PBS idents
Encyclopedia
PBS idents are television idents used by the US Public Broadcasting Service
(PBS). Programs distributed to its member stations end with a television ident including the PBS name and logo and often a voiceover, known in the industry as a "system cue". From October 5, 1970 to September 30, 1984 the logo was usually displayed on-screen for eight seconds. Since October 1, 1984 the logo has appeared on-screen for five seconds.
This article also covers the idents used by PBS's predecessor, National Educational Television
.
inside a black oval over a white background. Inside the map design are three sets of segmented lines shaped like television monitors with the letters NET inside each box. A TV antenna appears vertically through the map design with the words National Educational Television at the top and Educational Television and Radio Center underneath. A version with a circle saying NET and a version with a map saying National Educational Television have also existed.
was used from October 1, 1962 to October 2, 1966. It was a simple still shot of the network's logo—the letters "NET" with a slanted roof coming out of the top-right of the "T", hanging over the "N" and the "E," with a small antenna sticking out over the "N." There are also "stars" all over the screen. Meanwhile, an announcer says, "This is National Educational Television."
The third ident was used from October 3, 1966 to February 18, 1968. First, gray dots appear and disappear rapidly. A white circle is drawn around the dots. A vertical line is drawn over the circle, but then is erased. A small fire appears in the circle. Several curved vertical and horizontal lines cover the circle to create an image of the globe. Several white lines appear under the globe to form the letters "NET". The globe ultimately winds up on top of the "T". The music playing in the background during the animation is industrious-sounding. When the animation is complete, an announcer says, "This is N-E-T, the National Educational Television network."
The music was a synthesizer score composed by Eric Siday
(1905-1976), who also composed the score for the similar-sounding Screen Gems
and CBS color programming logos.
The color versions of the opening and closing idents are released on the second volume of Sesame Street: Old School
with the first test pilot episode.
There is also a B&W version in which the "NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION" text appears instead of the line,from 1968 to 1969.
Public
Broadcasting
Service
Then, actor MacDonald Carey
(1913-1994) says, "This is PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service."
.
This logo starts with a full-screen abstract blue "P," which zooms out to the upper-middle, taking on the shape of a face in profile as it moves left. Soon after, an orange "B" and then a green "S" appear, with dots punched out to form the letters. In tandem with the letters appearing, the words "PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE" appear individually at the bottom of the screen, left-justified, and in the sans-serif ITC Avant Garde
font.
This ident was designed by Ernie Smith and Herb Lubalin
of the Lubalin Smith Carnase design studio, on assignment from the Lawrence K. Grossman advertising agency, whose creative chief, Ron Aigen, directed the logo search. The agency then commissioned the accompanying music, composed by Paul Alan Levi
, which consists of a bold Moog synthesizer
score, beginning with a rapidly descending, telephone-like scale, followed by five warm, heavy brass
-like notes. This was the only logo used for PBS programming until the third PBS ident debuted in 1984. The ident is featured on the Sesame Street: Old School
and The Best of the Electric Company DVD sets.
.
The ident starts with a blue abstract profile of the human face, facing right, set on a black background. A piece comes out to the right, and settles a short distance from the profile. The letters "PBS" appear below in a white, slab serif typeface. The accompanying music, composed by Jonathan Elias
, consists of a majestic piano chord accompanied by some pizzicato
tones, then a softer version of the piano chord.
A version of the logo appeared at the end of the first episode of Square One Television in which it appeared as normal, then multiplied with a background chorus singing "And on, and on, and on...". This was to coincide with the song "Infinity", which was featured in that episode.
A 3-D version of this ident is included on the Saturday Night Live
Best of Phil Hartman DVD; this PBS ident introduced Hartman's The Anal-Retentive Chef sketches on that show.
In an alternate version of the ident, the P-head appears just by fading in with the PBS text. No lines streak across the screen; therefore it is a still version of the ident. The same music, as in the ident's original version, is used. Once again, the announcer says "This is P-B-S."
There is a silent version as well, but this is very rare.
circle rotating while the faces of various people appear and disappear within it. Then, we zoom out through the eye of the stylized P's in an orange/pink installation art environment
. The familiar "PBS" text spins in, in white and to the left of the P. The accompanying music, composed by Peter Fish, is a jazz-style boogie, with a female voice singing in the background. Then, a male voice says "This is P-B-S."
