Twin Cities PBS

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum

Background

Twin Cities PBS is a PBS affiliate located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul "Twin Cities" area. The primary station, KTCA, went on the air on September 16, 1955, while KTCI, the secondary station, went on the air on May 4, 1965. From 1999 to September 30, 2015, the station carried the on-air branding Twin Cities Public Television (TPT).


Twin Cities Public Television

1st ID (1999-2001)


Visuals: On a white background, a blue cloud zooms and rotates in, which then contracts to reveal a yellow and white sunburst with the logo for Twin Cities Public Television, which is an elongated light blue check mark over "tpt". To the right thereof is a service mark symbol. Below it fades in "A LOCAL PRODUCTION OF TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION", stacked on each other and the name smaller than the rest. The sunburst rotates.

Variant: On Almanac, the Twin Cities Public Television logo is smaller, and "PRESENTATION" is below. This fades out and "MPTV" and "Minnesota Public Television" fade in. The whole thing is surrounded by a repeating circle reading "twin cities public television · saint paul · minneapolis · ktca".

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: A 4-note guitar theme with some xylophone notes after it.

Audio Variant: The Almanac variant has four airy tubular bell notes and an announcer saying "Almanac is a production of Twin Cities Public Television, for the stations of Minnesota Public Television."

Availability: May have been seen on Almanac.

2nd ID (2000-2010)


Visuals: On a white background is the logo of Twin Cities Public Television to the left of the screen. "TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION" is under it, and the words "st. paul · minneapolis", with a dot dividing them, are under the word "TELEVISION". The logo bends down, like it's bowing down, and returns to its normal position. A later version has the logo shown first until everything moves into place with a PBS logo to the right of it.

Variants:

  • For the earlier version, there is a variant with "a production of" to the right.
  • On Almanac, right after the Twin Cities Public Television logo bends down, the whole thing fades to a white screen with text reading "MPTV". Below is "Minnesota Public Television".
  • For the later version on Rudy Maxa's World, "A presentation of" is on top of the Twin Cities Public Television logo and to the right of "st. paul · minneapolis" is "· tpt.org".

Technique: CGI animation by Dan Baggenstoss at Yamamoto Moss.

Audio: A three note theme with an applause. The theme may be either a low tune harp for its public productions or a violin theme for productions made for The Minnesota Channel. The PBS variant has no applause.

Audio Variant: The Almanac variant of this logo has the same audio from mentioned show's variant from before.

Availability: Seen on Almanac in the Twin Cities area and on programs like DragonflyTV.

3rd ID (2010-September 30, 2015)


Visuals: There is a black background. A light passes through the screen, thus making the background brighten up to reveal a blue background with translucent bars and squares. A line of squares on the bottom form "saint paul · minneapolis" and disappear as the bars bring forward the Twin Cities Public Television logo from above in white and the text "NATIONAL PRODUCTIONS" under it. The background ripples and there are now lights in the background.

Variants:

  • On Almanac, the Twin Cities Public Television logo is larger, "NATIONAL PRODUCTIONS" is missing, and the logo gets wiped out to make room for "mpta" and "minnesota public television association".
  • On The Lowertown Line, the Twin Cities Public Television logo is to the left and to the right is the PBS Circle P-Head. Below is "SAINT PAUL | MINNEAPOLIS".

Technique: 2D CGI animation.

Audio: A sparkly three note theme.

Audio Variant: The Almanac variant has a reverse cymbal crash, followed by a quiet synth, plus a female saying "Almanac is a production of Twin Cities Public Television, for the stations of Minnesota Public Television Association."

Availability: Seen on SciGirls and Suze Orman's Financial Solutions for You.

Twin Cities PBS

ID (September 30, 2015- )


Visuals: On a space background with the Northern Lights, the logo is revealed by some lights, in which the logo is now modified. The logo now has a different font and check mark design for the "tpt" part, has the PBS logo included, and now the name is "TWIN CITIES PBS" stacked on the right. It zooms in slightly as the background changes colors. Then the following fades in below:

Byline/Text Variants:

  • SAINT PAUL | MINNEAPOLIS
  • For co-productions, "A CO-PRODUCTION OF" fades in above, while below fades in "SAINT PAUL | MINNEAPOLIS © Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved".
  • © Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved
  • SAINT PAUL | MINNEAPOLIS © (YEAR) Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved
  • None.

Variants:

  • On Seized: Inside the Mystery of Epilepsy, "A PRESENTATION OF" fades in and the PBS logo is missing with "tpt" and the stacked words "NATIONAL PRODUCTIONS" in its place. "SAINT PAUL | MINNEAPOLIS" fades in below.
  • On Almanac, the logo gets wiped out for "mpta" and "minnesota public television association".

Technique: Live-action and 2D animation.

Audio: A peaceful synth chord.

Audio Variant: One variant has a different chord followed by two guitar notes.

Availability: Seen at the end on episodes of Hero Elementary on PBS Kids, other shows and documentaries from the company such as Seized and Almanac, etc.

KTCA
Twin Cities PBS