It's not the first time either is it? They use them on weekend daytimes as well don't they?
At least they managed to use the pre-news version of the UTV Day ident!
Have UTV always been very poor at presentation or is it only since they started partially taking the corporate look and making a hash of it?
No, by and large, they've always been poor.
There were one or two periods, IMHO, whne they were not so bad - in 1989, Ulster Television introduced a new computerised logo/set, etc, which was pretty good, and then when they relaunched themselves as UTV in 1993, it was also pretty good: the logo (many versions), stings, captions, clock, music, etc, weren't at all bad.
But, now, it's all over the place, clearly doesn't have a lot of planning, effort or money put into it and the results are there on the screen for all to see.
I don't know if would have made much difference in the long run, given the way television has gone, but I think the ITC made a serious error of judgment in 1991 by rewarding them with a franchise renewal in 1991 when they hadn't actually deserved it. It was a "safe" decision.
Still, the ordinary viewing public as opposed to TV presentation enthusiasts don't appear to mind.
Nope. SMG have their standard presentation throughout the day.
UTV only seem to have gone seriously downhill since around 2000, around the time things went widescreen. Before then their presentation was fairly slick most of the time. I particularly liked the programme menu beside the announcer on in-vis links, a good use of IVC.
In the 80s, before computerisation, UTV was always noticably cheap and a bit rough around the edges, but I don't recall anything like the unprofessionalism they have today, just the odd slight timing fault that was common to any TV station at the time. UTV just came across as similar to any other small ITV station with limited funds and outdated equipment.
Even today though, I don't think UTV is as bad as the horrible mess that was YTV's "presentation" of Tyne Tees in the mid 90s.....
I think it's also useful to note that UTV's regional output, forgetting presentation, is still head and shoulders above any of the ITV plc stations, and SMG as well. The "Insight" programme is one of the very few decent documentary programmes produced at all by ITV.
Even today though, I don't think UTV is as bad as the horrible mess that was YTV's "presentation" of Tyne Tees in the mid 90s.....
I remember that well, especially in 1993. Tyne Tees appeared to be using a dirty feed of YTV most of the time, with Tyne Tees announcers being heard talking over YTV ones, YTV idents and 'YTV presentation' endcaps appearing all over the place. TTTV joining the feed too early and too late. At times you actually got the impression TTTV didn't actually have a YTV routine sheet to work off! I remember just after the takeover YTV showed a three-minute catch-up/recap sequence for The Young Doctors (as they were skipping a years worth of episodes to play the show out to both regions simultaneously). TTTV filled the gap with a promo and a PIF, then joined the YTV recap and showed the YTV announcement into the show. It was as if someone thought, '****, Doctors has started, better join the feed now'. Surely they should have known exactly what time to opt-in!
I got so much stick that year. It was my first year at Durham Uni, and somehow I let out that I was a TV pres fan whilst drunk, and TTTV in particular. My how they laid in when everything went totally arse-about-face....
It didn't help when I got totally plastered a following time and tried to
defend
Tyne Tees against a bunch of Mancs who thought the sun shone out of Granada's bottom, and a heated drunken presentation shouting match ensued. This was in the middle of a student bar, and virtually the entire place got involved, you'd be amazed how much "ordinary" students seem to take in. We had Puffin's Plaice brought into the conversation and everything. I never quite lived that down
I notice on your website www.utvtoday.co.uk that you've mentioned announcers don't usually start until after 7pm. Why do they start so late?
Do they just let the ITV 1 anno's at the end of programmes?
I notice on your website www.utvtoday.co.uk that you've mentioned announcers don't usually start until after 7pm. Why do they start so late?
Do they just let the ITV 1 anno's at the end of programmes?
There are no announcements before that time at all.
day"
