ABC News:
Fig. 1 ABC News: ABC News Live (2018)
ABC News is an American channel in its own right, part of several channels owned by Disney-ABC. Therefore, it has its own branding and even its own tagline: "Straight to the heart of the story. It's the ABC way". This fits with how the channel also brands itself as reporting "straightforward" news (see fig.1).
The channel uses this tagline since, 'the communicative ethos of US network television is far more overtly based on persuasion than that of the UK terrestrial channels' (Johnson, 2012). Because of the amount of platforms news can now be accessed on, this is important since the tagline becomes the centre of a multimedia brand complex created by the channel. This gives the channel authority by helping gain the audience's trust, promoting brand loyalty.
The style of the channel can also promote loyalty as it is targeted towards a certain audience. ABC News uses a simple colour scheme of blue, white, and black (see fig.2).
The channel uses this tagline since, 'the communicative ethos of US network television is far more overtly based on persuasion than that of the UK terrestrial channels' (Johnson, 2012). Because of the amount of platforms news can now be accessed on, this is important since the tagline becomes the centre of a multimedia brand complex created by the channel. This gives the channel authority by helping gain the audience's trust, promoting brand loyalty.
The style of the channel can also promote loyalty as it is targeted towards a certain audience. ABC News uses a simple colour scheme of blue, white, and black (see fig.2).
Fig. 2 ABC News: ABC News Live (2018)
Dark blue carries the meaning of trust, authority, dignity, and intelligence (Colour Matters, s.d). By mainly using this as a background, ABC News promotes itself as a serious news channel. This fits with the formal, yet welcoming tone the channel adopts. For example, presenters are often used in promos to help draw viewers in as they become more and more familiar. These presenters wear smart suits and dresses, and directly address their audiences. They help to give the channel it's distinct tone which makes clear what type of content is going to be delivered, since the presenter's personalities are evident within the brand(BBC Academy, 2017b), such as anchor David Muir seeming to care about the public, which can be seen by the shots in the commercial for his segment of the channel (see fig. 3).
Fig. 3 ABC News: ABC News Live (2018)
This distinguishes the channel's target audience as everyday Americans who are concerned about current affairs all over the world. The sidebar showing this news (see fig.3) also makes this evident, since it displays not only US news but also entertainment news and international news, among others.
To appeal to this wide audience, and also clearly display so many headlines at once without distracting from the main screen, the channel uses the neutral colours of black and white. Black is seen as formal and sophisticated, and can signify power (Color Psychology, s.d), whereas white is seen as good and pure, as well as signifying sincerity (Bourn, 2010a).
These fit with the channel's values, which are evident throughout all the content, such as the reporters being committed, the "good" guys who want to use their power to deliver the truth, and ABC wanting to be the primary source of news for their audience from the tagline "start here" (see fig.4). This also distinguishes the news channel with the rest of the ABC brand, as this used to be the tagline of the main ABC channel (Taylor, 2009).
Fig. 4 ABC News: ABC News Live (2018)
From this, it can also be seen that the channel is quite graphics heavy. It has been argued that images are the most important elements of a news channel, because they can help attract the audience (BBC Academy, 2017b). This can be seen to be the case with these graphics on ABC News because they allow the audience to watch casually, without sound, keeping up with current events which are always ongoing even as they also live their lives (see fig.5). Since the headlines displayed in the graphics are also so short, viewers could be drawn in by them in order to find out more about the stories.
Fig. 5 ABC News: ABC News Live (2018)
The colour red is used to add a sense of urgency, such as when a reporter is live with a breaking story, to help alert these viewers. This is backed up by the large, clear font in the bar at the bottom of the screen which states the event is happening now (see fig.6).
Fig. 6 ABC News: ABC News Live (2018)
Overall, the branding of ABC News is designed to report a wide range of news to a wide audience quickly and clearly. They aim to hold viewers by being open about their values and making their reporters and their personalities evident and familiar to audiences to create trust, and also authority.
ITV News:
Fig. 7 ITV Hub: ITV News (2018)
Compared to ABC News from America, English news channels put a 'far greater emphasis on extending the corporate brand across all aspects of a corporation's operations' (Johnson, 2012).
This can be seen from the ITV logo (see fig.7), as the designer created it by combining all the channels of ITV, such as itv 2 and Citv, into circles inspired by the dot above the i on the original itv logo to create a "hub wheel" where all of these channels can be accessed from one collective platform online (Designing "The ITV Hub", 2015). This allows the corporation to expand from TV to online across multimedia, such as computers, tablets and phones.
Despite this, it has also been argued that 'even with a ‘digital-first’ mindset, you can still make content that works for traditional TV audiences' (BBC Academy, 2017a). ITV does this with its traditional TV news bulletins, which are available online on the hub after airing on TV (see fig.8).
This easy identification helps to promote brand loyalty, and again helps with ITV's expansion across platforms to get their content to audiences in the increasingly complex multimedia environment (Johnson, 2012).
