imported>SubparMario63 Removed a prototype print logo. |
I think this is the same compositing equipment Telezign used at the time. |
||
Line 1:
{{NeedsImages}}
{{PageCredits|description=Nicholas Aczel, Kris Starring, Ryan Froula, iLogoMaster, and Pepsi9072|capture=Eric S., Mr.Logo, BenderRoblox, Nightspears, Gilblitz112, Pepsi9072, LogoGuy94 and Megadeth99|edits=gshowguy, Ryan Froula, BenderRoblox, MariluHennerArtist45, Liz Tetlow, KirbyGuy2001, Mike Bode, TheBigLogoFan, UniversalFlorida1990, gameandwatchrocks101. Unnepad, Mario9000seven and Nick Lancer}}
=== Background ===
Line 51:
| width=
|PBS (1971-1984) 20200817 032955.png|
}}
<center><youtube width=240 height=185>WtGZAoIDe84</youtube><youtube width=240 height=185>cshc9GRl64U</youtube><youtube width=240 height=185>HF0dKPxufMg</youtube><youtube width=240 height=185>8_jl8Gxh-XU</youtube><youtube width=240 height=185>HV1aAW2awZA</youtube></center>
Line 103 ⟶ 102:
'''Editor's Note:''' Many individuals who grew up during this logo's time period have strong memories of it -- whether fond or otherwise. The loud synthesizer music freaked out a few people in its day, but now this logo stands for nostalgia more than anything else.
=== 3rd Logo (September 30, 1984-September 17, 1989; May 9, 1994)===
Line 164:
'''Nicknames:''' "3D Glass", "Transparent {{Font color|blue|blue}} P-Head", "Merging Crystal P-Head", "PBS P-Head III"
▲* '''Our description:''' On a black background, a side-facing crystalline {{Font color|mediumblue|dark blue}} P-head folds to the right, leaving behind a residue trail of "P-Heads". The residue trail fades into the PBS logo from before, which settles itself in the center of the screen, occupying almost all of it. Five spectral lines wipe across the bottom of the screen, leaving the text "{{Font|Serif|'''PBS'''}}" in the same font as the previous logo to the bottom left.
'''Trivia:'''
Line 218 ⟶ 216:
'''Trivia:'''
* Contrary to its first nickname, this was a live-action logo, captured on 35mm film (though final compositing was done on
* Much like HBO and their famed "In Space" opening, this logo also had its own mini-documentary detailing the making of it. You can watch it here.
* The footage is sped up to better fill the 30i space allotted to NTSC.
Line 233 ⟶ 231:
'''Availability:''' Uncommon.
* Your best bet to find it is '90s PBS Home Video tapes, including the Turner releases of ''The Dinosaurs'' and the films of Ken Burns. This appeared at the start of most PBS Home Video releases from Turner Home Entertainment in the mid-'90s, as a secondary logo for PBS Home Video. The logo is also preserved on episodes of ''The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour'' on DVD.
* It first appeared in print in late December 1992 on an issue of ''Broadcasting Magazine'' dated January 4, 1993, and the animated version premiered in full on the January 4, 1993 edition of ''The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour''. For its first year, it was used in tandem with the previous logo, appearing on some episodes of ''Nature'' (starting in its 11th season), ''Sesame Street'' (particularly late in the 24th season and on the Spring/Summer 1993 rebroadcast of the season), and ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (mainly episodes that premiered in 1993 as well as some mid-'90s reruns of older programs) as well as all third-season episodes of ''Shining Time Station'', 1993 episodes of ''Newton's Apple'', a March 31, 1993 rebroadcast of ''Empire of the Air'', new editions of ''Washington Week'' beginning on January 8, 1993, and the earliest nationally-broadcast episodes of ''Charlie Rose'', among others. It also appeared on the first run of the second season of ''Barney and Friends'', as well as early broadcasts of the second print run of the first season thereof (identifiable by use of the second season's funding credits), before being plastered by the 1993 PBS Kids logo on subsequent reruns, and is believed to have appeared on ''A Magic School Bus Halloween'' (though the only full copy known to be circulating is cut off during the end credits, making it impossible to verify as of writing). The 1995 ''Shining Time Station'' prime time specials also used this logo.
