Border Television

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

Credits

Editions by
Michael Kenchington

Background

Border Television was launched on September 1, 1961 as the ITV franchise holder for the Cumbria region in England, as well as the southern regions of Scotland. It also served the Isle of Man from 1965 onwards. As an independent station, Border was best known for the news programme Lookaround and the coupler game show Mr and Mrs. Capitol Radio owned the station for a short time in 2000 before selling it to Granada, and after the Carlton-Granada merger in 2004, Border ceased to exist as a separate brand.

1st ID (September 1, 1961-August 31, 1971)

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Visuals: On a black background is a symbol that looks like a stylized "B" but which also supposedly represents the station's broadcast area (Cumbria and southern Scotland), with the words "Border Television" in Helvetica below.

Trivia: The symbol (referred to by locals as "the chopsticks") was selected from over 100 designs submitted to the station. It was drawn up by one of Britain’s leading industrial designers who, among many other designs, produced the then-present BBC-tv symbol.

Variant: At the beginning of some shows, "presents" can be seen below.

Technique: A still, printed image.

Audio: Usually none, though sometimes there is an announcer reading out official ITA information.

2nd ID (September 1, 1971-September 1, 1989)

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Visuals: On a blue background is the Border symbol and the words "BORDER TELEVISION", again in Helvetica, in a rectangular box with rounded corners.

Accompanying clock ident: The clock has a white colour to it and has dots to represent the hours (larger ones for the cardinal hours), while on a black square. The top is dominated by a blue rectangle with the Border symbol on the left, the text "Border Television" on the top, and a underline extending from the symbol's own line.

Variant: Initially, the word "COLOUR" would be present below the box.

Technique: A still, computerized graphic.

Audio: None.

3rd ID (September 1, 1989-September 1992)

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Visuals: See ITV.

Variant: A still version with both the 1989 ITV logo (except for the triangle) and the BORDER text in white exists for some junctions.

4th ID (September 1992-September 4, 1994)

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Visuals: On a cloudy grey background, the "B" symbol from before (now tinted light blue) unfolds horizontally. The word "BORDER" in Book Antiqua Italic then unfolds in a similar fashion, letter by letter.

Technique: 2D computer animation by Liquid Image in Glasgow.

Audio: Same as the previous logo, but edited slightly.

5th ID (September 5, 1994-November 7, 1999)

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  1994 version
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  1995 version
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  1995 version (alternate)

Visuals: The "B" symbol, now in 3D, flies onto the centre of the screen. The "BORDER" text, in the same font as before, zooms into view letter by letter.

Variants: The ident featured several backgrounds during its run:

• 1994-1995: A blue, rocky background.
• 1995-1999: A rippling water background. From this point onwards, the "BORDER" text is rendered in 3D.
• 1995-1999: An abstract blue background with rotating gears.

Technique: CGI by Liquid Image.

Audio:

• 1994-1995: Same as the previous logo.
• 1995-1999: A more soothing rearrangement of the 1989 ITV logo's music.
• 1995-1999: A formal sounding tune played on a horn.

6th ID (November 8, 1999-October 27, 2002)

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  1999 version
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  2001 version

See ITV.

External Links

• Border Television on TVARK