ITV1 Rebranding

Gonzo

ITV1 rebands on 28th October, HTV becomes ITV1-Wales and Carlton-LWT becomes ITV1-London etc... theres also talks bout Scottish regions finally using the ITV1 brand... But will UTV finally start using the ITV1 brand... I sure hope it does coz I really dont like UTV brand at all, the logo is poor compared to ITV1 and the UTV ads (I hate the voice-overs) for main ITV films and programmes are poor compared to whats on the rest of the ITV network.IMO utv should look as much like ITV1 as any other region. Does anyone know if UTV will be made change to ITV corporate... i havent read anything bout it yet anyway.

Gonzo

lol my silly spelling errors... I meant Rebranding:D

icdg

All the signs indicate that UTV will not be taking on the new corporate look on Monday forthnight. Neither it seems will Scottish and Grampian.

What is happening:
* On Monday 28th October, in England the ITV1 logo will replace the regional company logo on all idents and presentation, except before regional programmes when the regional company name will be used - excpet in London, where the "ITV1 London" name will be used instead of Carlton and LWT.
* In Wales, the HTV name will be replaced with "ITV1 Wales", except during HTV News.
* A new set of idents featuring ITV celeberties off duty will be introduced, alongside a slightly modified (its been given a spot of paint!) ITV logo.
* In England, regional continuity is meant to end and be replaced with a London announcing team. However current rumours suggest it will not happen on 28/10/02, it may be delayed.

And now a moderator comment:
ATTN:
Thread moved to the Broadcasting forum

mike65

Originally posted by Gonzo
I sure hope it does coz I really dont like UTV brand at all, the logo is poor compared to ITV1 and the UTV ads (I hate the voice-overs) for main ITV films and programmes are poor compared to whats on the rest of the ITV network.IMO utv should look as much like ITV1 as any other region.

I agree, while I have'nt ever seen other "ITV outposts"
like Shetland and Isle of Man (!) UTVs whole presentational approach reeks of low-budget cheese, but I suppose it plays well with farmers in Fermanagh...

Mike.

Elmo

I like the UTV main design but UTV Live and Sport look terrible.

And the Stuido's are back in the early 1990's.

JDxtra

I think UTV's on screen presentation is pretty poor when you compare it to some of the other ITV regions.

And the voiceover guys they use in their ads for upcoming programming (e.g. movies) are just terrible!

mike65

Originally posted by jdempsey

...the voiceover guys they use in their ads for upcoming programming (e.g. movies) are just terrible!

Is it me or do the voice-overs emphisise the wrong words or syliable in a given word? Maybe its the accent...

Mike.

icdg

Just to update people, the latest suggestion (implied, but never excplicitly stated, by MediaGuardian) is that UTV will use the new look but with "UTV" replacing "ITV1" in all applications. This will, if true, mean the end (and good riddance!) to the infamous UTV Jingle, which has been used on all idents since 1993.

No statement from UTV as of yet on the matter, but Jim Hytner (Marketing Director of the ITV Network Centre) has already said UTV will not be using the ITV1 brand.

Oh, and the end of regional continuity has been confirmed. It has also been confirmed that Carlton and LWT will now be known simply as "ITV1".

DMC

Not only in London, but throughout England, HTV in Wales will go to become "ITV1 Wales" (though HTV News stays!) in this (a first) well informed Media Guardian....

Other sources are saying that LWT will disappear with a bang!

LWT brand set to be axed

Julia Day
Monday October 21, 2002

London Weekend Television's famous red, blue and white logo - synonymous with light entertainment classics ranging from On The Buses and Please, Sir! to Blind Date - is being eased out after 34 years.

It will be consigned to television history next Monday, when ITV relaunches across England with a single unified brand. From then it will only appear in the credits of programmes made by the London company.

Harlech Television's logo, HTV, in Wales which also launched in 1968, to be replaced with a new blue and white ITV1 Wales logo.

