What is the name for those banners which appear on the lower part of the TV screen, often on newscasts, which many times occupy as much as a third of the screen?

In the US and Canada, they're called a "bug". In Australia, they're called a "watermark".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_on-screen_graphic

Those are the little icons which appear hither and thither. There is another name for the banners.

A crawl, then.

http://onlineslangdictionary.com/definition+of/crawl

Verbonica - I think your going for crylon of rylon, not sure of the spelling. :)

I meant - Crylon or Krylon.

Generically, a crawl.

Tradename Chyron.

"In the United States the graphics (e.g., lower thirds) generated by character generators, are typically known as Chyrons, whether the equipment is made by Chyron Corporation or not. In the United Kingdom the phrase lower third is less frequently used, but like Chyron, the name Aston is used, again making reference to a manufacturer of graphics equipment."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chyron_Corporation

Yes! Good show, gonnzo (and mhenson, you were getting there...).

As gonnzo said, they are also called 'lower thirds'.

"Lower thirds are also often known as captions, or occasionally chyrons in North America,[1] and astons in the United Kingdom, after the major suppliers of broadcast caption/graphic generators. Other common terms include superbars (or simply supers) (US) and name straps (UK)."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_third


And... they are sometimes SO annoying, when they cover up something at the bottom of the screen that is necessary to the action.

p.s. Crawl is similar, but is usually only one line running across (so asgardshill, you were right there too), but I was looking for those stationary blocks that take up so much of the screen.