 | This article or section deals primarily with the United States and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. | Station identification (sometimes called a sounder or stinger) is the practice of any type of radio or television station or network identifying itself, typically with a call sign or brand name. Over-the-air transmitters may be required to identify themselves regularly by a governmental licensing authority; this requirement can apply to any form of transmission over the radio spectrum by any means, not merely mass-media audio or video broadcasters. Non-OTA broadcasters such as cable or pay TV networks may still practice regular identification as a form of branding. Image File history File links Gnome-globe. ...
Identification can mean The act of identifying. ...
Call sign can refer to different types of call signs: Airline call sign Aviator call sign Cosmonaut call sign Radio and television call signs Tactical call sign, also known as a tactical designator See also: International Callsign Allocations, Maritime Mobile Service Identity This is a disambiguation page — a navigational...
Radio frequency, or RF, refers to that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in which electromagnetic waves can be generated by alternating current fed to an antenna. ...
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. ...
Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house. ...
Pay television, or pay-TV, usually refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by both analogue and digital cable and satellite, but also increasingly by digital terrestrial methods. ...
A brand includes a name, logo, slogan, and/or design scheme associated with a product or service. ...
Europe
Amateur and Two-Way Radio
Broadcast radio
Television |
| This article or section deals primarily with the United Kingdom and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
"Mirror", an ident from BBC Two, a British television channel run by the BBC Station Idents are normally used in between shows, and by some are considered the most important portion of a network's presentation. Unlike in the US, broadcast stations in Europe do not identify by callsign, although many European networks brand by their usual channel number, such as for example in the lineup of FTA channels in the United Kingdom - there is BBC One (on channel 1), BBC Two (on 2), Channel Four, and Five. In the '60s through to the early '90s, most broadcasters used a single ident, sometimes making special variants for special events and holidays. Nowadays, many networks have complete sets of idents based off a central theme or branding element, and most of the time these idents also build the basis for the rest of the appearance of the channel. Television Idents have evolved, from mainly being mechanical models such as the famous BBC Globe, and the advancements of computer technology allowed television presentation to enter the modern era throughout the '80s and '90s. Image File history File links Gnome-globe. ...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (300x1256, 124 KB) New BBC Two idents from Sunday 18 February 2007 This image is a screenshot of a copyrighted television program or station ID. As such, the copyright for it is most likely owned by the company or corporation that...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (300x1256, 124 KB) New BBC Two idents from Sunday 18 February 2007 This image is a screenshot of a copyrighted television program or station ID. As such, the copyright for it is most likely owned by the company or corporation that...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ...
Channel 4 is a television broadcaster in the United Kingdom (see British television). ...
Five, launched in 1997, is the fifth and final national terrestrial analogue television channel to launch in the United Kingdom. ...
In the present day, idents can vary in complexity from a simple static image to a live-action film, or even computer graphics generated on the fly (the idents used by BBC Four from 2002 to 2005 are an example of the latter approach; its idents reacted to the sound of the announcer's voice and background music and therefore, at each playout, no two idents were ever exactly the same). This article is about the scientific discipline of computer graphics. ...
For the BBC radio station, see BBC Radio 4. ...
Also see: 2002 (number). ...
Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Continuity announcer. ...
Elevator music, also known as piped music or Muzak, refers to the gentle, bland arrangements of popular music designed for play in shopping malls, grocery stores, telephone systems (while the caller is on hold), and, of course, elevators. ...
Commonly up until the early '90s, mainly on the ITV network, if a different station produced programming that also ends up airing on a different channel in a different region, the local ident would be followed by the ident of the broadcaster who produced it, but now this is exclusively done through Production Endcaps. Independent Television (generally known as ITV, but also as ITV Network) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990 and the Broadcasting...
Idents can provide varying amounts of regional identity to local networks. A common practise by ITV franchises up until the 2000s was to brand their stations in such a way as to provide regional identity to the network. But, regional identity began fading away as Granada Television and Carlton Television began consolidating and buying out franchises in different regions, and merging into the new company ITV plc, and implementing a generic presentation package across the network. Independent Television (generally known as ITV, but also as ITV Network) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990 and the Broadcasting...
ITV plc (LSE: ITV) is the British media company that operates 11 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ...
As of 2007, the only franchises that have regional identity are SMG plc's Scottish franchises (STV) and the UTV plc Northern Ireland franchise (UTV). But, there was a period from 2002-2003 where for the first time ever, all ITV franchises had the exact same presentation set (abelt with different branding in the Scotland and Northern Ireland areas). This was wrecked however, when UTV introduced their new Panorama idents. SMG plc (formerly Scottish Media Group) is a Scottish media company. ...
