WHYY-TV

Background

WHYY-TV is a PBS affiliate located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It also serves Wilmington, Delaware.

1st Logo (1964-1974)

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Logo: On a black background, we see a large number "12" in red with the words "WHYY-TV WILMINGTON" in blue.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: Possibly none.

Availability: Extinct.

2nd Logo (1974-1978)

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Logo: On a light blue background, a 2D picture of the Liberty Bell cracks and moves to the left, revealing red, white, and blue striped stars, which form the word "FROM" in an Arial font, and "W H Y Y" in a much bolder font. All of the text is on the right side of the screen.

Technique: Typical choppy 70's effects.

Music/Sounds: A single bell ring.

Availability: Seen on a few national shows from WHYY during this time, such as rock concerts, and early episodes of Hometime. Might have also appeared on Mark of Jazz.

3rd Logo (1978-1984)

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Logo: On a black background, we pan up to reveal the 3D tan letters "WHYY" while brown lines began to move. The letters flip up, and then the text "PHILADELPHIA - WILMINGTON" zooms in below the logo.

Technique: Early CGI animation by Dolphin Productions.

Music/Sounds: A Moog synthesizer theme, with a voiceover saying "The following is a presentation of WHYY, Philadelphia-Wilmington"

Availability: Possibly extinct.

4th Logo (1982?)

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Logo: On a black background with lots of multicolored video feedback zooming in, we see a white "12" with the small, white, shadowed text "WHYY-TV" slowly move down as it zooms in and more video feedback radiates from it, eventually stopping at the center of the screen. Small, white text reading "Wilmington-Philadelphia" then fades in.

Technique: Primitive computer animation.

Music/Sounds: Same as before, except a different male announcer is also heard saying, "In the Delaware Valley, this is Channel 12".

Availability: Possibly extinct.

Legacy: This logo has gained some infamy within the logo community for the copious amount of video feedback used, which might be hard on the eyes for some.

5th Logo (1982-1984)

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Logo: On a black background, we see a gigantic yellow "12" with the words "WHYY TV/WILMINGTON" in yellow below. It's basically 2D at first, but the perspective changes to 3D. Behind it we see an olive-bordered photograph lens.

Technique: None, or simple 3D animation.

Music/Sounds: Just a male announcer saying the station's name and number.

Availability: Possibly extinct. So far the only known use of this was as a local ID during that time.

6th Logo (1984-1985)

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Logo: On a purple background with black lines, we see the text "FROM PHILADELPHIA" wipes in with a shine effect before turning completely purple. The text "TV 12" writes in, followed by the letters "whyy", which draws in with a star drawing at the end of the "y" letter. The text "PRESENTS..." appear below.

Variant: As a local ID, the text above is missing and the text below reads "WILMINGTON" fades in below.

Technique: A mix of computer and 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: A series of electronic drones.

Availability: Rare. Seen on several TV shows, like Muse and Spotlight.

7th Logo (1985-1986)

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Logo: On a black background, we see a 3D oblong that turns into the letters, reading either "TV 12" or "WHYY". The logo flashes and it turns silver, while the "WHYY" text (only on the "TV 12" version) appears. The logo sparkles, and a flash forms the text "WILMINGTON" and "PHILADELPHIA" appears below, with a line separating the two city names.

Variants:

• A short version exists.
• The logo sometimes take place on a wallpaper of Liberty Bells on a blue background.

Technique: 3D animation.

Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the show. On Verdi: Requiem, we hear an announcer (Peter Thomas) saying the name "WHYY, Philadelphia".

Availability: Rare. Seen on old shows from the era, like Verdi: Requiem and Life in the Dust.

8th Logo (1986-1997)

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Logo: On a black background, blue flares flash down the screen, revealing the WHYY logo of the period, which consists of the letters "WHYY", colored blue, and having the "W" and second "Y" connected by a line forming an oblong shape, like in the Turner and Nintendo logos. The word "FROM" fades in above the logo, and "PHILADELPHIA", colored golden brown, flies up to position itself underneath the logo.

