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A continuity announcer is a Broadcaster whose voice (and, in some cases, face) appears between radio or television programmes. Continuity announcers tell you which channel you are watching now (or which station you are tuned to), what you are about to see, and what you could be watching if you changed to a different channel, thus: "You're watching BBC1 . In a moment is the News , while just starting on BBC2 is the first in a new series of 'Owl Watching for Beginners'". At the end of programmes, they read out information about the previous programme, for example who presented and produced it. They also play any music during the interval, and give details of programmes later in the day. If there is a breakdown they make any necessary announcements and play music for its duration. Continuity announcements typically take one of two forms:
In the UK, there has been a marked change in the role continuity announcers play on the main terrestrial channels. In the past, announcements pertaining to the present on-screen programme would be all that was broadcast, either briefly over the ending credits or on a still caption after the show had finished. In more recent times, with the increase in the amount of satellite and cable programming, there is now a policy to have announcements over the end credits of almost every single TV show or movie. This purpose being to stop viewers from changing channels immediately and to inform them of their viewing choices. However, the main strategic intention is to keep viewers watching the same channel for as long as possible. The BBC has not had in-vision announcers for evening programmes since the early 1960s (BBC children's TV had in-vision continuity until 1965 and has had it in a very different, much more informal form since 1985 ), but in-vision announcers used to be the norm on ITV when each region had a distinct identity. Now there is only Julian Simmons on the Northern Irish UTV service, although many other UK channels and the services of other countries use them exclusively. With most radio stations now broadcasting only music, few networks retain continuity announcers. Exceptions include s and gale warnings. Many double up as Newsreaders . In Canada , the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has used in-vision announcers to 'host' broadcasts for an entire evening for the past few years. The host will appear before a program to describe the episode you are about to watch. When a program has completed and the credits are rolling, the announcer will describe upcoming episodes of the just completed program and intoduce the next program at the top of the hour. The evening's host will change every day. Usually, the host is appearing in a major upcoming program the same week, giving the appearance that the host is promoting not only the next program in the evening but his or her own upcoming show. Sometimes CBC Radio newcasters or program hosts will appear as the evening TV hosts. CBC Radio One has used continuity announcers in recent years. Originally, a number of staff announcers shared the duties, however, since 2004 , the service has employed actor Shauna MacDonald as its continuity announcer. Her identity remained a secret for more than a year leading her to be dubbed "Promo Girl". See Bumper Music for a similarly functioning idea used in Talk Radio in the United States . |
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