CO
The mish-mash of "ITV"/"UTV" used in N.I. nowadays seems so bizarre to me.
- "ITV" for all idents, and for network programme trailers.
- "UTV" for local programme trailers only (and in what is now the previous ITV trailer endboard style).
- A couple of programme names that still contain "UTV", despite being shown on a channel that is now called ITV. (How long did the "HTV News - a Carlton production on ITV1" mess last? That was thankfully only ever going to be a fairly short-term interim state of affairs, but whether the same is true for "UTV Live/Life on ITV" remains to be seen)
- Announcements into local programmes now cunningly avoiding mentioning any channel name (reminds me of the Scottish/Grampian "this channel" era), after a brief spell of them saying "UTV" despite speaking over ITV idents.
Compare all of this to a couple of decades ago, when the "hearts dual-branding" saw the phasing out of the old regional channel names handled in a much more smooth and logical way.
- "ITV" for all idents, and for network programme trailers.
- "UTV" for local programme trailers only (and in what is now the previous ITV trailer endboard style).
- A couple of programme names that still contain "UTV", despite being shown on a channel that is now called ITV. (How long did the "HTV News - a Carlton production on ITV1" mess last? That was thankfully only ever going to be a fairly short-term interim state of affairs, but whether the same is true for "UTV Live/Life on ITV" remains to be seen)
- Announcements into local programmes now cunningly avoiding mentioning any channel name (reminds me of the Scottish/Grampian "this channel" era), after a brief spell of them saying "UTV" despite speaking over ITV idents.
Compare all of this to a couple of decades ago, when the "hearts dual-branding" saw the phasing out of the old regional channel names handled in a much more smooth and logical way.
SC
At the moment the channel is still called UTV, despite being branded as ITV most of the time. I’m pretty sure ITV’s long term aim now is to retire the UTV name altogether, and rebrand the news and other local programmes that use that name for the very reasons you state above.
In most of the other regions taken over by ITV Plc, the regional names have been maintained for their news programmes and the odd current affairs/political programme (eg Border Life, Representing Border), but acronyms like UTV don’t translate well due to the “-TV” suffix. The HTV name disappeared after a couple of years. As discussed many times, there’s not an obvious alternative name for UTV Live or UTV News.
Most, if not all, ITV regions were “dual-branded” right up to 2002, with generic ITV trailers and local trailers/continuity often shown back to back in a single junction. Nobody was confused - we all knew the local station was Granada or Thames or Tyne Tees and the network/channel was ITV. That type of anomaly is only considered a problem in today’s brand-conscious, competitive TV industry - but it is a problem nonetheless.
In most of the other regions taken over by ITV Plc, the regional names have been maintained for their news programmes and the odd current affairs/political programme (eg Border Life, Representing Border), but acronyms like UTV don’t translate well due to the “-TV” suffix. The HTV name disappeared after a couple of years. As discussed many times, there’s not an obvious alternative name for UTV Live or UTV News.
Most, if not all, ITV regions were “dual-branded” right up to 2002, with generic ITV trailers and local trailers/continuity often shown back to back in a single junction. Nobody was confused - we all knew the local station was Granada or Thames or Tyne Tees and the network/channel was ITV. That type of anomaly is only considered a problem in today’s brand-conscious, competitive TV industry - but it is a problem nonetheless.
IS
As SI-Co says, that's been discussed many times
Surely if they drop utv from all branding and show names they could consider rolling back to the stations original name- Ulster... so they could have “Ulster news” “Ulster Live”
As SI-Co says, that's been discussed many times
As discussed many times, there’s not an obvious alternative name for UTV Live or UTV News.
RI
It’s only that way because of the pandemic. Even if they would have still got rid of Julian and Gillian, they would have still put something more coherent in place.
Looking on the companies house website, there are companies incorporated in the last few years using that name. Ulster still is used by many products and services as you know such as the Ulster Museum, Ulster Carpets, Ulster Orchestra and, of course, BBC Radio Ulster. But I do think its use to refer to explitly refer to Northern Ireland these days is a lot less likely.
The mish-mash of "ITV"/"UTV" used in N.I. nowadays seems so bizarre to me.
It’s only that way because of the pandemic. Even if they would have still got rid of Julian and Gillian, they would have still put something more coherent in place.
They'll never go back to using the Ulster name,
ever
. I doubt any new company or service will ever consider using it either.