Identification in this way is essential for ITV because of how it competes with not only online media, but also the BBC's TV news bulletins (Royal Television Society, 2016).
The font used is similar to that of ABC News, since it is large and easy to read, but also looks formal yet welcoming to the audience.
Overall, ITV use their branding to help them spread their news segment across multimedia platforms so they are easily identifiable and can compete with the BBC and online news.
This can be seen from the ITV logo (see fig.7), as the designer created it by combining all the channels of ITV, such as itv 2 and Citv, into circles inspired by the dot above the i on the original itv logo to create a "hub wheel" where all of these channels can be accessed from one collective platform online (Designing "The ITV Hub", 2015). This allows the corporation to expand from TV to online across multimedia, such as computers, tablets and phones.
Despite this, it has also been argued that 'even with a ‘digital-first’ mindset, you can still make content that works for traditional TV audiences' (BBC Academy, 2017a). ITV does this with its traditional TV news bulletins, which are available online on the hub after airing on TV (see fig.8).
Fig. 8 ITV Hub: ITV News (2018)
These news bulletins have a formal style, which is authoritative and official. For example, the presenters are always dressed smartly, and the traditional head and shoulders shot is used to bring them closer to the audience who they address directly.
From this it can be seen that, as with ABC News, the audience is the main priority in ITV's branding. Simple graphics are used to communicate statistics to them in a clear way (see fig.9).
Fig. 9 ITV Hub: ITV News (2018)
The main colour used by ITV is turquoise which has meanings of wisdom, loyalty, intuition, and is refreshing (Bourn, 2010b). This is the colour of the main itv dot on the hub wheel, therefore it is always clear to the audience as soon as they see the colour that this is ITV.This easy identification helps to promote brand loyalty, and again helps with ITV's expansion across platforms to get their content to audiences in the increasingly complex multimedia environment (Johnson, 2012).
Identification in this way is essential for ITV because of how it competes with not only online media, but also the BBC's TV news bulletins (Royal Television Society, 2016).
The font used is similar to that of ABC News, since it is large and easy to read, but also looks formal yet welcoming to the audience.
Overall, ITV use their branding to help them spread their news segment across multimedia platforms so they are easily identifiable and can compete with the BBC and online news.
Channel 4 News:
Fig. 10 All4: Channel 4 News (2018)
When Channel 4 was first establishing their brand, their main aim was to create 'a brand identity that appealed to the commercially valuable youth and upmarket audiences, while asserting that this was in accordance with its public service remit to be different from other television channels' (Johnson, 2012).
In order to appeal to this upmarket audience, Channel 4 News has a serious, sophisticated tone, backed up by the fact the main colour used by the channel is purple, since this is associated with wealth, luxury, and royalty (Bourn, 2011). The opening titles also use classical music, which is normally associated with the upper-class.
In order to appeal to this upmarket audience, Channel 4 News has a serious, sophisticated tone, backed up by the fact the main colour used by the channel is purple, since this is associated with wealth, luxury, and royalty (Bourn, 2011). The opening titles also use classical music, which is normally associated with the upper-class.
Fig. 11 All4: Channel 4 News (2018)
After these titles, one studio reporter explains the top story in-depth, and then the camera pans out to reveal another, who then goes through the stories coming up (see fig.11). This is different to many other news channels, but it means that several stories can be run through quickly, without confusing the audience since they are able to distinguish what the top story is from the rest of the bulletin from there being two separate reporters. The biggest challenge in news can often be 'finding the best way to tell the story' (BBC Academy, 2016), but by using this method, Channel 4 News distinguishes itself stylistically and also keeps the audience's attention since the run-down is quick.
Because of this, the channel is not graphics heavy, but uses a lot of live reports so that it can be seen that the reporters are out of the studio and connecting with the stories, and the people at the heart of these stories (see fig. 13).
Fig. 12 All4: Channel 4 News (2018)
This also shows that the channel has a focus on their reporters. For example, the thumbnail picture for the news bulletins is of all the reporters (see fig.12). In this way, the channel is able to relate to not only their upmarket audience, but also a young audience, since they have someone to relate to in the reporters.Because of this, the channel is not graphics heavy, but uses a lot of live reports so that it can be seen that the reporters are out of the studio and connecting with the stories, and the people at the heart of these stories (see fig. 13).
Fig. 13 All4: Channel 4 News (2018)
Overall, Channel 4 News aims to connect to their young and upmarket audience through their reporters, creating a highbrow image with classical music and the purple colour scheme. They break down stories quickly, an aim signified by their logo, since it is made up of several broken down components (see fig.10).
Our brand:
Fig. 14 YouTube: Jessica Fairhall (2018)
Our target audience is young people aged 15-35, who are interested in technology. For this reason, our channel logo has a space theme, since this is fun, but also related to technology because of its association with science fiction. However, our colour scheme is white, black, and blue.
This is similar to ABC since we also want our audience to see we are a serious news channel since we cover serious stories such as gaming disorder and video game violence, which are controversial and debated topics.
