WTBS

Credits

Descriptions by
thelogoontherun

Captures by
thelogoontherun and SnowflakesOmega

Editions by
thelogoontherun and SnowflakesOmega

Video captures courtesy of
thelogoontherun

17 WTCG Atlanta

Background

WTCG Atlanta was Channel 17 and was a broadcast television station in Atlanta, Georgia. It operated on UHF Channel 17, and maintained a general entertainment format as an independent station. The "TCG" stands for Turner Communications Group, the forerunner for Turner Broadcasting System (a Turner company) They used the slogan "Watch This Channel Grow." It launched on September 1st, 1967 as WJRJ-TV before changing its name to 17 WTCG Atlanta on January 1970. In 1979, WTCG was changed into WTBS. WTBS continued acquiring second-hand programming, such as Popeye cartoons, The Brady Bunch, The Munsters and other programs. They started acquiring re-runs of TV programs such as All In The Family and Sanford and Son in 1979, and Little House On The Prairie and CHiPs in 1981. Older shows were canceled but even older shows from the 1950's, 1960's, and early 1970's started being acquired. In 1981, SuperStation WTBS 17 Atlanta changed its name again, this time removing the "17" to become "SuperStation WTBS Atlanta". They have operated with CNN channels for "A WTBS SuperStation Report".

(1976-1979)

Nicknames: "The Round-Sided Square", "The 17 Block", "The 17th Block"

Logo: On a black background we see a picture of a random place from Atlanta inside a rounded rectangle. Below it, there's a rounded square that represents a TV screen with the number "17" inside, and the words "WTCG" and "Atlanta" in a thick font next to it.

Trivia: The print logo looks different than the one portrayed on TV.

Variants:

• As said in the Logo section, the picture varies with other places related to Atlanta, including it's skyline.
• Both color and black and white versions exist.
• On the promos, the logo's seen with a stacked form on a red background.

FX/SFX: TBA

Music/Sounds: An announcer saying "You are tuned to WTCG TV, Channel 17, Atlanta.".

Availability: Extinct. You can find this on very old tape recordings.

Editor's Note: The announcer has a low tone and voice, and with the silence, it might give some people chills down their back.

SuperStation WTBS 17 Atlanta

(1979-1981)

Nicknames: "SuperStation Wars", "WTBS Wars", "Old TBS Wars", "17 Wars", "Atlanta Wars", "The Star Wars SuperStation", "The Logo From Atlanta In Space"

Logo: On a starfield, we see a blue glowing circle with a silver outline. While the stacked words "SUPER STATION" in orange and in a Star Wars-esque font zoom in and pan up, the circle zooms out and places itself off-center, revealing the words "WTBS 17 ATLANTA" (also stacked) on it, with "17" inside a rounded square. As the logo stops, the copyright stamp fades in below it.

Trivia: This logo is based on Star Wars.

Variants:

• Sometimes "PRE-RECORDED" fades in above the stamp.
• The most common version of the logo can be found on airings of News Watch, where the text "NEWS WATCH" in silver is seen and then zooms out to start the normal animation.

FX/SFX: The zooming and panning.

Music/Sounds: A quick synthesized theme with the announcer.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: Some people can be startled by "SUPER STATION" zooming in, but fans of Star Wars may like its look.

SuperStation WTBS Atlanta

(1981-1985)

Nicknames: "Super Satellites", "The Bars", "CNN Satellites", "5, 4, 3, 2 , 1, BOOM!"

Logo: There are various versions of the ident, some of them containing the signature CNN satellites.

Variants:

• General 1 (with TBS and satellites): We see blue lines wiping in on a black background, some of them from left to right and the others from right to the left. The letters "TBS" in an italicized segmented yellow font slide in from the right side to the center and "TurnerBroadcastingSystem" wipes in below the logo. Then a image of the CNN satelites appears and "SuperStationWTBS" appears letter-by-letter above it. "Atlanta" fades in below the end of "SuperStationWTBS".
• General 2 (with satelites): On a rainbow-colored grid background, we see a picture of a bunch of animated satellites fade in on the center. The text "SuperStationWTBS.", in white, fades in below it.
• General 3 (with gold bars and TBS): This may have debuted in 1983. We see a golden screen with the words "TBS" flipping in, then the screen zooms out to reveal that it's made of bars, while "TBS" also zooms out to the bottom-right corner of the screen. "SuperStationWTBS" slides in below "TBS", while a segmented golden "T" slides in on the bars.

FX/SFX: Depends on the ident used, but it's mostly sliding and fading. Also, it was done with good-looking, sharp 2D effects for the time.

Music/Sounds: For the first ident, a light drum and guitar theme, with an announcer saying "From Turner Broadcasting System, you're watching SuperStation WTBS Atlanta." TBA for the others.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: The strange chimes in the 1st ident are a little creepy.