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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clock ident | 1/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_ident | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T14:20:09.490785+00:00 | kb-cron |
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 United Kingdom, clock idents are also associated with schools programming.
== Appearance == Clock idents are typically displayed as an analogue clock, although some broadcasters have experimented with digital clocks. In particular, during the 1970s and 1980s, many ITV regions in the UK adopted digital clock designs, which are overlaid onto a coloured 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 to 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. A clock will usually match a TV channel's normal ident or idents; some broadcasters such as TVP from Poland and RTM from Malaysia are exceptions. Clocks can be displayed in silence, but can also be accompanied by music or the voice of a continuity announcer giving programme information.
== Usage ==
=== Europe === Traditionally, clocks have been used before programmes, as well as after programmes and at closedown or startup. Their use before news bulletins ensured that the bulletin began at the exact time dictated by the schedule. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, digital television became commonplace and clocks began to drop out of 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 closedown clocks. BBC One stopped using a clock ident in Easter 2002, when it changed its idents from the Balloon to the Rhythm and Movement series. BBC Two had ended its regular use of an on-screen clock some years before, and the final showing of a clock on BBC Two was on 9 July 2001. One notable exception is the Welsh-language channel S4C, which used a clock until 2007 at closedown and before news bulletins. In 2015, however, Channel 4 reinstated clock idents as part of the channel's relaunch, albeit heavily stylized. These idents were used before news programmes until a further relaunch in 2022. France's public broadcasters have historically used clocks. One of the more famous examples was the clock belonging to RTF Télévision which featured a spiral clock face. Designed by Christian Houriez and introduced in December 1959 it was used throughout the 1960s. Clocks have also been used in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Poland, among others. In Hungary, before 2015, MTV broadcasts clocks before MTV Híradó (their news bulletin) or other news programmes, to announce the New Year's Eve as well as before the national anthem. TV2 and its sister channel, SuperTV2, instead broadcast a five-second countdown before their news bulletins and occasionally other programs. RTL Klub is still known to broadcast clock idents before RTL Híradó and to announce the New Year's Eve since its start in 1997. Analogue clock idents were used in both the public RTP channels in Portugal, until a major rebranding on 28 January 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. Television stations in the Czech Republic mostly use clock idents before newscasts, whose overall branding packages usually include the graphics and music for the clock. Clocks are also shown on the New Year's Eve, with Czech Television traditionally using footage of a striking clock mechanism in the lead up to midnight.