* In the mid-'90s, this logo became the chief means of logo plastering for PBS, appearing on newer prints of ''Castle'' (1994 rebroadcast), ''Cathedral'' (1994 rebroadcast), ''Eyes on the Prize'', ''The Civil War'' (1994 rebroadcast), ''The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God'', ''The Statue of Liberty'' (1994 rebroadcast), ''Huey Long'', ''The Congress'', ''Empire of the Air'', ''How Difficult Can This Be?'', ''Frontline'', and ''Nature'', among other programs.
* This logo can be seen on various episodes of ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' from 1974-1980 on Twitch.tv, its first appearance being on Episode #1362. It can also be viewed at the end of many episodes of ''The MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour'' from the era, available for viewing on the American Archive of Public Broadcasting website.
Line 272 ⟶ 270:
'''Logo:''' One of seven genre-based logos, which would form the basis for the 1996 PBS logo:
* Arts and Entertainment: On a black screen, half of a {{Font color|blue|blue}} vase painting obscures the left half, while a metronome ticks in the right half. As the metronome exits stage right, a modern dancer appears performing from behind the painting, and then a framed
* Nature: A water drop hits a body of water, then a frame showing the same animation and more flips forward against a white background as a white feather floats down, a wooden rectangle appears from the left to settle in left-center, and a video of dolphins is shown before fading to {{Font color|blue|blue}}. The scene cuts to a nest being lifted, which then appears in a frame against a black background with the same wooden rectangle in the center and footage of wildlife playing on either side.
* Explore: At the top of the screen is a video of an approaching train, with a wooden frame and a wooden globe in the upper-left-hand corner. At the bottom is a variety of {{Font color|blue|bluish}} and {{Font color|green|greenish}} rectangles in which the word "explore" appears. Between these two portions of the screen is a canoe. The next screen to be shown includes a teal rectangle with black slowly creeping into it, with video of a hot air balloon to the left and a cartography drawing, in {{Font color|teal|teal}} on white, to the right. A framed picture of sun rays moves downward, and a framed video of a book's pages being turned moves towards the right, as a flashlight appears briefly before flashing out. Then, a black rectangle appears to the left, with footage of kayakers going along a river to the right. Finally, the footage is put inside a rectangle in the center going up to a framed {{Font color|teal|teal}} picture. To the right is an empty kayak. A spinning globe goes upwards to the right.
* Science: An x-rayed hand in {{Font color|blue|blue}} appears to the left and moves to a frame in the lower-right-hand corner of a screen with a multi-colored but predominantly white background. The word "SCIENCE" appears above that frame as another frame, with a see-through video, moves downward. In the lower-left-hand corner of the screen, a ruler spins on a {{Font color|red|red}} background as the Moon fades in above. Next, on a {{Font color|green|green}} and {{Font color|#FFD900|yellow}} screen, a black machine moves towards the camera. Finally, a framed video of an astronaut zooms out to the upper-left-hand corner of the same background as the earlier screen, with a black stripe in the lower-left-hand corner and footage of Albert Einstein to the right.
* Depth, Dialogue, Discussion: Against a white background, a {{Font color|red|red}} frame, a framed teleprompter
* Do-It-Yourself: Against a {{Font color|yellow|light yellow}} background with footage from ''The French Chef'' playing behind, a brush leaves a {{Font color|#FFD900|yellow}} paint streak on the left, while the upper-right-hand corner shows a framed animation of a carrot being prepared, and the lower-right-hand corner shows some clay being molded into a pot. Next, a framed animation of scissors snipping appears, with a fork and spoon to the right and some silver circular parts to the left. The same silver circular parts, enlarged, appear along a {{Font color|gold|darker yellow}} rectangle to the left along with two squares, one resembling marble and the other resembling a shadow with "do it yourself" along the top edge, in the center and a framed wrench animation in the right. The marble square opens to reveal footage of someone drilling into wood. Finally, seven frames appear on the screen, showing the wrench, a hammer, string, a thimble, and footage of someone working with a plant, and sometimes nothing but solid color.
