TTTV Idents (1959-2002)
Tyne Tees Television began broadcasting the ITV service for the North East of England on January 15th 1959. From the studios in City Road in Newcastle, Tyne Tees served the North East well for over 30 years. It was only when Yorkshire bought them out in the early 90s that things began to deteriorate and now, under Granada/ITV plc, Tyne Tees has been relegated to little more than a name which occasionally pops up, based in a tiny outfit by the Metro Centre.
Tyne Tees - 1959
This was the logo used by Tyne Tees, from its launch night in 1959, until the advent of colour in 1969. This clip originates from the start of The Big Move programme in 2005, and is one TTTV love to dig out whenever they're looking at the history of the station.
Tyne Tees - 1984
Quite a technically impressive ident for the small North Eastern station, this remained in use from the end of the 70s right though until 1988.
Tyne Tees - 1992
The 90s would be a very different age for Tyne Tees, following the bid process of the 1991 franchise round and changes in rules around the ITV network. Destined to soon lose their own choices over branding, this was one of three similar idents introduced by Tyne Tees after the Generic ITV look was dropped but retaining the same music. The first one in 1991 featured the same animation as this, but with a black background at the end. This was slightly changed in January 1992 to the multicoloured background shown here. In May, the ending logo was slightly changed again, this time to a blueish background, in what would be the final outing for the joined up lettering which had served the station well for so many years.
Tyne Tees - 1995
Later on in 1992, the logo was changed again, and was one of the first signs of Yorkshire meddling appearing. This time the change was dramatic compared to other revisions that year. Gone were the good old joined-up letters of TTTV which had served the station since the 60s, and in their place was a drab and grey 'modern' replacement. Perhaps chosen to deliberately indicate how the station itself would never be the same again under their new ownership.
Channel 3 North East - 1996
On September 2nd 1996 Yorkshire attempted to totally rebrand Tyne Tees, choosing instead to refer to it as Channel 3 North East. Although investment was made in poaching new talent for the station and commissioning new shows to go along with the rebrand, the branding itself was a disaster. The ident was a somewhat rushed effort, using off-the-shelf music, and still had to retain the original Tyne Tees Television name onscreen at the same time. Often leading to awkward dual branded junctions into many shows.
Channel 3 NE Long - 1996
Channel 3 NE Short - 1996
Tyne Tees - 1998
Although they had put a lot of effort into the relaunch, Channel 3 North East had to be abandoned in 1998, after a poor response from people who didn't like having a 'Channel 3 Identity'. TTTV was quietly re-introduced in March 1998, with the same music, but a lot less animation. All this was courtesy of Granada, who had taken over the Yorkshire Tyne Tees operation, and were quietly appeasing the viewers until the bigger changes several years later.
Tyne Tees (Longer) - 1998
The quick formup variant of the 1998 ident, with the same music as had featured during the Channel 3 era.
ITV Tyne Tees - 2001
Tyne Tees - 2000
Despite the generic look, Tyne Tees weren't quite beat yet. In September 2000, they introduced their own new design, following the look through in regional adverts and news bulletins. This was, sadly, to be the last truly regional ident, and only ever appeared before regional ident, despite its superior quality. This is the standard version with The Angel of The North. There was also a sports version. This remained in use until October 2002.
ITV1 Tyne Tees - 2001
On the 11th August 2001, ITV changed its name to ITV1, to 'reflect the fact that they were now a family of services, rather than just a channel' (marketing blurb!). The idents were slightly modified, and this shortened version was introduced on all GMG north stations. The full hearts version was still used, but was VERY rare. This remained in use alongside the regional Tyne Tees ident until the 27/10/2002.
ITV1 Xmas - 2000
Christmas 2001 came, and for the first time in several years, Granada introduced a Christmas ident. However, there was a downside. The Tyne Tees name is nowhere to be seen, although we still heard the voiceover mentioning it sometimes. Could Granada have been testing the water for the upcoming regional name abolition?
ITV1 Brits - 2002
ITV1 Jubilee - 2002
A third special ident, this time for the Golden Jubilee, once again with no regional branding. Just a warm up for the final goodbye in the autumn. Co-incidentally, notice the brief flash of the news is stretched. This is because the Leeds centre couldn't seem to get the hang of these special idents, and would always fed out anamorphic idents (16:9 squashed to 4:3) to lead into 4:3 programmes.