This ID is not animated with computer graphics, but rather was created traditionally on film. The stylized P is frosted glass, and the PBS text is rotated into place by rods beneath a rostrum
.
This logo was the last to be used on both adults' and children's programming. Beginning in 1993, children's shows used special idents.
says "This is P-B-S".
The accompanying music is a world music
/new age
piece, with Lauren Bacall
once again saying "This is P-B-S." Sometimes, Bacall will say "You're watching your public television station, P-B-S." People who have held the round disc in this ident include Jocelyne Loewen
, Jake Martin, Kyle Hebert
, Lynne Thigpen
, Michelle Ruff
, Chris Rock
, Steve Burns
, Gong Li
, and even Bacall herself.
This ident also introduced a minor change to the PBS logo. From hereon, the PBS profile logo always appears in a black circle, with the "PBS" text to the right.
), "Performers" (voiceover by David Kaye
), "Flowers" (voiceover by Helen Mirren
), "Daddy and Son" (voiceover by Kyle Eastwood
), "Cowboy" (voiceover by David Kaye
), and "Generations" (voiceover by Edie Mirman
). It ends with the PBS logo animating over the scene. Each variant has its own special arrangement of the current PBS promo music, along with a voiceover. The voiceover is one of these four people saying "We are P-B-S," or occasionally, "I am P-B-S."
There is also a version that uses a purple-blue background instead of the original shaggy brown curtains. The words "Perspective. Analysis. Understanding." flash briefly and fade out, then "Be More" scans to the right, followed by "PBS" in white. Bob Hilton
says, "This is P-B-S." This variant can only be seen on Frontline.
television programs used the same PBS idents seen on adult-oriented programming (or the logos of National Instructional Television
). Starting on October 11, 1993, a new ident was commissioned specifically for children's programming.
It consists of three stylized P profiles, depicted as literally living things, complete with appendages, drawn as a cartoon
, set on a white background. The profiles are in different colors and patterns that change throughout the ident and eventually stop on blue, orange, and green, respectively. The profiles dance and sing "This is P-B-S! Woo-hoo-hoo!,", then stop when the 1993 Ready To Learn dog walks by the lower portion of the screen and barks. (he holds a balloon saying E/I
in the re-designed one) At the same time, the third profile ad libs and his red hat flies off of his head for a moment, then drops back on his head. The "PBS" text appears in black to the lower left to the profiles.
The music is a pop-rock tune with the profiles singing at once.
began airing on September 6, 1999, replacing but still using the "P-Pals" ident. Each featured PBS Kids' boy and girl mascots, Dash and Dot. On all versions, the PBS Kids
logo appears at the end on a background of some kind of a pattern. On the first variant, Dot runs up to the screen and a thought bubbles appears with the letters "PBS" in it. The second variant is of Dash scratching his head and thinking of "PBS." The third variant has Dot transitioning forms: a cat, an octopus, and an astronaut The fourth is similar to the one prior to it. It has Dash in three forms: a caveman, a scuba diver, and a robot. The fifth variant has Dash ice-skating in a snow globe which is held by Dot. The final version has Dash looking in his fish bowl to find Dot as a fish and swallows himself as a fish. These idents are no longer shown on new programs, but are continually seen on older versions of programs.
programs used the started series idents. Starting in the fall of that year, another series of new idents were commissioned for use on programming with a focus on telling children to be active. They consist of kids doing several forms of exercise on a set with a block motif. At the end, one of the kids pushes a lever, or pushes a button (or activates some kind of mechanism), which reveals PBS Kids GO!
logo: a speech bubble with the words "PBS Kids GO!
" in it. The accomanying music is a flute and glockenspiel tune, ending with kids shouting "GO!" Most of the idents have a whistling tune as well. As with other current PBS idents, there are several variations, like one with kids riding on a bicycle, one with kids making the logo appear on the computer, or one with kids building the logo with blocks. There have been several sets of these idents.
got its first ident in 9/26/2005, which consists of a green flower with the words "PBS Kids" written on it and the word "sprout" under it in children's handwriting.