* History: Against a {{Font color|maroon|mahogany}} background with black markings, a framed front page of the New York Times depicting the lunar landing swings in from the left and is then shown from a distance, with an animated baseball and American flag in the foreground. Next, we pan across a picture of Union soldiers, with a framed {{Font color|red|red}} picture and an animated cannon in the lower-left-hand corner and a picture of Abraham Lincoln to the right. A red stripe appears in the center, with the initial animation framed, but this time with a glove catching the baseball. Black and white newsreel footage appears to the left. Finally, video footage showing a wheel appears to the left, with a Dorothea Lange photograph to the right as framed footage of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech moves towards the right.
Line 296 ⟶ 294:
'''Editor's Note:''' This logo has quite a creative concept.
=== 8th Logo (June 17, 1996-December 5, 1999)===
Line 347 ⟶ 346:
|PBS Widescreen ident.png|
}}
<center><youtube width=240 height=185>
'''Nicknames:''' "Acrobats", "Circle P-Heads", "PBS P-Head VII", "Circle PBS P-Head", "This Is Who We Are"
Line 381 ⟶ 380:
'''Editor's Note:''' The many variations of this logo marked the beginning of a trend for PBS idents that continues to this very day. Like the last logo, this one also features very nice effects as well as a great musical theme.
=== 10th Logo (1998-2000) ===
Line 557:
* Opening Variant: Just a short string of rising piano notes.
'''Availability:'''
* Art Interacts: Seen at the end of ''American Masters'', some ''Secrets of Britain'' specials, some first-season episodes of ''A Chef's Life'', and recent rebroadcasts of ''A Program About Unusual Buildings and Other Roadside Stuff'', and in rotation on ''Vicious''. Some broadcasts of ''Masterpiece'' during pledge drive season will end with this instead of the custom variant created for the series, as seen during a nationally-broadcast series six marathon for ''Downton Abbey'', and it also appears in place of said custom variant on the ''Downton Abbey'' series finale.
* Big Dreams: Seen at the end of ''Charlie Rose: The Week'', ''The Brain with David Eagleman'', and ''Jackie Robinson''.
Line 571:
* Don't expect to see this on rebroadcasts of ''An Ice Cream Show'', which use either the previous logo or (since 2018) the 5th logo.
* The opening variant was only seen on ''Retro Report'' on PBS.
* Even after the next logo was introduced, this remained on ''PBS NewsHour'' until November 13, 2019, ''Martha Stewart's Cooking School'' until November 17, 2019, ''Washington Week'' until December 27, 2019, ''BBC World News'' until February 28, 2020, and ''Amanpour and Company'' until April 17, 2020, and still appears on new episodes of ''Firing Line'', ''Motorweek'', and ''To the Contrary'' as of
'''Editor's Note:''' While this logo is almost a decade old, its many variants over the years have kept it fresh.
|
This article is missing images. If you have an image of any logo described here, please upload it and add it to the page in the appropriate place. (More information) |
This page describes regular PBS idents. For special (non-regular) idents, click here
The Public Broadcasting Service, known on air as PBS, is a publicly funded non-profit distribution service (founded on November 3, 1969) that serves a variety of television stations in the United States, as well as some areas of Mexico and Canada. PBS replaced its predecessor NET in October 5, 1970 with some of their original affiliates being KPBS in San Diego, WNET in New York, WGBH in Boston, and KCET in Los Angeles. PBS has over 350 affiliates today, mostly owned by educational institutions.
Nicknames: "The Text", "The Text of Boredom", "Multi-Colored/Tri-Colored Text", "Public Boredom Service"
Logo: Just a black background with the words:
stacked on top of each other in red, yellow, and blue.
Variant: On Firing Line, the logo cuts in from the CPB logo.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over: An announcer, MacDonald Carey, says "This is PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service." Later programs used a different announcer.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variant: On Calebration, the opening theme plays over this logo, and there is no announcer.
Availability: Extinct.
