Associated Television/Television Idents

Credits

Descriptions by
Jess Williams

Captures by
Eric S., Mr. Logo Lord, and others

Editions by
mr3urious, Mr. Logo Lord and PerryLuv2001

Video captures courtesy of
Paul Hatfield and bbctim123

This article is about the TV idents. For the production logos, see Central Productions.

Background

Originally formed as "ABC" (not to be confused with the American, Australian or Associated "ABC") by impresario Lew Grade, Associated Television Ltd. was the second-ever ITV franchisee to go on air on September 24, 1955, serving for London on the weekends. Their more famous outing, serving weekdays (later full-time starting in 1968) in the Midlands, would go on the air on February 17, 1956. It was also the parent company of ITC Entertainment from 1957 and until 1981, when ATV re-formed and re-branded itself to Central Independent Television.

1st Logo (September-October 1955)

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Logo: On a black background, there's a grey "eye" (inspired by the CBS logo) with a striped (or "shadowed") eye below it, and both intersected at about their midpoints. The letters "A", "B", and "C" are shown in the spaces of the intersecting logo.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Possibly none, or the three ATV chimes.

Availability: Long extinct.

• This was withdrawn after threats of legal action by Associated British Corporation, which was about to launch its own TV channel, causing the network's renaming.
• There is also no known recording of this logo, likely due to its short lifespan.

2nd Logo (October 1955-1956)

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Logo: On a black background, the eye from before, except wider, zooms towards the screen while "opening up" and expanding outwards. It then moves upward, revealing a striped (or "shadowed") eye logo below it, and stops at a point where both circles intersect in the middle. The letters "A", "T", and "V" appear in the spaces of the intersecting logo in sequence accompanied by three chimes. "ASSOCIATED TELEVISION LTD." then appears below, the 3 bolded letters being larger than the rest.

Variant: A still holding slide has the logo with "channel 8" below it instead.

FX/SFX: Traditional cel animation.

Music/Sounds: The three "chimes" used as the letters appear, which increase in pitch. Composed by Wally Stott (later known as Angela Morley).

Availability: Extinct. This would continue to be used at the end of sign-ons until colour broadcasts began.

Legacy: The reason the logo is somewhat misproportioned is because due to the company's renaming forcing the draftsman to redraw it in a hurry.

3rd Logo (February 17, 1956-1959)

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Logo: On a grey background, a rectangle protruding from the top right lists "MIDLANDS: Monday to Friday", a small ATV eye logo (redrawn to feature the proportions of the 1st logo), and then "LONDON: Saturday and Sunday". 3 rectangles drop down beside it and a rectangle slides in from the right below the three rectangles. The letters "A", "T", and "V" appear in the rectangles with "PRESENTS" being wiped in on the rectangle below.

Variant: The bar only mentions about either the Midlands or the London at various times.

FX/SFX: Cel animation.

Music/Sounds: The same three chimes.

Availability: Extinct. This was seen in both areas ATV broadcast to (as seen in this ident) and even on programmes, such as The 64,000 Question and The Johnnie Ray Show. This was used after ATV had started its Midlands franchise in 1956.

4th Logo (1959-July 1964)

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Logo: Against a black background, a white ATV logo, which was the same design as it was in the 1st and 3rd logos, zooms into view fully formed. The letters "A", "T", and "V" appear in the spaces as the logo moves in, accompanied by the same chimes as before.

Accompanying clock ident: At this point, ATV would start using a clock with the shadowed eye as its basis. The clock had triangles to tell the hours and the hands were kite-shaped. This would be used throughout the '60s and '70s possibly, as this did have a yellow colour on a blue background.

Variants:

• A still variant exists.
• From 1962-1975, the endcap has the logo arranged like "AN ATV (COLOUR) PRODUCTION" on a blue or black background (the shade of blue may vary). An inverted variant exists, as well as it being used in-credit.
• A version exists with "ATV" arranged horizontally in the middle section of the eyes.

FX/SFX: Cel animation.

Music/Sounds: Again, the three chimes. They would sometimes have a normal pitch, though.

Availability: Extinct. It was commonly seen on ATV programming seen on the ITV network.

5th Logo (1964-1969)

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Logo: We see the ATV logo from before, only slightly smaller and moved to the top of the screen. Then, the words either "LONDON" or "MIDLANDS" slowly zoom up below the eyes.

FX/SFX: Cel animation.

Music/Sounds: Again, the three chimes, but a higher pitch this time. They would sometimes have a normal pitch, though.

Availability: Extremely rare.

• The Midlands version can be found on surviving black & white episodes of Crossroads released on DVD by Network DVD.
• The London version is extinct and was lost to a David Frost-led investor group (which became London Weekend Television; LWT would share the London area with Thames).
• The Midlands-area franchise was renewed and now expanded to seven days a week.
• Has a Flash remake at 625.uk.com/tv_logos/flash.htm#atv.

6th Logo (November 1969-December 31, 1981)

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Logo: On a grey or light blue background, 3 circles, colored red, green, and blue, grow in one after the other, intersecting each other and forming different colours. The caption "IN COLOUR" fades in underneath. The 3 circles then slide towards each other, forming one white circle as the background fades to blue. The white circle grows out into an eye shape and bands of colour sweep across it, cutting out the circle part and adding in the striped "shadow" underneath. The logo turns yellow and the letters "A", "T", and "V" appear in the spaces.

Accompanying clock ident: Basically just the still version, but with a digital clock displaying HMS time in the 24-hour format. This makes it rather unique among most of the time-frame, which were mostly analogue. Originally, it would have the clock mentioned in the 3rd logo.

Variants:

• 1969-75 black-and-white variant: the logo is shortened to just the ATV eyes appearance following a growing circle, and no gradients.
• Sometimes the eye might be in white instead of yellow.
• On an Elstree Christmas promo tape from 1982, after the logo forms, there are no letters that appear in the spaces.

FX/SFX: Traditional cel animation.

Music/Sounds: A loud, proud, and bombastic orchestral theme. After that, the familiar ATV chimes play, followed by a majestic finish. Composed by Jack Parnell, arranged by Angela Morley.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• For the black-and-white variant, in the beginning growing circle there are just three drums to accompany it.
• In its early years (?), the music was lower in pitch and sounded more low-budget.

Availability: Still preserved on several programmes from this period.

• This has a Flash remake of both the more low-budget sounding one and the more familiar one at 625.uk.com.
• The logo is preserved on Challenge airings of the first series of Bullseye.
• The black-and-white version is extinct. Could be seen on any black & white ATV programme during this time. Again, a Flash remake exists at 625.uk.com.

Legacy: This is a popular logo and probably one of the most fondly remembered logos in ITV's history.

External Links

• Associated Television on TVARK