(September 1, 1997–September 1, 2004), and currently Paramount
(September 2, 2004-Present). PBS Home Video idents are usually modeled after past TV idents.
ident was used from 10/2/1989 to 11/1/1998. The large 3-D glass profile is set on a black background, filling the screen as it did on the TV ident. Initially, a cloudy sky pattern fills the profile, which then fades to a blue stylized P against the cloudy sky background. Lines shoot into the profile's eye, and "PBS HOME VIDEO" appears below in the familiar slab serif typeface. The text is filled with a "water" pattern. The accompanying music is a classical tune, along with an announcer saying: "The following presentation is from PBS Home Video." On some tapes, a PBS television ident appears afterward. The ident would sometimes lack the announcer.
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
(PBS). Programs distributed to its member stations end with a television ident including the PBS name and logo and often a voiceover, known in the industry as a "system cue". From October 5, 1970 to September 30, 1984 the logo was usually displayed on-screen for eight seconds. Since October 1, 1984 the logo has appeared on-screen for five seconds.
This article also covers the idents used by PBS's predecessor, National Educational Television
National Educational Television
National Educational Television was an American non-commercial educational public television network in the United States from May 16, 1954 to October 4, 1970...
.
1st logo
The National Educational Television and Radio Center was established in November 1952. Its original on-air logo was used from then to September 30, 1962. It was a two-dimensional still shot of a white map silhouette of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
inside a black oval over a white background. Inside the map design are three sets of segmented lines shaped like television monitors with the letters NET inside each box. A TV antenna appears vertically through the map design with the words National Educational Television at the top and Educational Television and Radio Center underneath. A version with a circle saying NET and a version with a map saying National Educational Television have also existed.
2nd logo
The original ident for the National Educational TelevisionNational Educational Television
National Educational Television was an American non-commercial educational public television network in the United States from May 16, 1954 to October 4, 1970...
was used from October 1, 1962 to October 2, 1966. It was a simple still shot of the network's logo—the letters "NET" with a slanted roof coming out of the top-right of the "T", hanging over the "N" and the "E," with a small antenna sticking out over the "N." There are also "stars" all over the screen. Meanwhile, an announcer says, "This is National Educational Television."
3rd logo
4th logo
First, the left section of the screen fills with red from the bottom, the middle section fills with yellow from the top, and the right section fills with blue from the bottom. One by one, each colored section flips to form the letters N E T on a black background. The letters move closer together and "NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION" appears, or a blue line is drawn above the letters, which morphs into a gable roof with an aerial antenna on top, which is connected to the T. An announcer says, "This is NET, the National Educational Television network." On later variants, a different announcer says, "This is NET, the public television network."The music was a synthesizer score composed by Eric Siday
Eric Siday
Eric Siday was a composer and musician. While most commonly known for his pioneering work in electro-acoustic music, his early career was that of a hot-jazz violinist in the London dance bands in the Roaring ’20s, including Ray Starita's Piccadilly Revels...
(1905-1976), who also composed the score for the similar-sounding Screen Gems
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
and CBS color programming logos.
The color versions of the opening and closing idents are released on the second volume of Sesame Street: Old School
Sesame Street: Old School
Sesame Street: Old School is the title of a series of DVD releases produced by Sesame Workshop, featuring the first episodes of the first ten years of the PBS series, Sesame Street, plus highlights from this era. The first volume "1969-1974," was released by Sony Wonder in Region 1 on October 24,...
with the first test pilot episode.
There is also a B&W version in which the "NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION" text appears instead of the line,from 1968 to 1969.
1st logo
The first PBS ident was used from October 5, 1970 to October 3, 1971. The first logo for PBS was a black background with the words sandwiched on top of each other:Public
Broadcasting
Service
Then, actor MacDonald Carey
Macdonald Carey
Edward Macdonald Carey was an American actor, best known for his role as the patriarch Dr. Tom Horton on NBC's soap opera Days of our Lives...
(1913-1994) says, "This is PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service."
