BBC Oneness - idents and presentation

Excellent post, and one I pretty much agree with completely. I have to say, I think it's a disgrace that our national broadcaster now has such amateurish, ramshackle presentation. I happen to watch a fair bit of European TV, and the difference in pres standards between the BBC and public broadcasters on the continent is really like night and day. A typical junction on, say, ZDF, or Eén, is much tighter than an average junction on a BBC channel: there is far more consistency with trailer styles, the endboards actually look good, and the idents are slick and have recognisable jingles. The trade-off with that is the typical format we're used to here, of an ident with a live V/O introducing the programme, doesn't really exist in Europe anymore - the idents you see there are more like stings - that being said, if the BBC want to save money on branding, perhaps this is a route they should go down?

As for BBC Two, I think that as absolutely wonderful as they are, instead of bringing back the 1991-2001 idents, the best thing to do would have been to make new idents in the same style, but brought up to date, if that makes sense? I personally think some fresh twists on that style would work wonders for the look and feel of BBC Two. Like many others on this board, I really liked the Artsnight idents that were used not long ago, and am perplexed as to why they go to the trouble of commissioning excellent work like that, which is only used for a few evenings a year, but then sticking with idents that are, in some cases, nearly 30 years old(!) for everyday use. AFAIK, no other channel in the world uses 30 year old idents on a regular basis.

It beggars belief, in my opinion, that standards within the BBC seem to have dropped so sharply within the past decade or so. It's worth noting that the current presentation styles for both Eén and Canvas (Flemish answers to BBC One and Two, respectively) were designed by a British company http://whynotassociates.com. We have some excellent design agencies in this country - I think the BBC would do well to employ some of their services.

Agreed!

Channel pres in the UK and Ireland has generally been quite poor for some time now. Very bland and uninspired. Dbl has been posting examples of pres from other countries on and off for a while now. It has really opened my eyes. You're right - many of the other European broadcasters are streets ahead of us. And of course, the ultimate irony is that British designers are involved in those projects.

BBC One and BBC Two are in a pitiful state, which is so very sad. As Larry the Loafer has suggested, a lot of what we see on screen at the moment has nothing to do with lack of money and perhaps more to do with the people involved being out of their depth or just plain clueless.

The 'Arts' idents are superb. And I THINK there may be a new variation or two of those lately. Restricting those idents to a tiny number of junctions each week, is utter folly - particularly when they're using such aged sequences the rest of the time. I'm sure the Arts idents weren't cheap. Restricting them in this way is not value for money.

A few trailers on BBC ONE tonight have ended with the text at the bottom and cantered over the BBC logo with a clip of the show (or oddly in the case of a show about the emergency services, a black screen). This seems to mirror the end board that BBC TWO has used occasionally. It would be nice if that was something they adopted to bring some uniformity to the presentation like we had in the 90’s - same end board, different logo in the top left. Applogoes if this is something they have been doing for a while, shows how little I watch BBC ONE these days I suppose!

Thinking about it, it wouldn't at all surprise me if the reason they do such things as commissioning new idents, only to use them a few junctions a week is to do with internal politics at play. A case in point is the new BBC Scotland channel: there have been calls for a 'Scottish Six' for years, as I'm sure most reading this will know. Instead, they are launching a completely new channel, at a time when their finances are under increased scrutiny, and extensive cutbacks are the order of the day. I just don't understand the mindset, or the logic, behind these decisions. In any case, let's hope this new channel has better pres than that of BBC One and BBC Two...

If anyone hasn't seen it, here's a link discussing how the Arts idents were made. It's a real travesty that they've not been adapted full time...

https://www.maxon.net/en/industries/broadcast-motion-graphics/bbc-2/

Brace yourselves folks. Looks like the "creatives" have been allowed to play with BBC One pres elements again. Please tell me this is not a new trail endboard design? Or has the work experience boy at BBC NI been let loose?

"ITV have got big text on their endboards. We need to be doing that too."



What a mess!

One noticeable thing about some of these new trails; some of them have been aired in full HD, rather than upscaled as they have been before.

Here's how they would handle it in Germany (Das Erste & ZDF):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPW95Gkgwmo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqKUTiNYOJ4

Yes, there's no announcer - but more smoother.

Or in France they tend to use a breakdown breakfiller video which highlights programming, with catchy music to keep presence on-air:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRYBRmFexs8