[SteveRW]

To please those who think we have to be overly optimistic with every new bit of branding on this forum, the new BBC One idents are amazing works of art which have left me stunned beyond belief. Makes me think I'd gladly pay four hundred pounds for my licence fee for more of this sort of thing!

But... For everyone else, it's... Just okay! The ident package itself for BBC One is nice and sweet enough, but the overall feeling towards Christmas this year from the wider BBC seems to very muted. There hasn't yet felt like much pizzazz from them to kick off the season, the package was launched rather low keyly at gone 9pm on a Friday night, and even the media press release earlier in the day seemed a bit 'meh, here's our three idents, bye' rather than dripping in as much sickening marketing buzz and optimism. I don't know if the schedule being tied up with the World Cup this year has made a difference, or whether it's all being deliberately dialed back a bit due to people struggling with the cost of living crisis. But it feels like there's something not quite there this year!

A perfect spot on description. A 9pm launch seemed odd, and it did kind of feel that it was a case of "I suppose we should make an effort and do something" about it.

I agree, the idents are lovely to look at. But seem rather out of place on a channel that didn't even want to promote its own upcoming programmes. As a casual viewer, I don't care what's on iPlayer. I know that it will be full of shows that have appeared on the BBC's main channels. I want to get the buzz of seeing what BBC One has to offer. A big Christmas on BBC1 trailer as in previous years. However, there wasn't any of that. It all felt rushed yet at the same time muted. Almost as if they were saying "We haven't much to look at this Christmas, but as other channels have started Christmas, we'll do so too."

Christmas should have launched into Strictly. I have no idea why it didn't. The idents are indeed beautifully crafted. They look nice. They should have been utilised in a way that BBC One used them as backdrops to their endboards too as the snowing theme doesn't make much sense when idents are centred on a single thirty minute programme.

I was geared up for seeing the launch, but it was a warm launch, something shoved under the radar. There absolutely is something missing this year. Perhaps it's the World Cup, perhaps it's something else, but this wasn't the most exciting of Christmas Ident/BBC One launches.