Digital on-screen graphic

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A digital on screen graphic (known in the UK and New Zealand by the acronym DOG; in the US and Canada as a bug; and in Australia as a watermark) is a watermark-like station logo that many television broadcasters overlay over a portion of the screen-area of their programs to assist viewers in identifying the channel. They are thus a form of permanent visual station identification, increasing brand recognition and asserting ownership of the video signal. In some cases, the graphic also shows the name of the current program. Some networks use an on-screen graphic to advertise later programs in the day's television schedule—this is generally displayed after the opening, during in-programme credits, and when returning from a commercial break. Usually in United States sportscasts (such as on CBS and NBC), the "bug" is moved to the top right corner of the screen.

The graphic identifies the source of programming even if it is time-shifted—that is, recorded to videotape, DVD, or via a digital personal video recorder such as TiVo. Many of these technologies allow viewers to skip or omit traditional between-programming station identification.

Nicknames and screen placement

In the United Kingdom, digital on-screen graphics are also commonly known by the expanded acronym DOG tag and are commonly displayed on the top left corner of the screen. However, on channels such as Trouble, the graphic is displayed on the top right corner on the screen.

In Canada and the United States, bugs are commonly displayed on the bottom right corner of the screen. However, on few stations, such as Logo, the bug is displayed on the top right corner of the screen. Some, such as the news networks, CNN and Fox News Channel and the kids' network Nicktoons Network display their bug on the bottom left corner. Rarely it is displayed on the top left corner of the screen like in College Sports Television. BBC America also used to put it on on the top left corner but it has since changed it to the more common bottom right corner position. Some utilize an animated logo, such as the rotating earth on the Discovery Channel. NBC has moved its logo bug from the bottom right corner to the bottom left corner of the screen, beginning in the 2006-07 TV season.

The "bug" position in the United States has even made some shows change graphics. In the 2001-2003 US television series Weakest Link, the graphic for the clock was positioned on the top right corner, instead of the bottom right corner, as in other countries' version of the BBC-produced quiz show, as to permit station bugs to appear in the bottom right.

Usage

Many news broadcasters place a clock alongside their DOG (bug), giving it legitimacy if it is moved into an unorthodox position, such as the bottom left. In the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, DOGs may also include the show's parental guideline rating. In Australia, this is known as a Program Return Graphic (PRG).

During televised sports events, a DOG may also display a few game-related statistics such as the current score. This has led many people in Canada and the United States to refer to it as a score bug.

United Kingdom

In the UK, DOGs most commonly appear in the top-left hand corner on British channels. DOGs were first used on satellite and cable television systems in their early days, when broadcasts were unmarked. Channel 5 was the first to use DOGs on an analogue terrestrial channel in 1997. The DOG was originally very bright and noticeable, and was soon toned down. Channel 5 said that the DOG was used to assist viewers in tuning to the new channel once its test transmissions had ceased. Following the rebrand to "five" the DOG disappeared permanently in 2002.

The BBC has a DOG on each of its digital-only channels. The DOGs appear in the top left hand corner on all channels but BBC News 24 (which is bottom left and forms part of integrated information graphics), and whilst BBC Three, Four and Parliament have static DOGs, the ones on the CBBC Channel and CBeebies feature moving elements. ITV also uses DOGs on all its channels besides ITV1.

On British digital systems such as Sky Digital and Freeview, where channels have a set EPG number and a name displayed across the bottom of the screen when changing channel, large or intrusive DOGs have been deemed unnecessary by most users. More recent additions are graphics which appear at the end of a program to tell the viewer what's up next. Moving animated DOGs are already used by some channels such as the MTV channels. More4 is the only British network that has an almost transparent logo like the American style and, along with its sister channel E4, the DOG stays in the far corner of the screen during widescreen programmes, with most other channels keeping theirs within the 4:3 "safe area".

