Most often this is a station identification (required by the broadcasting authority such as the U.S. Federal Communications Commission), but is also commonly used for television or radio advertisements, or a weather or traffic report.
A digital on-screen graphic ("dog" or "bug"), commonly a translucent watermark, may also be keyed (superimposed) with a television station ID over the network feed using a character generator using genlock.
In this case, the most urgent warning messages may interrupt without delay, while others may be worked into a normal break in programming within 15 minutes of their initial issuance.
[citation needed] In the United States, insertion can easily be heard every evening on the nationally syndicated radio show Delilah, where the host does a pre-recorded station-specific voiceover played over a music bed from the network.
This only applies to the cable systems, although in the U.S. direct-broadcast satellite services have shown an LDL of the current conditions and 12-hour forecast for select major cities.
In place of the IntelliSTAR, a hyperlocal form of insertion is now done on DirecTV (and possibly other DBS services), whereby the first half of the local forecast is generated by the set-top box.
A "cutout" at the upper right corner of the picture allows the sponsor's advertising logo to be shown live from the main video feed, while a datacast on the satellite (like that which provides the electronic program guide) sends simple forecast and conditions data for the entire country every couple of minutes.
Additionally, starting in 2011, DirecTV users with digital video recorders will have commercials downloaded to their boxes, which will play according to their demographic information,[1] likely commanding higher revenue from advertisers.