Editor's Note: This logo is rather infamous as it is the hardest PBS logo to find because of its incredibly short lifespan. In all likelihood, this was developed as a placeholder logo during the NET to PBS transition, hence why the color scheme is the same as the 12th NET logo. For many years, the only circulating copy was one of very poor quality, and it had barely any information regarding its source. What was known is that it came from "Go Ride the Music", and even then many casual observers failed to connect it with Fanfare for years. However, by the late 2010s, the additional copies mentioned above have come to light, giving the community a few additional captures of this very elusive ID. It has also been found that the original poor quality source comes from a TVARK recording.
Nicknames: "P-Head and Friends", "PBS P-Head", "The Tri-Colored Everyman P-Heads", "The Tri-Colored PBS Logo", "The Tri-Heads from/of Hell/Doom"
Logo: On a black background, an abstract blue "P" zooms out to the top portion of the screen. The "P" turns into a P-shaped head facing left with the text "PUBLIC" appearing underneath (this set and the later lines of text underneath being set in ITC Avant Garde); both move to the left side of the screen. An abstract orange "B" pops in to the right of the P-Head and two black dots form the holes within the "B" (the latter dot coinciding with the text "BROADCASTING" appearing below "PUBLIC"). An abstract green "S" appears to the right of the "B"; two black dots cut the inner curves of the "S" as the text "SERVICE" appears below "BROADCASTING" (coinciding with the second dot). The final text stack reads:
PBS
PUBLIC
BROADCASTING
SERVICE
Trivia:
Variants:
FX/SFX: Cel animation.
Music/Sounds:: A telephone-like synthesizer scale descending rapidly, followed by 5 synthesizer tones as the black dots appear; there is an echo in the final note. Composed by Paul Alan Levi, using a EMS VCS3 Putney synthesizer.
Music/Sounds Variants:
Availability: Uncommon. Due to replacement with newer logos and newer shows, it was extremely rare in recent years. However, DVD releases and streaming have made it easier to find.
Editor's Note: Many individuals who grew up during this logo's time period have strong memories of it -- whether fond or otherwise. The loud synthesizer music freaked out a few people in its day, but now this logo stands for nostalgia more than anything else.
Nicknames: "Split Profile", "The Everyman/Everyperson P", "PBS P-Head II", "The Split"
Logo: On a black background, a blue P-head appears on the upper-mid screen, facing backwards. A piece, unofficially called "The Split", comes out to the right and settles itself about half an inch away. The text "PBS" appears below in a slab serif font, which was designed specifically for PBS (called "ITC Lubalin Graph Bold").
Trivia:
Variants:
FX/SFX: The P-head "splitting" as a fragment of the logo stretches away.
Music/Sounds:: A majestic piano chord, followed by six string pizzicato tones, and then a softer version of the piano chord. Composed by Jonathan Elias.
Music/Sounds Variant:
Availability: Common. It appeared on old prints of PBS shows produced from 1984-89. Can also be found on early PBS Home Video releases from the '80s; just look for a banner with the P-Head on the left and "PBS VIDEO" filling the entire rest of the banner.
Editor's Note: While this logo has not been seen on television for many years, it is still very highly regarded and is a favorite of many.
Nicknames: "3D Glass", "Transparent blue P-Head", "Merging Crystal P-Head", "PBS P-Head III"
Logo: On a black background, a side-facing crystalline dark blue P-head folds to the right, leaving behind a residue trail of "P-Heads". The residue trail fades into the PBS logo from before, which settles itself in the center of the screen, occupying almost all of it. Five spectral lines wipe across the bottom of the screen, leaving the text "PBS" in the same font as the previous logo to the bottom left.
Trivia:
Variants:
FX/SFX: The P-head folds, leaving behind a trail as it settles in the center of the screen. Multicolor lines wipe in to form the PBS logotype.
Music/Sounds: A long held-out string note combined with synth bells (played on a Roland D-50 using the Fantasia preset) and chimes, followed by an announcer (Paul Anthony, who is also the longtime announcer for Washington Week) saying "This is PBS".
Music/Sounds Variants:
Availability: Rare. As with other vintage PBS logos, the chance of showing up on TV now is almost nothing, but some PBS Home Video releases from the era may have it. Just look for a square in the top-left corner of the front of the box with "PBS VIDEO" below a P-head.
Editor's Note: The logo is well-liked for its nice animation and soft music.
