History Main / LongFormPromo

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=17087107890.56294200 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

What happens when the VanityPlate meets the MusicVideo -- a two- to three-minute film extolling the virtues of whichever network it's running on, usually run during off-peak periods (late at night, or as filler after a long-running live event).

In this case, the TV audience isn't the most important target; long-form promos were meant to be seen by people with money to spend on ads, and many were produced as one part of a much longer, {{Infomercial}}-like promotional video distributed to the affiliates and ad agencies. Given that, the networks spent lots of money on these; depending on the network, it could be a few clips from shows edited together in a [[{{Blipvert}} fast-paced style]], or on the other extreme, it could be an entire short film with network stars playing most of the roles. All this went together with a {{Jingle}} that was often as well produced and catchy as a pop hit on the radio; [[DesignStudentsOrgasm state-of-the-art animation]] often came into play as well. Promos like these were some of the first uses of Scanimate and [[UsefulNotes/PolygonalGraphics digital 3-D rendering]] back in the 1970s and 1980s.

After cable started taking over around 1990, this practice waned because the broadcast networks didn't want to spend the money as their market share declined. Networks still do the promo packages for advertisers, and still "redress the set" every fall with new graphics, but in general, [[ForgottenTrope long-form promos are rarely seen on TV anymore]].

Related to the StationIdent; the graphics used for idents were usually based on the graphics introduced in these promos.
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!Examples by country:

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[[folder: United Kingdom]]
* Creator/TheBBC is quite big on extended self-promotion pieces, some of which have admittedly been [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJpQJWpVJds rather cool]].
* In the late 70s, after ITV had been off the air due to industrial action for a couple of ''months'', the network went back on the air with the "Welcome Home to ITV" promos.
* In 1990 Sky Television ran the "We're the One" promos, later followed up by "Still the One", as part of an aggressive marketing campaign to get people to subscribe to Sky rather than BSB. The songs were actually based on late-1970s ABC promos from the US, but they seemed to do the trick - BSB went bust after six months and had to merge with Sky.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: United States]]
* Creator/{{ABC}} had the most (and most expensive) examples, starting with ''This is the place to be'' in 1971 (which used the Stargate effect from ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' to make swirling, streaming ABC logos). That network's last campaign of note was a revival of the late 70s cover of Orleans' ''Still the One'' in 1995, though it still had a slogan for each season until 2007, when it began using more long-term slogans.
** The 1980 season had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG_RqXlj1RM&pp=ygUIYWJjIDE5ODA%3D two]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S0Bi1bEYDs&pp=ygUIYWJjIDE5ODA%3D songs]] for the same slogan, "You and Me and ABC".
* Creator/{{CBS}} ran a close second, especially after ABC started winning in the ratings after 1977. Its last major campaign, "It's All Here", ran in 1992
** "We've Got the Touch" received three different songs from 1983 to 1986; the retirement of the slogan coincided with NBC starting to surpass it in the ratings.
* Creator/{{NBC}} got into this in the late 1970s with its ill-advised ''Proud as a Peacock'' campaign; by the mid-1980s, NBC was flying high and telling everyone to ''Be There''. Its last big campaign was ''The place to be'' in 1990.
* Creator/{{Fox}} ran promos from its launch until 1997.
** The initial slogan was "Don't Let Fox Weekend Pass You By", as it only ran Saturdays and Sundays at that point. The addition of Mondays in 1989 ended the promotion for obvious reasons.
* Creator/TheWB did this ad nauseum in its first few season, with promos featuring the old Franchise/LooneyTunes character Michigan J. Frog, as well as singing and dancing by the stars of such flagship shows as ''Series/UnhappilyEverAfter''. This practice died off as ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' and ''Series/DawsonsCreek'' moved the network towards a teen audience, with promotional videos set to pre-existing songs replacing them.
* Creator/{{UPN}}'s only notable campaign was "We're The Network, Baby", which ran in the 1997 season.
* A few local stations have made their own promos in this vein, especially the New York and Washington affiliates, as well a few particularly well-off independent stations.
* Several years back, the [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci Fi Channel]] had a minute and a half long promo featuring clips from its (then) signature shows being shown over rock music.
* In the 80s and 90s, Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} ran several campaigns set to music, the most famous ones being set to the famous "Ni-Ni-Ni-Nick-Nick" leitmotif. At least one variant of their {{jingle}} also aired as a radio ad.
[[/folder]]
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* In the 80s and 90s, Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} ran several campaigns set to music, the most famous ones being set to the famous "Ni-Ni-Ni-Nick-Nick" leitmotif. At least one of their {{jingle}}s also aired as a radio ad.

