NTV/Television Ident

Background

NTV (Cyrillic: НТВ) is a television channel from Russia launched in 1993. Owned by Media Most at first, it was forcibly taken over by Gazprom Media in 2001, resulting in part of the team breaking away, and became the pro-Kremlin TV channel.

Idents

1st ID (October 10, 1993)

Nicknames: "The Green Globe", "NTV and Green Ball I", "The Appearance of the NTV"

ID: On the black background with three fireworks bursts, "НТВ" in the serif font with "Т" on the near-top, tilted upwards to the 90 degrees, with "ПРЕМЬЕРА КАНАЛА!" in the handwritten font with the color cycling above the "T", moves from the bottom to the center and faces the viewer while the globe with only green landmasses zooms in between the letters "Н" and В" and "ПРЕМЬЕРА КАНАЛА!" fades out, forming the corporate logo.

FX/SFX: A mix of CGI and 2D animations.

Music/Sounds: The patriotic fanfare.

Availability: Extinct. Was only seen while the channel began broadcasting for the first time.

"Presents" Logos

1st Logo (1994-1995)

Nicknames: "NTV Sketch", "NTV and Green Ball II"

Logo: On a white background, a white line comes out from the bottom and starts drawing part of the outline from the "НТВ" logo from before, while the green ball drops down into the bottom of the T. The outline then zooms in and spins, and when it slows down, it turns into a rolling filmstrip which shows the HTB logo in each of the frames. The logo gets faster again on spinning as it turns into the finished white NTV logo when the background wipes to black. After the logo places, "представляет" appears letter-by-letter near the top of the text, and the "T" of the logo gets white. The NTV and Russian text fade out, leaving the green ball.

FX/SFX: A neat combination of 2D and 3D effects.

Music/Sounds: A powerful fanfare with electronic drums, with ascending bells when the "представляет" appears.

Availability: Probably extinct on Russian TV. Was used on early NTV original productions.

2nd Logo (1994-1997)

Nicknames: "Winter NTV", "Christmas NTV"

Logo: TBA

FX/SFX: TBA

Music/Sounds: TBA

Availability: TBA

3rd Logo (1995-1997)

Nicknames: "NTV in the Night Sky", "NTV and Green Ball III"

Logo: We see a city at night. We zoom into the night sky and find the emerging blue NTV logo with the green ball, which is now done is a more modern style. The logo later turns white as the background fades into a white/black gradient, and moves down. "теле" moves in near the top and black lines wipe in below it, placing behind the logo. Meanwhile, a black box grows in behind the "теле", another Russian word appears below it, and the yellow "представляет" also appears, but below. Both of these words make their appearance letter-by-letter.

FX/SFX: The logo emerging from the city video, and everything else.

Music/Sounds: Piano city music that engulfs into a nice horn-xylophone music.

Availability: Probably extinct on national TV.

4th Logo (1997-1999, 2001)

Nicknames: "Growing NTV", "Dramatic NTV", "NTV and Green Ball IV"

Logo: On a black background the green ball of the logo appears. The letters then also appear. The logo, without a lot of animation (it is represented by fades), grows into the screen for two times."представляет" flips in below.

FX/SFX: Simple animation.

Music/Sounds: A very random orchestral theme.

Availability: Same as the previous logo. Check some Russian VHS recorded tapes for it.

5th Logo (1997-2001)

Nickname: "Stand-Alone NTV Ball", "The Green Ball Logo"

Logo: A green flash occurs and a green ball appears, which zooms out on a green fog background. A black line appears at the center and the "Телекомпания НТВ представляет" flashes in on it.

FX/SFX: The flashes, the ball zooming out.

Music/Sounds: A choir with a zapping sound and a swoosh.

Availability: Extinct. Was used for some special programs and used in tandem with the previous and next logos.

6th Logo (1998-2001)

Nicknames: "News NTV"

Logo: A light-sky blue news background with deep blue circle lines zooming out from the NTV logo, which is spinning. Meanwhile, "Present" in Russia is scrolling from left to right while "Television NTV" in the same language is scrolling in the opposing directions.

FX/SFX: The logo spinning in the digital background, the actions of the text.

Music/Sounds: Part of the news theme.

Availability: Extinct.

7th Logo (2001-2007)

Nicknames: "Digital NTV", "NTV and Green Ball V"

Logo: A blue background is shown, on which white waves are passing (the word “телекомпания” is written at the bottom in Russell Square font). Then, three squares with the image of this wave are shown on a black background for exactly 1 second in the center of the screen, after which the NTV logo appears on a blue background not far from the waves from a beam of light, with the caption “представляет” in the same font.

FX/SFX: Really good animation for the era.

Music/Sounds: A 2-note synth bass throughout the entire logo, accompanied by a strange synth hum with a whoosh, a dramatic 4-note new-age synth theme, a percussion, another whoosh, and finally rising string note. It's a stock piece called "Digital Drums", composed by Joseph Saba and Stewart Winter, off the VideoHelper album "VH001: Sports & Percussion".

Availability: Extinct.

8th Logo (2003)

Nicknames: "Stand-Alone NTV Ball II", "Green Sphere"

Logo: Against the background of the continuity ID from the time, a diminishing light green stripe runs in the center, and the text "НТВ ПРЕДСТАВЛЯЕТ" gradually projects.

FX/SFX: Same as the continuity ID from the time.

Music/Sounds: A 3-note synth bell theme with the last note held out. Composed by Oleg Emirov.

Availability: Most likely extinct.

Legacy: This was used to compliment with the short-lived NTV identity of the time.

9th Logo (2007-2014)

Nicknames: "NTV in Green Square I", "Spotlight NTV"

Logo: The new NTV green square logo appears above an illuminated white surface.

FX/SFX: CGI.

Music/Sounds: A reverse synth with a whoosh.

Availability: Extinct. Used in tandem with the next logo.

10th Logo (2007-2014)

Nicknames: "NTV in Green Square II", "Spinning NTV"

Logo: Same as interregional (outside of Moscow) advertising ID from the time, with the word "представляет" appearing letter-by-letter below the NTV logo.

FX/SFX: Same as interregional advertising ID from the time.

Music/Sounds: Same as interregional advertising ID from the time, but edited slightly.

Availability: Extinct.

11th Logo (2012)

Nicknames: "NTV in Green Square III", "Spinning NTV II", "Close-Up NTV I"

Logo: TBA

FX/SFX: TBA

Music/Sounds: TBA

Availability: TBA

Legacy: This was likely a prototype concept for the next logo.

12th Logo (2014-2017)

Nicknames: "NTV In Green Square III", "Glossy NTV", "Spinning NTV III", "Close-Up NTV II"

Logo: Same as interregional advertising ID from the time, but abridged slightly, with the word "представляет" appearing letter-by-letter below the NTV logo (a la 10th logo).

Variant: There's a longer variant of the logo.

FX/SFX: Same as interregional advertising ID from the time.

Music/Sounds: Same as interregional advertising ID from the time, but abridged slightly. The longer variant has the extended version.

Availability: Can be spotted on newer NTV shows.

13th Logo (2017-)

Nicknames: "NTV and Green Ball VI", "Emerging NTV", "Square-Less 2010s NTV"

Logo: TBA

FX/SFX: TBA

Music/Sounds: A majestic horn fanfare with synth effect sounds.

Availability: Current.

Logo history can be found here.