PBS logos

PBS logos are station identifications used by the US Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Programs distributed to its member stations end with a television ID 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 logos used by PBS's predecessor, National Educational Television.
National Educational Television (NET) Logos
First logo (1952-1962)
The National Educational Television and Radio Center was established in November 4, 1952. Its original on-air logo was used from then to June 16, 1962. It was a two-dimensional still shot of a white map silhouette of the United States 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. However, this can be slightly seen due to low picture quality. A version with a circle reading NET and a version with a map reading National Educational Television have also existed. The other version used from January 5, 1959 to June 16, 1962 has the house with "NET" engraved in it.
Second logo (1962-1966)
The original logo for the abridged National Educational Television was first used on June 17, 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 sling pod letter "N." There are also "stars" all over the screen. The result resembles a carpet, which has led to some fans joking it was probably shot on a floor. Meanwhile, an announcer says, "This is National Educational Television." Another version said "This is NET. National Educational Television" with the logo slightly zoomed in.
Third logo (1966-1968)
A classic logo was used in October 3, 1966. First, gray dots appear and disappear rapidly. A white circle is sketched around the dots. A vertical line is sketched over the circle, but then is erased. A small fire or a jumping one 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 theme playing in the background opens with several bell sounds followed by an orchestral tune, as an announcer says "This is N-E-T, the National Educational Television network."
Last logo (1968-1970)
This was a variant of the 1962 logo made for color. First, the left section of the screen tilts with red from the bottom, the middle section fills with yellow from the top, and the pulling section fills with blue from the bottom. Then, one at a time, the sections flip back over outward to form matching pairs with the letters N, E, and T (in that order) on a black background. An announcer says, "The following program is from/this is NET, the National Educational Television network." As he does this, the words "National Educational Television" appear over each of the letters, then mutate into a roof charged to the blue T with an aerial antenna connected to it. On later variants, a different announcer says, "The following program is from/this is NET, the public television network." Once this variant was introduced the "National Educational Television" wordmarks were replaced with a blue line that slid into view, then took the roof shape.
The theme was a synthesized horn score composed by Eric Siday (1905-1976), who also composed the score for the similar-sounding Screen Gems and CBS color programming logos.
The updated opening and closing logos are included intact on the second volume of the Sesame Street: Old School DVD with the first test pilot episode.
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) IDs
First logo (1970-1971)
The first PBS logo was used from October 5, 1970 to October 3, 1971. Then, actor Macdonald Carey says, "This is PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service." This ident served the network for its first year. The picture was simply a still with the words PUBLIC, BROADCASTING, and SERVICE, set in Helvetica and displayed in red, yellow, and blue, respectively. During this ident's time, it served as a filler for the NET ident until the second PBS ident was introduced. It was actually previewed on August 30, 1970 in front of the Grateful Dead concert program Calebration, before PBS came out.
Second logo (1971-1984)
The second PBS logo was used from October 4, 1971 to September 30, 1984. 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 Enterprises.
This logo starts with a full-screen present blue "P," which zooms out to the upper-middle, taking on the shape of a face in profile (which would become the PBS P-Head) as it turns left. Soon after, an orange "B" and then a green "S" pop out, with dots popping off to form the spaces in those letters. In tandem with the letters appearing, the words "PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE" appear individually at the bottom of the screen, left-aligned, and in a sans-serif typeface.
This logo 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 logo debuted in 1984. The logo is featured on the Sesame Street: Old School and The Best of the Electric Company DVD sets.
Lubalin's human face "P", known internally at PBS as "Everyman", but more commonly known as "P-Head", became the basis for all subsequent PBS logos.
Third logo (1984-1989)
The third PBS logo was used from October 1, 1984 to October 1, 1989. The logo was principally developed by Tom Geismar of Chermayeff & Geismar.
Chermayeff & Geismar felt that the Lubalin-designed logo too much resembled the logos of the three dominant commercial networks of the time, and they sought "to develop a symbol that could stand for the more inclusive concept of 'public television'". They inverted Lubalin's "Everyman" "P" to face right instead of left, repeated the outline as a series "to suggest a multitude, a public", and renamed the icon "Everyone".
The logo starts with a blue abstract profile of the human face, facing right, set on a black background. A piece blasts to the right, and settles a short distance from the figure. The letters "PBS" appear below in a white, slab serif typeface. The accompanying theme, composed by Jonathan Elias, consists of a majestic technozen piano chord accompanied by some pizzicato tones, then a softer version of the piano chord.
