ITV Play

Background
ITV Play was a 24/7 phone-in quiz participation channel which was launched as a standalone channel in the United Kingdom on 19th April 2006, with the channel also being simulcasted on ITV1 during the early hours. Following intense criticism and an audit from OFCOM, the channel was suspended on March 6th, and was eventually closed on 16th March 2007, lasting just under a year.

1st ID (2006-2007)


Logo: On a black background with colourful stripes in the floor, the ITV Play logo forms in one of two ways, depending on the ident listed below.

Variants:
 * Dominos: We fade into a closeup of the ITV logo coloured orange, which splits apart to reveal multiple differently coloured ITV logos all lined up. The front logo tips and falls over, causing a chain reaction which reveals that the 'dominos' spell out 'Play'. The camera zooms out to reveal the ITV Play logo, with the ITV part spinning around the Play text as an orange rectangle slides in from the right. Now that the logo is still, transparent copies of the ITV logo slowly rotate around the fully formed ITV Play logo.
 * Springs: We fade into a closeup of the ITV logo coloured orange, which 'unfolds' to reveal a rectangular spring. The camera cuts to a group of these springs moving across the floor, before zooming in to reveal the ITV Play logo. Once the logo is fully formed, a transparent spring slowly rotates around the ITV Play logo.

Technique: Basic CGI animation, designed by Red Bee Media.

Music/Sounds: Both idents feature different synthesised tunes with 8-bit chiptune elements and the same drum loop on both soundtracks. On the 'Dominos' ident, the sound of dominos falling is heard, whereas the 'Springs' ident features a subtle sound for the springs moving on screen. During the channel's life, once the logo was fully formed a continuity announcer would typically speak over the end of the ident.

Availability: Extinct.

Legacy: These are both very creative and visually interesting idents, which is a shame as they were relegated to a short-lived channel.