[James2001]

It used to be we couldn’t have a scary pres thread but Yorkshire would be the first mentioned or for our US contingent the Viacom V.

Screen Gems!

[lookoutwales]

I'd ought to own up here and admit as a little 'un (and yet, acutely aware about telly branding), Granada's black cat Night Time ident was unnerving (think they used a couple of different edits) - the black screen and tone after BBC1 had closed for the night had much the same effect.

I was usually nervous about which Powergen bumper would air following ITN, particularly during the WeatherGen era - and whichever they ran was a pretty good indicator of the forecast that followed (damn you, Norwin!)

I did like Channel 5's launch package of idents, generally, although this one did seem a little bit creepy for my taste (the way it's edited, the close up of the model comes as quite a surprise)

www.youtube.com 

[harshy]

I'd ought to own up here and admit as a little 'un (and yet, acutely aware about telly branding), Granada's black cat Night Time ident was unnerving (think they used a couple of different edits) - the black screen and tone after BBC1 had closed for the night had much the same effect.

I was usually nervous about which Powergen bumper would air following ITN, particularly during the WeatherGen era - and whichever they ran was a pretty good indicator of the forecast that followed (damn you, Norwin!)

I did like Channel 5's launch package of idents, generally, although this one did seem a little bit creepy for my taste (the way it's edited, the close up of the model comes as quite a surprise)

www.youtube.com 

This scares me weirdly, the ITV Nighttime ident from the mid 90s, like why were they dancing around like zombies.

and i was scared by this as well.

[Tim G]

I'd ought to own up here and admit as a little 'un (and yet, acutely aware about telly branding), Granada's black cat Night Time ident was unnerving (think they used a couple of different edits) - the black screen and tone after BBC1 had closed for the night had much the same effect.

Absolutely same here - made a 9/10 year old me turn off the tv in horror:

(around 4:20 in if it doesn't load properly)

Was all the more surprised to find years later that it was actually incidental music from Prisoner Cell Block H of all things:

[lookoutwales]

This scares me weirdly, the ITV Nighttime ident from the mid 90s, like why were they dancing around like zombies.

I never minded those idents, to be honest - they felt like a relief after the cat (and the particularly unnerving eyes montage)

Absolutely same here - made a 9/10 year old me turn off the tv in horror:

The strange thing is there were plenty of other idents and stings used, though I only really recall the cat idents (and I was very young!)

And maybe the atmospheric tone, in hindsight, is somewhat offset by hearing the regular Granada announcers on duty - especially Colin Weston (though he's very much straightlaced here)

[Steve in Pudsey]

It used to be we couldn’t have a scary pres thread but Yorkshire would be the first mentioned or for our US contingent the Viacom V.

Yorkshire was mentioned in the opening post

[IanJRedman]

I was too young to remember this (born 1995) but I've heard a lot of people say they were scared of the 1990-97 BBC Video ident:

youtu.be 

It's a *bizarrely* melancholic choice of music.

[James2001]

The original 80s one with the trumpet fanfare is probably even worse.

Annoyingly, I can't find that one on Youtube, only the versions with the later synthesised soundtracks.

Edit, finally found it, about 50 videos down. There must be at least 5 or 6 different versions of this ident with different music (mostly different arragements of this one, but the final version, which was also in use for the longest, had an entirely different tune, and there's also the Watch With Mother one that fades to black & white with a music box sound).

I've heard some people describe the closing version of one of the later soundtracks to be scary at the end as well:

[Brekkie]

More radio than TV perhaps but the sound of silence (or a blank screen) can be terrifying. 90% of time a fault of course but when it happens your mind goes back to the previous news reporters of generally quite some significance, and news reports are rarely good news.

Talking of which think this used to terrify millions:
youtu.be 

[Medianext.MX]

In my case, something that scared me a lot during my childhood was the MGM Leo the Lion logo, more specifically, the roar. I was a fan of the Tom and Jerry shorts during my childhood, however, the Leo logo (and the racist overtones of many of the classic shorts) was the cause that led me to stop watching these. The 1995 roar also felt it much scarier. It still gives me goosebumps, even if the 2021 version (the current one, the one that signalled the start of the Amazon era) now looks much tamer due to its “majestic” fanfare and CGI elements.

www.youtube.com 

The M6 ident from 1987 also scared me during my childhood, due to the enormous size of the logo and the very psychodelic music from Philippe Eidel. The “Gadget Boy” cartoon used to be run on an Argentinian cable channel which aired for many years in Mexico, Magic Kids. Nowadays, I have reassesed it and I found it very bold for its time, at a degree it still looks timeless. Its visual flexibility (specially during jingle pubs) helped too.

www.youtube.com 

In other thing, many in Chile have been scared by this 80s closedown sequence from national network Canal 13 (then known as Universidad Católica de Chile Televisión, or UCTV for short). It was the channel’s golden era, with a conservative and family-oriented program policy; however, the channel often extended programming during the early overnight period with adult-oriented films. Many curious people (specially children) would often scare itself with the slow zoom-in of the logo, the starred background and the very unnerving voice of longtime announcer Javier Miranda (1930-2022). It was replaced in 1995.

www.youtube.com