TV Graphics 101 — Overlays, Lower Thirds & Tickers Explained

TV graphics are the visual elements that appear on screen during a broadcast — everything from the logo in the corner to the scrolling news ticker at the bottom. They're what makes a channel look like a real TV station rather than a raw video stream.

1. Logo Bug (Channel Identifier)

The small logo that sits permanently in a corner of the screen. It identifies your channel at all times and is typically semi-transparent so it doesn't distract from the content.

2. Lower Thirds

A lower third is a graphic that appears in the lower portion of the screen, usually showing a person's name and title. They're called "lower thirds" because they occupy roughly the bottom third of the frame.

Examples:

• "John Smith | CEO, Acme Corp"
• "Breaking News | Flooding in the City Centre"
• "Today's Guest | Rev. David Johnson"

3. News Ticker / Crawl

The scrolling text bar that runs horizontally along the bottom of the screen. Used for news headlines, announcements, or sponsor messages.

4. Full-Screen Graphics (FSG)

Graphics that take up the entire screen — used for programme introductions, sponsor messages, or channel branding between shows.

5. Bugs and Alerts

Small icons or animated elements that appear on screen, such as "LIVE" indicators, breaking news alerts, or social media handles.

Readability first: Text must be legible at all sizes. Use bold, clean sans-serif fonts and ensure sufficient contrast between text and background.

Stay in the safe area: TV screens cut off the edges slightly. Keep all important text and graphics within the "safe area" — about 10% in from each edge.

Consistency: Use the same fonts, colours, and styles throughout. Inconsistent graphics look amateurish.

Don't over-clutter: Less is more. A logo, a ticker, and occasional lower thirds is all you need. Adding too many elements makes the screen feel busy.

InstaPlayout's built-in graphics editor lets you create, customise, and manage all of these graphic types without any external software. You can:

• Design graphics with your brand colours and fonts
• Set timing and duration for each graphic element
• Mark graphics as "always on" or trigger them manually
• Save graphic presets to reuse across broadcasts

Good TV graphics are the difference between looking like a home video and looking like a real channel. With InstaPlayout, creating professional graphics is straightforward — even if you have no design experience.