I suspect BBC TWO will carry on using the same figure '2' for many years to come, as they proved to be very popular, in the same way Channel 4 have used the same figure '4' for 18 years, but used in different ways.
The current series of idents has already latest much longer than any previous BBC TWO idents and I expect they'll just continue to bring out more new variants, and discard the older ones.
>I suspect BBC TWO will carry on using the same figure '2' for many years to come, as they proved to be very popular, in the same way Channel 4 have used the same figure '4' for 18 years, but used in different ways.
>
>The current series of idents has already latest much longer than any previous BBC TWO idents and I expect they'll just continue to bring out more new variants, and discard the older ones.
Yeah, I agree, they're really popular and can constantly be updated. So, they're in the good position to have both the very familiar and the new. They've given the channel a real personality and can be compared more to BBC 1's globe theme than just the ballon idents.
>Okay then....BBC TWO has been usint the same scheme of idents for years now (1991 I think) - So It looks about time for a change of idents, anyone got any ideas? Something in line with BBC ONE? A blue boat perhaps? Dolphins (Well they're blue, which seems appropriate) I'm interested in what you all think about it.
The thing about the twos is that they keep adding more and taking out others hence keeping the idea 'fresh'.
>By the way, Whoever works with BBC, any ideas what idents fot the new BBC THREE will be like, please don't just recycle the old ones!
And what BBC Three would that be then? There was a nasty rumour going round that BBC Choice was to be renamed, but that was completely unfounded. . And hey, Choice is 3 in all but name (3 in each of the idents etc.) Choice is here to stay
For now anyway.
I must admit I expected the BBC TWO idents to be developed into more like swan and paint pot (where the 2 is smaller, more incedental, and possibly used in a more clever way), but the latest lot seem to prove me wrong...
>And what BBC Three would that be then? There was a nasty rumour going round that BBC Choice was to be renamed, but that was completely unfounded. . And hey, Choice is 3 in all but name (3 in each of the idents etc.) Choice is here to stay
>
>
Pretty unlikely I'd say. Greg Dyke on the radio the other day was talking about the future of all BBC television channels and talked about BBC Choice and said "or BBC Three or whatever it becomes".
So if the DG is thinking along those lines in the first month of work, I'd say Choice will be replaced by Three quite quickly.
The three-things idents would work quite well as a BBC Three ident, however, as you say.
The newer BBC TWO idents are:
Kebab
Elements
Drip
and one I've only seen in passing - a two wobbling down a bamboo pole..
And BBC THREE sounds stupid.
There was a comedy sketch series in the sixties called BBC3. I'm too young to have actually seen it and don't know who was in it. Anyone know?
Also Roland Rat did a pastiche of the old
T W O logo T H R E E for his BBC series in the eighties.
Oi, I am [T][W][O] ident. Respect my authority!
the trouble with BBC THREE as a name is that many people will associate 3 with ITV - ITV is after all button 3 on most TVs. Until people stop thinking in that way then I'd say there's no sense in renaming Choice as Three. it would just confuse brands.
>The newer BBC TWO idents are:
>
>Kebab
>Elements
>Drip
try www.thetvroom.com for the proper names. One is Excaliber (sp?) from what I can remember - you know, the two emerging out of the water. Someone said to me that it looked like TVS. I'd have to agree.
>Greg Dyke on the radio the other day was talking about the future of all BBC television channels and talked about BBC Choice and said "or BBC Three or whatever it becomes".
The recent changes to Choice - dramatically cutting down the schedule and only showing the 'Hearts' ident (from what I've heard) make me think the channel is in some transitional stage, and they want to make it look crap so that when they relaunch in a few months (with or without a new name), it'll be so much better.
> The recent changes to Choice - dramatically cutting down the schedule and only showing the 'Hearts' ident (from what I've heard) make me think the channel is in some transitional stage, and they want to make it look crap so that when they relaunch in a few months (with or without a new name), it'll be so much better.
I think the hearts ident is one of the best on television at the moment (much better than the ITV ones) and it does seem to be dominant on Choice at the moment, but I have also seen the 'mice' ident in the last. I've also noticed they're now only using one continuity announcer for the entire output.
I agree about the repetitive nature of the schedule, esp between 7.30-9.00, I can't see how that can last for too long. The channel has shown a lot of promise, it's streets ahead of ITV2, but the latest changes it does seem to have spoilt it a bit.
Hopefully when (and if) it relaunches as BBC THREE or whatever, they'll throw some more money at it, there's no excuse not to now.
>Hopefully when (and if) it relaunches as BBC THREE or whatever, they'll throw some more money at it, there's no excuse not to now.
Two things about Choice : 1) the money Choice gets is now being distributed between fewer programmes - this means that those programmes get bigger budgets which should help the quality of those programmes go up - would you rather have lots of rubbish or a fewer, better quality programmes? Thats the decision someone had to make.
2) As for spending more money on Choice, well thats a bit difficult really. just 10% of your license fee (this is what I was told this morning) goes on digital channels and online. This amount of money can only go up as digital take-up increases. Which, to be honest, is a sensible system. there is a lot of hysteria about the amount of money the Beeb spends on digital but in reality, its not that much really.
In other words - want more money for BBC Choice, then you'll need to get more people to move to digital.
The figure of 10% by the way was what I was told by someone who knows more about these things than me, this morning.
