CBBC idents

Throughout the years, Children's BBC, and later CBBC and CBeebies, have used a number of different identities. The branding of the stranded service is distinctive both in the past and at present.

Pre Children's BBC

Prior to the launch of Children's BBC on 9 September 1985, BBC1 had used some branding for its children's strand. The origins of CBBC can be found in the "Children's Hour" of the original BBC Television Service, and ever since programmes have been included regularly in the schedule. Prior to 1985, Children's programmes received no special idents and continuity was done out of vision by the duty announcer. However, between programmes, some special branding was put in use to reflect better the audience they were serving.

In the 1970s, the programme caption was changed to a blue and yellow variation featuring the faces of a boy and girl, with references to other programmes: Zebedee from The Magic Roundabout, Scooby-Doo, and title cards and logos from Play School and Blue Peter. The slide was in fact coloured by the NODD system used to produce the globe at the time.[1] The slide was later changed in 1981 to a group of children staring at the caption in excitement, following the change of globe.[1] Promotions now featured slides of balloons, with the programme name in the centre, and occasionally accompanied by the official static captions.[1]

Just prior to the launch of Children's BBC, the last few months were marked by the use of a BBC Micro B computer to generate computer animations for the children's strand. Such animations were used to introduce programme, such as a spider spinning down onto a detonator triggering the words Hello from BBC1, and to link into promotions for further programmes, such as a group of sky divers falling from a plane to spell out a 'Later' caption. However, despite the graphics, programmes were still directly introduced by the BBC1 Globe, albeit occasionally accompanied by a choice of two different 14-note synthesized tunes.[1] These animations were brought about as a temporary measure while Children's BBC was becoming operational.

Children's BBC

Original Logo

The first ident for Children's BBC once again made use of the BBC Micro B computer. The design featured the word 'Children's' on top of a large sprawled 'BBC' made up of the three colours red, green and blue. In ident, each letter of the BBC animated in to the four note electronic soundtrack, with the Children's scrolling across afterwards. It originally had a blue background, but this was changed to black after a few months. The letters were also all turned yellow in autumn 1986, and were set against a white background whenever programmes were broadcast on BBC2.[1][2]

Continuity was provided by a host of Children's BBC presenters who would appear in-vision from the Continuity Booth of the specific channel. The presenter would talk, interact with other characters, and view children’s pictures and letters, many of which would end up on the dressed back wall of the booth. For times when Children's BBC aired on BBC2, the presenter would appear in-vision; however the booth was not dressed with Children's BBC branding and was instead plain. The presenter would make a light heart of this however; Philip Schofield occasionally dressed in a dinner jacket for these occasions, joking that he did this because BBC2 was more high-brow.[2] Promotions were of no particular style, with the promotion usually voiced by the duty presenter and featuring only the programme name and title at the bottom of the screen.[1][2]

In 1987, the BBC Micro ident was replaced by one created using stop motion animation. In this ident, each of the letters of the word 'Children's' was allocated an image beginning with that letter. These images - a car, a horse, an ice cream, a lighthouse, a duck, a rocket, an elephant, a number nine and a ship - would all be drawn on screen by yellow wispy lines, which after drawing all the animals would animate out to draw the 'BBC' caption.[3] This ident was played out from tape, as opposed to the live BBC Micro ident. These pictures also appeared on other Children's BBC items, such as stationery: letters sent from the Children's BBC office to children would have these images superimposed upon the background of the document. The ident was commissioned to mark the departure of Philip Schofield from the, now nicknamed, 'Broom Cupboard'.[1][2]

During this time, the presenters began to devise new ways of filling the time slots, with competitions and features taking precedence. Alongside these new additions, changes were being made to BBC Presentation, and the Broom cupboard itself. In 1989, the continuity booth was equipped with NICAM digital stereo, and as a result in-vision Children's BBC presentation was moved temporarily to a smaller studio, nicknamed the 'Boiler Room'. Upon the return to the Broom cupboard, a new set, new schedule and new symbol awaited them.[1][2]

On 4 September 1989, the new ident was generated live on air by an Acorn Archimedes computer. The new ident featured a glossy, gold version of the familiar stylised BBC text, with Pale green text for the 'Children's' caption and a dark green background superimposed with small stylised CBBC's in the same font as the main 'BBC' section of the logo. The ident formed up through the use of zig-zag lines and concentric circles, which continued to move around and between the letters.[1][2]

