In the United Kingdom, continuity announcers are people who are employed to introduce programmes on radio and television networks, to promote forthcoming programmes on the station, to cross-promote programmes on the broadcaster's other stations where applicable and, sometimes, to provide information relating to the programme just broadcast.
The six pre-digital terrestrial television channels in the UK (BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4, S4C and Channel 5) make use of continuity announcers, and for most of the time, continuity announcements are presented live. Continuity announcers can also be found on digital and satellite channels, but most of these channels make use of pre-recorded announcements.
BBC
The BBC mainly uses live announcers on its flagship television channels BBC One and BBC Two, and mainly uses pre-recorded announcements on its digital channels (apart from BBC News and BBC Parliament, which do not use announcers at all). Separate continuity for BBC One and BBC Two in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is provided by local announcers who also double as transmission directors.
Presently, the only UK national radio station to use continuity announcers is BBC Radio 4, where many of the announcing staff also act as newsreaders and also introduce the station's Shipping Forecast. The BBC World Service still uses announcers as radio newsreaders but live continuity was discontinued in the early 2010s. Until about 1990, BBC Radio 2 used continuity announcers (separate from newsreaders) for its weekend and evening output, but these have since disappeared. Similarly, BBC Radio 3 has downgraded the former role of its announcers in favour of a new style of presenter. Continuity announcers played a much heavier role on the pre-1967 BBC Home Service, BBC Light Programme and BBC Third Programme (and other services on the last-named's frequency). BBC Radio Scotland discontinued the role of dedicated announcers around 2008. Promotional content is included within programmes, while news bulletins are read by Broadcast Journalists. Announcing staff for BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Wales double as newsreaders and technical operators.
Continuity announcements for BBC television channels are broadcast from Red Bee Media at the White City Media Village in West London, with separate continuity teams for the nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland based in the broadcasting centres in Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow, providing links for the local variations of BBC One and BBC Two, as well as the BBC Scotland channel.
CBBC and CBeebies continuity now airs from studios at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays – up until September 2011, CBBC presentation was broadcast from a small studio in the East Tower of BBC Television Centre while CBeebies presentation was pre-recorded at Teddington Studios. The announcing team for BBC Radio 4 work from a suite of studios on the 7th floor of Broadcasting House in London.
Historically, BBC announcers mostly spoke with Received Pronunciation, but the range of accents heard has widened considerably in recent years, and the general tone has become more informal.
In-vision continuity
Early continuity
Andrew Martin, an expert from the BBC archives, described continuity announcements as "an essential part of television," which "actually tell us quite a lot about the style, the kind of attitudes of television in their particular era."
In-vision continuity announcers, who appeared on screen between programmes, were a staple part of television broadcasts from the very earliest days of television, because "there was a need for linking material between programmes just to kind of announce them." In the early days of television, it was almost like a variety bill in the theatre... [and when] an item would come on, somebody had to say what it was often listing an entire evening's up-coming programming in one link.
The early announcers became "celebrities in their own right," often receiving considerable amounts of fan mail, as they were among the most recognisable on-screen individuals, appearing every day, at the start of an era when television celebrity began. Early in-vision announcers included Elizabeth Cowell, Leslie Mitchell, formerly a newsreel announcer, and Jasmine Bligh, who re-opened the television service in 1946. The early continuity announcers were auditioned, as "they had to look good but they also had to speak well", as clear speaking was crucial to their role.