Nicknames: "Orange CGI P-Head", "Glass P-Head", "Pink P-Heads", "PBS P-Head IV", "Pink PBS Logo"
Logo: On a pink/orange lighted background, several transparent ellipses revealing people's faces appear and disappear one at a time. Then we zoom out through a circle, which turns out to be the eye in the PBS P-Head standing on a floor, made from glass. To the left of the P-Head, the text "PBS" rotates to face the screen.
Trivia:
Variant: There is a completely still variant with a male or female announcer saying, "This is PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service." This was used for program breaks. The same still variant, without the announcer, would be substituted in place of the "Viewers Like You" credit on Ken Burns' The West.
FX/SFX: Several ellipses appear before the camera zooms out to reveal the P-Head. The PBS logotype flips in.
Music/Sounds: A funky piano and choir boogie tune, followed by an announcer (Chris Murney, the voice of Elisha Hunt Rhodes in Ken Burns' The Civil War) who says "This is PBS." The music was composed by Peter Fish, who has also done music for CBS News.
Music/Sounds Variant: There is a rare variant that exists without the voice-over. This was seen on the aforementioned mini-documentary Making the PBS Logo, which was used as a filler program for when there was time left at the end of any program.
Availability: Uncommon.
Editor's Note: This logo is highly regarded by the community due in part to its production process, done without resorting to primarily using computer animation.
Nicknames: "Auroras", "Metallic Blue", "The blue Aurora P-Head", "Metallic P-Head", "PBS P-Head V"
Logo: Dark blue lights can be seen swirling and moving around over a blue aurora background. The PBS logo, seen in a similar fashion to the 3rd logo, sits over the lights. The logo is colored light blue with a slight tint of teal, it and the text are metallic and the logo reflects the aurora and the lights moving around.
FX/SFX: Just the aurora and lights moving around, nothing else.
Music/Sounds:
Availability: Extinct. This was used between programs on PBS's satellite feed.
Editor's Note: This logo was a surprise discovery, largely because home recordings from the PBS satellite feed are very rare. A more recent discovery is that everything was done with dissolves in the early years of PBS Express on Schedule X.
Nickname: "If PBS Doesn't Do It, Who Will?"
Logo: One of seven genre-based logos, which would form the basis for the 1996 PBS logo:
Trivia: Stations known to have used this branding on their IDs and/or promo tags include Kentucky Educational Television, KERA, Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Public TV for East Tennessee, Vermont ETV, WITF, WNET, WQED, and WVIZ.
FX/SFX: Depends on the animations.
Music/Sounds: Differs based on the ID.
Availability: Extinct. Can be seen on Vimeo, oddly enough under the name "PBS 2000". Known to have appeared before programs on WSJK/WKOP and the Schedule X satellite feed, and after programs on WNET.
Editor's Note: This logo has quite a creative concept.
Nicknames: "Windows", "The PBS Windows III", "CGI Window", "PBS P-Head VI", "PBS Express"
Logo: On a black background, a CGI window appears with a bird's-eye view of the Earth, a plastic globe spinning on the top right, and a telescope rotating on the bottom left. A pear-colored PBS P-Head (with the split colored light blue) appears in front of the window and grows smaller as the window grows bigger. As the two meet each other, the window disappears. Inside the P-Head are transparent images of two globes, a feather and a telescope. The P-Head takes its place in the top center of the screen and turns to light blue and aquamarine as the text "PBS" fades in below them.
Variant: Early editions of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer that featured this logo had this fading in and out.
Trivia:
FX/SFX: Neat CGI effects.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over: A new age tune with guitars and flutes, composed by Elias Associates, followed by a female announcer (the late Lauren Bacall) who says "This is PBS."
Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variants:
Availability: Uncommon. It appears on TV sometimes, but PBS Home Video tapes are an easier way to find it.
Editor's Note: This logo has some very neat effects for the time as well as a calming theme.