Corporate Logo

On 16 February 1991, BBC1 and 2 both relaunched with corporate branding packages based on a Virtual Globe and the antics of a numeral 2. Both packages had a similar promotional design and both featured a large numeral above a BBC logo at the bottom of the screen. As part of this relaunch, Children's BBC also received its own symbol based on this design. It was implemented at the beginning of the academic year on 9 September 1991. The new symbol took the emphasis away from the 'BBC' and placed it firmly with the 'Children's' part of the name. This new logo featured a large neon style letter replacing every other letter in the 'Children's' name, with the exception of 'D' which had a neon strip curve around the letter. This appeared against a dark background of an assortment of colours and accompanied by an upbeat soundtrack accompanied in some versions by a voice saying phrases such as "Tell that aardvark it's a wrap" and "Essential viewing coming up". The original electronic beat music was seen as too slow and dull originally, and so was replaced soon after.[1][2][4][5]

Accompanied with the new look, the Broom cupboard received a makeover with new neon signage matching the new logo as well as the presenters name in a similar style to the logo.[4][5] In addition to this, Children's BBC also received a corporate styling for promotions, slides and menus. Promotions were kept the same as the channel they were broadcast on, however the menu and slide design was unique. The slide design, in line with BBC1 and 2, featured a sidebar down the left hand side of the screen, with the channel logo located in the top left hand corner of the screen, above a BBC corporate logo. The Children's BBC slides however, also had the Children's BBC logo inserted sideways into the sidebar, and images from the ident featured as the background to programme menus. These slides and menus were used prior to a start-up into Children's BBC, and for promotional use outside of Children's BBC itself, for example after the morning strand was completed.[1][2][6][7]

This logo remained with Children's BBC until 1997, however the ident itself changed within half that time. In 1994, Children's BBC moved out of the Broom Cupboard forever and into the small, but roomy by comparison, studio of Pres A. To mark the move, CBBC, as it was becoming increasingly known informally by the presenters, commissioned a new ident. Launched on 26 September 1994, the logo remained, however was rendered in 3D and set at a slight angle and formed in chunks. This was accompanied by a 3D BBC logo located in the bottom right corner of the screen, and set against a brightly coloured background of yellows and greens. This was later replaced by a version on a yellow background, with a 2D grey BBC logo.

Throughout this era, a variety of logos were produced by BBC Manchester's Graphic design department for use, that featured computer generated animations or cartoons and would include the Children's BBC logo in it somewhere, either as a whole or in part, and often accompanied by the BBC logo.[1] These later logos and idents include:

In addition to these, some were used for certain programmes, such as Saturday Aardvark, which used bubbles with letters of the 'Children's' on them, and the Breakfast show. Originally this utilised a personalised TV screen with a CBBC ident displaying in the viewer, but was later replaced by a cereal box that poured out Children's BBC logos, BBC logos and logos from some of the programmes. BBC Scotland also had their versions of the CBBC idents, same as CBBC expect with 'Children's BBC Scotland" being used at the end. They were used for the first three weeks of the Summer before MegaMag and Up for It! from 1994 - 1997. The 1991 - 1994 ident, along with its accompanying Broom Cupboard theming, was re-used on September 9, 2015 as part of anniversary special Hacker's Birthday Bash: 30 Years of Children's BBC.

CBBC

Yellow animations

On 4 October 1997, the new BBC logo was launched by the corporation, and all of the BBC's channels and services received a makeover. CBBC was no different, with a new logo and idents package to match a newly refurbished set for TC9. The new logo was seen everywhere on every channel in near identical design, so that the BBC's output was centralised, and as a result CBBC's logo featured a 'C' added in front of the BBC blocks logo, with the name of the service added after, be it CBBC One, CBBC Two, CBBC on Nickelodeon and CBBC Choice. Whereas before, CBBC tried to portray the end of one service, and the beginning of another,[3] this look made it feel like CBBC was taking over that service.[1]

The new idents all featured a yellow and black colour scheme, and featured a two-dimensional animation based around a surreal concept, an interesting design, or an adventure scene. Promotions for the service featured the same promotional style as the other services, with the CBBC logo at the bottom and the programme and channel details centred at the bottom for widescreen, which came later in c. 2000. Also getting a makeover was the set in TC9. Again following the yellow and black theme, notable parts include large CBBC logos extending upright the columns, a large video wall made up of 12 televisions, and a desktop computer used to promote the CBBC website.[1]