The loss of the LWT name outside the credits is the latest milestone in the history of the company which has struggled to maintain its separate identity ever since Granada TV took it over after a hostile bid in 1996.

The brand is not just a familiar sight to London viewers - over the last two decades it has carved a reputation as the powerhouse of entertainment, producing virtually every Saturday night hit in the history of ITV, including the recent Popstars series.

But it decided the name had to be shelved as an ITV brand in the greater interests of the network which is facing its biggest ratings crisis in 50 years.

The rebranding, which has cost £750,000, shows serious dents in ITV's attempts to present a unified front to viewers.

Today it emerged that the network is split over the rebranding with three companies Scottish, Grampian, Ulster Television refusing to swop their brands for the ITV1 name in order to maintain their local characteristics.

Carlton Communications and Granada which own 10 of ITV companies were unable to persuade Scottish Television and Grampian owner Scottish Media Group and Ulster Television to drop their names and adopt the ITV1 title.

Scottish and Ulster felt their identities were important cultural institutions. In both north and south of Ireland, they argued, ITV is an unfamiliar brand to viewers where the network is known simply as UTV. In Scotland, dual branding has been used, but STV is the more common name for ITV - particularly among older viewers.

"Scottish and Grampian are much stronger brands in Scotland than ITV, and this has been borne out through years of research," said a spokesman for the Scottish Media Group.

"We can never say never, but for the time being our name remains," he added.

The Scottish and Northern Ireland broadcasters have previously resisted taking on generic ITV branding - such as the heart logo - and as a result on-screen the channels have always looked very different to other regions.

The three rebel regions will not have the ITV1 name at all, but keep their own.

"At the moment, Scottish and Ulster have a brand that people empathise with," said Jim Hytner, ITV's marketing and commercial director.

"But in the spirit of the future from the market's standpoint, we would want a single brand.

"We could potentially do ITV1 Scotland, it is a possible next step," Mr Hytner added.

Apart from in London, where regional programmes will be preceded just an ITV1 logo - not ITV1 London or ITV1, LWT or Carlton logo - and a voiceover that says "You're watching ITV1 in London".

The names of the other ITV licensees - such as Yorkshire and Anglia - will be shown on screen alongside the ITV1 name before regional programming is aired.
__________________

Ever since 1993, this has been inevitable.

icdg

Originally posted by DMC
Not only in London, but throughout England, HTV in Wales will go to become "ITV1 Wales" (though HTV News stays!) in this (a first) well informed Media Guardian....

Other sources are saying that LWT will disappear with a bang!

LWT brand set to be axed


Harlech Television's logo, HTV, in Wales which also launched in 1968, to be replaced with a new blue and white ITV1 Wales logo.

I know its slag MediaGuardian week elsewhere (seriously, its a good web site (usually)), and just to add my tuppance worth, you and I both know Damien that the current HTV logo launched in 1993! And the new ITV1Wales logo is blue and yellow!

lawhec

I actually quite like UTV's presentation all round though the sports presentation could be a bit better. It's a traditionally smaller ITV company in what was only a few years ago a truly federal ITV and doesn't have an awfaul amount of money to splash about with unlike Granada/Carlton (look at the ill fated ITV digital for example).

Personally I hope that UTV resists being swallowed into the ITV1 brand as long as it is possible, hopefully never but you can never say that. It's radio and internet interests (how many giving off about UTV on this topic use it's off-peak internet package?) should keep it going for a while.

DMC

As long as UTV stays out of the loop, the "I" in ITV will still stand for Independent, and not Integrated.

Long may UTV stay the way it is.

And Ronan, how long has it been since its been called Harlech in the media??

(Classic pre-1993 HTV logo on Andrew Wiseman's site)

icdg

1970, I presume! Although my relatives who lived in Waterford for a while still call it Harlech!

I wonder will the Irish newspapers cop on to the change, and list the station as "ITV1Wales" from Monday?

BTW - The Scotsman and MediaGuardian both now say Scottish and Grampian WILL be taking the corporate look, but with the relevant logo replacing ITV1. So it seems we may well be in for a UTV relaunch on Monday.