This logo allegedly first appeared on the Nature episode "Krakatoa: The Day That Shook the World", which aired on September 30, 1984. This logo then replaced the Ocobter 4, 1971 logo completely on all new programming the day after.
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. This is called "Jarring" version.
Fourth logo (1989-1993)
The fourth PBS logo was used from October 2, 1989 to August 1, 1993. On a black background, a holographic side-facing transparent blue P-head switches to the right, leaving behind a trail of P-Heads. The trailing P-Heads hologram 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, keeping the text "PBS" in the same typeface as before to the bottom left. An announcer (actor Liam Neeson) says, "This is PBS." or "You're watching PBS."
Fifth logo (1992-1996)
The fifth PBS logo was used from November 22, 1992 to September 1, 1996. Designed by the New York design firm Telezign, it starts with a pink glass circle spinning while 8 faces of various people appear and disappear within it. Then it jumps 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 theme, composed by Peter Fish, is described as "a musical airport signature that employs 4 different voices like Etihad Airways (a pop singer, a blues singer, a soprano and a bass), with qualities ranging from classical to jazz". Christopher Murney says "This is PBS." or "You're watching PBS."
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. The movement of the scene was created with a motion control camera.
Sixth logo (1996-1998)
The sixth PBS logo was used from September 2, 1996 to November 1, 1998. Its composition now included of a variety of items: A telescope turns in the lower left corner; a globe of the Earth shows at upper right; while at center a framed windowpane traps in. The various objects fade away to reveal the stylized P's, which are initially yellow-green with the right section splatted blue. These colors change to blue and green, respectively, while the "PBS" text gets in below. The ending result resembles the third ident. Actress Lauren Bacall says "This is PBS", or occasionally "You're watching PBS".
Seventh logo (1998-2002)
The seventh PBS logo 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 logo.
The accompanying theme is a world/new age piece, with Lauren Bacall saying "This is PBS." Sometimes, Bacall will say "You're watching your public television station, PBS."
This logo also introduced a minor change to the PBS logo. From here on, the PBS figure logo appears in a black circle, with the "PBS" text to the right. According to Chermayeff & Geismar, the disc was disguised as a shield if it was added to keep the logo "from background interference". The logos show various people engaged in different, leisurely activities, some stargazing and others reading a scrapbook. Each ends with a voiceover saying "Be more, PBS," or occasionally, "You're watching PBS." The "Be more" slogan is displayed, with the PBS logo to the right. "PBS" in text follows which transitions to the website "pbs.org." The idents were designed by Los Angeles-based Troika Design Group.
PBS Kids logos
First logo (1993-1999)
Prior to September 10, 1993, PBS Kids television programs used the same PBS idents seen on adult-oriented programming. Starting that year, however, a new ident was commissioned specifically for children's programming that consisted of three P-heads (affectionately called "P-Pals" by the PBS staff), one of them blue, another one orange, and the last one green, complete the three-beat cycle drawn as a cartoon. (In actuality, the P-heads are in different colors that change throughout the ident and eventually stop on blue, orange, and green, respectively.) The P-heads dance, make a three-beat cycle, and sing "This is P-B-S!" over a new jack swing jingle, then freeze when a dog (also cone-shaped and as a P-head) runs by the lower portion of the screen and barks "Arf!" and later on gains the leader a balloon with E/I (Educational/Instructional) in it. At the same time, the blue P-head gives a Michael Jackson-esque ad lib and his red cap/hat hops off of his head for a moment, then goes back on his head. The "PBS" text appears in black at lower left.
This was used on programming such as Barney & Friends, Lamb Chop's Play-Along, Arthur, Adventures from the Book of Virtues, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Reading Rainbow, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Kratts' Creatures, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?, Zoom, Groundling Marsh, The Puzzle Place, Sesame Street, Teletubbies, The Magic School Bus, Noddy, Theodore Tugboat, Wimzie's House, Wishbone, Zooboomafoo, Shining Time Station and Ghostwriter.
There was also a "surprise!" variant featuring the P pals from the closing logo switching colors (no blue is used in this ident), and they all have O-shaped mouths for the entire time. There is no music, save for noisemakers and Big Bird and many other characters from PBS Kids TV shows shouting "SURPRISE!" in unison, followed by laughter and cheering. Once again, the left P pal's red hat flies off his head for a moment, then goes back on his head. This was only used spontaneously.
Second logo (1999-2013)
The second PBS Kids logo was used from September 6, 1999 to October 4, 2013. Each featured PBS Kids' boy and girl mascots, Dash and Dot who replaced the P-Pals from the previous logo. On all versions, the PBS Kids logo appears at the end on a background of some kind of a pattern. On the first logo, Dot runs up to the screen in front of the viewers and a thought mark appears with the letters "PBS" in it. The second logo is about Dash scratching his head and thinking of the idea "PBS". The third variant has Dot transitioning forms: a cat, an octopus, and lastly an astronaut. The fourth is similar to the one prior to it. It has Dash in three forms: a caveman, a scuba diver, and lastly a robot. The fifth variant has Dash ice-skating in an icy globe which is held by Dot in the Cobalt Plateaus. The sixth and final version has Dash looking in his fish bowl to find Dot as a fish, chomps himself up, and swallows himself as a fish.
Third Logo (2005)
The third PBS Kids logo was very rare, and was only used during the Big Big Friend Day special. There are three logos. One logo shows Dot and Dash playing sports. Another logo shows them unrolling wrapping paper. And the last logo involves Dot building a Sphinx sand sculpture, topping Dash's sand castle. The 1999 PBS Kids Dot logo audio was reused for these three logos.
Fourth logo (2008-2013)
The fourth PBS Kids logo is the one in use from September 1, 2008 to October 4, 2013. Themes for the logos (featuring Dash and Dot) include: telescopes, rock climbing, picnics, gardens, and magnets among many others. These logos are the first in high-definition.
Fifth logo (2013-present)
The fifth PBS Kids logo was used began on October 7, 2013 has Dot, Dee, and Del, the new mascots of PBS, replacing Dash and Dot, doing an activity before the Dash PBS Kids logo appears. By the way, Dash discontinued his run and was replaced by Del. Themes for the logos include: zipline, beehive, forest run, magnet, and moonwalk among many others. Like before, these logos are in high-definition. The only difference unlike the other 2 PBS Kids 1999 logos, it does not have Dash and the kids singing, "Da da da da doink! PBS Kids!" in time with the music.
==PBS Kids Go! logo==
A series of logos 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 the logo: a speech bubble with the block name in it. The accompanying music is a percussion-themed whistling tune, ending with kids' voices saying "Go!" As with other current PBS logos, 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 logos.
At first, the kids in the ids all wore blue shirts, but later on they wore different-colored shirts and any kind of pants. Also, the "Box City" was updated, and the kids moved on their own instead of being in stop-motion.
PBS Kids Sprout logos
PBS Kids Sprout got its first logo on September 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 accompanied by hand-drawn animation.
New logos premiered in 2009, where the "PBS Kids" trademark was removed from the flower.
PBS Kids Preschool Block
Within the PBS Kids Preschool Block, there are many different logos 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 logos 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 logo appears.
PBS Home Video logos (1989-present)
At first, PBS distributed copies of its programs on its own, under the "PBS Video" label. There was no special logo 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 (1989-1994), Turner Home Entertainment (1994-1997), Warner Home Video (1997-2004), Paramount Home Video (2004-2011) and currently PBS Distribution (2011-present).
1989-1998
The first PBS Home Video logo was used from 1989 to 1998. A large 3-D glass profile is set on a black background, filling the screen as it did on the TV logo. 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 calm piano/flute/string sounder, along with an announcer saying: "The following presentation is from PBS Home Video." On some tapes, a PBS television logo appears afterward. The ident (minus the announcer and with a different ending) would repeat itself at the end of the videotape, save for releases of Adventures from the Book of Virtues, which used either the first PBS Kids logo or the 6th PBS logo.
1998-2004
The second PBS Home Video logo was used from 1998 to 2004. Three circles (a red, a green, and a blue circle) meld together and then zoom out resulting in the P head and the words PBS DVD. For VHS releases, the text says PBS HOME VIDEO instead of DVD.
2004-2009
The third PBS Home Video logo was used from 2004 to 2009. It begins on an ethereal blue/purple/red CGI background, and then the PBS logo appears within a circle with "Be more" on the left, "PBS" to the right. Sometimes, only "PBS" appears.
2009-present
The fourth PBS Home Video logo has been used since 2009. It is based on the blue version of the generic 2009 PBS logo.

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