The man and dog ident (from 1997 to 2001)

In addition to these idents, there was also idents for the programmes Saturday Aardvark and the CBBC Breakfast Show. BBC Scotland also had their versions of the CBBC idents, same as CBBC expect with 'CBBC TWO Scotland" being used at the end. They were only used for the first three weeks of the summer going into Up For It! and UKOOL Live from 1998 - 2001. Special idents were commissioned for Christmas, from 1997-1999 they consisted of a periscope type animation, with festive images appearing, and from 2000-2001 they were various idents with a small penguin and a snowman in lots of different scenarios, and in summer, when the 'CBBC HOT' name was used. An animation was also introduced for the end copyright, originally a coin spinning and falling over, this became numerous signs moving towards the viewer in c.1999. In c.2001, CBBC switched to widescreen and as a result the branding was altered. Some idents were withdrawn entirely, while the rest were sped up or mixed in with others to form montages that were used instead. The music was also changed, with two versions now used: for CBBC's older viewers and for CBBC's younger viewers, in what would soon be called CBeebies.

Special idents were made for CBBC on Choice before using the regular ones from 1998-2000, based on the first set of BBC Choice indents consisting of 3 items with similar names, like boxer shorts, boxing gloves and a boxer dog.

The Bugs

On 11 February 2002, CBBC changed dramatically in both look and remit. The day marked the launch of the CBBC Channel, resulting in a new platform for the well-known brand. Also launched at the same time was the CBeebies channel and strand, resulting in CBBC's remit changed from 6–12 years of age, to 8–12 years. To mark both, a new identity was created for both to mark the occasion.[8]

Designed by Lambie-Nairn, the bug idents featured green moving bugs that contained the BBC logo as well as purple, textured 'C'. The bugs could split into others, and would often be depicted either fighting amongst themselves, or as being split or separated multiple times. In-vision was still used, with TC9 being used for links on BBC One and Two, and the CBBC channel using TC2, however the set was changed to vivid backgrounds with blob shapes on, often with the idents playing in the background. Promotions also changed so branding only occurred at the end, at which a wavy blue banner at the bottom would flow it with programme details on, usually with a blob looking in from the side of the screen. The new channel also had a DOG featuring the BBC logo, with a Blob containing the 'C' only in front. The DOG was not used on terrestrial links, although a clock was occasionally added for morning links, either on its own or located inside a static blob.[9]

The bugs themselves were closely related to those designed for CBeebies, and for the Canadian television station, owned by BBC Worldwide, BBC Kids.

The traditional bugs look lasted until 30 September 2005, when the blob concept was redesigned. A single blob was now used: it featured a larger and plainer 'C' letter and was turned into a three-dimensional object, which would zoom around a screen often accompanied by a ball from which many arrows could point and later in closedowns it was shown the swirling circle would show at the pointing arrows until it would go to black.That style was changed so that the end screen changed to a single shot of the bug with the programme name below, and the DOG was also updated. In-vision continued to be used, however it was used less and less: CBBC moved out of TC9 in December 2006 to TC12, where the presenter would just stand in front of a bluescreen while only a fixed camera is used.[10]

Stylised CBBC

CBBC relaunched again on Monday 3 September 2007, with a new logo revolving around the letters of CBBC, each in a different style. A new set of idents followed these up, revolving around scenes including each of the 4 stylised letters before coming together at the end. These scenes could involve cartoon figures (including Shaun the Sheep and Tracy Beaker), or stars of current CBBC programmes (such as Barney Harwood, James Mackenzie, Daniel Anthony, Dani Harmer, Ed Petrie and Mark Speight). Numerous different styles were made involving the different scenes, and were added regularly to reflect programmes. Children could also make their own versions, the so-called Mash Up, on the CBBC website, and indeed some of these were added to the main set. At the end of this sequence, a two-dimensional cartoon style endboard was added that contained the CBBC logo animating into place, against a white background with the green zig-zag lines of the look animating around the edge of the screen. This was altered on 10 September 2010, when the CBBC logo was given a 3D glossy look, and as a result the end boards were changed to a fully formed CBBC logo moving around on the green bars on the screen.[1]