Nicknames: "Acrobats", "Circle P-Heads", "PBS P-Head VII", "Circle PBS P-Head", "This Is Who We Are"
Logo: On a computer-generated green sky background, a person standing to the left covers his or her head with a black circle with the PBS P-Head on it in white. Acrobats jump from all directions off the circle. The text "PBS" appears to the right, with the URL "www.pbs.org" appearing below it. This is the last logo that used the words "This Is PBS". Also, throughout the ident, different things happen in the background: On all ten variants, there are tiny superimposed silhouettes of people flying in a circle behind the acrobats. On three out of ten of the variants, there are silhouettes of big wands briefly flying down behind the PBS text. And on the rest, there are silhouettes of people tip-toeing in an oval (a circle on the widescreen version) around the person.
Trivia:
Variants: Each time you see this logo, different people are holding the circle with the P-head on it, and the acrobats doing different kinds of tricks around the P-head circle. Here's a list of the men and women you see (also including the tricks the acrobats do):
FX/SFX: The computer effects used to shrink the acrobats and superimpose them around the circle.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over: A brief synth swell and a 3-note flute fanfare, then a new age percussion/choir tune, followed by the female announcer from the previous logo (Lauren Bacall) who says "This is PBS." If you listen carefully, you can also hear a trombone and strings in the background as well. There is also a variant that exists with Lauren Bacall saying, "You are watching PBS." This was used for program breaks.
Availability: Rare.
Editor's Note: The many variations of this logo marked the beginning of a trend for PBS idents that continues to this very day. Like the last logo, this one also features very nice effects as well as a great musical theme.
Nickname: "If PBS Doesn't Do It, Who Will?"
Logo: Against a computer-generated sky background, a kaleidoscope consisting of several humans holding placards is zoomed in on, with the PBS circle in the center. The circle briefly fades out before fading back in, and the placards alternate between a random program's title card and a still from the same program throughout.
FX/SFX: TBA.
Music/Sounds: A rearrangement of the 1998 PBS logo's theme.
Availability: Extinct. Was seen on a WXEL recording from June 1999.
Editor's Note: None.
Nickname: "Stay Curious"
Logo: On a light blue background, the PBS circle slowly eases back and fades out as four lighter blue circles appear and spread across the screen, revealing smaller, even lighter blue circles inside. The PBS circle, now in black and white, reappears in the center of the screen. "Stay curious. PBS" appears below.
FX/SFX: The "P" Circle easing back and vanishing. The circles forming, spreading, merging, and spreading again. The blurring in of the PBS logo. The text appearing. Typical early 2000's animation.
Music/Sounds: Either a three-note ascending tune (G, A, D) played on a celesta followed by a new age celesta/acoustic guitar rhythmic tune, or the tail end of the 2001 CPB logo's music.
Availability: Extinct. Can be seen on the Internet Archive's 9/11 archive between PBS programs.
Editor's Note: None.
Nicknames: "Stay Curious", "PBS P-Head VIII", "Circle PBS P-Head II"
Logo: Against an orange background, we see the PBS circle in a light yellow color with the P-head being the same orange color as the background. The "P" Circle slowly eases back and fades out as four green circles appear and spread around the screen revealing smaller light yellow circles inside. Four more circles appear and the outer circles merge with the other circles before they begin spreading out. The PBS "P" Circle, now in the standard black and white colors, appears with a blur effect. Small circles form "pbs.org" below in a white calibri font.
Variants:
FX/SFX: The "P" Circle easing back and vanishing. The circles forming, spreading, merging, and spreading again. The blurring in of the PBS logo. The circles forming the pbs.org name. Typical early 2000's animation.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over: A three-note ascending tune (D, E, A); most likely played on sitar, Gibson Les Paul or a Rickenbacker 325 (put through a wah-wah pedal) and a voiceover saying "This is PBS."
Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variants: On the blue variant, one of two tunes was used:
Availability: Extinct.
Editor's Note: Very simple compared to the rest of the logos on here, but some may like its vaguely '60s-ish vibe.
