Continuity (broadcasting)

Continuity or presentation (or station break in the U.S. and The Philippines) is a term used in broadcasting to refer to announcements, messages and graphics played by the broadcaster between specific programmes. It typically includes programme schedules, announcement of the programme immediately following and trailers or descriptions of forthcoming programmes. Continuity can be spoken by an announcer or displayed in text over graphics. On television continuity generally coincides with a display of the broadcaster's logo or ident. Advertisements are generally not considered part of continuity.

A continuity announcer is a broadcaster whose voice (and, in some cases, face) appears between radio or television programmes to give programme information. Continuity announcers tell viewers and listeners which channel they are watching or listening to at the moment (or which station they are tuned to), what they are about to see (or hear), and what they could be watching (or listening to) if they changed to a different channel operated by the broadcaster. At the end of programmes, they may read out information about the previous programme, for example who presented and produced it, relay information or merchandise relating to the show, or to provide details of organisations who may offer support in relation to a storyline or issue raised in the programme. Continuity announcers may also play music during intervals and give details of programmes later in the day. If there is a breakdown, they make any necessary announcements and often play music for its duration.

Television continuity announcements typically take one of two forms:

Currently, the following European television channels use in-vision announcers:

With most radio stations now broadcasting only music, few networks retain continuity announcers. Exceptions include talk stations such as National Public Radio in the United States, BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service in the UK and Swedish SR P1 : in the case of Radio 4 they have the extra tasks of reading the Shipping Forecasts and gale warnings. Many also serve as newsreaders.

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