* In the 80s and 90s, Nickelodeon ran several campaigns set to music, the most famous ones being set to the famous "Ni-Ni-Ni-Nick-Nick" leitmotif.

After cable started taking over around 1990, this practice waned because the broadcast networks didn't want to spend the money as their market share declined. Networks still do the promo packages for advertisers, and still "redress the set" every fall with new graphics, but in general, long-form promos are rarely seen on TV anymore.

* Creator/{{ABC}} had the most (and most expensive) examples, starting with ''This is the place to be'' in 1971 (which used the Stargate effect from ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' to make swirling, streaming ABC logos). That network's last campaign of note was ''It must be ABC'' in 1992, though it still has a slogan for each season.
* Creator/{{CBS}} ran a close second, especially after ABC started winning in the ratings after 1977.

* Creator/TheWB did this ad nauseum in its first season, with promos featuring the old Franchise/LooneyTunes character Michigan J. Frog, as well as singing and dancing by the stars of such flagship shows as ''Series/UnhappilyEverAfter''.
* Creator/{{UPN}} did one for its first season as well.

* Several years back, the Creator/SciFiChannel had a minute and a half long promo featuring clips from its (then) signature shows being shown over rock music.

In this case, the TV audience isn't the most important target; long-form promos were meant to be seen by people with money to spend on ads, and many were produced as one part of a much longer, {{Infomercial}}-like promotional video distributed to the affiliates and ad agencies. Given that, the networks spent lots of money on these; depending on the network, it could be a few clips from shows edited together in a [[{{Blipvert}} fast-paced style]], or on the other extreme, it could be an entire short film with network stars playing most of the roles. All this went together with a {{Jingle}} that was often as well produced and catchy as a pop hit on the radio; [[DesignStudentsOrgasm state-of-the-art animation]] often came into play as well. Promos like these were some of the first uses of Scanimate and [[PolygonalGraphics digital 3-D rendering]] back in the 1970s and 1980s.

* Creator/{{ABC}} had the most (and most expensive) examples, starting with ''This is the place to be'' in 1971 (which used the Stargate effect from ''TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' to make swirling, streaming ABC logos). That network's last campaign of note was ''It must be ABC'' in 1992, though it still has a slogan for each season.

* TheWB did this ad nauseum in its first season, with promos featuring the old WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes character Michigan J. Frog, as well as singing and dancing by the stars of such flagship shows as ''UnhappilyEverAfter''.
* {{UPN}} did one for its first season as well.

* Several years back, the SciFiChannel had a minute and a half long promo featuring clips from its (then) signature shows being shown over rock music.

* TheBBC is quite big on extended self-promotion pieces, some of which have admittedly been [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJpQJWpVJds rather cool]].

* {{ABC}} had the most (and most expensive) examples, starting with ''This is the place to be'' in 1971 (which used the Stargate effect from ''TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' to make swirling, streaming ABC logos). That network's last campaign of note was ''It must be ABC'' in 1992, though it still has a slogan for each season.
* {{CBS}} ran a close second, especially after ABC started winning in the ratings after 1977.
* {{NBC}} got into this in the late 1970s with its ill-advised ''Proud as a Peacock'' campaign; by the mid-1980s, NBC was flying high and telling everyone to ''Be There''. Its last big campaign was ''The place to be'' in 1990.

* TheWB did this ad nauseum in its first season, with promos featuring the old LooneyTunes character Michigan J. Frog, as well as singing and dancing by the stars of such flagship shows as ''UnhappilyEverAfter''.
* {{UPN}} did one for its first season as well.

* {{ABC}} had the most (and most expensive) examples, starting with ''This is the place to be'' in 1971 (which used the Stargate effect from ''[=~2001: A Space Odyssey~=]'' to make swirling, streaming ABC logos). That network's last campaign of note was ''It must be ABC'' in 1992, though it still has a slogan for each season.

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<<|{{Television}}|>>

* TheBBC is quite big on extended self-promotion pieces, some of which have admittedly been [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXgRepmpmYI rather cool]].

* In 1990 Sky Television ran the "We're the One" promos, later followed up by "Still the One", as part of an aggressive marketing campaign to get people to subscribe to Sky rather than BSB. The songs were actually based on late-1970s ABC promos from the US, but they seemed to do the trick - BSB went bust aftr six months and had to merge with Sky.

* In 1990 Sky Television ran the "We're the One" promos, later followed up by "Still the One", as part of an aggressive marketing campaign to get people to subscribe to Sky rather than BSB. The songs were actually based on late-1970s ABC promos, but they seemed to do the trick - BSB went bust aftr six months and had to merge with Sky.