ITV Central cake 30th anniversary tribute

[@KRPTV]

My favourite TV logo ever without a doubt!

[@rtc9063]

Central really hit the mark with this in 1985. Roll forward nearly 40 years to look at the p*** poor look of ITV today

[@josephheintzel3354]

Note: On 1/1/2022, Central ITV Turned 40 years old!

[@stickytapenrust6869]

I know, that’s why I published my oldest Central TV clip on that day…

[@WolfieVII]

Loved it! The cake truly was unique!

[@MrDan1466]

This one is a classic, shame I never saw it...

[@aidanlunn7441]

@Neil Mossey, just look up "Central closedown music" on here and you'll come across a 10 minute compilation video of all the different versions.

[@johncooper3712]

I wish they kept the cake beyond 1998, don't you agree?

[@aidanlunn7441]

Actually, whilst a nice idea, I don't see what else they could have done with it.

[@darwenrover8910]

Yes, they could have gone the Channel 4 route. In playing round with shapes that make up the cake logo, just as C4 do with the blocks.

[@stickytapenrust6869]

@@darwenrover8910 But they did exactly that in their 1996 and 1997 ident packages.

[@chriswathen9612]

It was a shame it went as it was such a strong and recognisable brand, but had it not been replaced with the Carlton-esque idents used in 98 & 99 this would only have been another 18 months or so anyway until the corporate hearts look was introduced in late 1999. Then at that point there were only really 2 possible alternatives; either Central would have still been rebranded to Carlton as actually happened, or Carlton would allow Central to use the standard spinning blue hearts (which was originally going to happen for Westcountry) but in Central's case the cake would have to be squeezed into the tiny box provided on those idents and it wasn't a logo which would have worked properly scaled down to such a small size. I mean, none of them worked particularly well scaled down so much but Central's would have looked particularly bad as all the detail of the straight lines which are essential to define the cake would get lost and it would end up looking more like Central's original logo. Personally I think the saddest thing in the cake's history was Central being unable to keep their fancy animated endcap on network programmes past 1989 after the 1st corporate look mandated static slides. The combination of (for the time) very impressive CGI with the dramatic and authoritative jingle somehow made Central look both new and cutting edge whilst also experienced and able. It still holds up pretty well today.

[@wske-tvnewyorkarchives4240]

I think you just gained yourself a sub

[@rtc9063]

Central should have bid for another ITV company LWT rather than Granada instead of letting Carlton through the door with open arms and ruin it. Anyway it’s all history now. No good moaning of what could have been