Editing ABC Weekend TV (section)

==Identity==
{{original research|section|date=May 2014}}
When ABC first went on the air, it used the branding of its sister company [[ABC Cinemas]]. This featured a triangular shield with the letters ABC upon it, and a bar across it with the caption 'Television'.<ref name="625 animation">{{cite web|title=Flash Files |url= http://625.uk.com/tv_logos/flash.htm |publisher=625: Andrew Wiseman's Television Room|access-date=21 August 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110720052754/http://www.625.uk.com/tv_logos/flash.htm| archive-date= 20 July 2011 |url-status= live}} Contains flash recreations of the original ABC idents, complete with authentic soundtracks.</ref> This lasted from the station's launch in 1956 until September 1959.<ref name="Indepth">{{cite web |last1=Bowden-Smith |first1=Kif |title=Indepth on ABC Weekend Television |url=https://www.transdiffusion.org/2004/05/24/abc_3 |website=Transdiffusion |access-date=3 June 2022}}</ref> The ITA had criticised ABC's original presentation style for being bland and too much attached to the existing ABC Cinemas chain.<ref name="Howard6" />

As a result, ABC created a new brand ident featuring three arrows pointing to the bottom of the screen to reveal the letters ABC in turn and leaving a triangle behind and on top of the letters. At the end of this, the three triangles would snap together into the new ABC logo. This ident lasted until 1964 when the lettering font was altered slightly from a serif font to the latest bold used by the company, this revision lasting until the company's demise.<ref name="625 animation"/><ref name=TVARK>{{cite web|last=Barnes |first=Steve |title=ABC |url=http://www2.tv-ark.org.uk/itvmidlands/abc_idents.html |publisher=TVARK |access-date=21 August 2011 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108135336/http://www2.tv-ark.org.uk/itvmidlands/abc_idents.html |archive-date=8 January 2009 }} Contains videos of the ABC idents.</ref>

The logo uses the notion of threes, three triangles making another triangle, with the points of a triangle often being labelled 'A', 'B' and 'C' in geometry. The tune that was used for all of ABC's idents was a vibraphone playing the notes A-B-C ([[Solfège#Fixed do solfège|la-te-doh]]). Out of this look, ABC Television developed a strong corporate identity{{original research inline|date=May 2014}}, effectively becoming the first British TV station to recognise the importance of corporate branding.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}

The company itself was originally called ''Associated British Cinemas (Television) Limited'',<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sendall |first1=Bernard |title=Independent Television: Present and future policy on development |journal=[[Kinematograph Weekly]] |date=29 September 1955 |volume=462 |issue=2518 |page=xi |url=https://www.transdiffusion.org/2022/02/14/independent-television-present-and-future-policy-on-development |access-date=17 May 2022 |series=Studio Review |publisher=Odhams |issn=0023-155X |oclc=1127175701}}</ref> which by 1957 had been shortened to ''A.B.C. Television Limited''. However, from about 1967, on exports made by its sister company A.B.C. Television Films Ltd. (such as the last two series of ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]''), the name 'Associated British Corporation' was used, to avoid confusion with the US [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC network]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Beaumont |first1=Ian |title=The Avengers |url=http://abcatlarge.co.uk/the-avengers-2/ |website=ABC at large |date=11 January 2001 |publisher=Transdiffusion Broadcasting System |access-date=16 May 2022}}</ref> As for on-air, the name was for a few months 'Associated British', before becoming 'ABC Television', or just 'ABC'. The names 'ABC Television Network' and 'ABC Weekend Network' were also used, for example in ''[[TV Times]]'' listings.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Piers |title=Dragonsfield |url=https://www.dissolute.com.au/the-avengers-tv-series/series-1/126-dragonsfield-other.html |website=The Avengers |access-date=9 June 2022}}</ref> The station received a joke nickname from [[Bob Monkhouse]], namely "All Bloody Commercials".{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}

The station's spoken slogan varied through time, starting off as "ABC – Associated British in the North/Midlands" before being replaced in 1958 to "ABC, your weekend TV" and again changed in 1964 to "ABC, your weekend television in the North/Midlands".{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}