Nicknames: “Be More”, “We Are PBS”, “I Am PBS”, "I'm PBS", "The Sienna Curtains", "PBS P-Head IX", "Circle PBS P-Head III", "Launch and Megatron Announce PBS"
Logo: We see a letterboxed clip show of live-action footage, filmed on a large set with hardwood floor and a background of shaggy raw sienna-colored curtains. Culturally and generationally diverse people are employed in the variants, each giving different performances on-camera. As the last clip plays, we see the “Circle P-Head” logo animating with the word "PBS" in PMN Caecilia on the right and the slogan “Be more” on the left. The text has been modified a bit after the past 18 years. Throughout the bumper, a bug for the URL "pbs.org" is seen in the lower left corner.
Variants: Here are some of the variations that have been seen of late, with a list of the clips in each variant in chronological order:
FX/SFX: Mostly live action, except for the logo animating at the end. This logo was done by PMcD Design.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over: A majestic orchestral tune. Composed by Tonal Sound and Elias Associates. The same tune is always used, but is rearranged for some variants and has a different voice-over (see above for examples).
Availability: Common, still preserved on reruns of older PBS programming, including the specials Lawrence Welk: Milestones and Memories, where it plasters the previous logo; Lawrence Welk: God Bless America, and Welk Stars Through the Years (the former two use the "Flowers" variant, while the latter uses the "Performers" variant). This wasn't used much for plastering, unlike previous logos, though it did appear on rebroadcasts of An Ice Cream Show from 2002 to 2018, when the original logo was surprisingly restored. Though the logo officially ended on September 27, 2009, the transition to the next logo would be staggered among programs, with programs such as Washington Week and Bill Moyers Journal among the earlier programs to make the transition. The satellite ID variant can still be seen on certain programs to this day, though usually promos and interstitials selected by the local PBS station are used instead (you might catch this if your station, by some random chance, e.g. during a transition to or from Daylight Savings Time, or late at night on KET2, or while technical difficulties are sorted out by the local station, broadcasts promos and interstitials from the standard PBS feed at any time for whatever reason).
Editor's Note: None.
Nicknames: "Be More II", "Be More, PBS", "PBS P-Head X", "Circle PBS P-Head IV"
Logo: We see a video of a person or people having activities. Suddenly, the PBS logo appears with "Be More" on the left and "PBS" on the right. The word "PBS" then changes to the URL "pbs.org". A voice-over says "Be More, PBS." as the logo animates.
Variants:
Trivia: Perhaps due to its appeal to a variety of audiences for the network, this is PBS's second longest-lasting ID, after their Everymen logo.
FX/SFX: Same as the 10th logo.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over: A 5-note tune, created by music company Expansion Team. Like the eighth logo, the same tune is always used, but is rearranged for some variants and has a different voice-over.
Availability: No longer current, but still used on reruns of most PBS first-run shows. The variants are used randomly, as with the previous logos, on many programs, including Nova, This Old House, Motorweek, and The Woodwright's Shop; however, on certain programs you can always expect to see the following variants:
Editor's Note: While this logo is almost a decade old, its many variants over the years have kept it fresh.
Nicknames: "21st Century PBS", "50 Years of PBS"
Logo:
Variants:
Trivia: This logo incorporates elements of the 1971, 1992, 2002, and 2009 logos, with emphasis on blues, live-action variants, and a quick zoom-out through the eye of the P-head.
FX/SFX: TBA
Music/Sounds/Voice-over:
Availability: Brand new. Formally announced on November 4, 2019, it debuted later that night on Antiques Roadshow's Extraordinary Finds and is expected to replace the 2009 PBS logo over the coming years. The opening variant debuted on Independent Lens, and the intermission variant debuted between the This Old House episode "Westerly: The Doors" and the Ask This Old House episode "Switch, Affordable Geothermal" as part of the November 14, 2019 edition of The This Old House Hour. Don't expect this on the 2020 rebroadcast of The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, as it uses the previous logo, though the extended bumpers appear among the post-episode content. It also plasters the previous logo on the final PBS broadcast of the final two episodes of Downton Abbey.
Editor's Note: A new modernization of the PBS logo for the digital age, and the first since the 1971 logo to not use serifs in its identity. However, the corporate brand unification the company has been pushing with this logo and the design itself seems to be garnering less favorable (initial) reactions compared to previous logos. Time will only tell if the community will warm up to this logo. Nevertheless, its variant set, including and excluding special IDs, appears to be the most robust ever offered by the network thus far.