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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 and closedown, though in the past quite commonly preceded regular programming. In the United Kingdom, clock idents are also associated with BBC Schools.
The first station clocks were mechanical, but were converted to an electronically generated format in the 1980s.TVARK. Retrieved 18:53 GMT 20 January 2007.
A clock will usually match a TV channel's normal television ident; 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.
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 closedown 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.
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 7a.m. news.
In China, CCTV-1 broadcasts clocks at 5 seconds before the beginning of news programs at noon (since 2016), Xinwen Lianbo (since 1988) and 10pm (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 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, MBS-4/PTV-4/NBN-4, ABC-5/TV5, GMA Network 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 has clock idents during all of its programs since early 2010s 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 Modernine TV, and in sign-off sequences before it became 24 hours in 2002, but while TV3 had temporary in May 2010, TV3 did not use clock idents. Between the 1990s and 2009, Channel 3 aired digital clock video counting up to 8am and 6pm 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 5:30am 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.
Certain other channels, like STS, do not broadcast news programs but do show a clock sometimes between programs, at special or scheduled checks or at closedown, though a nightly closedown is rare in Russian channels since most of them are already broadcasting 24 hours a day.
After a tragedy, or on a national remembrance day, those clock idents are shown silent and their color may be changed.
Though most channels dropped clocks by the early 1990s, Canal 13 kept its clock, reformulating it to show it digitally over the respective sponsorship (which switched from Beiesdorf to Telefónica Chile). Additionally, the clock was restricted to appear only before Teletrece (its main newscast). A similar clock was introduced by competitor TVN during the mid-2000s. Both were dropped by the end of the decade, as permanent clocks were added to newscasts.
With the gradual advent of 24/7 broadcasting in Chile, Chilevisión re-introduced clock idents in 2022, being shown again during some commercial breaks, but with the time being shown digitally.
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