Broadcasters

Credits

Descriptions by
Logent

Captures by
Logent

Editions by
Pyscowicz

Video captures courtesy of
MrPhantaze, Pyscowicz, FinnTapes and Japperi

Background

Broadcasters was a Finnish production company founded in 1990 by executive producers Saku Tuominen and Juha Tynkkynen. Programs that the company produced, were usually based on foreign formats. The company produced also different programs under different divisions such as Media-Active, The End Production and Intervision, while the company had joint ownership of the last mentioned one with MTV Oy. In 2004, French media group Zodiak Television bought Broadcasters, but the brand was still used temporarily. It wasn't until 2016 when the Broadcasters brand was then completely abandoned with later television productions being proceed under a new division Banijay Finland.

1st Logo (1991-2001)

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Nicknames: "Dark Light Beams", "Cynical Female Ghost"

Logo: On a black background, we see thin, dark blue smoke rising from bottom of the screen via a film noir style, while letters turned the other way around, are seen flashing randomly on the screen. These letters are then seen flashing on right direction from left to right. Eventually, two light beams are forming a heart, while revealing "broadcasters" in an art-deco font from a black background with dim shadow of letters being visible on light beams. After this, the thin smoke vanishes, as the logo is then seen clearly on the background. The screen then fades off.

Variants:

• Sometimes, the logo is seen set closer to the screen.
• Few times in some programs, the logo may skip even the first few seconds further of letters flashing and light beams forming a heart, as we see only the logo already at its stable form.

FX/SFX: Live-action smoke, flashing letters, and light beams.

Music/Sounds: Sleazy and slow-paced jazz tune, that has a two-note ending. The cynical sounding woman's laughter can be then heard.

Music/Sounds Variants: There have been instances when the woman's laughter isn't heard at all after the jazz tune.

Music/Sounds Trivia: According to Studio55.fi article, Manne Railo composed the jazz tune and the owner of Femkanten Media company Minna von Reiche, provided her laugh at the end of the closing logo.

Availability: Rare. Seen at the end of the company's produced shows, such as talk shows like Frank Pappa Show and Hyvät, pahat ja rumat. The logo could be spotted during the early years of Uutisvuoto quiz show (based on British panel show Have I Got News for You), Maailman Ympäri geographic quiz show and Kokkisota TV cooking program. The logo variant, which doesn't feature the cynical laugh, can be spotted at the end of Mediapeli current affairs program in 1994-1997.

Legacy: Depending on how you look at it, the sleazy jazz tune and cynical woman's laughter can scare younger viewers, but the logo in general fits for its time slot, as many of Broadcasters television programs were aired during the evening time.

2nd Logo (2002-2016)

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Nicknames: "Dark Light Beams II", "Cynical Female Ghost II", "Flattened Laughing Woman"

Logo: We have the same setting compared to the 1991-2001 logo, except we skip the first six seconds of the logo and begin with the thin smoke rising from the bottom and letters flashing from left to right on the screen. Right after, two light beams form a heart and reveal "broadcasters " with slightly different font and a shadow seen on light beams behind it. The thin smoke eventually vanishes away.

Variants:

• Sometimes, light beams are much brighter than usual.
• In the mid-2000s, when some programs aired in the high definition ratio, the regular logo has its upper and lower points of the screen cut away.
• An actual variant played backward including reversed laughter, is featured exclusively in the comedy show Presidentin kanslia.
• For widescreen variant, the logo animation is being adjusted to fit on a new ratio and after the logo has been formed, the small byline "A ZODIAK BRAND" appears below it.
• Another HD variant has the different byline "A ZODIAK ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" fading in below the logo.
• In the 2010s, another high definition variant has the byline "a zodiak media company" appearing below the logo.

FX/SFX: Same as the 1st logo.

Music/Sounds: Only two-note ending of the jazz tune can be heard here, while the woman starts laughing at the same time.

Availability: Uncommon. Many Broadcasters programs including popular Finnish shows like Uutisvuoto, Maailman Ympäri, Kokkisota and Huuma during its early years feature this closing logo. Widescreen variants were used since 2005 up until the end of its run in 2016, as popular shows such as Talo Italiassa, Tanssii tähtien kanssa dance contest show (the Finnish version of the British Strictly Come Dancing) and Vain elämää featured one of three recent variants. K-70 DVD releases from 2008 feature the regular variant. The second widescreen variant can be spotted in reality-tv program Tie Roomaan: kaksi pientä elefanttia.

Legacy: Rather than create new logo animation in order to fit the new aspect ratio, widescreen variants decide to lazily squish the original logo.

Final Note: After the brand's absence in 2016, the logo is usually seen replaced with Banijay Finland.