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Station identification (ident, network ID or channel ID or bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and
networks Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...
identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a
call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally ass ...
or brand name (sometimes known, particularly in the United States, as a "sounder" or "stinger", more generally as a station or network ID). This may be to satisfy requirements of licensing authorities, a form of branding, or a combination of both. As such, it is closely related to
production logo A production logo, vanity card, vanity plate, or vanity logo is a logo used by movie studios and television production companies to brand what they produce and to determine the production company and the distributor of a television show or fil ...
s, used in television and cinema alike. Station identification used to be done regularly by an announcer at the halfway point during the presentation of a television program, or in between programs.


Asia

Idents are known as a ''montage'' in Thailand and the
Malay world The Malay world or Malay realm ( Indonesian/ Malay: or ; Jawi: ), is a concept or an expression that has been used by different authors and groups over time to denote several different notions, derived from varied interpretations of Malayne ...
(except Indonesia), and as an ''interlude'' in Cambodia and Vietnam.


Philippines

Station identifications in the Philippines differ from the vernacular meaning in most of the world. They describe what would be referred to as imaging campaigns elsewhere for their national networks, and vary considerably in length, up to eighteen minutes. These include music video-like presentations representing the season they are meant for, including '' tag-init'' (summer season), '' tag-ulan'' (rainy season), '' tagtuyo'' (dry season) and Christmas Season.


Europe

Broadcast stations in Europe do not identify by a callsign (with the digital age, most networks share one or two metropolitan transmitting facilities within a certain region, making identification of the actual transmitter superfluous), however most networks use a brand based on their common channel number. A form of station identification clip is played between programmes, traditionally incorporating the channel's logo, and accompanied by a
continuity announcer In broadcasting, continuity or presentation (or station break in the U.S. and Canada) is announcements, messages and graphics played by the broadcaster between specific programmes. It typically includes programme schedules, announcement of the ...
that introduces the next programme (and promotes other programmes). These identifiers evolved from mainly being mechanical models (such as the BBC globe), to becoming more advanced through the evolution of CGI during the 1980s. From the 1960s to the 1990s, most broadcasters only used a single identifier, sometimes using special variations for holidays and special events. In the present day, most broadcasters use a set of multiple identifiers built around a particular theme or branding element, often based on the channel's current overall look. Prior to 1988, the two existing channels in the Netherlands,
Nederland 1 NPO 1 (''NPO een'', formerly Nederland 1 until 2014) is the first national television station in the Netherlands. It launched on 2 October 1951. It provides public broadcasting and currently exists next to sister channels NPO 2 and NPO 3. Severa ...
and
Nederland 2 NPO 2 (''NPO twee'', formerly Nederland 2 until 2014) is a Dutch television channel, sister channel of NPO 1 and NPO 3. It was established on 1 October 1964 at 20:00, initially with a 2.5 hours schedule until 22:30. NPO 2 tends to broadcast art ...
, used only the idents of the broadcasters airing on them. With the creation of Nederland 3, all three channels started using their own idents.


United Kingdom

Prior to 1 January 1988, each programme on ITV would be preceded by the identifier of the regional company that had produced the show (known as a frontcap), and this would be broadcast throughout the network, in other words by all companies showing the programme. The programme frontcap was preceded by station identification and continuity announcements from the viewer's local region. It meant that viewers across the country would see a
Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
logo and hear the corresponding fanfare before ''
Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, ...
Farm'' and
Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...
idents before ''
Take the High Road ''Take the High Road'' (renamed ''High Road'' from 1994 to 2003) was a Scottish soap opera produced by Scottish Television, which started in February 1980 as an ITV network daytime programme, and was broadcast until 2003. It was set in the ficti ...
''. In consequence, most ITV-produced series shown abroad would also be preceded by the producing company's logo – for example, PBS presentations of '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' featured the
London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...
logo and fanfare before the start of the programme. Beginning in 1988, these were largely replaced by endcaps. Since the consolidation of the ITV network in the early 2000s, regional continuity announcements have generally disappeared, with STV being the only notable exceptions. UTV continued using local continuity announcements even under the ownership of ITV, although in 2020 they were suspended in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confirm ...
, and staff cutbacks were made with the Belfast studio. ITV later eventually made these changes permanent, and the local announcers were let go in November 2020.


North America


Mexico

The Ley Federal de Telecomunicaciones y Radiodifusión enacted in 2014 does not include a requirement for regular on-air station identification. However, many stations continue to air twice an hour their call letters (in Spanish) along with their city of license, as was required previously under Article 76 of the Ley Federal de Radio y Televisión.


