TVB Jade On-Air Identity

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TVB Jade's on-air identity is similar in principles to its European counterparts, but also have great differences. A typical TVB ident package typically consists of only one to two idents (the record is four), and does not have a unifying theme (with the exception of the "seasons" ident that was aired during the early 90's). The idents are, therefore, not as visually striking as its European counterparts. However, as TVB enjoys a predominent ratings advantage in Hong Kong over its rivals almost since its inception, people in Hong Kong often identify with the idents somewhat, with idents from different periods reminding them of the famous shows made at that time.

Also worth noting is that a typical TVB Jade ident in the past 10-18 years have not lasted more than a year before they are replaced.

[edit] 1960's to 1970's

Early idents are simple, and simply features the TVB logo with the word "Hong Kong" (香港) inside the logo, written from the right to the left.

A still of a typical TVB Jade ident during the 60's. Note the peculiar style of how the word "Hong Kong" (香港) is written as (港香), in reverse order, as per the norms of the time.

[edit] Early 1980's

One of the few "themed" idents were shown during this time. Idents shown in 1984 and 1985 included aspects of everyday lives of ordinary citizens. Also rare among these idents (by all standards) is that the continuity announcer at the time, Siu Liang, made a quote before announcing the station's name. Other quoted idents would follow during the 1980's.

Two quotes used on the ident sets shown in 1984 and 1985 are as follows:

• 1984: "Instilling vitality, making everyone happy and motivated." (Chinese: 增添活力細胞, 人人開懷起勁)
• 1985: "Spreading vitality in every family, adding flare to life" (Chinese: 活力傳萬家, 生命添火花)

An ident at 1986 features four people doing community works in various places across Hong Kong. Also peculiar about this ident is the feturing of a "Western" (presumably European) person. Idents before that time exclusively features Chinese people.

A still of the "Vitality" Ident used in 1984.

[edit] Late 1980's

1987 was the 20th anniversary of TVB's establishment, and as a result, a special ident was made, with the entire staff of TVB's formidable talent artist corp entering into a local stadium and forming a TVB logo. The ident was (and still is) well known amongst Hong Kong people as TVB's "showoff" ident. Another pair of idents was also made, this time showing the behind-the-scene production of shows at TVB and people from all walks of life gathering around TV sets and enjoying the programmes.

Like the idents from 1984 and 1985, the continuity announcer read out a quote before announcing the station's name:

• "Showoff" Ident: "Spreading information and energy, fulfilling everyone's inner dreams: 20 years of TVB."
• Other Idents: "Spreading information and energy, marking 20 years of TVB"

Later idents produced in 1988 began to extensively use computer generated graphics. A very memorable ident set was shown as a series of cartoon strips in 1989, also showing everyday life. A programming caption slide shown days after the Tiananmen Massacre shows a person reading a newspaper and crying while flowers are withering. That programming slide has often been cited as the most memorable ident ever produced by TVB.

Also worth noting is that 1988 marks the end of inserting quotes into idents by continuity announcers before the announcement of the station's name.

[edit] 1990's

[edit] "Spinning logo" Idents

To mark the entering of a new decate, a new ident was made especially for the year 1990. The slogan "Onto 1990" was used for this ident. It also wad the beginning of a "spinning ident". The "tricolour" part of the ident was shown spinning before the end of the ident.

In the 1991, another series of "spinning" logo idents (this time, with layers of the outer frames of TVB's logo spinning) were produced and shown. Four idents of this theme were shown between 1991 and 1994, before the introduction of the "seasons" ident. A version of the ident can still be seen on TVB's San Francisco cable channel on a daily basis.

Also worth mentioning is that beginning in 1991, TVB Pearl's presentation package became the same as TVB Jade's, albeit with some variations.

[edit] "Seasons" Idents

In 1994, an ident set of four, shown during different seasons, were produced. This ident set is the longest-aired ident in TVB history, lasting until 1998.

[edit] Other Idents

In 1999, a new ident set that is similar to one of the "Seasons" Idents were produced. It shows many of the major landmarks of Hong Kong before zooming to TVB's ident set.

[edit] 2000's

Starting in 2000, a new ident was produced by TVB. The new ident is quite unique, largely due to the fact that it features a daytime and nighttime version, with the nighttime version running longer than the daytime version. It also marks the last time (as of 2006) TVB uses real life imagery in its idents. All idents produced after the 2000 ident used computer generated graphics.