50th anniversary of an iconic BBC One ident

This Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of the introduction of one of the BBC’s most iconic images.

A modified version of BBC1’s globe ident was introduced on Saturday 28th December 1974.

The corporate ‘BBC 1 COLOUR’ ident was replaced by a large ‘BBC 1’ logo in the Futura font.

The colour scheme changed dramatically too – from pale blue and black to bold orange, blue and white.

It should be remembered though that most viewers were still watching in black and white in 1974, so for them, the only obvious change would be to the logo.

This was the second of three main versions of the mirror globe but for my money this is the definitive one.

The decision to drop the corporate logo seems surprising in retrospect but the colour scheme is a huge improvement, taking advantage of improved equipment.

It should be noted that there were further changes in 1976. A new model was created, as can clearly be seen from the geography of the globe. The shape and positioning of Greenland is quite a giveaway.

It is interesting to note too that BBC documentation from early 1974 – now available online – reveals that thought was given to changing the symbol radically. However this idea was later abandoned.

It’s rather ironic though that this “brand refresh” coincided with painful cuts to TV output.

In 1974 inflation was running high in the wake of the oil crisis a few months earlier.

The BBC was campaigning for a significant rise in the TV Licence and concerned about its deficit.

In December 1974 major cuts to TV and radio output were announced, which were to take effect after the holiday season.

On BBC One, the fledgling afternoon service – filling the time available between afternoon schools programmes and children’s programmes – was abandoned.

The afternoon service was run on a shoestring and could not properly compete with ITV’s full afternoon offering, aimed principally at housewives.

But this was still the first time the BBC had actively cut back or abandoned a service in peacetime in this way.

Another nasty cut happened at the same time. Evening closedowns on weekdays on BBC One were brought forward to 11.30pm, although thankfully this rule was relaxed a few months later once some increase in the licence fee was agreed.

(BBC Two’s hours were also cut in January 1975 and daytime transmitter shutdowns were introduced as a further economy measure. Various economies were also made to BBC Radio. However abandoning afternoon TV on the corporation’s flagship service was the most immediately obvious effect of the corporation’s cash crisis, even though it was a new initiative and the test card had never completely disappeared from the weekday afternoon schedule.)

Still it is ironic that the introduction of this iconic version of the globe coincided with cuts to the service.

In those days, idents were meant to last. Careful consideration was given to changes as the expectation was that the new look would last for several years.

It is worth noting that the corporate “BBC 1” logo did not vanish with the revamp, which perhaps makes the decision to remove it from the ident more intriguing.

The corporate logo stayed on programme slides and some trails for several months afterwards.

Indeed it only disappeared from generic network programme menus around about the same time as the next refresh of the mirror globe in 1981.

So why is this particular version of the globe just so special?

For my money, the colour scheme is perfect and it emits an unashamed confidence – despite the serious problems facing the BBC at the time.

It should also be remembered that many families got their first colour TV between 1974 and 1981.

The popularity of colour TVs only started to take off around 1973, helped by the wedding of Princess Anne. Before then, they had been much more expensive in real terms.

The number of colour licences first exceeded the number of black and white licences in 1976.

By 1981, few had a black and white set in the living room unless they watched little TV or would have struggled with the cost.

So happy birthday to a fondly remembered ident which perfectly evokes its time.