United States

The United States'
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
(FCC) enforces specific requirements for identification that must be followed by all
terrestrial radio Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio sta ...
and
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
stations. Stations must, when they
sign on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonwealth countries exce ...
, sign off, and as close to the top of each hour as feasibly possible (such as within a "natural break" in programming, like a commercial break), present a visual (television) or aural (radio) station identification that contains, at minimum, the station's
callsign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assi ...
, followed by its designated
city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American b ...
. As a courtesy, top-of-hour identifications may also contain additional information, such as frequencies and a declaration of the station's ownership. Only the name of the licensee, the station's frequency or channel number as stated on its license, and/or network affiliations, may be inserted between the call letters and station location. An example of declared ownership on
KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the s ...
in Los Angeles during the late 1970s were the local announcer invoking then-station owner Golden West Broadcasters ("Golden West Broadcasters-Channel 5, KTLA Los Angeles"). Stations which broadcast on additional full- or low-powered signals must also identify them all every hour. However, stations licensed as
translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
s must be identified in their own right only three times per day: once between 7 and 9 a.m., 12:55 and 1:05 p.m., and 4 and 6 p.m. FCC rules specify that additional communities a station serves may also be listed in a legal ID, but the official city of license must always be listed first. The advent of
broadcast automation Broadcast automation incorporates the use of broadcast programming technology to automate broadcasting operations. Used either at a broadcast network, radio station or a television station, it can run a facility in the absence of a human op ...
has made it much easier for broadcasters to ensure compliance with identification rules. Many television stations and radio stations may have their identifications prerecorded or programmed to play automatically at the appropriate times. It may also be monetized into an advertisement, with the station placing the required text into a quick ad spot where an advertiser such as a law firm sponsors a program with their slogan said.


Radio

On radio, the top-of-hour ID must contain the full, legal call sign (including any relevant suffixes, particularly " FM") as assigned by the FCC, followed immediately by the station's
community of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broad ...
. The call letters must be spoken individually; even if the call letters are pronounced as a word for branding purposes (such as
WHAM Wham! was a British pop music duo. Wham may also refer to: Places * Wham, North Yorkshire, England, a hamlet in the Yorkshire Dales, United Kingdom * Wham, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States Stations * WHAM (AM), a talk radio ...
in
Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
, which is spoken as "Wham"), the legal ID must still spell out the individual letters. An example of a proper spoken radio station identification in the United States would be " WMAS-FM
Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...
Springfield" or " WLAN-FM Lancaster". Often, these identifications may be artificially
pitch shift Pitch shifting is a sound recording technique in which the original pitch of a sound is raised or lowered. Effects units that raise or lower pitch by a pre-designated musical interval ( transposition) are called pitch shifters. Pitch and tim ...
ed to be faster, to fit in more advertising or promotion within the sequence. The FCC also allows that: "the name of the licensee, the station's frequency, the station’s channel number, as stated on the station's license, and/or the station’s network affiliation may be inserted between the call letters and station location".


