Hasta La Motion!

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In a rare show of solidarity, three of the big commercial networks in the US dedicated an hour of commercial free programming to broadcast the Stand Up 2 Cancer telethon. With the usual mix of serious appeal and humour, the highlight of the night was Homer Simpson’s fantastic voyage into his own colon.

NBC, ABC and CBS simulcast the event Friday night with all money raised going to the translational cancer research, which “encourages scientists to collaborate rather than compete, translating basic science into applicable therapies for patients.”

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I like to consider the old BBC One idents as the reason I started this site. And while this new set that launched in 2006 doesn’t grab me in the same way, they’re still some of the best television branding going around.

These three new additions stay true to the formula, with the spectacular ‘Helicopter’ spot being introduced on new years day this year, and the other two going to air for the first time just days ago in late August.

Check out the rest of the current set of BBC One idents here.

– Thanks to the combined efforts of Andy and Andrew for the videos.

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The Hits, a music channel in the UK relaunched itself this month as 4Music. The newly rebranded station joins the fold of sibling networks Channel 4, E4, More4 and Film4 in a multichannel line up that you could only dream of in Australia.

These two videos are promoting the relaunch which occurred on August 15th, with the first video a slow motion spot set to the track “Kiss with a Fist” by Florence and the Machine that’s refreshingly decent for a music channel.

– Cheers to Craig for the videos.

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These two opening titles for the Sydney 2000 games (aka “the best Olympics games ever“) show just how little creative progress has been made in the field of Olympic television branding. And while they’re not bad, you have to wonder how many more Olympics broadcasts are going to open with video of a guy jumping up and kicking a soccer ball before somebody thinks up a new idea.

The first video is from the Seven network, the Australian broadcaster of the 2000 games, and the second video is the “official” opening sequence, produced by the Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation for international telecasts.

– Huge thanks to Alex and Christian for the videos.

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Olympics broadcast branding has been a bucket full of cliches so far. And while the BBC’s incredibly unique take on the Games has been a much needed dose of fresh air, Norway’s national broadcaster NRK have delivered a nice spin on the usual slow motion althetes imagery with this Heroes-meets-300 inspired spot.

– Thanks to Hans for the video.