Looking on the companies house website, there are companies incorporated in the last few years using that name. Ulster still is used by many products and services as you know such as the Ulster Museum, Ulster Carpets, Ulster Orchestra and, of course, BBC Radio Ulster. But I do think its use to refer to explitly refer to Northern Ireland these days is a lot less likely.
BR
Isn't that largely the case for the main channels anyway - most will promote shows coming up later or on their sister channels, rarely mentioning the channel you're watching.
Announcements into local programmes now cunningly avoiding mentioning any channel name (reminds me of the Scottish/Grampian "this channel" era), after a brief spell of them saying "UTV" despite speaking over ITV idents.
Isn't that largely the case for the main channels anyway - most will promote shows coming up later or on their sister channels, rarely mentioning the channel you're watching.
TI
Jeez this interview with Anna Friel on UTV Life is so painfull!!
Looks like Pamela is interviewing her over dial up internet. Poor Pamela...she deserves better than this.
Also noticed at the end of the interview Pamela said you can catch Marcella "Tuesdays at 9pm on ITV " but she opened the interview by saying "Well if you've been watching on Tuesday nights you'll see Marcella is back on UTV let take a look at a clip...."
In one breath it UTV, the next it's ITV.
Looks like Pamela is interviewing her over dial up internet. Poor Pamela...she deserves better than this.
Also noticed at the end of the interview Pamela said you can catch Marcella "Tuesdays at 9pm on ITV " but she opened the interview by saying "Well if you've been watching on Tuesday nights you'll see Marcella is back on UTV let take a look at a clip...."
In one breath it UTV, the next it's ITV.
AM
Mabey she was told off in her ear for saying UTV and so then changed the wording to ITV next time she mentioned it
Jeez this interview with Anna Friel on UTV Life is so painfull!!
Looks like Pamela is interviewing her over dial up internet. Poor Pamela...she deserves better than this.
Also noticed at the end of the interview Pamela said you can catch Marcella "Tuesdays at 9pm on ITV " but she opened the interview by saying "Well if you've been watching on Tuesday nights you'll see Marcella is back on UTV let take a look at a clip...."
In one breath it UTV, the next it's ITV.
Looks like Pamela is interviewing her over dial up internet. Poor Pamela...she deserves better than this.
Also noticed at the end of the interview Pamela said you can catch Marcella "Tuesdays at 9pm on ITV " but she opened the interview by saying "Well if you've been watching on Tuesday nights you'll see Marcella is back on UTV let take a look at a clip...."
In one breath it UTV, the next it's ITV.
Mabey she was told off in her ear for saying UTV and so then changed the wording to ITV next time she mentioned it
SP
I would hope she was gently corrected rather than "told off", that's a well established way to make sure the rest of the show is rubbish!
KE
Mabey she was told off in her ear for saying UTV and so then changed the wording to ITV next time she mentioned it
It is still officially UTV though, even though it uses ITV continuity now.
For example, when News at Ten mentions programmes which are being shown afterwards, such as On Assignment, and mentions the times, they refer to things like ITV, ITV Wales, STV and UTV when referring to regional variations.
Even if the UTV name is phased out, and programmes like UTV Live and UTV Life are rebranded, they will still need to have a name for the channel to distinguish it from other regions.
Jeez this interview with Anna Friel on UTV Life is so painfull!!
Looks like Pamela is interviewing her over dial up internet. Poor Pamela...she deserves better than this.
Also noticed at the end of the interview Pamela said you can catch Marcella "Tuesdays at 9pm on ITV " but she opened the interview by saying "Well if you've been watching on Tuesday nights you'll see Marcella is back on UTV let take a look at a clip...."
In one breath it UTV, the next it's ITV.
Looks like Pamela is interviewing her over dial up internet. Poor Pamela...she deserves better than this.
Also noticed at the end of the interview Pamela said you can catch Marcella "Tuesdays at 9pm on ITV " but she opened the interview by saying "Well if you've been watching on Tuesday nights you'll see Marcella is back on UTV let take a look at a clip...."
In one breath it UTV, the next it's ITV.
Mabey she was told off in her ear for saying UTV and so then changed the wording to ITV next time she mentioned it
It is still officially UTV though, even though it uses ITV continuity now.
For example, when News at Ten mentions programmes which are being shown afterwards, such as On Assignment, and mentions the times, they refer to things like ITV, ITV Wales, STV and UTV when referring to regional variations.
Even if the UTV name is phased out, and programmes like UTV Live and UTV Life are rebranded, they will still need to have a name for the channel to distinguish it from other regions.