Viacom Community Television

Background

Viacom Community Television was the local access production arm of Viacom Cable, which traced its roots to the 1950 founding of TeleVue, which was later sold to CBS and eventually to Viacom Enterprises. At its peak, Viacom Cable had systems in the metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Seattle, and Nashville, east suburban Cleveland; Salem, Oregon; Islip, Long Island, New York; and Dayton, Ohio. Viacom Cable was sold to Tele-Communications, Inc. in 1995. Most of these systems are now owned by Comcast, while the Ohio systems are now owned by Charter Communications.

1st Logo (February 19, 1994)

Visuals: On a black background is the top of the Space Needle zooming out from the bottom left of the screen. As it keeps flying, it wipes in the text "VIACOM COMMUNITY TELEVISION", with "VIACOM" in a big purple-yellow gradient font and "COMMUNITY TELEVISION" stacked and in a baby blue-purple gradient. The Space Needle reaches the top right of the screen before the screen cuts to black.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: None.

Availability: It was seen on Studio 100, a Lost in Space 25th anniversary documentary produced for the local access channel on Viacom Cable's Seattle systems (which explains the use of the Space Needle).

Legacy: This logo was known for both its rarity and its use of computer animation. The discovery was also surprising, as both the logo and the company were not known at all, even though the parent company, Viacom Cable, was quite well-known.

2nd Logo (1990s)

Visuals: On a black background, there is a yellow rectangle with the text "PRODUCED THROUGH THE FACILITIES OF" in the same color, which opens like a window blind to reveal the text "VIACOM COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING" (all stacked) flying in towards the screen center while leaving a trail.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: None.

Availability: It was seen on Angel Head 2, another Viacom Cable Seattle local access production.

Legacy: This logo is also known for its rarity and animation.