STV is the brand used by both ITV licensees in Northern and Central Scotland, formerly known as Grampian TV (now legally STV North Ltd. ...
Ulster Television plc (also referred to as the UTV Group) is a Broadcasting and New Media company in Northern Ireland. ...
For other uses of the UTV acronym, see UTV (disambiguation) UTV (formerly Ulster Television) is the ITV franchise for Northern Ireland. ...
United States Station identification is a required by law by the Federal Communications Commission for all broadcast television stations and radio stations in the USA. The FCCs official seal. ...
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. ...
This article is about a television transmitting location or company. ...
A radio station is an audio (sound) broadcasting service, traditionally broadcast through the air as radio waves (a form of electromagnetic radiation) from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. ...
When identification is required According to FCC regulations, broadcast stations must identify themselves as near to each full hour as possible. At one time, the FCC gave specific guidelines for how close to the top of the hour stations were expected to be: - within 3 minutes for normal scheduled programming
- within 5 minutes for unrehearsed programming with logical breaks, such as sporting events and parades
- as close as possible for programming that had no definite break on the hour, such as speeches and classical music performances lasting longer than an hour; broadcasters were not expected to interrupt legitimate programming for a station ID.
The FCC no longer designates exact times, although many stations still adhere to the practice of identifying during the five-minute window around the top of the hour. This article is about Western art music from 1000 AD to the 2000s . ...
Both radio and television stations are also required to identify themselves at the beginning and end of each broadcast period. For example, if a station goes off the air at 11pm, it must identify itself both at that time and when it resumes broadcasting. "Sign off" and "sign on" ID's generally have more information, such as the name of the station's owner, the location of its transmitter, and its operating power. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
Some stations (especially college radio stations) also identify themselves every half hour, but according to FCC rules, only once per hour is required. College radio (also known as university radio, campus radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college or university. ...
The advent of automated broadcast equipment has made it much easier for broadcasters to ensure compliance with identification rules. Many television stations and some radio stations have their identifications programmed to play automatically at the appropriate times. In broadcast engineering, broadcast automation is the use of technology to automate broadcasting operations. ...
Why identification is required Station identification is used because of the sheer number of signals available over the air. Not only are there radio and television signals being broadcast, there are also two-way radio signals from police, emergency crews and private companies as well as amateur radio signals. Early radio operators recognized the need for anyone listening to a signal over the air to be able to tune in a specific time and immediately know what station was being heard and where the signal was originating from. Amateur radio station with modern solid-state transceiver featuring LCD display and DSP capabilities Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is a hobby that uses various types of radio broadcasting equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for public service, recreation and self-training. ...
Additionally, from the FCC's perspective it is critical to be able to positively identify the source of a broadcast that is not complying with federal regulations.
According to United States law, the FCC can fine or reprimand a station for failing to make the appropriate identification.
Identification on other types of signals In the United States, the policy on radio identification depends on the service. Station identification is usually done in the station's standard mode of operation, though the FCC considers Morse Code identification to be universally acceptable no matter what mode the station is operating in. - Amateur radio requires the callsign to be stated at the end of a communication and every ten minutes during (some hams use countdown clocks to remind them to identify); modes such as packet radio and fast-scan television often have a provision for automatic identification, either including it as part of a digital data stream or overlaying it over an analog picture. Repeaters are often designed to automatically transmit the repeater's callsign, usually in Morse code. The requirements for the United States are covered in Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 97.119
- Land mobile two-way (including public safety and business mobile) require station identifications by callsign. In the case of the GMRS service, this is to be done by each station in a similar manner to the amateur practice, though the time limit is fifteen minutes.
- Repeater systems used in both the Land Mobile and Amateur Radio services often have provisions for announcing the repeater's call sign, either in voice or Morse code.
- Citizen's Band radio (FCC Part 95) maintains a requirement to use a station identification that is rarely enforced due to the outlaw nature of the band; however, a formula exists for self-assigning a callsign using the letter K, the operator's initials, and the ZIP code of the operator's main residence. Most CB operators prefer to use self-assigned handles reflecting some aspect of their personality; it is generally considered a breach of CB etiquette to use real names, even your own.
- FRS and MURS have no station identification requirement, though groups of individual users have their own procedures, such as using license plates or informal callsigns. (Some groups within the Boy Scouts of America, for example, use the troop number followed by the scout's initials as a callsign.)