2nd logo
The second PBS ident was used from October 4, 1971 to September 30, 1984. This ident was used on a less regular basis until 1991, when it was completely taken off PBS. It features cel-animated tricolor letters that assemble onscreen to form the logo, similar to the concepts used for production logos from that era, such as those from MTM EnterprisesMTM Enterprises
MTM Enterprises was an American independent production company established in 1969 by Mary Tyler Moore and her then-husband Grant Tinker to produce The Mary Tyler Moore Show for CBS...
.
This logo starts with a full-screen abstract blue "P," which zooms out to the upper-middle, taking on the shape of a face in profile as it moves left. Soon after, an orange "B" and then a green "S" appear, with dots punched out to form the letters. In tandem with the letters appearing, the words "PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE" appear individually at the bottom of the screen, left-justified, and in the sans-serif ITC Avant Garde
ITC Avant Garde
ITC Avant Garde Gothic is a font family based on the logo font used in the Avant Garde magazine. Herb Lubalin devised the logo concept and its companion headline typeface, then he and Tom Carnase, a partner in Lubalin's design firm, worked together to transform the idea into a full-fledged...
font.
This ident was designed by Ernie Smith and Herb Lubalin
Herb Lubalin
Herbert F. Lubalin was a prominent American graphic designer. He collaborated with Ralph Ginzburg on three of Ginzburg's magazines: Eros, Fact, and Avant Garde, and was responsible for the creative visual beauty of these publications...
of the Lubalin Smith Carnase design studio, on assignment from the Lawrence K. Grossman advertising agency, whose creative chief, Ron Aigen, directed the logo search. The agency then commissioned the accompanying music, composed by Paul Alan Levi
Paul Alan Levi
Paul Alan Levi is an American composer whose compositions have been performed in Carnegie Hall, among other major venues in United States and Europe, as well as on national television.-Biography:...
, which consists of a bold Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
score, beginning with a rapidly descending, telephone-like scale, followed by five warm, heavy brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
-like notes. This was the only logo used for PBS programming until the third PBS ident debuted in 1984. The ident is featured on the Sesame Street: Old School
Sesame Street: Old School
Sesame Street: Old School is the title of a series of DVD releases produced by Sesame Workshop, featuring the first episodes of the first ten years of the PBS series, Sesame Street, plus highlights from this era. The first volume "1969-1974," was released by Sony Wonder in Region 1 on October 24,...
and The Best of the Electric Company DVD sets.
3rd logo
The third PBS ident was used from October 1, 1984 to October 1, 1989. The logo was developed by Chermayeff & GeismarChermayeff & Geismar
Chermayeff & Geismar is a prominent New York-based branding and graphic design firm. It was founded in 1957 by Yale graduates Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar...
.
The ident starts with a blue abstract profile of the human face, facing right, set on a black background. A piece comes out to the right, and settles a short distance from the profile. The letters "PBS" appear below in a white, slab serif typeface. The accompanying music, composed by Jonathan Elias
Jonathan Elias
Jonathan Elias is a U.S. composer and record producer, known for his movie soundtracks, production for several pop and rock acts, and his award-winning advertising music including the PBS logo instrumental from October 1, 1984 to October 1, 1989....
, consists of a majestic piano chord accompanied by some pizzicato
Pizzicato
Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of stringed instrument....
tones, then a softer version of the piano chord.
A version of the logo appeared at the end of the first episode of Square One Television in which it appeared as normal, then multiplied with a background chorus singing "And on, and on, and on...". This was to coincide with the song "Infinity", which was featured in that episode.
A 3-D version of this ident is included on the Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
Best of Phil Hartman DVD; this PBS ident introduced Hartman's The Anal-Retentive Chef sketches on that show.
4th logo
The fourth PBS ident was used from October 2, 1989 to August 1, 1993. On a black background, a side-facing transparent blue P-head moves to the right, leaving behind a trail of P-Heads. The trailing P-Heads fades into the PBS logo from before, which blends into the center of the screen, occupying almost all of it. Several white and rainbow lines streak across the bottom of the screen, leaving the text "PBS" in the same font as before to the bottom left. All of a sudden, an announcer says, "This is P-B-S."In an alternate version of the ident, the P-head appears just by fading in with the PBS text. No lines streak across the screen; therefore it is a still version of the ident. The same music, as in the ident's original version, is used. Once again, the announcer says "This is P-B-S."
There is a silent version as well, but this is very rare.