Television

On television, station identification may occur in either a visual format or aural. As no audio announcement of the call sign is necessary if the information appears on screen, often the identification is fulfilled by incorporating it into a short promo for a program the station airs (such as a syndicated or network program, or a preview of an upcoming newscast), the
title sequence A title sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often a opening theme song with vi ...
of the station's newscasts, or automatically cued as a
digital on-screen graphic A digital on-screen graphic, digitally originated graphic (DOG, bug, or network bug) is a watermark-like station logo that most television broadcasters overlay over a portion of the screen area of their programs to identify the channel. They are ...
briefly displayed at the required time. The identification can even be monetized as part of a regular commercial, with the text appearing in small type on the bottom of the screen (for instance, a law firm can sponsor a
court show A court show (also known as a judge show, legal/courtroom program, courtroom series, or judicial show) is a broadcast programming subgenre of either legal dramas or reality legal programming. Court shows present content mainly in the form of lega ...
and directly lead into the beginning of a program with proper station identification, along with their ad).
Translators Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
are required to be identified and listed daily at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. local time. The advent of
digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative adva ...
originally made it necessary for stations
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simul ...
ing both their analog and digital on the same channel to include both call signs in all identifications. Both stations have the same base callsigns, with the only difference being the analog ending in "-TV" and digital ending in "-DT" (originally "-HD"). Low-power stations identify with the designator "-LD". After the June 2009
digital transition Digital transition refers to the process of moving an existing analog system to a digital format. Used without further qualifiers, the term normally refers to the move from analog television to digital television, the digital television transition ...
, stations had a one time opportunity offered by the FCC to either retain the -DT designation on their digital signal, or move over the analog calls with either the "-TV" suffix or no suffix if so identified. Additionally, a station could add the "-TV" suffix to their calls for standardization purposes among broadcast groups, even if those calls were not shared by an FM or AM radio station. PSIP also continuously carries the station's ID digitally encoded.
Digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compres ...
s usually identify themselves in one of two ways, with a limit of seven characters in the PSIP tag: * By first providing the call letters, followed by the main channel number, and then the subchannel broken up by either a dot or a
dash The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
. For example, "WXXX 2.3" or "WXXX 2–3". * The station may identify the channel as a certain stream by placing the subchannel number after the "-DT" designation within the callsign, as in "WXXX-DT3" for that station's third subchannel. In addition, subchannels which carry weather information – such as those carrying a still of their weather radar,
AccuWeather AccuWeather Inc. is an American media company that provides commercial weather forecasting services worldwide. AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Joel N. Myers, then a Pennsylvania State University graduate student working on a master's degree ...
, or a weather feed created by the station itself – may identify that channel via their PSIP flag with the non-standard "WX" suffix, as in "WXXX-WX", though they must be identified by their subchannel number in on-air identifications. Some subchannels may also display only the name of the network it is affiliated with in the PSIP flag rather than the station's calls. The former two standards are voluntary and interchangeable, and the station can choose to identify all the channels by only the base callsign, although they are encouraged to differentiate each channel from the primary channel (or for LP/ Class A analog-only stations digitally airing as a subchannel on a sister or LMA partner station). The primary channel usually does not use a .1/-1 or -DT1 suffix to identify itself beyond some PBS member stations such as the stations of Milwaukee PBS, and minor broadcasters which sell subchannel space to other broadcasters for their own
brokered programming Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot comm ...
. More robust
electronic program guide Electronic programming guides (EPGs) and interactive programming guides (IPGs) are menu-based systems that provide users of television, radio and other media applications with continuously updated menus that display scheduling information for ...
data provided by a
smart TV A smart TV, also known as a connected TV (CTV), is a traditional television set with integrated Internet and interactive Web 2.0 features, which allows users to stream music and videos, browse the internet, and view photos. Smart TVs are a techn ...
manufacturer or system (such as
Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of hardware digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc. They offer access to streaming media content from online services. The first Roku model, developed in collaboration with Netflix, was introduced ...
's backend TV firmware) via a broadband connection can be provided outside the PSIP stream to identify the station, but is not considered a legal station identification on its own.


Identification on other types of signals

In the United States, the policy on radio identification depends on the service. Station identification is usually done in the station's standard mode of operation, though the FCC considers
Morse code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one ...
identification to be universally acceptable no matter what mode the station is operating in. Low-power (
Part 15 Code of Federal Regulations, 'Title 47, Part 15(47 CFR 15) is an oft-quoted part of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and regulations regarding unlicensed transmissions. It is a part of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations ( ...
in the U.S.) stations do not always identify, being unlicensed (this would be essentially impossible for small FM transmitters for consumer use, such as those used to broadcast music from an MP3 player to a car radio), but those that run as community-based radio stations (including college stations using carrier current) usually do. Station identification in that case usually consists of the station's name, frequency, and a slogan; unlicensed stations are not allowed to use formal
call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally ass ...
s. International
shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...
broadcasters usually do not use callsigns, instead giving the name of the service and the location of the home office, and occasionally the frequencies that the current broadcast is being transmitted on. There are a few exceptions, particularly in the United States, the time station WWV being a prime example.
Amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency commu ...
requires the call sign to be stated at the end of a communication and every ten minutes during (some hams use countdown clocks to remind them to identify); modes such as
packet radio In digital radio, packet radio is the application of packet switching techniques to digital radio communications. Packet radio uses a packet switching protocol as opposed to circuit switching or message switching protocols to transmit digital ...
and fast-scan television often have a provision for automatic identification, either including it as part of a digital data stream or overlaying it over an analog picture.
Repeater In telecommunications, a repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it. Repeaters are used to extend transmissions so that the signal can cover longer distances or be received on the other side of an obstruction. Som ...
s are often designed to automatically transmit the repeater's callsign, usually in
Morse code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one ...
. The requirements for the United States are covered in Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 97.119. Land mobile two-way (including public safety and business mobile) require station identifications by call sign. In the case of the GMRS service, this is to be done by each station in a similar manner to the amateur practice, though the time limit is fifteen minutes. Repeater systems used in both the land mobile and amateur radio services often have provisions for announcing the repeater's call sign, either in voice or Morse code.
Citizen's Band Citizens band radio (also known as CB radio), used in many countries, is a land mobile radio system, a system allowing short-distance person-to-many persons bidirectional voice communication among individuals, using two way radios operating on ...
radio no longer maintains a requirement for station or transmission identification, but operators are "encouraged to identify" transmissions using one of the following: a previously assigned callsign, "K" prefix followed by operator initials and residence zip code, operator's name, or "organizational description including name and any applicable operator unit number." The use of a "handle" (nickname) is encouraged by CB rule 17 only in conjunction with these methods, not by itself. Most CB operators prefer to use self-assigned handles reflecting some aspect of their personality; it is generally considered a breach of CB etiquette to use real names, even that of the user.
Family Radio Service The Family Radio Service (FRS) is an improved walkie-talkie radio system authorized in the United States since 1996. This personal radio service uses channelized frequencies around 462 and 467 MHz in the ultra high frequency (UHF) band. I ...
and Multi-Use Radio Service have no station identification requirement, though groups of individual users have their own procedures, such as using license plates or informal callsigns (some groups within the
Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded in ...
, for example, use the troop number followed by the scout's initials as a callsign).
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...
access points are not required by law to identify (they are unlicensed transmitters) but the Wi-Fi standards include provision for an identifier called an SSID, which is transmitted as a routine part of Wi-Fi network traffic. However, since a number of standard Wi-Fi channels are shared with the amateur radio spectrum, amateur radio-operated High Speed Multimedia (HSMM), or "hinternet", access points usually use the call sign of the control operator as the SSID, this suffices as proper station identification for the access point being operated as an amateur radio transceiver.