- WiFi access points are not required by law to identify (they are unlicensed transmitters) but the WiFi standards include provision for an identifier called an SSID, which is transmitted as a routine part of WiFi network traffic. However, since a number of standard WiFi channels are shared with the Amateur Radio spectrum, Amateur Radio-operated High Speed Multimedia (AKA "hinternet") access points usually use the callsign of the control operator as the SSID, this suffices as proper station identification for the access point being operated as an Amateur Radio transceiver.
Amateur radio station with modern solid-state transceiver featuring LCD display and DSP capabilities Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is a hobby that uses various types of radio broadcasting equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for public service, recreation and self-training. ...
Packet radio is a form of digital data transmission used in amateur radio to construct wireless computer networks. ...
A repeater is an electronic device that receives a weak or low-level signal and retransmits it at a higher level or higher power, so that the signal can cover longer distances without degradation. ...
1922 Chart of the Morse Code Letters and Numerals Morse code is a method for transmitting telegraphic information, using standardized sequences of short and long elements to represent the letters, numerals, punctuation and special characters of a message. ...
The General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) is a land-mobile radio service in the United States available for short-distance two-way communications to facilitate the activities of an adult individual and his or her immediate family members, including a spouse, children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, and in...
A typical mobile citizens band radio Citizens band radio (CB) is, in the United States, a system of short distance radio communication between individuals on a selection of 40 channels within the single 27 MHz (11 meter) band. ...
In broadcasting and radio communication, a callsign or call sign (also call letters) is a unique designation for a transmitting station. ...
Mr. ...
The Family Radio Service is an improved walkie talkie system authorized in the United States. ...
The Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) is a small two-way radio service consisting of five frequencies in the VHF spectrum. ...
For the Boy Scouting program within the BSA, see Boy Scouting (Boy Scouts of America). ...
Wi-Fi (or Wi-fi, WiFi, Wifi, wifi), short for Wireless Fidelity, is a set of standards for wireless local area networks (WLAN) currently based on the IEEE 802. ...
A service set identifier (SSID) is a code attached to all packets on a wireless network to identify each packet as part of that network. ...
hinternet is a name for the implementation of wireless data networks over amateur radio frequencies using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware such as 802. ...
Radio identification Radio stations are required to verbally identify themselves each hour. The station must announce its legal call sign, community of license, and any other call signs it uses. Some stations broadcast on more than one frequency and are required to announce these as well. However, stations do not have to announce all translators each hour. Most stations announce only a few each hour on a rotating basis. Some stations make it a practice to announce all main call signs as well as all translators at a certain time of the day, such as midnight. Some radio stations also announce the signal strength of each translator. Some radio stations will also use a larger nearby city they serve that is not the city of license. (example: "WSNE-FM, Taunton / Providence") This is acceptable as long as the first city mentioned immediately after the call sign is the station's city of license. Although it is not required, some radio stations will also announce their frequency or dial setting during the station identification. Call sign can refer to different types of call signs: Airline call sign Aviator call sign Cosmonaut call sign Radio and television call signs Tactical call sign, also known as a tactical designator See also: International Callsign Allocations, Maritime Mobile Service Identity This is a disambiguation page — a navigational...
Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country United States State Massachusetts County Bristol County Settled 1638 Incorporated 1639 Government - Type Mayor-City Council - Mayor Charles Crowley Area - City 48. ...
“Providence†redirects here. ...
Some stations downplay their actual city of license and favor the major city it's associated with instead. For example, "WKTU Lake Success/New York", where "Lake Success" is said very quickly and with less inflection before the much more prominent "New York". Some stations choose to run their legal ID sandwiched between two commercials in a stop set (commercial break) that is close to the top of the hour.
Proper format Radio announcers must be careful to announce the station identification exactly as instructed by the FCC. For example, if station doesn't have the "FM" part on its official license and registration with the FCC, the announcer cannot say it. In addition, announcers need to be careful to avoid adding additional words between the call signs and the community names. For example, saying "This is W/K--based in Anytown" is not acceptable because of the words "based in." The community name should immediately follow the call signs, according to FCC regulations. The format is: WXXX/KXXX, City of License. Anything else is not a legal ID.
Many radio stations post a sign in their studios with the official and correct identification announcement printed on it so announcers are always reminded of the correct, legal identification. Most have a prerecorded station identification, which reduces the chance for slip-ups.