5th logo
The fifth PBS ident was used from August 2, 1993 to September 1, 1996. It starts with a pink glassGlass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
circle rotating while the faces of various people appear and disappear within it. Then, we zoom out through the eye of the stylized P's in an orange/pink installation art environment
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
. The familiar "PBS" text spins in, in white and to the left of the P. The accompanying music, composed by Peter Fish, is a jazz-style boogie, with a female voice singing in the background. Then, a male voice says "This is P-B-S."
This ID is not animated with computer graphics, but rather was created traditionally on film. The stylized P is frosted glass, and the PBS text is rotated into place by rods beneath a rostrum
Rostrum
Rostrum may refer to:* A piece of furniture suitable for holding papers used by a person who is addressing a group; a lectern* Australian Rostrum, an association of Australian public speaking clubs...
.
This logo was the last to be used on both adults' and children's programming. Beginning in 1993, children's shows used special idents.
6th logo
The sixth PBS ident was used from September 2, 1996 to November 1, 1998. Its composition now included of a variety of objects: A telescope rotates in the lower left corner; a globe of the Earth appears at upper right; while at center a framed windowpane zooms in. The various objects fade away to reveal the stylized P's, which are initially yellow-green with the right section colored blue. These colors change to blue and green, respectively, while the "PBS" text fades in below. The end result resembles the 3rd ident. Then, actress Lauren BacallLauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
says "This is P-B-S".
7th logo
The seventh PBS ident was used from November 2, 1998 to September 1, 2002. It is a combination of live action and computer effects. It begins with a man or woman holding up a black, round disc printed with a white PBS logo. As he/she holds the disc in front of his/her face, several superimposed acrobats jump and somersault behind the person, in a circular pattern. The letters "PBS" appear in black to the right of the disc, with the PBS website address (www.pbs.org) below the letters. This is the first time the website address has appeared in a PBS ident.The accompanying music is a world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
/new age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
piece, with Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
once again saying "This is P-B-S." Sometimes, Bacall will say "You're watching your public television station, P-B-S." People who have held the round disc in this ident include Jocelyne Loewen
Jocelyne Loewen
Jocelyne Loewen is a Canadian voice actress working with Ocean Productions, known for her roles in the English dubs of anime series, mostly that of "spunky" young girls....
, Jake Martin, Kyle Hebert
Kyle Hebert
Kyle Henry Hebert is an American voice actor and podcaster who works with anime films, television series, as well as video games...
, Lynne Thigpen
Lynne Thigpen
Cherlynne Theresa “Lynne” Thigpen was an American stage and television actress, most famous as "The Chief" in the various Carmen Sandiego television series.-Early life:...
, Michelle Ruff
Michelle Ruff
Michelle Suzanne Ruff is an American voice actress known for her work in anime and video games.-Anime roles:* Angel Tales - Akane the fox* Ai Yori Aoshi - Aoi Sakuraba* Arc the Lad - Meril...
, Chris Rock
Chris Rock
Christopher Julius "Chris" Rock III is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director. He was voted in the US as the 5th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central...
, Steve Burns
Steve Burns
Steven Michael "Steve" Burns is an American entertainer. He is best known as the original host of the long-running children's television program Blue's Clues.-Early career:...
, Gong Li
Gong Li
Gong Li is a Chinese film actress. Gong first came into international prominence through close collaboration with Chinese director Zhang Yimou and is credited with helping to bring Chinese cinema to Europe and the United States....
, and even Bacall herself.
This ident also introduced a minor change to the PBS logo. From hereon, the PBS profile logo always appears in a black circle, with the "PBS" text to the right.
8th logo
The eighth PBS ident was used from September 2, 2002 to September 27, 2009. It features live-action footage filmed on a large set with a hardwood floor and shaggy brown curtains and has many variants, including "Young People" (voiceover by Edie MirmanEdie Mirman
Edith S. "Edie" Mirman is an American voice actress best known for the voice of Fujiko Mine from Tales of the Wolf, and also for both Miriya Parina Sterling and Nova Satori from Robotech. She is also the voice of Teryx in Dinosaucers and Gatomon and Angewomon in the Digimon series. She is credited...
