2008–2016 When Watch launched in October 2008, along with G.O.L.D. and Alibi, the original on screen identity featured a large eyeball nicknamed 'Blinky'. The music used in the background of the television advertisements is "You Will Leave a Mark" by Oxford band A Silent Film. The channel's original
idents featured a live-action video of the eyeball being pushed around by a large and varied group of people around various settings until the eyeball ends up in the centre of the screen and the Watch name appears at the bottom of the screen. The set of four idents were produced by
Red Bee Media for the channel. However, in April 2009, the four existing idents were edited by
Aardman Animations to make the inflatable eyeball blink, along with new soundtracks. In addition, four new CGI idents were introduced as well as the edited idents and in May 2010, a new ident for
Scream if You Know the Answer! During May 2010, UKTV were reportedly planning to overhaul the brand identity of Watch, after only eighteen months in operation. The broadcaster held a branding agency pitch and made an appointment within a month, with the review was being handled by creativebrief. The work included the creation of a fresh logo, strap-line and tone of voice for the channel, however, a spokeswoman for UKTV denied suggestions that the broadcaster would change the name of the channel and said that the overhaul was about "tweaking the brand and aligning it better with our overall strategy". The 2010 idents have their full tagline "(x) together, (y) together, (z) together, Watch together (e.g.: Sing together, play together, Get it together, Watch together)". The new Watch logo and channel presentation launched on 23 September 2010, focusing on the idea that "TV is better shared!". The new identity, created by agency Harriman Steel, includes a new strapline, "Watch... together", along with new idents, end frames and a new logo. The idents feature a scene against a black background with various elements of the scene being provided, by people in black outfits. The scenes progress with the appearance of the film being seen in reverse until the ident pans to a screen displaying three phrases related to the scene ending with the word "together." before the Watch logo is placed over the last phrase forming the channel tagline. Other promotional material makes use of the channel tagline or the appearance that the channel promotions are held in place by the black dressed men, as seen by the various covered hands shown at the edge of promotion end boards. On 23 January 2012, it was announced that Watch would receive a rebrand for a second time, created by DixonBaxi, and was to be launched on 13 February 2012, but only the promos, DOG and ECP changed on that date. But the new idents were made on 9 March 2012.
2016–2022 On 15 January 2016, it was announced that Watch would be renamed to W on 15 February 2016. In February 2022,
Broadcast magazine reported that the channel would become a free-to-air channel in the spring, joining stablemates Dave, Yesterday and Drama as a Freeview service. In March 2022, this was confirmed by UKTV, who rebranded the channel's mantra to "Life Unfiltered" and introduced a new logo which included the letter W in a slanted rectangle. The logo will be mainly seen on air and in corporate branding with an orange background, with channel idents showing a series of relatable human moments behind the logo. This female skewing channel will be still targeted at a 25 to 44 age range and will be on Freeview channel 25 from 28 March 2022. W have a free-to-air launch schedule with programmes such as
Inside the Ambulance,
Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over,
Nurses on the Ward,
Emma Willis Delivering Babies,
Emma Willis & AJ Odudu Get to Work and
Women on the Force, part of the line-up.
2022–present UKTV confirmed the rumours that the W channel was going to rebrand as a free-to-air channel on 28 March 2022 at 6:10am. To coincide with the move, channel bosses unveiled a new logo and "Life Unfiltered" strapline which they say will help the channel connect with its female skewing 25-44 target audience. The 2022 idents were kept in the rebranding to U&W, with the logo being changed to follow the other channels. ==Logo history==