6. In Vision Continuity Announcers
Continuity Announcers are TV folk who pop up on telly to introduce the next programme, maybe give a brief summary of the weather or tonight's TV schedule. They provide a warm and familiar regional flavour to the television goings on. However, in vision (presenters you actually see) continuity presenters are a rarity these days. Why is this? Again it goes back to bloody Carlton and Granada, and their amalgamation of the regional ITV franchises. This has sort of spoiled in vision continuity from the regions with all continuity announcements coming from Granada and Carlton HQs. The only franchises who regularly employ in vision continuity announcers are STV and UTV. UTV in particular, has had a long and illustrious tradition of in vision continuity. Those of you of a certain age from Northern Ireland will remember the ultra camp Julian Simmons introducing Prisoner Cell Block H - "the big lusty weemin!" after Gerry Kelly's tombola. My sister has an English boyfriend and he just can't believe Julian Simmons. That's because the poor guy has been starved of regional in vision continuity announcers.