TVS Television/Television Idents

This article is about the TV idents. For the production logos, see TVS Productions.

Not to be confused with PBS's WTVS, an affiliate from Detroit, Michigan.

Credits

Descriptions by
mr3urious

Editions by
Nathan B

Background

Television South replaced Southern Television as the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England on January 1, 1982. It proved not only to be considerably brighter in presentation than its predecessor, but more ambitious too, both on the ITV network and in other countries. As well as pushing to become a major ITV station, it acquired a number of program libraries from abroad, then purchased MTM Enterprises in July 1988. However, this was to have a negative impact on the company's finances, so much so that, in the auction-style 1991 franchise round, it felt that the only way it could retain its franchise was to put in an ultra-high bid for it. Eventually, this did not succeed, and thus TVS ceased broadcasting on December 31, 1992, to be replaced by Meridian Television. TVS was then sold to International Family Entertainment, who launched a British version of The Family Channel. The Walt Disney Company is now the legal successor to TVS which also owns the majority of the back catalogue, though the logos were bought by other interests, which formed an independent production company of the same name. In 1987, TVS was renamed to TVS Television South, and renamed again 1989 as TVS Television.

1st Logo (January 1, 1982-September 4, 1987)

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Visuals: Against a black background, two lines on the edges of the screen are drawn outward simultaneously, followed by two more pairs of lines. The result is a trumpet-shaped flower that takes up the entire screen, which is coloured red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple (from left to right). It then zooms out to the left as "TVS" (in white) unfolds horizontally to the right of it.

Trivia: The base logo was created by John Hayman, while the on-screen ident was produced at The Moving Picture Company in one of the agency's earliest works.

Variants:

• After the flower forms, it would sometimes flip around as it zooms out and "TVS" would quickly zoom in instead. This was used for weekend programmes.
  • A filmed version also exists.
• Several prototype versions exist, but the closest to the normal logo is a version where the stripes wipe in downwards, one by one, before zooming out to the left. The name appears in-sync with the music, which is much more mellow.

Technique: 2D computer animation. However, one filmed variant of the weekend version was done with a mechanical model.

Audio: An eight-note horn fanfare, with the first three notes playing in sync with the animation. It was composed by Sussex-based composer Richard Hill.

Availability: This was only used as a regional ITV ID. It can also be seen on archival site TVARK, while the Flash remake of two versions can be heard on 625.uk.com.

2nd Logo (September 5, 1987-December 31, 1992)

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Visuals: There were two main versions:

• The first version, introduced on September 5, 1987, starts with a bluish glass version of the TVS logotype against a silver background. The logotype zooms towards the camera and flips around, transforming into the flower logo, made out of the same material but giving off rainbow colors. The flower itself flips around, zooming away from us as it does so, and transforms back into the TVS logotype. Finally, "TELEVISION SOUTH" fades in below.
• The second version, introduced on September 1, 1989 following the restructuring of TVS after its purchase of MTM Enterprises in July 1988, has a bluish background with diagonal lights. On it, a clear glass version of the flower logo slowly zooms away from us and flips around, again giving off rainbow colours, and transforms into "TVS", made of the same material. "TELEVISION" fades in below.

Trivia: TVS never used the ITV 1989 corporate ident, instead using this logo.

Variants:

• The first version may start off with the flower flipping in over a black background. As it flips over to the TVS logotype, the background fades in.
• TVS played the second main version one last time at the end of its' final programme, Goodbye To All That, on December 31, 1992, but with "TELEVISION" replaced by the message "Thanks for watching".

Technique: CGI by John Hayman.

Audio: An uplifting horn fanfare composed by Ed Welch. The opening notes differ slightly between the two main versions.

Availability: Like the previous logo, this was only used as a regional ITV ID. Can also be seen on archival site TVArk.

Logos appear with the permission of Steve Woodgate (CEO of TVS)

External Links

• TVS Television on TVARK
• Unofficial Website for TVS Television