SW
I would agree with that, I think they're fantastic. As you say, although they got rid of the Central and Westcountry brands, regionally they did quite a lot in terms of continuity. I mean, the Granada regions kept the local names but to what benefit? The continuity using it was appalling.
I disagree, it's slagged off because it replaced the cake and because it was the same as Carlton's idents, but I was living in the region at the time and I'd not seen the Carlton ones so for me it was all new and I thought it looked quite cool. It all seemed quite witty and stylish, I thought.
Well, maybe, but as I say, to what benefit? The Granada logo stayed around but just as a tiny blur in the middle of the ident. They didn't refer to it on air and there was pan-regional continuity from Leeds so it was hardly the Granada we used to know and love. The other Granada regions were the same - yes, they still had the old names and logos, but at what price?
I would agree with this. As I say, it was just a treat to see a channel with some announcers who sounded like they knew what they were introducing, and some idents that actually moved and had a beginning, middle and end. Yeah, you lost the regional names but they were complete husks by that point anyway. I know the celeb idents dated badly - you had the Geri Halliwell Popstars ident still running months after it had finished and she wasn't on the channel at all - but in terms of creating a coherent ITV brand they worked just fine. It certainly reflected what the channel was doing at the time.
The idents that replaced those were incredibly dull affairs. There was all that stuff about how they were going to be able to include promos and menus and so on in them and be so flexible, but much like the regional hearts idents, that all seemed to be too much trouble and so that idea was abandoned after a few weeks and you just had the basic idents. That's before you consider the ident itself, where the idea of splitting the ITV into blocks seemed bizarre given the BBC had very famous and long established blocks in their ident.
Those idents were pitiful. But the Carlton idents were particularly impressive. Regionalised continuity was maintained and though they got rid of particularly iconic brands such as Central, compared to the rest of the ITV network the presentation was ten times better. They could even stand as idents nowadays.
I would agree with that, I think they're fantastic. As you say, although they got rid of the Central and Westcountry brands, regionally they did quite a lot in terms of continuity. I mean, the Granada regions kept the local names but to what benefit? The continuity using it was appalling.
As a contender for worst presentation of all time, I think that the "Carltonised" Central package from the late 1990s (prior to the 1999 rebranding) has to be a contender, especially when you consider the package that it replaced!
I disagree, it's slagged off because it replaced the cake and because it was the same as Carlton's idents, but I was living in the region at the time and I'd not seen the Carlton ones so for me it was all new and I thought it looked quite cool. It all seemed quite witty and stylish, I thought.
The Central presentation of the late 90s was basically a transitionary package designed with the intention of phasing-in the Carlton brand.
If Central hadn't been taken over by Carlton, things could have been very different, especially when you consider that the logos of the other ITV regions (such as those which ended up being owned by Granada) survived well into the 2000s, so the Cake may have ended up surviving in some shape or form.
If Central hadn't been taken over by Carlton, things could have been very different, especially when you consider that the logos of the other ITV regions (such as those which ended up being owned by Granada) survived well into the 2000s, so the Cake may have ended up surviving in some shape or form.
Well, maybe, but as I say, to what benefit? The Granada logo stayed around but just as a tiny blur in the middle of the ident. They didn't refer to it on air and there was pan-regional continuity from Leeds so it was hardly the Granada we used to know and love. The other Granada regions were the same - yes, they still had the old names and logos, but at what price?
To me they were another case of being rated based on what they replaced, they never had a chance.
In my opinion the celeb idents made more sense than the 2006-2012 ITV1 idents.
In my opinion the celeb idents made more sense than the 2006-2012 ITV1 idents.
I would agree with this. As I say, it was just a treat to see a channel with some announcers who sounded like they knew what they were introducing, and some idents that actually moved and had a beginning, middle and end. Yeah, you lost the regional names but they were complete husks by that point anyway. I know the celeb idents dated badly - you had the Geri Halliwell Popstars ident still running months after it had finished and she wasn't on the channel at all - but in terms of creating a coherent ITV brand they worked just fine. It certainly reflected what the channel was doing at the time.
The idents that replaced those were incredibly dull affairs. There was all that stuff about how they were going to be able to include promos and menus and so on in them and be so flexible, but much like the regional hearts idents, that all seemed to be too much trouble and so that idea was abandoned after a few weeks and you just had the basic idents. That's before you consider the ident itself, where the idea of splitting the ITV into blocks seemed bizarre given the BBC had very famous and long established blocks in their ident.