), "Performers" (voiceover by David Kaye
David Kaye
David V. Hope , known professionally as David Kaye, is a Canadian American actor who is better recognized for his work as a voice actor...
), "Flowers" (voiceover by Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
), "Daddy and Son" (voiceover by Kyle Eastwood
Kyle Eastwood
Kyle Eastwood is an American jazz musician. He studied film at the University of Southern California for two years before embarking on a music career. After becoming a session player in the early '90s and leading his own quartet, he released his first solo album, From There to Here, in 1998...
), "Cowboy" (voiceover by David Kaye
David Kaye
David V. Hope , known professionally as David Kaye, is a Canadian American actor who is better recognized for his work as a voice actor...
), and "Generations" (voiceover by Edie Mirman
Edie Mirman
Edith S. "Edie" Mirman is an American voice actress best known for the voice of Fujiko Mine from Tales of the Wolf, and also for both Miriya Parina Sterling and Nova Satori from Robotech. She is also the voice of Teryx in Dinosaucers and Gatomon and Angewomon in the Digimon series. She is credited...
). It ends with the PBS logo animating over the scene. Each variant has its own special arrangement of the current PBS promo music, along with a voiceover. The voiceover is one of these four people saying "We are P-B-S," or occasionally, "I am P-B-S."
There is also a version that uses a purple-blue background instead of the original shaggy brown curtains. The words "Perspective. Analysis. Understanding." flash briefly and fade out, then "Be More" scans to the right, followed by "PBS" in white. Bob Hilton
Bob Hilton
Robert "Bob" Wesley Hilton is an American television game show personality. He hosted The Guinness Game, a revival of Truth or Consequences and the 1990 revival of Let's Make a Deal, and announced on several other shows....
says, "This is P-B-S." This variant can only be seen on Frontline.
9th logo
The ninth PBS ident was used from September 28, 2009 to present. The idents show parious people engaged in different, leisurely activities, some stargazing and others reading a scrapbook. Each ends with a voiceover saying "Be more P-B-S," or occasionally, "You"re watching P-B-S." The "Be more" slogan is displayed, with the PBS logo to the right. "PBS" in text follows, which transitions to the website "pbs.org."1st ident
Prior to 1993, PBS KidsPBS Kids
PBS Kids is the brand for children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States founded in 1993. As with all PBS programming, PBS Kids programming is non-commercial. It is aimed at children ages 2 to 10...
television programs used the same PBS idents seen on adult-oriented programming (or the logos of National Instructional Television
Agency for Instructional Technology
The Agency for Instructional Technology is a non-profit organization in the United States that produces, sells and distributes educational and instructional television programs, and other multimedia materials, to schools in the United States and Canada....
). Starting on October 11, 1993, a new ident was commissioned specifically for children's programming.
It consists of three stylized P profiles, depicted as literally living things, complete with appendages, drawn as a cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
, set on a white background. The profiles are in different colors and patterns that change throughout the ident and eventually stop on blue, orange, and green, respectively. The profiles dance and sing "This is P-B-S! Woo-hoo-hoo!,", then stop when the 1993 Ready To Learn dog walks by the lower portion of the screen and barks. (he holds a balloon saying E/I
E/I
E/I, which stands for "educational and informative," refers to a type of children's television programming shown in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission requires that every full-service Terrestrial television station in the U.S. show at least three hours of these television...
in the re-designed one) At the same time, the third profile ad libs and his red hat flies off of his head for a moment, then drops back on his head. The "PBS" text appears in black to the lower left to the profiles.
The music is a pop-rock tune with the profiles singing at once.
2nd ident
Six new idents for PBS KidsPBS Kids
PBS Kids is the brand for children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States founded in 1993. As with all PBS programming, PBS Kids programming is non-commercial. It is aimed at children ages 2 to 10...
began airing on September 6, 1999, replacing but still using the "P-Pals" ident. Each featured PBS Kids' boy and girl mascots, Dash and Dot. On all versions, the PBS Kids
PBS Kids
PBS Kids is the brand for children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States founded in 1993. As with all PBS programming, PBS Kids programming is non-commercial. It is aimed at children ages 2 to 10...
logo appears at the end on a background of some kind of a pattern. On the first variant, Dot runs up to the screen and a thought bubbles appears with the letters "PBS" in it. The second variant is of Dash scratching his head and thinking of "PBS." The third variant has Dot transitioning forms: a cat, an octopus, and an astronaut The fourth is similar to the one prior to it. It has Dash in three forms: a caveman, a scuba diver, and a robot. The fifth variant has Dash ice-skating in a snow globe which is held by Dot. The final version has Dash looking in his fish bowl to find Dot as a fish and swallows himself as a fish. These idents are no longer shown on new programs, but are continually seen on older versions of programs.
