WETA

Background

WETA is a PBS affiliate located in Washington D.C.

1st Logo (1976-1984)

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Nickname: "The American Colors"

Logo: On a black background, several "pieces" of the WETA logo at the time (a white italic "W", a red "E" that's made of three lines, a non-italic "T", and a blue trapezoidal "A" with a white star in the center) appear in sync with the music. When the logo is complete, "WASHINGTON D.C." appears below.

Variants:

• There is an alternative version where the logo forms from the end first.
• There is a still version.
• There is a station ID variant which has 26 beside the weta logo with text that says "Public Television In the Nation's Capital".

FX/SFX: The "pieces" forming the logo.

Music/Sounds: A patriotic fife/drum sounder that is synced to the animation. It fits the bicentennial period well.

Availability: Extremely rare. Appears on episodes of Washington Week in Review from the era, and also on a videocassette of Summer of Judgment: The Watergate Hearings.

Editor's Note: A neat thing about this logo is how it goes well with PBS' 1971 logo, with similar animation, style, and font for the text below.

2nd Logo (1982-June 30, 1988)

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Nickname: "The Comet"

Logo: Over a black background, a blue-black gradient star with yellow lines trailing behind it slides along the screen to revealing the WETA logo from the previous logo, but thinner and all in a blue-black gradient. It's also 3D. The logo shines as a blue haze emerges from below and the text "WASHINGTON, D.C." appears in yellow.

Variant: A local ID had the number 26 next to "WETA".

FX/SFX: The comet, and the shining effects.

Music/Sounds: A synthesized "swish" sound, followed by a 6-note synth-orchestra fanfare.

Availability: Extremely rare. Appeared on Washington Week in Review. It made a surprise appearance on the 1997 Turner Home Entertainment release of the WETA/WYES co-production Spaceflight, an exception to the general rule that station logos don't appear on co-productions between PBS stations.

Editor's Note: Some viewers may think the logo bears some resemblance to the WXXI logo.

3rd Logo (July 1, 1988-September 28, 1991)

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Nickname: "The Ribbons"

Logo: We see three colorful ribbons. The text "WETA" zooms out over a black background with blue, gold, purple, and pink ribbons and squares with blue stars in them (looking a little bit like the background in King World's "Spotlights" logo). "WETA" settles itself in front of a pink-colored ribbon, and "WASHINGTON, D.C." fades in below.

Variant: This also had the number 26 beside it, albeit still.

FX/SFX: The ribbons, CG animation.

Music/Sounds: A 5-note synthesized violin sounder, which sounds similar to the 2nd logo's fanfare.

Availability: Very rare. This logo has appeared on many Ken Burns documentaries, such as The Civil War, but unfortunately, it has been plastered on 2015 and 2016 airings of the latter. You'll probably find this on tapes of Washington Week in Review (where it debuted on the weekly edition broadcast on July 1, 1988), as well earlier DVD editions of The Civil War from Warner Home Video. Retained on the Turner Home Entertainment release of The Congress.

Editor's Note: The design of this logo was ahead of its time, it's surprising it didn't last longer either.

4th Logo (September 29, 1991-July 31, 1994)

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Nickname: "Starry Triangle"

Logo: On a white marble background, three blue stars form a triangle, with red stripes next to it. Below the symbol is a gold "WETA" in the same font as the 3rd logo, with "WASHINGTON, D.C." below it. Two lines shine, one going across at the top, and the other going down on the left.

FX/SFX: The lines shining.

Music/Sounds: A violin stinger culminating into an orchestral note.

Availability: Rare. Appeared on WETA programs from the era, including Empire of the Air, National Audubon Society Special, and Washington Week in Review. This appears on the Pacific Arts and Turner Home Entertainment VHS releases of the former, and also on the Turner Home Entertainment releases of Brooklyn Bridge, The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God, The Statue of Liberty, and Huey Long.

Editor's Note: Again, this logo is ahead of its time and could've been used longer as well.

5th Logo (August 1, 1994-August 31, 1997)

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Nickname: "The W"

Logo: Over a purple-tinted video of the exterior of the White House, a white "W" draws itself on the top center of the screen. The letters "W", "E", "T" and "A" appear one by one below, and grow as they do. A white square appears via a strange "wipe" effect over the "W" logo, turning it black. Simultaneously, the text "WASHINGTON, D.C." appears below.

Variant: A version with an inverted color scheme against a moving orange and green background was recently spotted.

FX/SFX: The 2D effects.

Music/Sounds: 4 orchestral hits playing against a percussion beat in the background the whole time. When the square draws itself, an elevator-like "ding" is heard.

Availability: More common than its predecessors, but still pretty rare. Appeared on Ken Burns' The West and Washington Week in Review. The former program preserves this on DVD. This also appeared on Baseball, but don't expect to see it on Turner's VHS release or MLB Network broadcasts. One of the last new programs on which this appeared was Thomas Jefferson.

Editor's Note: Logo looks like it could've been made 3 years later, but it still fits in the time period it aired in well and lasted as long as it should.

6th Logo (September 1, 1997-October 2, 2009; April 25-30, 2016; June 11-September 3, 2020)

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Nickname: "The Ribbons II"

Logo: Over a shady cobalt blue background, the text "WETA", in yellow, spreads out. It is at an angle and turns to face the screen. After that happens, two red ribbons draw themselves around the text. When the animation finishes, "WASHINGTON DC" appears below. When used as a station ID, the background shimmers for a few.

FX/SFX: The ribbons.

Music/Sounds: A relaxing 4-note wind sounder. When used as a local ID, it used a piece of new age music. A female announcer says, "You're watching WETA Washington, D.C., Maryland & Virginia."

Availability: Common. Appears on Washington Week in Review and Globe Trekker/Pilot Guides episodes from 1997-2008. However, the show's title has been shortened to Washington Week in recent years. It also appears on many Ken Burns documentaries, such as Jazz (most episodes of which preserve this on the streaming version) and The War (which preserves this on the 2020 rebroadcast). Its last known appearance was on The National Parks: America's Best Idea, and it still appears on rebroadcasts of the series today even on newer prints.

Editor's Note: WETA continues to excel and remain ahead of the game with their logos as well as keeping their streak of having top-notch logos ahead of the curve. Plus, they finally gave a logo as much airtime as it deserves.

7th Logo (2007- )

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Nickname: "The Ribbons III"

Logo: On a stylized white/silver background with bright lights, we see the WETA logo appear in the same manner as the previous logo, but with "WETA" in black, and only the left ribbon drawing in. "WASHINGTON D.C." is shown below, spreading apart.

Variants:

• Sara's Weeknight Meals has this in open matte, squeezed to fit the 16:9 aspect ratio.
• After PBS and WETA took over American distribution of BBC World News beginning on June 3, 2019, a copyright notice for the BBC started appearing on this logo at the end of the program.

FX/SFX: The background, the logo appearing, and "Washington D.C." spreading apart.

Music/Sounds: A short piano jingle.

Music/Sounds Variants: On the second episode of The Vietnam War, "Riding the Tiger", the first two notes are cut off.

Availability: Currently in use. Found on PBS NewsHour, Nightly Business Report, Washington Week, and newer Ken Burns documentaries, as well as newer prints of older Ken Burns documentaries, such as The Civil War and Jazz (the first episode of which plasters the previous logo on the streaming version).

Editor's Note: Same as the previous logo.