Commercial bumper

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In broadcasting, a commercial bumper, ident bumper or break bumper (often shortened to bump) is a brief announcement, usually two to 15 seconds, placed between a pause in the program and its commercial break (and also the other way around). The host, the program announcer, or a continuity announcer states the title (if any) of the presentation, the name of the program, and the broadcast or cable network, though not necessarily in that order. Bumper music, often a recurring signature or theme music segment, is nearly always featured. Bumpers can vary from simple text to short films.

[edit] Types

Most network television shows in the U.S. no longer use commercial bumpers, but they are a common feature of radio. In radio, they are often used during sports broadcasts to ease the transition from play by play to commercial break, and to return to live action, many times using very obscure musical selections of the board operator's choosing. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, in accordance with then-current FCC regulations that required distinction between programs and commercials, most children's programming bumpers would include the phrase "We'll be [right] back after these messages," except for the bump before the final commercial break, which would usually say, "And now, these messages." They (or variations of these) are still used on network Saturday morning children's programming, as well as on major network shows (as opposed to those that air on Fox and The CW) that air Sunday nights at 7:00 PM/6:00 PM Central time that are not news or information programs

Nickelodeon stopped using bumpers in September 2000. As of 2007, Nickelodeon is using small "we will be right back" bumpers.

Soap operas in the US have used commercial bumpers for most of their existence. All but one of the current soaps use a bumper in some form. The bumper is usually placed near the halfway point of the hour-long programs, anywhere from 25 minutes to 35 minutes into the show. The bumpers for CBS and ABC soaps feature stylized headshots of the characters; ABC also uses a cast member voiceover, announcing that the program "will be back in a moment, here on ABC."

Saturday Night Live has used commercial bumpers showing pictures of the host that night. The show has been known for having very distinctive bumpers featuring guest hosts. Since 1999 these bumpers have been photographed by Mary Ellen Matthews.

Late Night With Conan O'Brien today is known for its quirky and amusing commercial bumpers. The show adapted the bumpers from the days when David Letterman was host of Late Night, which were in turn inspired by the colorful bumpers that were a trademark of Johnny Carson's tenure on The Tonight Show.

In the United Kingdom, a break-bumper is a brief appearance of a logo before, after or in-between commercial breaks. The logo is almost always that of the television channel that you are watching and/or of the program title. Since the introduction of program sponsorship in the UK it has become common practice for channels to use brief sponsor's promotions in place of bumpers.

Break-bumpers can either be animated or static, and rarely appear for more than two seconds. They are sometimes branded to advertise a special programme or event that will be broadcast on that channel. Examples of this are sports matches, the BRIT Awards and Big Brother.