=Digital broadcasting and FM translators for AM stations

= With the advent of digital radio, station identification becomes more complicated, because more than one audio stream can be part of the same station. Stations broadcasting
HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
feeds identify by their stream channel, and unlike television, the HD1 channel (which in the vast majority of cases, carries the same program as the analog signal) is included in the identification (for example, "
WXSS WXSS (103.7 FM) is a Top 40 (CHR) radio station owned by Audacy, Inc., licensed to Wauwatosa, Wisconsin and serving Milwaukee. Its studios are located in Hales Corners. WXSS's tower is located in the Milwaukee "tower farm" complex near Estabr ...
-HD1,
Wauwatosa Wauwatosa (; known informally as Tosa; originally Wau-wau-too-sa or Hart's Mill) is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 48,387 at the 2020 census. Wauwatosa is located immediately west of Milwaukee, and is a pa ...
/
Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...
", "98.3,
WZRL WZRL (98.3 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Plainfield, Indiana, serving the Indianapolis metropolitan area. It broadcasts a mainstream urban radio format and is owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. The WZRL broadcast licens ...
-HD1, Plainfield-
Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
" or "
WCBS-FM WCBS-FM (101.1 FM) is a radio station offering a classic hits format licensed to New York City and is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are in the combined Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood in lower Man ...
-HD1, New York City"). AM stations which simulcast via an FM HD subchannel identify both the main stream and the HD stream, and if broadcasting in HD Radio format in AM, also list that as part of the identification (for example, " WISN HD, Milwaukee, and WRNW-HD2, Milwaukee", or " WINS, WINS-HD, and WNEW-HD3, New York"). The same is done for AM stations airing on an FM
translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
, though the identification is flexible on whether the AM station or translator is mentioned first; for instance, WCLB in
Sheboygan, Wisconsin Sheboygan () is a city in and the county seat of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 49,929 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a populati ...
prefers to brand using the FM translator rather than their maligned AM signal, thus their identification is said as "107.3 FM, W297CK, and 950 AM, WCLB, Sheboygan". The FCC clarified what is required in these cases:
§ 73.1201 Station Identification. (b) Content. (1) Official station identification shall consist of the station's call letters immediately followed by the community or communities specified in its license as the station's location; Provided, That the name of the licensee, the station's frequency, the station's channel number, as stated on the station's license, and/or the station's network affiliation may be inserted between the call letters and station location. DTV stations, or DAB Stations, choosing to include the station's channel number in the station identification must use the station's major channel number and may distinguish multicast program streams. For example, a DTV station with major channel number 26 may use 26.1 to identify an
HDTV High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...
program service and 26.2 to identify an
SDTV Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...
program service. A radio station operating in DAB hybrid mode or extended hybrid mode shall identify its digital signal, including any free multicast audio programming streams, in a manner that appropriately alerts its audience to the fact that it is listening to a digital audio broadcast. No other insertion between the station's call letters and the community or communities specified in its license is permissible.


