RTÉ One On-Air Identity

Throughout the years, RTÉ One has gone through many changes to its on-air identity, mostly in tune with the changing of the statutory logo of the cooperation that operates it, as in the early years. The average life of an RTÉ One ident is around three years, with modifications and changes along the way.

1960s to 1980s

Early idents prominently featured the original name of "Telifís Éireann", and the St. Brigid's Cross which would become the symbol of the channel for years to come. In 1966, the radio and television stations adopted the common brand "Radio Telifís Éireann" in line with the renamed broadcasting authority [ [http://www.acts.ie/zza7y1966.1.html#zza7y1966s4 No. 7/1966: BROADCASTING AUTHORITY (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1966 ] ] , and the ident used the initialism RTE , with no síneadh fada diacritic over the E of "Éireann". The 1995 logo was the first to read "RTÉ" rather than "RTE".

As colour television was introduced, RTÉ One's ident also reflected the change. The station became "RTE 1" in 1978, when RTE 2 was launched. A new ident in 1980 featured the characters "RTE1" wrapped within a stylized St. Brigid's Cross. This design, along with a variant with slight colour changes, were used until 1987, when another ident was formed. The ident featured the St. Brigid's Cross, which was blended into the "T" in "RTE". The "T" also resembled the digit 1 of the channel's number.

The first time the channel left out the St. Brigid's Cross from its idents was in 1989, when an ident that featured the letters "RTE" revolving around the number 1, against an emerald green background, was released. This was to last until 1993, with minor revisions.

1993 to 1998

1993 saw the return of the St. Brigid's cross to the RTÉ One Idents. It was seen floating across a stone background that resembled cave walls. This ident lasted until 1995, when a new ident that featured the new corporate logo was released. The logo also saw the return of the fada on RTÉ's "E" in a stylistic manner. The ident started with a misty background, with the new RTÉ logo peering through, eventually fading into the station's name. At the beginning, the St. Brigid's Cross was left out, but it was restored to the screens after viewers complained.

1998 to 2000

1998 saw the end of single ident templates for RTÉ One. In a rebranding, three idents were released, and all revolved around nature. The St. Brigid's Cross continued to grace the screen, but now has to share its airtime with other idents. During this time, a special ident for overnight programmes and the celebration of the milliennium were created. The original three idents were gradually phased out in late 2000, but was featured in other new idents thereafter.

2000-2003

In September 2000, a new set of idents were gradually introduced to RTÉ One, with all the old idents from 1998 phased out by December of that year. The new idents featured Irish places and people, and all were set to a common set of background music. One of the original three idents were featured in seven of the new idents, subtly playing in the background.

A promotions video, featuring snippets of the idents, was shown as a part of the campaign.

2003 to 2006

In September 2003, RTÉ One launched a new set of idents, with a new style for its "RTÉ One" branding. The ident showed Ireland's old face first, and then flashed into images of Ireland today. New ident sets were introduced in 2004, and deviated from the "Ireland Old And New" theme. Subsequent edits on the original idents also took away the "old" element from the idents.

As was before, a promotions video was aired before the launch of the new idents.

2006 to present

At 06:00 on 3 November, 2006, RTÉ One unveiled its latest set of new idents, designed by Red Bee Media.

References

*"RTÉ One." The TV Room. 30 Dec. 2005 [http://thetvroom.com/] .

External links

* [http://www.irish-tv.com The Irish TV website]