Captures by Eric S., V of Doom, Shadeed A. Kelly and TheEriccorpinc
Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly, V of Doom, Michael Bass and mr3urious
Video captures courtesy of phasicblu, VintageTelevision, MachineryNoise and weatherguru76
Background
On March 1, 1976, Avco sold their broadcasting division to media company Multimedia, Inc., who renamed it to "Multimedia Entertainment" (initially as "Multimedia Program Productions, Inc."). From 1976-1984, the TV shows would use in-credit text to Multimedia Entertainment. Multimedia, Inc. was sold to Gannett in 1995, who then sold Multimedia Entertainment a year later to Universal Pictures. Multimedia Entertainment was folded into Universal Television Enterprises (now "NBCUniversal Syndication Studios") in 1997.
Visuals: On a purple background, a soft orange spot is seen in the middle, and a salmon black-outlined emblem consisting of many triangular wedges that make up a circle, with the letter "m" in the center of the formation, is over it. The words "A MULTIMEDIA PROGRAM PRODUCTION PRESENTATION", also in a salmon font with a black outline, are under the logo.
Technique: Simple analog computer effects.
Audio: None.
Availability: This was seen on Melinda's Blind and possibly other syndicated programs under the Young People's Specials banner.
2nd Logo (September 21, 1981-1994)
Visuals: On a blue background, the same emblem as the previous logo, but in silver and with the text "MULTIMEDIA Entertainment" instead of the letter "m", zooms out to the right center of the screen. The aforementioned "m" replaces the company name, then about a dozen copies of "MULTIMEDIA" emerge from the top and bottom beside the logo to make one whole version of the name. Then, the words "A Division Of" and "INC." appear above and below the company name to state "A Division Of MULTIMEDIA INC.".
Variants:
A still version exists of the first half of the logo.
There is a variant where the logo has a black background and the company name doesn't appear within the logo as it zooms out. This was also seen at the end of news broadcasts on Multimedia-owned WLWT5 (Cincinnati, OH) during the late 1980s.
Sometimes, a copyright stamp faded-in below the logo.
A short version exists that starts with the dozen copies of "MULTIMEDIA" emerging.
A variant used from 1981 to late 1983 has "Distributed by MULTIMEDIA Program Productions" inside the circle, with "Distributed By" in light blue and "Multimedia Program Productions" appearing stacked. The animation plays out normally in this variant. A "Produced By" version of the same variant also exists.
On the talk show Rush Limbaugh, a special variant exists where a superimposed picture of a man with a sombrero hat, wearing a striped shirt appears above the copyright year. The text "Multimedia Entertainment" changes to "And Tacos For All.". It then changes back to "Multimedia Entertainment" before fading to black.
In 1994, this was changed to a CGI model of a cow facing the right.
Technique: Analog computer animation.
Audio: A synthesized humming noise, accompanied by a pin drop-like synth sound when the text "Multimedia Entertainment" transforms into the lowercase letter "m", followed by a five-note synth tune, culminating in another pin drop-like sound when the logo is finished.
Audio Variants:
Some episodes of Donahue have an announcer saying "The preceding program was pre-recorded". Only the humming sound is heard here with a different pin drop sound.
Sometimes, this logo is silent or the closing theme plays over it.
On A&E's Mysteries of the Bible, it has a five-note acoustic guitar tune, then a five-note orchestra fanfare.
On the talk show Rush Limbaugh, after its logo music finishes, different music is played when the copyright stamp fades-in.
On 1994 episodes of Rush Limbaugh, the cow variant features said cattle mooing.
Availability:
This can be spotted on pre-late 1994 episodes of Sally Jesse Raphael, Jerry Springer and Donahue on Nosey TV, and season 2 episodes of The $100,000 Pyramid with John Davidson.
The still version appears on early prints of Stubby Pringle's Christmas.
This was also seen on season 1 VHS releases of Mysteries of the Bible from A&E Home Video.
3rd Logo (1994-May 1997)
Visuals: Against a dark blue background with slight ripples in it, an expanding ripple is seen at an angle. As it expands out into a lens-like shape, the emblem from the previous two logos falls onto the ripple, causing a large ripple to streak out, and then flies out to the top center of a navy blue background. The text "MULTIMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT" flies in, with "MULTIMEDIA" coming in from the right and "ENTERTAINMENT" coming in from the left, and the letters rotate as they slide in. "A Division of Multimedia, Inc." appears below when two streaks pass by each other at the bottom. All the objects seem to have a "blurring" effect as they move.
Variants:
There is also a shorter version of this logo, which starts with the M logo being already formed and zooming out.
A variant has the logo hang around for a few seconds longer before fading out.
There was a variant used in an August 1994 corporate presentation for WLWT, the NBC affiliate in Cincinnati, Ohio, where talk show host Jerry Springer was a reporter from the early 1980s until 1993, when Springer's talk show moved to its second home at the NBC Tower in Chicago, Illinois. It's like the standard Multimedia logo of the time, but it has the word "BROADCASTING" in place of "ENTERTAINMENT".
Rarely, the byline will be deleted from the logo, causing the streaks to just disappear.
Technique: CGI.
Audio: Same as the last logo, but a bit softer in volume. The "BROADCASTING" variant uses a generic closing theme of the show.
Availability:
On television, it was last seen on Crook and Chase episodes from that era, when they were seen on My Family TV (now The Family Channel - no relation to the network now known as Freeform).
It might be seen on episodes of Donahue, Sally Jessy Raphael, Rush Limbaugh, and Jerry Springer from the era.
On some later prints, this logo was replaced with the bylineless 1990 Universal Pictures logo.
Episodes of Jerry Springer and Sally Jessy Raphael which feature this logo may be viewed on nosey.com, however two Springer episodes had this logo plastered by either the long 1997 Universal Television Enterprises logo or the 2004 NBC Universal Television Distribution logo.
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