>Two things about Choice : 1) the money Choice gets is now being distributed between fewer programmes - this means that those programmes get bigger budgets which should help the quality of those programmes go up - would you rather have lots of rubbish or a fewer, better quality programmes? Thats the decision someone had to make.
I should also say that (while I'm not totally sure) I *think* BBC CHOICE has the same amount of money to spend overall.
But don't quote me on that,
Fair enough, but at least now with the increase of £3 in the licence fee, 10% of £104 per licence is more than 10% of £101 (if that makes any sense).
Personally I would have liked to have seen a greater increase in the licence fee, but as it is the BBC have done a good job in managing to launch four new digital channels with no increase at all.
The theory goes something like this - the daytime slot "CBBC on CHOICE" is just a stopgap untill BBC CHILDREN can launch as a seperate channel sometime later in the year, it will be dropped in the early summer when CHOICE becomes BBC THREE, alledgedly - check ONdigital forums, it's been in there for ages.
As far as confusion with ITV and BBC THREE
a) ITV thought about branding itself with the 3 a few years back, remember the "3, Britains most popular button" campaign? And the TyneTees=Channel 3 North East debacle? That wasn't popular at all, so ITV aren't likely to try it again.
b) ITV has launched ITV2 and is already trying to be seen as "ITV1", avoiding the 3.
It could happen. And I believe it will.
BTW - CHOICE has also been making quite a lot of use out of the "Trumpet" ident - which is my favourite.
>I've also noticed they're now only using one continuity announcer for the entire output.
Arghh! No! They must have done a UK TV and pre-recorded all continuity, so that the process can be automated. It does seem a shame that there won't be people talking to you live any more. Although in the 'nations' it should continue as it is. Well, for the moment anyway.
And as for this Children's channel, where will it go on DTT? I think it'll have to share time with Choice! Or you could merge Choice with Knowledge to give them room.
A DTT multiplex can fit at least 6 full channels, ONdigital and SDN manage more, the BBC are just being inefficient at the moment as they only run 4 and BBC Parliment. Children and Parliament should get on as full channels some time soon, and Knowledge might get on eventually too when the compression technology improves.
>A DTT multiplex can fit at least 6 full channels, ONdigital and SDN manage more, the BBC are just being inefficient at the moment as they only run 4 and BBC Parliment.
Believe me, the BBC would run BBC Knowledge on their MUX if they could, but I think they want to preserve picture quality. The beeb and ITV certainly have the edge over the other channels.
>Children and Parliament should get on as full channels some time soon, and Knowledge might get on eventually too when the compression technology improves.
D'ya think? I'd love to think so - we'll see. Apparently the BBC are working on ways to fit everything in.
I haven't a clue what the Beeb plans for its childrens channel other than there are plans to have one. But with ITV's pay CITV service (name anyone) launched already, expect someone to be moving quickly to fix that stop gap.
And hey, when parliment is in recess, how about creating a second kids channel! Seems an appropiate replacement for BBC Parliment (ie MPs acting like Kids, and NOT BBC Parliment is childish...)
So far as I know, the CITV channel will be called CITV! Although ITVKids and ONkids (unlikely) have been suggested. And it hasn't already launched, it should launch in the autumn - at least, it hadn't launched when my ONdigital box crashed tonight and I had to store my channel list again!
BBC Choice has a continuity announcer all the time....UK TV channels are all pre-recs, but UK Gold is capable of having live continuity, the others aren't ! BBC TWO of course is pre recorded for the Learning Zone stuff too. And I also have to say that early morning (well 7ish until 9) CBBC is pre recorded the day before too, but all wazzy effects added at the time to appear "live" !
The first live bits tend to be the birthdays before Teletubbies !
Eh Oh !!!
>There was a comedy sketch series in the sixties called BBC3. I'm too young to have actually seen it and don't know who was in it. Anyone know?
>
>BBC3 was a sort of sequel to That Was The Week That Was - it was transmitted during 1965 on Saturday nights, but it was (rather weirdly) fronted by Robert Robinson (Brain Of Britain/Call My Bluff) instead of Frost. It tended to be dominated by discussions rather than sketches, and it's now best remembered for breaking the taboo on the F-word: during a live discussion on theatre censorship, Kenneth Tynan was asked if he would allow sexual intercourse to be staged at the National Theatre. His response was:
"I don't think there are many people to whom the word fuck is particularly offensive...I also think that anything can be shown or seen." (I might be paraphrasing him a little, but that's pretty much what he said. Obviously, the duty log was busy at the time, but no tapes exist of the event, apparently.)
As for other info on BBC3, I think it featured Bird & Fortune, and possibly Eleanor Bron - Palin and Terry Jones may have written for it too. I'm a bit vague about this, but for more information check out Roger Wilmut's seminal From Fringe To Flying Circus - unfortunately I don't have my copy with me right now.
Hope this is helpful anyway.
>BBC Choice has a continuity announcer all the time....
Not any more!
>UK TV channels are all pre-recs, but UK Gold is capable of having live continuity, the >others aren't !
Play is also capable
>BBC TWO of course is pre recorded for the Learning Zone stuff too. And I also have to say that early morning (well 7ish until 9) CBBC is pre recorded the day before too, but all wazzy effects added at the time to appear "live" !
>The first live bits tend to be the birthdays before Teletubbies !
Not any more