Yle

Credits

Descriptions by
Thisisanswer and Logent

Captures by
Logent, Pyscowicz and VPJHuk

Editions by
aarol, SnowflakesOmega, Logent, Thisisanswer, Unnepad and VPJHuk

Video captures courtesy of
aaotx, Retropiirretyt, FinnTapes, Nauhoitevideot/Pyscowicz, Vanhoja-mainoskatkoja, NikkeFin and - VPJLogo-

Background

The Finnish Broadcasting Company (Finnish: Yleisradio Oy/Swedish: Rundradion Ab, officially abbreviated to Yle) is the name of the state-owned Finnish radio and television agency, which was founded in Helsinki on May 29, 1926. Originally named as "O.Y. Suomen Yleisradio – A.B. Finlands Rundradio", the company started as a radio broadcaster, but during 1957, Yleisradio tested broadcasting on television. Suomen Televisio was launched with regular broadcasting, beginning next year on January 1, 1958. The first television newscast from Yleisradio aired on September 1, 1959. Following the acquisition of Tesvisio and Tamvisio in 1964, Yleisradio renamed its Suomen Televisio channel to TV-ohjelma 1 and launched its new second channel, TV-ohjelma 2. Both of these channels were later renamed simply to TV1 and TV2 respectively in 1971, and again to Yle TV1 and Yle TV2 since 2000. Both channels had separate programming blocks over the years (MTV and FST) and additional channels such as Yle Teema & Fem and TV Finland were created alongside the two channels. For three decades, Yleisradio was the sole television monopoly in Finland until the Finnish TV channel reforming happened in 1993, with Finland becoming its own commercial television station. In 1994, the company was renamed to Yleisradio Oy or simply Yle, while in 2012, the company's brand was revamped. Prior to January 1992, Yle didn't use their company logo in any of their television channels.

1st Logo (January 1, 1992-2000)

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Nicknames: "Renkaat (Rings)", "Finnish Saturn Rings", "The Finnish Equivalent of Doordarshan's 80's Logo", "Finnish LSD", "The Invisible Saturn With 5 Differently Colored Rings"

Logo: On a white background, several layers of orange ripples emerge from the bottom left corner of the screen, followed by blue ripples on the bottom right, magenta on the top left, and green on the top right before all of them are obscured by a burst of yellow particles, dispersing around a invisible sphere. This is followed by a subsequent burst of red, purple, blue, and green particles as the camera rotates to an angle below the bursts (which also speeds up the animation). Five solid rings in yellow, orange, green, blue and green then emerge from the sphere one by one, in that order. After the rings emerge and the particles disappear for a second, "Y L E" fades in below, forming the final product.

Trivia: Advertising graphic artist Herbie Kastemaa designed the new company logo nicknamed "Renkaat" (Rings for English) in 1990. Kastemaa used the company's previous logo for the basics of creating the new one (most notably the wavelength seen in the previous logo), as all five rings represent the company's news operations, sport, music, drama and entertainment.

Variants: Yle TV1 had a couple of different variants of this ident seen as startup and closedown idents. It should be noted that these variants were used as main idents for the channel during that time. For more information about variants, see the 7th Yle TV1 logo.

FX/SFX: The ripples, the particles, the rings emerging.

Music/Sounds: A dissonant, yet gentle-sounding synth and string ambient theme.

Availability: Extinct on TV.

• While this was one of the four variants that could be spotted as startup and closedown idents on Yle TV1, the main logo described here could be seen as a closedown ident in few occasions.
• In 1998, when Yle TV1 started using the 9th logo as a closedown ident, this logo could still be spotted being used afterwards. However, around 2000, this logo was then taken out and the 9th logo on Yle TV1 was used from that point as both their startup and closedown idents alone.
• On Yle TV2, this logo was used as both the startup and closedown ident between January 1, 1992 and August 10, 1997.

Legacy: This logo is considered nostalgic to those who grew up in Finland and is considered a favorite to many there, though the dissonant music doesn't really mix well with the calm animation.

2nd Logo (January 1, 2001-January 23, 2013)

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Nicknames: "|YLE|", "Tolppa YLE Tolppa (Post YLE Post)", "Finnish Flashing Letters", "Dark Glossy Letters", "Finnish Deep Note"

Logo: On a black background, we see the text "YLE" in a dark and glossy-textured font with vertical lines on both sides, fading in on the background. Then a bright light reflects in the logo and moves from the bottom to the top right corner. As the logo takes on a brighter tone, a small shimmer can be seen on top of the right vertical line, while a oblique light sweep goes through the logo.

