about only the journey being used....

When were any other pieces of music ever used for the roto? The only time I ever saw the roto with another type of music was when Channel 4 would have an interlude for a couple of minutes before actual ITV Schools On 4 would start up. Although I mostly remember them showing a still of the clock with non-standard music overlaid, there was a period, I think, where they showed the roto spinning, again, with non-standard music. I never once saw anything other than The Journey be used for the roto in the proper programming block, same with the clock and Just A Minute.

Anyways, happy birthday ITV Schools On 4. It was my first year at primary school and would watch this sequence before My World and Lets Go Maths.

Fact: On one occasion, the longer version of 'The Journey' was actually used as 'roto' interlude music before the actual start-up!

I wonder why the ITV Schools on 4 presentation wasn't changed in 1989, when ITV got it's first proper corporate logo? The logo used in the 1987 sequence was common on network trailers in the 1980s, but never standardised. Although, the 1989 logo would not have worked with that animation.

The fact the 1989 logo wouldn't have worked with the animation was the reason! Basically, ITv and Channel 4 recognised that the existing ITV logo was familiar to those watching ITV Schools on 4, and that the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" thought was used, hence it was left.

Also, with regards to the 09:25 - 09:27;50 start up, the still of the clok was used until December 1991, with the clock stopped on 28 seconds, not by coincidence I imagine. Any library music was used by C4 for this, and then in 1992 it switched to the rotomotion device for 3 minutes, with jazz or synthisizer music.

A video is on youtube confirming "The journey" was used on one occasion. There were never any occasions in junctions that anything other than The Journey or Just a Minute was used.

So the piece other pieces I have seen clips of were used for that start up?

I would say that the 1989 logo fitting the roto animation was irrelevent. Really, if they had decided that the old logo could not be kept in place for the sake of consistency, they'd have almost certainly have went for a totally new design for the junctions between programmes. No doubt the principle would've been broadly similar; a 60 second clock and an interlude of several minutes preceding it to cater for the varying size of the gaps between programming, but they'd have been different.

I think a few things went in the existing presentation's favour. For a start, it was still pretty new come October 1989. I'm sure I read somewhere that quite a lot of sweat and tears went into making it, especially in perfecting the roto, so those who were involved in it would probably have burst a blood vessel on realsing it was being ditched after 25 months, considering how relatively samey the ITV Schools (On ITV) had been for many years previously. The cost, both of the existing presentation and any potential replacement probably made the idea of retention more attractive. The new ITV logo and rebrand of 1989 was primarily to link up the fractured identities of the various ITV stations, so to tie them together as a network and ITV to 'number 3' on the TV set. Channel 4 was not actual ITV, despite the link. If anything, they probably didn't want the new logo on Channel 4 in order not to dillute the brand. Also, viewers will have mostly been kids and conventional wisdom suggests kids don't notice nor care about these sort of things. Lastly, let's face it; this presentation was awesome and was immediately popular with the school children. Other than lack of brand alignment with the rest of ITV, it wasn't broke. In fact, it was very unbroke. It was fitting for it to have lasted for six years. It would've been a sad loss if it's fate was the same as Tyne Tees' river ident.

Like I touched on early, it hinted at the largely untapped potential of the 80s ITV logo.