Low-power (Part 15 in the US) stations do not always identify, being unlicensed (this would be essentially impossible for small FM transmitters for consumer use, such as those used to broadcast music from an MP3 player to a car radio), but those that run as community-based radio stations (including college stations using carrier current) usually do. Station identification in that case usually consists of the station's name, frequency, and a slogan; unlicensed stations are not allowed to use formal callsigns. In the U.S., Part 15 is an often-quoted section of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and regulations, regarding unlicensed transmissions. ...
Carrier current is a method of low-power broadcasting that uses the electrical system of a building to distribute an AM radio signal. ...
Call sign can refer to different types of call signs: Airline call sign Aviator call sign Cosmonaut call sign Radio and television call signs Tactical call sign, also known as a tactical designator See also: International Callsign Allocations, Maritime Mobile Service Identity This is a disambiguation page — a navigational...
International shortwave broadcasters usually do not use callsigns, instead giving the name of the service and the location of the home office, and occasionally the frequencies that the current broadcast is being transmitted on. There are a few exceptions, particularly in the United States, the time station WWV being a prime example. A solid-state, analog shortwave receiver Shortwave radio operates between the frequencies of 3 MHz (3,000 kHz) and 30 MHz (30,000 kHz) [1] and came to be referred to as such in the early days of radio because the wavelengths associated with this frequency range were shorter than...
WWV Transmitter Building WWV is the callsign of NISTs shortwave radio station located in Fort Collins, Colorado. ...
Television identification Television stations are also required to identify themselves each hour. However, because television is a visual medium, these announcements can be either visual or audio. Again, the station must identify its main callsign along with the community of license and any other call signs it uses. Television stations must also include their channel number, as designated by the FCC. Translators are not required to be announced, though many stations make it a practice to display a list of all translators at a particular time of the day.
Another way a station can transmit its legal identification is to do it continuously by putting readable text in the vertical blanking interval. One station that identifies this way is CKVU in Vancouver, Canada. WKEF is also known to identify itself in this way. Alternatively, a station can encode its callsign within the vertical blanking interval using the Extended Data Services specification. The vast majority of American PBS stations encode their identification using this method, though few commercial television stations do. The vertical blanking interval (VBI) is an interval in a television or VDU signal that temporarily suspends transmission of the signal for the electron gun to move back up to the first line of the television screen to trace the next screen field. ...
CKVU (Citytv Vancouver) is a television station based in Vancouver, British Columbia. ...
For other uses, see Vancouver (disambiguation). ...
WKEF is a broadcast television station in Dayton, Ohio, affiliated with the ABC network. ...
Extended Data Services (now XDS, previously EDS), is an American standard classified under Electronic Industries Alliance standard EIA-766 for the delivery of any ancillary data (metadata) to be sent with an analog television program, or any other NTSC video signal. ...
Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ...
Combining identification with promotion
 An example of combining identification with promotion on Norfolk, VA's WTKR. The call letters and city of license are under WTKR's logo. Many television stations have come up with a clever way to use the required station identifications as a promotional tool. By combining a short promotion for an upcoming show the station can fulfill its identification requirements while also building its audience. For example, a station may choose to show the viewers video of a local fire and tell them to tune in to the next newscast. During this short clip, the station will run its call signs and communities somewhere on screen, often in very small type. No audio announcement of call signs is necessary if the information appears on screen, so stations are free to use, in this example, the audio of an anchor or reporter promoting the story. Stations also use similar techniques to promote entertainment shows. As long as the correct and complete information appears somewhere on screen, it is a completely legal identification. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Norfolk, Virginia, viewed from Portsmouth, across the Elizabeth River Norfolk is a city in the U.S. state of Virginia in the United States of America. ...
WTKR is the CBS affiliate serving the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, officially known as the Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News DMA. The station is licensed to Norfolk and broadcasts on channel 3. ...
Any combination of this is also acceptable. For example some stations air a short (5 to 10 second) announcement with their station logo and an announcer reading their call signs. However, in this example, the communities the station serves were not announced verbally. Instead, they appeared as text on screen somewhere. Again, this is a perfectly legal station identification. As long as the station call sign, channel number and communities are either announced verbally or appear on screen, the identification is legal.
As an example, in the 1990s, radio station WQLR in Kalamazoo, Michigan would give the weather (provided by Accuweather) at the top of the hour. The weather report would be prefixed with "WQLR Kalamazoo Accuweather", and because the callsign and city are announced back-to-back, it is a perfectly legal station identification. For the band, see 1990s (band). ...
WQLR, also known as 106. ...
