KCTS-TV

Credits

Captures by
Doctorine Dark and TVNetwork Dude Media

Video captures courtesy of
EdotJdot, Broken Saw, Cesar Blanco, Squid Boxer, Alden's Vintage PBS Archive, The PBS-ST Archive, robatsea2009, ZMB's Worldwide Logo Archive and LogicSmash

Background

KCTS is a PBS affiliate located in Seattle, Washington. It also serves Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

1st ID (1954?-1969?, 1994)

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Visuals: A crude drawing of a school is seen, next to "KCTS" with a big "9" behind it, and "seattle" above it all. All of this is seen in a white background, possibly a sheet of cardboard.

Technique: A still drawing.

Audio: Possibly silent.

2nd ID (1976-1979)

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Visuals: Against a black background, four white number "9"s come together from each side of the screen (top, bottom, left, and right), then they zoom in towards the screen leaving a trail effect behind. Then the screen fades to "KCTS" in big bold 3D letters, with "SEATTLE" moving up towards "KCTS" and stopping once it's close enough to that text, leaving a trail effect behind.

Technique: Scanimation.

Audio: An analog synth drone, followed by a female announcer saying "A production of KCTS Seattle". Afterwards, an upward piano sweep is heard.

Availability: Seen on The Boldt Decision.

3rd ID (1978-1983)

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  Sports variant

Visuals: An updated version of the previous logo, with the same concept and similar animation/music. Against a black background, four abstract number "9"s come together with a trail effect to form a square-like shape. As they come together, a beige colored outline of the shape forms as the trails suck into the logo. The numbers separate and rotate beyond the screen as the name "KCTS" zooms in. "KCTS" stops and the text "SEATTLE" in the same font, but white and glowing, appears below.

Technique: Scanimation.

Audio: Same as the last logo, although the announcer is not as robotic. Sometimes, the announcer will say "The following is a production of KCTS Seattle." instead. Sometimes, a male announcer will also be used instead.

Availability: Can be seen on Trident: Super Sub or Dinosaur and Subversive? The Life and Times of Terry Pettus, both of which can be found on the American Archive of Public Broadcasting. The variant with the original female announcer with the alternate line/dialogue appears on Tarheels in the Northwest.

4th ID (1983-September 24, 1993)

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Visuals: Over a faded bright cerulean background, the word "Seattle", in ITC Avant Garde zooms out to the right very quickly. As it does this, "KCTS", in the same font and color, zoom out from the top to the left very slowly. When both texts meet, forming "KCTSeattle", a yellow flash occurs, and the logo seems to sparkle a bit before the screen fades out.

Variant: Among other PBS-affiliated stations at the time, KCTS used a bunch of local station IDs promoting their channel. One such ident has many clips of shows (either produced by KCTS itself and/or PBS, and other affiliates) being shown. Afterwards, the KCTSeattle logo animates normally on a black/dark sapphire gradient background, then the channel station number "9" animates itself by flying away from the screen, and places itself next to the text. Then, the text "TV Worth Watching" in a white script font writes itself under the text. Another version has the normal background without "TV Worth Watching".

Technique: 2D computer animation made at Alpha Cine.

Audio: A rapid, dramatic orchestral tune, with a solo viola.

Audio/Variant: The local station ID features a long piece of music from PBS' "TV Worth Watching" campaign. The music is an 80's synth/electric guitar theme which includes a female singer and a male singer, the former of which sings throughout most of the jingle. The jingle may also be referred to as "You'll Turn Us On and You'll Love It!", and was also used by WNED in Buffalo.

Availability: A VHS or DVD of The Miracle Planet should have this logo. Its last appearance was on To Write and Keep Kind.

5th ID (1992-September 3, 1999)

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Visuals: Against a black background, the screen zooms out from a glass circle with a spectrum shining through, and "KCTS" in copper carved into the circle. While the screen zooms out, the solid "KCTS" logo pushes into the circle, and the word "S E A T T L E", in Hattenschweiler and colored beige, and on a teal-colored dip, rotates into place. Two glass tubes draw themselves in going on both sides afterwards.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A synthesized wind sounder and a four-note synth-chime tune.

Availability: PBS airings of Bill Nye the Science Guy had this logo after the funding credits in the mid-'90s, as well as a few medical programs from KCTS at the time.

6th Logo (Bill Nye the Science Guy custom logo) (September 10, 1993-February 5, 1999)

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Visuals: Just the words "KCTS" and "SEATTLE" in Fusion after the credits. "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" may also be shown above it.

Technique: A still image.

Audio: The closing theme of the show.

Availability: Seen at the end of Bill Nye the Science Guy, which occasionally runs on MeTV. The tapes for said show are somewhat difficult to find, but it's incorporated into most elementary/middle-school curriculums.

7th ID (1999-December 2006, July 17, 2010)

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Visuals: On a white spotlight background, a black box containing a stylized drawing of an eclipse/sunburst flips into the screen very fast, along with the word "KCTS" in black and in Century Gothic. Soon after, the word "SEATTLE" flies in from the bottom-left of the screen. Sometime in the mid-2000's, a different variant was used and looked similar, but the logo just simply zooms in.

Trivia: The eclipse/sunburst box seen here is based on the logo of its then-owner Lark International, a non-profit television holding company who at the time also owned KUHT in Houston and WTVS in Detroit, both of which used the Lark logo.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: A simple jazz-pop tune combined with three piano notes and three fast bass violin notes as the words slide into place, all accompanied by a groovy drumbeat.

Availability: Can be seen on The Eyes of Nye on select PBS stations. It does not appear on VHS releases of the show.

8th ID (2006-)

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Visuals: Over a water background, there are water drops rippling and four colored circles that drop and float (in order: green, yellow, violet and orange). "KCTS9" drops down at the last circle and "SEATTLE" fades in below.

Technique: Live-action and 2D computer animation.

Audio: Water droplets.

Availability: Seen on some Rick Steves specials which Oregon Public Broadcasting didn't present, such as Dynamic Europe, European Travel Skills, and The Holy Land: Israelis and Palestinians Today.

9th ID (2015-)

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Visuals: Against a white background with flying birds, various navy blue, light blue and lime squares and triangles slide onto the screen. In the middle, a light blue rectangle with "INQUISITIVE" in white drops from the middle. Two large lime shapes appear on screen and "QUISI" becomes blue, whilst the "T" becomes green and bold. The large shape shrinks and becomes a "V", placing itself next to the "T". All the other shapes disappear and the background changes to a shot of a kid in the rain jumping in puddles. Below "INQUISITV" is small text that reads "INSPIRING A SMARTER WORLD". The "INQUISITV" text zooms out to the left and "KCTS9" appears on the right before the PBS logo zooms in between the texts.

Technique: Live-action and 2D computer animation.

Audio: A guitar tune.