A clock ident is a form of television ident in which a clock is displayed, reading the current time, and usually alongside the logo of that particular television station. Clock idents are typically used before news bulletins and closedown, though in the past quite commonly preceded regular programming. In the UK, it is also very much associated with schools programming.
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[edit] Appearance
Clock idents are typically displayed as an analogue clock, although some broadcasters have experimented with digital clocks.[1] In particular, during the 1970s and 1980s, many ITV regions in the UK adopted digital clock designs, which are overlaid onto a colored card using CSO. The backgrounds were generally static, but some clocks had movement. For example, Associated-Rediffusion had a spinning Adastral. The final clocks from 1995-1998, used by RTÉ One and RTÉ Two, were overlaid onto a video background.
The first station clocks were mechanical, but were converted to an electronically generated format in the 1980s.[2]
A clock will usually match a TV channel's normal ident or idents; TVP from Poland is an exception.
[edit] Usage
[edit] Europe
Traditionally, clock idents were used before news bulletins to ensure the bulletin began at the exact time dictated by the schedule.[3] Clocks could also appear at closedown or startup.
During the late '90s and early '00s, digital television became commonplace and clocks began to drop out of mainstream use - delays caused by digital systems meant that clocks were a few seconds slow. Most television channels no longer sign off at night, eliminating the need for clocks. BBC One stopped using a clock at Easter 2002 when it changed its idents from the balloon to the dancers. One notable exception is the Welsh-language channel S4C, which used a clock until 2007 at closedown and before news bulletins.
In the UK, the clocks usually have a background voice broadcasting the next program, and the current time.
Analogue clock idents were used in both the public RTP channels in Portugal, until a major rebranding on Jan 28th 2002, at which time they were replaced by less obtrusive digital clocks. Clock idents in Portugal have mostly been used before newscasts, although they were sometimes used to align programming with the schedule for continuity.
In Scandinavia, except for Iceland, clock idents typically come before news programs or sign-off/on. Sweden has since 1980 always used background music. In Denmark and Norway, clocks don't have music; however, they beep every 10 seconds.[citation needed] Iceland does not broadcast clocks.
Clocks usually don't match the idents and the sound is normally quiet in Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union had clocks, but today only Ukraine and Lithuania have clocks. Poland uses the old clock from 1979 with minimal changes. Czech Republic and Slovakia have never had clocks.
Hungary only had two TV stations in the same network until 1992, Duna TV and MTV. Duna TV introduced clocks to Hungary in 1994, while MTV had no clocks until 1998.
[edit] Asia and Americas
Clocks are usually not used in Asia and the Americas, except in a few countries.
[edit] East Asia
In Japan, NHK had a famous clock from 1969–1985. The clock had a blue background and the clock piece was white, on the face plate multiples of 3 had two bars while the other numbers had one bar. There is also a NHK logo near the clock. This clock is used in countries such as Sweden (1970–1980), Myanmar (1995-today) and Thailand (2008–2010). NHK had many other clocks after that, but no one has copied them. NHK still broadcasts clocks prior to the 7am news, but does not do so during sign-on or sign-off since it started broadcasting 24 hours a day in 1989.
In China, every program comes on time. Scheduled programs usually leave 10 minutes at the end before the next program to ensure the next program starts according to the program schedule. A clock fills this empty time between scheduled programs.
In Hong Kong, clock idents were used in between programs, especially news bulletins, although they were not used during signoffs or startups.
[edit] South East Asia
In South East Asia, clock idents are broadcast on a few channels in almost all countries. The countries that broadcast the clock idents are: Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam.
In Vietnam, clocks were introduced in 1970 on VTV. VTV only broadcast clocks at sign-off until 2003. Since 2003, clocks are broadcast before the main news program and in non-commercial breaks.
In Thailand, Channel 3 used to air a digital clock video counting up to 8am and 6pm for the national anthem. This practice ceased in 2009.
In Cambodia, there are no local channels that broadcast clocks. Their international channel, CTN, broadcasts a clock ident. However, clocks are not broadcast at sign-off or sign-on sequences, since channels broadcast 24 hours a day. For the National Anthem, clocks are broadcast prior to 5pm and 11pm.