Variants:

• Usually, a small year mark appears below the logo, when the lighting has reflected on it.
• Since 2003, the widescreen variant for both the regular and the one with year marks has the logo zoomed in a little bit closer. Prior 2003, these 16:9 variants with year marks had the text about the same size as in regular ones with 4:3 ratio.
• In 2010 and 2011, the regular and year marked variants were enhanced completely with the logo fading in a little bit slower and being stable for a short amount of time before the light reflects in it. The logo has also cleaner texture around it, while becoming darker towards the end of the animation.
• Black and white variants are known to exist.
• On the talk show Lauantaiseura, the logo is either superimposed or is pasted on a moving detailed background.
• An anniversary variant was used in 2001 when it premiered. It has the logo wiping in on a black background with a somewhat darker texture. As the lightning is about to reflect in the logo, it suddenly oscillates and disappears around the logo, while the following words appear on the top and bottom parts of the logo for a short amount of time until it wipes out on a black background:

75v

– 1 9 2 6 –

• A promotional variant exclusively for the 2002 DocPoint festival events was made to promote said event. The logo added additional text "DocPoint" and "Helsingin dokumenttielokuvafestivaali" in blue.
• A rare variant was made for promotional purposes in 2003. The logo started from the bright light flashing, the background was blue, and some additional text saying "Yksi sana. Tuhat tarinaa." (translated to "One word. Thousand stories.") was added below. Another blue background vaiant from an YLE Extra promo features the text "Paljon sisältöä." (roughly translated as "Lots of content.").
• An open matte variant was spotted on an episode of Tarinateltta and early episodes of Rajankäyntiä from 2009.
• On the tourism program Maailmanmatkaaja arkkitehtuuriretkillä, the logo explodes on thin air after the light reflection.
• A stretched version exists.

FX/SFX: The lighting effects and the shimmer on the clean CGI logo.

Music/Sounds: A rumbling, Deep Note-like sound, that ends with a soft one-note chime. After that, we hear short two piano notes.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• Often, the logo's silent or the closing theme of the show plays over it.
• The anniversary variant has a longer Deep Note-like sound at the beginning. After the one-note chime, we then hear a re-arranged version of the logo with the first four notes of the old interval signal heard in Yle's radio broadcasts played with a droning synth.
• The DocPoint festival version has a woman announcer that said "DocPoint-festivaaleilla mukana Yleisradion TV1 uusi kino ja TV2 dokumenttiprojekti." ("Yleisradio TV1's new kino and TV2's document projects are in the DocPoint festivals").

Availability: Common.

• Probably the most common closing logo in Finnish television, as it is featured at the end of almost every program (excluding news broadcasts and minor programs) on the Yle channels during that time and it could be easily spotted during re-airings. The first program known to have this logo at the end was Vuosi vaihtuu, which ended right after the turn of the new year.
• The regular variant without the year mark can be spotted at the end of import shows or re-aired programs prior 2001. It is also used as the opening logo in DVD/VHS releases distributed by Yle Tallennemyynti.
• The ones with year marks are featured at the end of Finnish television programs aired for the first time. These year marked variants can also be spotted at the starting point of each DVD release for Jefferson Anderson (Pasila) animated sitcom.
• Since 2003, both original and widescreen variants were used depending on the aspect ratio of the program.
• Re-airings of some Finnish shows (for example of pilot episodes in Kummeli sketch show from 1991) had either old Yle TV1 or Yle TV2 closing logos being plastered by regular variant or played after the old closing logo.
• The anniversary variant is extremely rare and unusually seen as a opening or ending logo for certain programs in 2001, such as Ykkösdokumentti: Nainen ja valta documentary.
• Extended, enhanced variants are scarce and featured in the end of programs aired from late 2010 to 2013, such as Tosi tarina: Tervanpolttaja documentary. The last known original program to feature the enhanced logo was the third season of Pirunpelto, that aired between December 2012 and January 2013.

3rd Logo (March 6, 2012-)

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Nicknames: "yle", "Cyan Stamp", "Soft Cyan Box"

Logo: On a black background, we see three bright letters appearing one by one, forming the word "yle" on a cyan block with soft edges popping in behind it. As the cyan block pops in, the black background gets brighter from the center point of the screen, becoming white. As the logo moves a little bit closer, we see a tiny sparkle on top of the "l".

Variant: A letterbox version of the logo exists on home video releases.

FX/SFX: The lighting effects on the background, popping letters and cyan block.

Music/Sounds: A four-note synth piano chime followed by a brief echoing that quickly fades out.

Availability: Current.

• The opening logo could be spotted in almost every regular program or television show aired on Yle channels. However since 2016, the logo has quietly disappeared from television.
• It can still be spotted as opening logo in home video releases distributed by Yle Tallennemyynti/Yle Myynti and VLMedia Oy.
• Home video releases that have the aspect ratio of 4:3 feature the separate letterboxed logo.

Logo History

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