Oceania


Australia

Station identification in Australia is unlimited to the designated common or on-air name of the station or network affiliation, both for radio and television. A radio station may have call letters related to its town or district name, and the company name; for example,
Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits unde ...
, Queensland station 4CHT and Ceduna Community Radio Inc's 5CCR in Ceduna, South Australia. The station may have a name-callsign completely different from its licensed callsign, such as
Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near w ...
, New South Wales station 2UUL, which is branded on-air as "Wave FM". A television station usually associates with its network; for example, the Regional Television
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...
station
RTQ RTQ is an Australian television station broadcasting in regional Queensland in Australia. The network was owned by Star Television, before being purchased by the WIN Corporation on 5 October 1988. Network history WIN Television Queensland sta ...
is known as
WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television station covering the Wollongong region. The WIN Netw ...
(itself associated with the larger
Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
), and WIN's original station at Wollongong bears the callsign WIN.


Digital on-screen graphics and teletext

Teletext A British Ceefax football index page from October 2009, showing the three-digit page numbers for a variety of football news stories Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipp ...
, an information service provided by many broadcasters, provides station or network identification in many countries worldwide. As almost all modern sets can display this information, it is a simple matter of checking teletext if the identity of the station is not clear. Some broadcasters do not provide a teletext service, and there is no specific requirement or standard for station identification in it. While teletext is widespread in Europe and is closely associated with the
PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
television system worldwide, it was non-existent in North America during the analog television era, in which the
NTSC The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...
standard was used. However,
digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative adva ...
standards generally include station identification. A common worldwide practice is to use a small overlay graphic known as a
Digital on-screen graphic A digital on-screen graphic, digitally originated graphic (DOG, bug, or network bug) is a watermark-like station logo that most television broadcasters overlay over a portion of the screen area of their programs to identify the channel. They are ...
(DOG), "bug" or watermark created by a
character generator A character generator, often abbreviated as CG, is a device or software that produces static or animated text (such as news crawls and credits rolls) for keying into a video stream. Modern character generators are computer-based, and they can ...
in the corner of the screen, showing the logo of the channel. While not a substitute for proper station identification, this makes it easy to identify the station at a glance. VH1 originated the practice in the United States around 1993, with most other cable networks following until most started using them in the early 2000s.
Amateur television Amateur television (ATV) is the transmission of broadcast quality video and audio over the wide range of frequencies of radio waves allocated for radio amateur (Ham) use. ATV is used for non-commercial experimentation, pleasure, and public servic ...
operators (and also,
news channels News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or televis ...
in other countries) often use a
lower third In the television industry, a lower third is a graphic overlay placed in the title-safe lower area of the screen, though not necessarily the entire lower third of it, as the name suggests. In its simplest form, a lower third can just be text ...
or bug containing their callsign in lieu of voice identification. This is an accepted practice in the United States and United Kingdom.


See also

* History of BBC television idents *
Clock ident A clock ident is a form of television ident in which a clock is displayed, reading the current time, and usually alongside the logo of that particular television station. Clock idents are typically used before news bulletins and closedown, thoug ...
*
History of ITV television idents The ITV (TV network), ITV television network in the United Kingdom began as a group of regional stations, each with their own identities. Each station used its own Station identification, idents to create an individual identity. In 1989, a firs ...
*
CBS logos CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
*
NBC logos The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) has used several corporate logos over the course of its history. The first logo was used in 1926 when the radio network began operations. Its most famous logo, the peacock, was first used in 1956 to high ...
*
PBS logos The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
*
American Broadcasting Company logos The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Califo ...
*
MGM logos Leo the Lion is the mascot for the Hollywood film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and one of its predecessors, Goldwyn Pictures, featured in the studio's production logo, which was created by the Paramount Studios art director Lionel S. Reiss. Sinc ...
*
Domo-kun is the official mascot of Japan's public broadcaster NHK, appearing in several 30-second stop-motion interstitial sketches, which are shown as station identification in between the channel's programming. DOMO Domo-kun first appeared in short ...
*
Hato no kyujitsu Hato or HATO may refer to: Places * Hato International Airport, Willemstad, Curaçao * Hato, Curaçao, a village and former plantation in Curaçao * Hato, Santander, a town in Santander Department, Colombia * Hato, San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, a b ...
*
List of ABS-CBN Corporation slogans ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Philippine commercial broadcast network that serves as the flagship property of ABS-CBN Corporation, a company under L ...
*
List of GMA Network slogans GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network, Inc. Its first broadcast on television was on October 29, 1961. GMA Network (f ...


References


External links


TV Live Station ID Search

Tophour – recordings of U.S. radio station identifications



Radio-Locator
search engine of all of the radio stations in the world with websites, searchable by location and call sign. {{DEFAULTSORT:Station Identification Radio broadcasting Amateur radio Television terminology Television presentation