United States

The first network in the United States to produce a score bug was ABC, which used one on the telecast of the 1994 Purolator 500 NASCAR event. A transparent digit counted down the number of laps remaining in the race. A similar bug was used during ABC's telecast of the 1994 Indianapolis 500 and 1994 Brickyard 400. Later that fall, FOX introduced a full-score bug for its NFL coverage, known as the "FoxBox", as did cable network ESPN. ABC expanded theirs to Monday Night Football in 1996. CBS introduced theirs upon returning to the NFL in the fall of 1998, and NBC in 2001 during its coverage of the XFL.

FOX then debuted the scoring banner, which takes up the top of the screen, for its NASCAR coverage in 2001. FOX then expanded the scoring banner to NFL and baseball coverage. Fox Sports Net also uses a scoring banner for basketball, hockey and soccer coverage, as do many other local broadcasters of sporting events. ABC introduced a Fox-like banner, but along the bottom of the screen, for Monday Night Football in 2005, its last year of the franchise. The network introduced a revised version February 5, 2006, during an NBA game, as well as during that day's presentation of Super Bowl XL, which quickly became used for all sports on the network. ABC returned to a bug in September when the sports division became ESPN on ABC. NBC also began using a scoring banner, along the bottom like ABC's, in 2005 for its coverage of Notre Dame football, which also quickly became used for all sports on the network except for hockey, where the banner runs atop the screen. ESPN, SNY, CBC, TSN and the networks of Turner Broadcasting System currently still use traditional score bugs, although ESPN used a banner for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and MLB Home Run Derby, a bottom-screen banner for NBA and AFL telecasts and in 2007, a top-screen banner for NASCAR and baseball telecasts, plus a center-screen bug for their Monday Night Football telecasts. In 2006, CBS began using a bottom-of-the-screen banner for NCAA Basketball telecasts but retains the traditional box for all football broadcasts, both college and professional. The one exception among all the networks is motor racing, as most of them will use the banner for these races.

Some type of continuous graphic indicating time, score or standings are now used in every major sport televised in the U.S., except golf. In that sport, leaderboards are still flashed on and off screen at regular intervals, with a full rundown every half hour or so.

From its inception, cable network VH-1 commonly used a bug in the corner of the screen while broadcasting music videos for copyright purposes. MTV also did the same, beginning in 1993. MTV first began using a bug while videos were shown on the program Beavis and Butt-head, displaying the show's logo during the videos (but not Beavis and Butt-head's commentary of them).

Canada

Canadian networks display logo bugs the same way as the UK and the US, with only minor differences. Canada often sim-subs a program over a US station, which will cover the US station's logo bug. However on some programs, like The View and The Daily Show the US bugs for ABC and Comedy Central respectively, cannot be moved. CTV and The Comedy Network have responded by placing their logo in a large black circle superimposed over the screen, to cover the US bug. This is usually considered a nuissance as it covers a lower portion of the screen. Other stations, like Global and TSN, will usually place the bug in a different corner of the screen: during broadcasts like Saturday Night Live, the Global bug was formerly placed in the upper left corner before NBC moved theirs to the lower left, and TSN will usually move theirs to the bottom left corner during sports broadcasts such as golf coverage on ABC.

Canadian sports sim-subs are also unable to mask US score bugs, like those of CBS and ESPN.

Adverse effects

While most bugs are simply small, transparent logos, some are not transparent and a few are large. Nickelodeon GAS uses their normal logo in the conventional size, but because it is not transparent, it blocks the timers that are commonly used in their programs. Both Disney Channel and sibling Toon Disney use a transparent logo, but it is larger than usual. Some are not entirely transparent, and may slightly obscure the item they are in front of, like the bug used by Nickelodeon. Furthermore, there have also been reports of TV screens being damaged by phosphor burn-in, when a channel displaying a non-transparent logo has been left on for a prolonged period of time. Plasma display manufacturers warn that burn-in time can be as low as 10 hours for a high contrast static image.

Connections with sponsor tags

Another graphic on television usually connected with sports is the sponsor tag. It shows the logos of certain sponsors, accompanied by some background relevant to the game, the network logo, announcement and music of some kind.

See also

• News ticker

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