Because of this, our tone is formal to fit with these stories, created also by the smart dress of the presenters, giving them a sense of authority so that the audience will trust they have the knowledge to discuss these serious issues.
However, since our audience is young, the tone is also inviting. This inviting tone is created by the presenters also since they are people our audience can relate to, and will eventually become familiar with as they build trust.
Similar to Channel 4, our reporters also lead the segments so they are the focus. This further strengthens their connection to our young audience, since they carry the stories, highlighted by our tagline of "we investigate".
Overall, just like ITV, our brand is concentrated around our audience. Therefore we have a focus on our reporters as they connect with, and lead our audience through the stories.
This is similar to ABC since we also want our audience to see we are a serious news channel since we cover serious stories such as gaming disorder and video game violence, which are controversial and debated topics.
Because of this, our tone is formal to fit with these stories, created also by the smart dress of the presenters, giving them a sense of authority so that the audience will trust they have the knowledge to discuss these serious issues.
However, since our audience is young, the tone is also inviting. This inviting tone is created by the presenters also since they are people our audience can relate to, and will eventually become familiar with as they build trust.
Similar to Channel 4, our reporters also lead the segments so they are the focus. This further strengthens their connection to our young audience, since they carry the stories, highlighted by our tagline of "we investigate".
Overall, just like ITV, our brand is concentrated around our audience. Therefore we have a focus on our reporters as they connect with, and lead our audience through the stories.
List of Illustrations
Figure 1. ABC News Live (2018) [ABC News Webpage] At: https://abcnews.go.com/live/video/special-live-11?cid=HP_LB_THUMB (Accessed on 20 October 2018).
Figure 2. ABC News Live (2018) [ABC News Webpage] At: https://abcnews.go.com/live/video/special-live-11?cid=HP_LB_THUMB (Accessed on 20 October 2018).
Figure 3. ABC News Live (2018) [ABC News Webpage] At: https://abcnews.go.com/live/video/special-live-11?cid=HP_LB_THUMB (Accessed on 20 October 2018).
Figure 4. ABC News Live (2018) [ABC News Webpage] At: https://abcnews.go.com/live/video/special-live-11?cid=HP_LB_THUMB (Accessed on 20 October 2018).
Figure 5. ABC News Live (2018) [ABC News Webpage] At: https://abcnews.go.com/live/video/special-live-11?cid=HP_LB_THUMB (Accessed on 20 October 2018).
Figure 6. ABC News Live (2018) [ABC News Webpage] At: https://abcnews.go.com/live/video/special-live-11?cid=HP_LB_THUMB (Accessed on 20 October 2018).
Figure 7. ITV News (2018) [ITV Hub Webpage] At: https://www.itv.com/hub/itv-news-weekday-teatime/2a4545a0731 (Accessed on 20 October 2018).
Figure 8. ITV News (2018) [ITV Hub Webpage] At: https://www.itv.com/hub/itv-news-weekday-teatime/2a4545a0731 (Accessed on 20 October 2018).
Figure 9. ITV News (2018) [ITV Hub Webpage] At: https://www.itv.com/hub/itv-news-weekday-teatime/2a4545a0731 (Accessed on 20 October 2018).
Figure 10. Channel 4 News (2018) [All 4 Webpage] At: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/channel-4-news (Accessed on 22 October 2018).
Figure 11. Channel 4 News (2018) [All 4 Webpage] At: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/channel-4-news (Accessed on 22 October 2018).
Figure 12. Channel 4 News (2018) [All 4 Webpage] At: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/channel-4-news (Accessed on 22 October 2018).
Figure 13. Channel 4 News (2018) [All 4 Webpage] At: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/channel-4-news (Accessed on 22 October 2018).
Figure 14. Glitch draft intro (2018) [YouTube webpage] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9515ZFzgNBs (Accessed on 28 October 2018).
Figure 7. ITV News (2018) [ITV Hub Webpage] At: https://www.itv.com/hub/itv-news-weekday-teatime/2a4545a0731 (Accessed on 20 October 2018).
Figure 8. ITV News (2018) [ITV Hub Webpage] At: https://www.itv.com/hub/itv-news-weekday-teatime/2a4545a0731 (Accessed on 20 October 2018).
Figure 9. ITV News (2018) [ITV Hub Webpage] At: https://www.itv.com/hub/itv-news-weekday-teatime/2a4545a0731 (Accessed on 20 October 2018).
Figure 10. Channel 4 News (2018) [All 4 Webpage] At: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/channel-4-news (Accessed on 22 October 2018).
Figure 11. Channel 4 News (2018) [All 4 Webpage] At: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/channel-4-news (Accessed on 22 October 2018).
Figure 12. Channel 4 News (2018) [All 4 Webpage] At: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/channel-4-news (Accessed on 22 October 2018).
Figure 13. Channel 4 News (2018) [All 4 Webpage] At: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/channel-4-news (Accessed on 22 October 2018).
Figure 14. Glitch draft intro (2018) [YouTube webpage] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9515ZFzgNBs (Accessed on 28 October 2018).
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