Accompanying these idents at the end of the CBBC strand or Channel, were two cartoon characters. These, in the form of a dancing fox and a hairy monster, would point out additional CBBC services. This would normally consist of pointing out the CBBC website and, if currently broadcasting, the CBBC channel. Promotions consisted of the video with the CBBC logo, programme title and times appearing at the end on the green zig-zag lines that accompanied the channel. This was altered in 2010, so the video would shrink into a box contained within the white and green lines where the CBBC logo now originated at the end of the idents. The programme title would now be overlaid the white background, rather than be incorporated into the design. The DOG for the CBBC channel was also changed to the new logo, however it retained its green colour scheme, and would often animate, with the letters popping out and in at regular intervals.[1]

The new look was created by the Children's BBC marketing team, with Red Bee Media designing the new logo and idents, and Fallon, who created the new TV trails that were used prior to launch.[1][11][12]

Modern CBBC

On 13 September 2014, CBBC stopped the "stylized" idents after 7 years and replaced them by new idents.

Just Imagine

On 14 March 2016, CBBC rebranded with a new logo that was similar to BBC Three's, dropping the logo that had been used for the last eight years. The idents are a range of live action and animated which consists of everyday situations in the modern era.

CBeebies

CBeebies was launched with the CBBC Channel on 11 February 2002, with an original age range of pre-school children only. Following changes within the BBC Children's department, this changed to ages up to 6, with CBBC targeting ages 6 to 12.[8]

The idents for the channel, designed by Lambie-Nairn, are the same as at launch and consist of yellow blobs, the opposite to the green blobs launched with the CBBC Channel with a much younger feel, as befits the target audience. The yellow blobs would bounce around gently to each other in a brightly coloured and patterned environment, with the CBeebies logo located in the centre top of the screen. The soundtrack was also gentle, with children's voices calling out the channel name, and the whole look was deliberately meant to be parallel, but completely different from their sister channel, CBBC. In addition to these idents, some idents were created featuring the presenters bouncing the CBeebies logo around, and some which featured the blobs taking part in time related idents, such as sleeping on the moon in the bedtime hour or drinking milk at lunchtime. Some idents are specific to strands of programmes, such as Discover and Do.[13]

CBeebies, like CBBC before it, make use of in-vision continuity links, however these are not presented by the CBeebies directors, but are recorded rather than broadcast live. The presenters make use of a large, colourful space with smooth lines and everyday objects, which is again appropriate to the age range.[13]

Promotions originally featured a similar style as CBBC, with a pattered and coloured bar running across the bottom of the end of the promotion, featuring the title and CBeebies logo.[14] This was changed c.2008 to three red, pattered curves overlapping each at the bottom of the screen.[13] The CBeebies logo and programme name would be contained within the center circle, with the left curve taken up by a yellow blob containing a clock with the time of the programme on, and the right occasionally containing details such as whether the programme was new.[13] The channel also uses a DOG, in the form of the yellow CBeebies logo, which occasionally rotates to reveal a yellow blob.

Christmas Themes

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Luxton, Simon. "CBBC". TVARK. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Taylor, Greg. "Children's BBC 1985-1992". The Broom Cupboard. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Take Two - Behind the scenes at CBBC". BBC Archive. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  4. 1 2 "CBBC Continuity - A link to 'Going Live!'". The CBBC Broom Cupboard. BBC Archives. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  5. 1 2 "Take Two - The Broom Cupboard". The CBBC Broom Cupboard. BBC Archives. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  6. ↑ "CBBC - New Year 1993". YouTube. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  7. ↑ "BBC2 Children's BBC Junction September 15th 1992". YouTube. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  8. 1 2 "CBBC Goes Digital". BBC Press Office. 11 February 2002. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "CBBC Blob idents". YouTube. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  10. ↑ "CBBC". TV & Radio Bits.
  11. ↑ "CBBC Autumn 2007". BBC Press Office. 14 August 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  12. ↑ "CBBC announces channel rebrand". BBC Press Office. 16 July 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Walker, Hayden. "CBeebies". TVARK. Retrieved 27 September 2011. Contains videos of CBeebies idents, continuity, promotions and other aspects of CBeebies presentation.
  14. ↑ ch?v=oy0UDaQ0Jag "CBeebies BBC2 presentation" Check |url= value (help). YouTube. Retrieved 27 September 2011. Video containing CBeebies Continuity.

External links

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