CBS Media Ventures

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum


Background

CBS Media Ventures (formerly CBS Television Distribution prior to January 11, 2021) is the syndication division of CBS Studios established on September 26, 2006 as a distribution subsidiary, after CBS Corporation merged CBS Paramount Domestic Television with King World Productions, CBS Paramount International Television (spun-off as "CBS Studios International", later "ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group", now "Paramount Global Content Distribution"), and CBS Home Entertainment. The merger wouldn't take effect on screen until September 2007, when the King World and CBS Paramount Domestic Television logos were retired in favor of this company's logo. However, Merv Griffin's Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune began using the logo in October 2007.

CBS Television Distribution

(August 20, 2007-January 11, 2021)

Videos

Logo: In a studio with blue lights all over, we see the words "CBS TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION" with "CBS" in the trademark Didot font and the Eyemark on its left side, "TELEVISION" and "DISTRIBUTION" in Helvetica next to it, and "DISTRIBUTION" below "TELEVISION", floating above a reflective ground (which ripples at the beginning, like water) in front of a wall with clouds projected on it. The camera zooms away from the logo until it's over.

Trivia: On first-run series from the company, the logo is animated at 30 fps. However, when it plasters older logos on syndicated reruns and DVDs of some older shows, it is animated at 24 fps.

Variants:

  • The longer variant shows the camera zooming away from the CBS Eyemark at the beginning, "TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION" zooms back in place, and then the camera moves away from the logo until it stops behind some black girders. As it zooms out, the "S" in "CBS" briefly shines. It was seen on the company's official website prior to the rebrand to CBS Media Ventures.
  • A black & white version is used on B&W shows.
  • 2010-: Another variant starts off with the animation from the extended version, but is in warp speed.
  • On some first-run shows such as The Insider and Entertainment Tonight, the final scene or the end credits crossfade to the logo (sometimes its longer variant).
  • On the 2013 revival of The Arsenio Hall Show, a copyright stamp for Eye Productions, Inc. appears below.
  • On a recent print of the second part of the two-part TV movie The Key to Rebecca, the logo is strangely squished.
  • On a MeTV print of a Star Trek episode, there is a 1967 copyright at the bottom. Other Star Trek variants feature a 1968 Paramount/Norway copyright or a 1978 Paramount copyright.
  • Widescreen and scope variants exist.

Technique: CGI effects, including the entire studio, the clouds and the light fog.

Music/Sounds: A beautiful 7-note string sounder, which sounds like a re-orchestration (and slight rearrangement) of the music in the CBS Paramount Network Television logo. The fourth note is accompanied by a beautiful beat, which is actually part of a timpani roll accompanying notes 1-4. This fanfare's composed by Gregory Smith. Sometimes, the last note of the end credit theme plays over the logo. The following versions are commonly used:

  • There is a short version with a faster pace.
  • Sometimes, the theme would have either 6 (minus the first note) or all 7 notes. For the full 7-note version, the first note may be cut in half (on some first-run shows) or be heard in full (often heard on syndicated prints of shows produced by CBS Productions, CBS Paramount Television, and CBS Television Studios).
  • There is a longer version of the theme where there is a gap between the last two notes. This version has a cymbal on the fourth and sixth notes; the first one plays when the timpani stops.
  • The extended version has a brief brass/synth stinger before the longer version of the theme plays.
  • On the revival of The Arsenio Hall Show, the last 3 notes are used.

Music/Sounds Variants:

  • On Jeopardy!, you can still hear part of the 1999 King World thunderclap sound effect before the theme is playing, probably due to a plaster error. This is unofficially called the "Ghost of the 1999 King World thunderclap". However, on the first few episodes under this logo, the short 1999 King World thunderclap, and the first part of the long version of the 2002 Sony Pictures Television logo music played, which continued to the short version of that said logo.
  • On MeTV's print (same as the DVD print) of the Hawaii Five-O episode "Wednesday, Ladies Free," the 1987 Paramount Television music is used. This happened again on Russian prints of various episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the "Sins of the Father" episode on The Next Level Blu-ray, as well as the Friday the 13th: The Series episode "Hate on Your Dial" on the Season 3 DVD. (as the German print) Mission: Impossible episode "The Fixer". Either occurrence is most likely due to a plastering error.
  • A "high-tone" version of the short version jingle is on Acorn Media's DVD release of the mini-series Washington: Behind Closed Doors.
  • A double high-tone (very high-pitched) and slightly faster version of the short version jingle exists on a recent print of the two-part TV movie The Key to Rebecca.
  • A silent variant exists; On season 7 of Wings on DVD, the logo is silent. It was also silent on a 2013 episode of Dr. Phil, because it followed a memorial segment for a consultant for the show, who had recently died. This also happened on the September 11th episode of the 2013 version of The Arsenio Hall Show, due to a moment of silence held for those who died 12 years ago on that day. The other logos seen before this one were in silence as well. This can also be seen on the episodes of Season 6 of Have Gun, Will Travel on DVD.
  • One episode of The Love Boat had the Worldvision "Whoosh Globe" music playing over it instead due to a plaster error.
  • A Spanish print of The Love Boat S2 episode "Love Me, Love My Dog/Poor Little Rich Girl/The Decision" has the 1988 Worldvision Enterprises theme in low-tone playing over this.
  • One episode of Gomer Pyle-USMC on MeTV and a Season 10 episode of Judge Joe Brown on The Roku Channel had the CBS Paramount Domestic Television "Wallpaper" music play over it instead due to a plaster error.
  • A Russian print of Father Dowling Mysteries S1 EP3 has the Viacom 1990 "Wigga-Wigga" theme over this, continuing from the 1986 "V of Steel"; it's presumably due to the audio track being from a different source.
  • On a French print of the TV movie Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam, the warp-speed "V of Steel" theme plays over the logo due to a plastering error.
  • On a June 3, 2010 Encore Westerns airing of one episode of Rawhide, the 1990 Viacom "Wigga-Wigga" short music is heard due to bad plastering.
  • On an H&I print of one episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the theme is low toned.
  • On a MeTV airing of an episode of Laverne and Shirley, you can faintly hear the 1975 Paramount Television "Blue Mountain" logo music in the background due to a plaster error.
  • On the format sales presentations to The Brady Bunch and Becker, a triumphant, extended version of the 1st CBS Paramount Television logo is heard. Plus, you can hear the first five notes of the CTD logo.
  • On a GetTV airing of Dan August, the CBS Television Studios/CBS Studios International logo music plays due a plastering error.
  • On a Russian airing of Early Edition, the 3rd Sony Pictures Television International music was used due to attempt to plaster the 2003 SPTI logo.

Availability: No longer current, but still ultimately common.

