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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clock ident | 2/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_ident | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T14:20:09.490785+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Asia === Clock idents are not typically used in Asia, except in a few countries. In Japan, NHK had an iconic mechanical clock ident from 1969 to 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 was also an NHK logo near the clock. A variant of that clock design had a wooden background. NHK introduced many clock designs after 1985, although the classic clock as mentioned earlier continued to remain in occasional use as recently as the early-1990s. NHK still broadcasts clocks prior to the 7 a.m. news. In China, CCTV-1 broadcasts clocks at 5 seconds before the beginning of news programs at noon (since 2016), 7 pm (since 1988) and 10 pm (since 1994). Clocks are also broadcast on New Year's Eve every year at 10 seconds before midnight to announce the beginning of the New Year since 1984. In Hong Kong, clock idents were used in between programmes, especially news bulletins, although they were not used during closedowns or start-ups. In Southeast Asia, clock idents are broadcast on a few channels in almost all countries, including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam. In Brunei, RTB broadcast clocks at sign-on (just before Brunei National Anthem as start of the channel), before their news programs, and before Islamic prayer times (Waktu Sembahyang); 4 or 5 times a day. In Cambodia, TVK used to air an analogue clock ident before their TV programs in 1993–1996 and replaced by the digital clock in 1997 (started at 11h30–14h30 and resumed at 17h00–23h00). In Indonesia, TVRI used to air clock ident before its main news programmes, notably Berita Nasional and Dunia Dalam Berita. The ident accompanied with seven-note tune that resembles the incipit of Mars Pancasila (the anthem of the national emblem of Indonesia). The tune is so iconic that it is included into current ident of the latter starting on 2015. However, TVRI no longer use clock idents since mid-2014. In Malaysia, RTM broadcast clocks on sign-on and sign-off, but clocks were cancelled in 2009. Clocks on RTM had music until 1978 but on some occasions, such as before main news program, it had background music. TV3 used clocks before their news programs from 1 January 1985. In the Philippines, the networks of Broadcast City (BBC-2/City2, RPN-9/New Vision 9 and IBC-13/Islands TV 13) aired clock idents during advertisement breaks from 1970s/early-1980s until 1986 (BBC-2/City2) and mid-1990s (RPN-9/New Vision 9 and IBC-13/Islands TV 13). ABS-CBN-2, MBS-4/PTV-4/NBN-4, ABC-5/TV5, GMA-7 and SBN-21 doesn't broadcast clock idents. Since mid-2010s, GMA Network began using clock idents at every hour or at every beginning of its programs which appeared for at least one minute and disappeared afterwards and also, it has a style of red rectangular box and white Seven-segment display numbers as a digital clock which is placed either on lower-left or lower-right portion of their screen and on 2022, they used Arial font numbers for that. Also, PTV and IBC has clock idents during all of its programs since early 2010s and January 2025 located at the lower-left portion of their screen. In Singapore, Mediacorp broadcast clocks before their news programs. From 1 June 1980, such clocks were sponsored. In Thailand, Channel 3 used to air an analogue clock ident before their news programs in 1986–1995 after Channel 3 cancelled their joint news program with Channel 9, and in sign-off sequences before it became 24 hours in 2002, but while TV3 had temporary closedowns in May 2010, TV3 did not use clock idents. Between the 1990s and 2009, Channel 3 aired digital clock video counting up to 8 am and 6 pm for the national anthem. Currently, clocks incorporated to Hourly News Updates on both Channel 3 (Channel 3 HD, Flash News) and Channel 3 SD (News 28). Channel 7 used clock idents in the 1990s, and again between January and February 2010 before becoming 24 hours broadcasting on 1 March 2010. Channel 11 used digital clock idents in sign-ons before becoming 24-hour broadcasting on 1 April 2008. Thai PBS used clock idents in 2016 Before Breakfast Program. Channel 5 and Modernine TV are not known to use clock idents. Voice TV using digital clock counting down for 5 seconds before morning edition of Voice News that replaced Wake Up Thailand in 2014. In Vietnam, VTV and HTV broadcast clocks at sign-on. On VTV, digital clocks are broadcast for 3 seconds before the main news program. But Hanoi Television have broadcast a clock ident sign on 5:30 am since 1997. THVL broadcast clocks at sign on until 2012. In Israel, in the period between the 1970s and the 90s, Channel 1 showed a clock ident before Mabat (primetime news) or some other news programs, as well as sometimes during closedown. Nowadays, Israeli TV stations replace them with ads or other programs. As of recently, a short countdown ident announcing the news is played, however, since the news program starts at a much more random time, there is no clock on screen.
=== Australia === Clock idents were used in Australia from the 1960s until the late 1980s by ABC-TV, as well as by a number of commercial TV stations including SAS-10 Adelaide.
==== ABC-TV ==== The first ABC-TV clock idents were in black and white. With the introduction of colour TV in Australia in 1975, ABC-TV introduced a white clock on a brown background with "ABC Colour" branding. This later changed to a white clock on a blue background. The final iteration of the ABC-TV clock ident was a white clock on a red background, which was seen as late as 1989.
=== Post-Soviet states ===