There'll be a break bumper in between every advert (a la C5)in particpating regions, BTW.

DMC

Where did you see that on Media Guardian, Ronan?

icdg

http://media.guardian.co.uk/itvunderpressure/story/0,1430,816685,00.html

"Scottish, Grampian, Ulster and Channel have decided to adopt the new channel identity, but have drawn the line at the ITV1 tag: although their on-air look will be restyled to fit with the rest of the country, the rebel regions will retain their company names. "

West Briton

"The Rebel Regions"! Love it!!

icdg

Originally posted by icdg
Just to update people, the latest suggestion (implied, but never excplicitly stated, by MediaGuardian) is that UTV will use the new look but with "UTV" replacing "ITV1" in all applications. This will, if true, mean the end (and good riddance!) to the infamous UTV Jingle, which has been used on all idents since 1993.

And sure enough, this is exactly what happened!

Very wierd to be looking at a corporate look UTV. Its' so unlike the station. The UTV Jingle is (mostly) gone, and good riddance. At least the idents no longer freeze! And there are voice overs on every ident, something there hasn't been for quite a while.

tvman

ITV 1 Idents,

:mad: Does anybody like the new ITV personality idents on ITV 1 etc, I think they are Bl......dy awful, they all look so smug, they last too long and they are a bit patronising as well.
Granada and Carlton have done a hatchet job on the ITV identity.


TVman

Elmo

Are TV ident all going to be live action? is anyone else bored of live Idents?

BBC One RTE One TV3 TG4 ITV One E4 FIVE etc etc

Bring back some kind of graphics work to them.

Not impressed by the new ITV idents, not that the previous ones were very good

Gonzo

I think of the ITV1 stuff now taken into UTV has made the channel look alot better now, the only station that still looks awfull is RTE1. RTE1s graphics make it look like its broadcasting from the dark ages! RTE1s graphics are awfully blocky and outdated looking straight out of russian tv about 10 years ago. Network2, TV3 and TG4 all have very nice modern idents and graphics so why cant RTE1. Any why have all RTE voice over ppl been trained to call RTE1 not RTE1 but (puts on very culchie accent here) arrrrrteee-eeeeee1 - sounds just awfully backward imo. RTE1 needs serious changing to keep in style with the modern age methinks. Big thumbs up tho for rest of the irish channels.

Mossy Monk

i like the look that RTÉ1 has. the best one by a long way

ITV1 on the other hand. what a disaster. it looks ridiculous. i only saw the "ITV1 Wales" version of it but it is shockingly bad. who did they hire to do them

Aww shucks, I thought Davina McCaul looks really well on the ITV1 Wales one.
She's a real pet:)
mm

Elmo

I think of the ITV1 stuff now taken into UTV has made the channel look alot better now, the only station that still looks awfull is RTE1. RTE1s graphics make it look like its broadcasting from the dark ages! RTE1s graphics are awfully blocky and outdated looking straight out of russian tv about 10 years ago. Network2, TV3 and TG4 all have very nice modern idents and graphics so why cant RTE1. Any why have all RTE voice over ppl been trained to call RTE1 not RTE1 but (puts on very culchie accent here) arrrrrteee-eeeeee1 - sounds just awfully backward imo. RTE1 needs serious changing to keep in style with the modern age methinks. Big thumbs up tho for rest of the irish channels.

Emmm we live in Ireland people from Ireland outside of Dublin have culchie accents and i don't think they are backward do you.

I like RTE One's graphic i think they can be changed quickly and easily and still look great. The Millinume (sp) RTE One graphic was brilliant if you remember that.

But they do need to get rid of some of the backgrounds, i agree.

also liked there star wars ident even if it was a bit too, well, sad.

Jasper

I like the RTE1 idents. I think that they have quite a wide appeal.
The new BBC1 NI idents are awful, I don't know if they are similar throughout the UK regions. BBC2 idents?... the best I've seen.