  • It appeared until 2021 on new episodes of Judge Judy, Dr. Phil, Entertainment Tonight, Hot Bench, The Drew Barrymore Show, and The Doctors, among other national syndicated TV shows.
  • It was also seen on ex-King World distributed shows Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, and Rachael Ray. This logo was not used this much on Inside Edition, as they usually fade to black after the host wraps up. Also don't expect this on the now concluded Oprah Winfrey Show.
  • It can also be seen on local reruns of Half & Half, One on One, and Maximum Exposure (the latter title to have followed after the Paramount Domestic Television logo of the time). This logo is also seen on Everybody Loves Raymond in local syndication, which plasters over the King World logo. However, it was preceded by the 2006 King World logo on some TV Land reruns. It was also seen on the remastered version of Star Trek: The Original Series.
  • The extended version was seen on their website (without music) and on the final two seasons of Montel.
  • This logo can also be seen with its network television counterpart's then-current "Wallpaper" logo before it on syndicated reruns of the CSI franchise.
  • The short version should be found on every remaining release of the original "Five-O," from #4 to the end, along with most DVD releases of older CBS-owned programming from late April 2008 onward. Also seen until September 2011 on syndicated reruns of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which this logo replaced the 1987 Paramount Television logo. This happened again on that said show's Next Level Blu-ray.
  • This logo can also be seen with the 1998 King World logo before it on some reruns of Early Edition on Syfy.
  • This logo can also be seen with the 2003 Paramount Network Television logo before it on syndicated reruns of the first two seasons of NUMB3RS and syndicated reruns of the first season of Everybody Hates Chris.
  • This logo also plasters over Viacom logos on Viacom-produced shows on DVD, including seasons 2-9 of Matlock, the Acorn Media DVD of the 1981 miniseries East of Eden, seasons 1-2 of Cannon, seasons 4-7 of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, seasons 1-2 of Jake & The Fatman, 4 out of 5 films on the VEI DVD release of The Diagnosis Murder Movie Collection, the made-for-TV Perry Mason movies, and the Kino Lorber DVDs of The Master among others. CBS Drama (UK) airings of Matlock also use this logo, as did a November 2017 MeTV airing (and possibly DVD and Blu-Ray releases) of Return to Mayberry. However, this follows the "V of Steel" and "Wigga-Wigga" on the Father Dowling Mysteries DVDs and Decades airings, the "Gold V of Happiness" and "Wigga-Wigga" on the Kino Lorber DVD of Really Weird Tales, and the "V of Doom" and "Wigga-Wigga" on seasons 3-5 DVDs of Cannon, and also follows the Children's Video Library logo on Hulu's print of Thanksgiving in the Land of Oz (which is the same as the DVD print).
  • This also plasters the Rysher Entertainment logo on Nash Bridges: The Fourth Season on DVD and on H&I airings.
  • This was seen on a 2019 reissue of the pilot movie of Walker, Texas Ranger on DVD.
  • The second season of Dave's World on DVD, the first and second seasons of Caroline in the City on DVD, getTV airings of The Kid Who Loved Christmas (with the 1989 Paramount Television logo before this logo), Start TV airings of the 1st 2 seasons of Early Edition, Decades airings of Matt Houston (with the 1984 Warner Bros. Television Distribution logo before or after this logo) Brooklyn Bridge (with the 1990 Paramount Television logo after this logo), MeTV airings of season 1 of Touched by an Angel and The (New) Twilight Zone, and all four seasons of Duckman on DVD, also used this logo.
  • This made an unusual (for a television logo) theatrical appearance during Fathom Events' The Twilight Zone: A 60th Anniversary Celebration, a limited theatrical screening of six Twilight Zone episodes, which took place on November 14, 2019. This was due to using regular television prints for the screening.

Legacy: Although praised for its beautiful animation, graphics, and music, its large-scale plastering earned this logo some despise.

CBS Media Ventures

(January 11, 2021-)

Videos

Logo: Same as the 2020 CBS Studios logo (itself a variation of CBS' 2020 ID), except it reads "CBS MEDIA VENTURES" instead of "CBS STUDIOS", and "MEDIA VENTURES" is in white and not in blue.

Bylines:

  • January 11, 2021-: "A VIACOMCBS COMPANY"
  • March 11, 2022-: "A PARAMOUNT COMPANY" in the Paramount Peak Sans typeface.

Variants:

  • There was an alternative version that is the same as the normal logo, but with the tagline "PRODUCTION + LICENSING + AD SALES & PARTNERSHIPS" (like CBS' "LIVE + ON DEMAND + STREAMING" tagline in the promos) appearing word-by-word in sync with the last 3 notes of the jingle, similar to CBS' 2020 ID. This is basically a reference to the company's evolution to becoming a company that licenses, produces and/or distributes first-run programs, as well as handling national barter advertising sales for third-party companies.
  • Like the CBS Television Distribution logo, some first-run shows such as Inside Edition and Entertainment Tonight have the final scene/credits crossfade to the logo.
  • A short version exists, which starts when the Eyemark zooms out.
  • This logo is normally animated at 30fps, but on Hot Bench, as well as Antfood's CBS jingle montage and case study videos on Vimeo, the logo is animated at 24 fps. The latter video only has the Eyemark sliding to the left.

Technique: 2D computer animation, like the 2020 CBS Studios logo and the 2020 CBS ID, which is done by Gretel.

Music/Sounds: A more string-based arrangement of the 2020 CBS jingle by Antfood. No camera shutter is heard. Other shows such as Hot Bench and Rachael Ray on some occasions have the end credits theme play over the logo.

Availability: Current.

  • CBS introduced the logo on the Variety website the day the rebrand was announced and began replacing the 2007 CBS Television Distribution logo on first-run programs it distributes, starting with the January 11, 2021 episodes of Inside Edition and Entertainment Tonight.
  • Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune began using the logo starting with their respective January 18, 2021 episodes.
  • Don't expect to see this logo on shows syndicated by Fox First Run and Debmar-Mercury such as Divorce Court, Family Feud, Caught in Providence, 25 Words or Less and Sherri as they handled ad sales.
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