Every channel uses idents of some sort and the main purposes of

creating idents are to: Re package the channel, to show the

channels identity to its viewers and brand (so for the BBC, they use
a circle which shows that they are a company that are worldwide),
to market the channel, to reach a specific target audience and
appeal to them (E4 target a younger audience because their idents
are quite strange and represent teenage things) and lastly to give
an idea of the type of programming show on the channel (for
example the discovery channel have idents that relate to
documentaries).