Variants:

• Sometimes, "WILMINGTON" (in the same font as "PHILADELPHIA") would also appear in the logo; it would slide up with "PHILADELPHIA" with a white line separating the two words. This might have a copyright stamp. On one such occasion, it was superimposed.
• There were two (or three if counted altogether) superimposed versions:
  • A version with a gray background was seen on The Bombing of Osage Avenue.
  • Another version was superimposed into the closing part of the show:
    • Usually, the normal version of the logo is used.
    • On Spotlight and The Making of Super Sloppy Double Dare, as mentioned above, it had the WILMINGTON/PHILADELPHIA byline with a copyright stamp reading "©WHYY, INC. (year)".

Technique: The light blue flares, which are an example of '80s animation.

Music/Sounds: A downward piano jingle after a laser zap sound, followed by a rising synth bass-piano jingle, which was composed on a Yamaha DX7.

Music/Sounds Variant:

• On Hometime, Spotlight and The Making of Super Sloppy Double Dare, the logo would have the show's theme song playing over it.
• The 2nd variant was silent.
• On The Dinosaurs, there is no laser zap.

Availability: Notably seen on Hometime episodes of this era. This can also be found on PBS Video/PBS Home Video releases of David Macaulay's Castle and Cathedral, at the end (as opposed to having the "skyline" logo for WTVS in Detroit and the "Flash of Doom" for WGBH in Boston, respectively, at the beginning).

9th Logo (1987?)

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Logo: On a dark background, the WHYY logo (in gold) appears. Under it, we see the words "WILMINGTON" and "PHILADELPHIA". Both words are separated with a red line.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: An announcer saying "This is WHYY Wilmington".

Availability: Extinct. This was used as a sign-off logo and may have been used as a station ID.

10th Logo (1992?)

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Logo: On a granite background, the WHYY logo fades in. The bottom text reads "Wilmington" and then flips under to reveal the text "Philadelphia". Some gloss then shines over the WHYY logo. Then the logo fades out.

Technique: The gloss, the text flipping.

Music/Sounds: An announcer saying "This is TV 12, WHYY Wilmington."

Availability: Extinct. Same as the 6th logo.

11th Logo (1997-2000)

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Logo: On an orange background we see a city skyline, which fades to a white background with the shining text "Philadelphia", a black WHYY logo and a blue circle with a white lightning bolt.

Variants:

• A short version of this logo just has the text shining.
• The station's website used in that 1999, had a still variant in which, on a background of a poppy blooming the circle is yellow with white name and TV 12 in red below it.

Technique: The Philadelphia text sliding in and shining

Music/Sounds: The end theme of the show or its own music.

Availability: Seen on Hometime produced shows and cooking shows followed by the 1999 APT logo. The flower version is used on the company's website, at the TV 12 web page.

12th Logo (2000-2007)

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Logo: On a black/medium blue/orange-striped background, we see the current WHYY logo (consisting of the blue "WHYY" letters in Franklin Gothic Heavy with a blue circle behind the last "Y", making it white) in front. Below are the words "WILMINGTON, DE" fading in.

Technique: Just "WILMINGTON, DE" fading.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 4th ident (the closing theme of Hometime), though on other shows, a long ethereal synth note is heard.

Availability: Currently in use.

13th Logo (2007-2012)

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Logo: On a rainbow background, we see a spinning globe which later changes colors. Behind it was the WHYY logo in silver with the text "Wilmington.Philadelphia" below the logo.

Technique: Computer animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare. Seen on old WHYY shows from the era.

14th Logo (2013-2019)

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Logo: On a moving black gradient background, we see a chrome version of the "Y" circle. The text "a WHYY original production", with "WHYY" in form of its logo wipes in below the circle.

Variant: A short version exists where the "Y" circle dusts off with the WHYY logo and then the name of the three states flash in below the logo.

Technique: Computer animation.

Music/Sounds: A film projector sound.

Availability: No longer current.