3rd ident
Several new idents were produced in 2008. Themes for the idents (featuring Dash and Dot) include: telescopes, rock climbing, picnics, gardens, and magnets among many others. These idents are in high-definition.PBS Kids GO! idents
Prior to October 11, 2004, all PBS KidsPBS Kids
PBS Kids is the brand for children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States founded in 1993. As with all PBS programming, PBS Kids programming is non-commercial. It is aimed at children ages 2 to 10...
programs used the started series idents. Starting in the fall of that year, another series of new idents were commissioned for use on programming with a focus on telling children to be active. They consist of kids doing several forms of exercise on a set with a block motif. At the end, one of the kids pushes a lever, or pushes a button (or activates some kind of mechanism), which reveals PBS Kids GO!
PBS Kids GO!
PBS Kids GO! is an educational television brand used by PBS for programs intended for older children, rather than the original PBS Kids. It is primarily broadcast on PBS stations during the afternoons...
logo: a speech bubble with the words "PBS Kids GO!
PBS Kids GO!
PBS Kids GO! is an educational television brand used by PBS for programs intended for older children, rather than the original PBS Kids. It is primarily broadcast on PBS stations during the afternoons...
" in it. The accomanying music is a flute and glockenspiel tune, ending with kids shouting "GO!" Most of the idents have a whistling tune as well. As with other current PBS idents, there are several variations, like one with kids riding on a bicycle, one with kids making the logo appear on the computer, or one with kids building the logo with blocks. There have been several sets of these idents.
PBS Kids Sprout idents
PBS Kids SproutPBS KIDS Sprout
PBS Kids Sprout is a U.S. digital cable television channel, video-on-demand service, and website providing PBS Kids shows and original programming for preschoolers and their families...
got its first ident in 9/26/2005, which consists of a green flower with the words "PBS Kids" written on it and the word "sprout" under it in children's handwriting.
PBS Kids Preschool Block
Within the PBS Kids Preschool Block, there are many different idents after each program. They do not include the PBS Kids boy or girl as of September 1999, except for the last few seconds when Dash is shown in the PBS Kids logo. Some include still pictures of real children, but they do occasionally move a little bit. These idents usually have a general theme, such as dinosaurs, bees, a picnic, or someone taking pictures with a camera. In later seasons, they were replaced by what Dash and Dot are doing before his/her ident appears.PBS Home Video idents (1989-present)
At first, PBS distributed copies of its programs on its own, under the "PBS Video" label. There was no special ident for PBS Video. The tapes were simply copies of PBS' master tapes. Then PBS introduced its "PBS Home Video" label, going through commercial distributors: Pacific Arts (October 1, 1989–August 31, 1994), Turner Home Entertainment (September 1, 1994–August 31, 1997), Warner Home VideoWarner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
(September 1, 1997–September 1, 2004), and currently Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
(September 2, 2004-Present). PBS Home Video idents are usually modeled after past TV idents.
1989-1998
The first PBS Home VideoPBS Home Video
-Logos:Their first distinctive logo was a "Public Broadcasting Service" on the center of the screen, a sky. It was originally released in October 5, 1970...
ident was used from 10/2/1989 to 11/1/1998. The large 3-D glass profile is set on a black background, filling the screen as it did on the TV ident. Initially, a cloudy sky pattern fills the profile, which then fades to a blue stylized P against the cloudy sky background. Lines shoot into the profile's eye, and "PBS HOME VIDEO" appears below in the familiar slab serif typeface. The text is filled with a "water" pattern. The accompanying music is a classical tune, along with an announcer saying: "The following presentation is from PBS Home Video." On some tapes, a PBS television ident appears afterward. The ident would sometimes lack the announcer.