Nickname: Location of Kalamazoo within Kalamazoo County, Michigan Coordinates: , Counties Kalamazoo County Incorporation 1883 Government - Type Council-Manager - Mayor Hannah McKinney Area - City 25. ...
AccuWeather is a large American company that provides weather forecasting services. ...
Digital television concerns The advent of digital television originally made it necessary for stations simulcasting both their analog and digital on the same channel to include both call signs in all identifications. Both stations have the same base callsigns, with the only difference being the analog ending in "-TV" and digital ending in "-DT" (originally -HD). PSIP also carries the station's ID digitally encoded. Digital television (DTV) is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound by means of digital signals, in contrast to analog signals used by analog (traditional) TV. DTV uses digital modulation data, which is digitally compressed and requires decoding by a specially designed television set, or a...
Simulcast is a contraction of simultaneous broadcast, and refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium at the same time. ...
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television standard for carrying data about each channel. ...
Worldwide
Digital on-screen graphics and teletext Teletext, an information service provided by many broadcasters, provides station or network identification in many countries worldwide. As almost all modern sets can display this information, it is a simple matter of checking teletext if the identity of the station is not clear. However, some broadcasters do not provide a teletext service, and there is no specific requirement or standard for station identification in it. Furthermore, while teletext is widespread in Europe and is closely associated with the PAL television system worldwide, it is practically nonexistent in North America. However, digital television standards generally include station identification. A BBC Ceefax page from January 9, 2007. ...
For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see PAL (disambiguation). ...
North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ...
Digital television (DTV) is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound by means of digital signals, in contrast to analog signals used by analog (traditional) TV. DTV uses digital modulation data, which is digitally compressed and requires decoding by a specially designed television set, or a...
A common worldwide practice, which was later popularized in the United States by the Viacom cable television music station VH1, is to use a small overlay graphic known as a "bug" or a "DOG" (Digital Onscreen Graphic) or watermark in the corner of the screen, showing the logo of the channel. While not a legal substitute for a proper station identification, this practice makes it easy to identify the station at a glance for the casual viewer. Viacom (NYSE: VIA) (NYSE: VIAb) is an American media conglomerate with various worldwide interests in cable and satellite television networks (MTV Networks and BET), and movie production and distribution (the Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks movie studios). ...
Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house. ...
VH1 (VH-1: Video Hits One until 1994) is an American cable television channel that was created in January 1985 by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communications and owners of MTV. VH1 and sister channel MTV are currently part of the MTV Networks division...
In a typical digital on screen graphic, the stations logo appears in a corner of the screen. ...
Amateur television operators often use a lower third or bug containing their callsign in lieu of voice identification. This is an accepted practice in the United States and United Kingdom. Amateur television (ATV) is the hobby of transporting broadcast-quality video and audio over radio waves allocated for amateur radio using the broadcast standards of NTSC in North America and Japan, and PAL or SECAM in Europe and elsewhere, using the full refresh rates of those standards. ...
A one-tier lower-third from WNBC. A two-tier lower-third from WABC-TV. A three-tier lower-third from WTVJ. In the television industry (especially in North America), lower thirds refer to graphics that take up the lower area of the screen, though not necessarily the entire lower...
See also The history of BBC television idents starts in the early 1950s, when idents were first used by the BBC to differentiate each of their channels and create separate identites for them. ...
The clock used on S4C from 2002 to 2007 A clock ident is a form of television ident that employs a clock displaying the current time with the station logo, typically used before news bulletins and closedown. ...
Since its origins, various ITV stations have used different idents to define each of its franchises. ...
NBC has used numerous logos at various times; this article shows all of its television logos, including the peacock design (originally for color broadcasts only) that led to it being nicknamed the Peacock network and eventually became its logo. ...
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is a non-profit public broadcasting television service operating in the United States. ...
American Broadcasting Company logos used at various times: // ABC 1946 logo One of the earliest logos for the ABC television network was a microphone with the letters ABC aligned vertically within in it (the then-current logo for the ABC radio network), and the letters T and V on either...
This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...
It should be noted that Sevens TV ad campaigns tend to follow NBC (mostly due to Sevens semi-close ties with the American network), but at times also used some imaging from fellow US network ABC. // 1970-75: The Seven Revolution (borrowed from NBCs The NBC Revolution...
This is a list of slogans used by the Nine Network. ...
This is a list of all the slogans used by Network Ten Australia. ...
References - Ident accessed 11 June 2006
- ABC at Large accessed 11 June 2006
- Telemusications accessed 11 June 2006
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