CBS

1st Logo

(November 1952- 1966)

Nickname: "The Carpet"

Logo: On a dark background with little white "stars" (kinda looks like carpet), we see the "Roof" logo in white. (The words CBS with the S connecting to a roof that hangs over the C and B, with an antenna sticking out of the roof.)

FX: None.

Cheesy Factor: The background looks like they just aimed the camera at the floor!

Music/Sounds:


 * Until October 1962, an announcer said "This is CBS Television.".
 * An alternate version of the logo featured the announcer saying, "This is the CBS Television network.". This began in 1955 and outlived its predecessor, being used until 1966.

Availability: Extinct. I assume it's preserved on Television archives. Not much is known about this logo.

Scare Factor: Low; the darkness and announcer being scary is understandable, but it's a different story with the next logo...

2nd Logo

(1966-1968)

Nickname: "CBS Globe-Like Birdcage"

Logo: On a black screen, several dots flash near the center of the screen (a la Screen Gems “Dancing Sticks” logo), and then we see a circle being drawn in the counterclockwise direction. A line is drawn through the circle (going downwards), which quickly vanishes. A small fire can be seen starting within the circle. Then, we see a line is drawn through the center of the circle (left to right), and then two lines like that on a Worldvision-like globe are drawn. Another pair, closer to the circle are drawn, like that of the first lines, and then two horizontal lines above the first horizontal line. The camera zooms backwards and we see a thick line (the top of the S) being drawn under the ball of fire, which later connects to the ball of fire. A vertical line (the beginning of the C) is then formed. The B then finishes, and then the diagonal part of the S appears. Lastly, the B is formed.

FX: The dots, the live-action fire, and the lines being drawn.

Cheesy Factor: The animation is rough, especially when the letters are formed.

Music/Sounds: A pinball-like theme, which turns into a bombastic but brief brass piece. Almost immediately afterwards, an announcer can be heard saying, "This is the CBS Television network.".

Availability: Extinct on television. Available for viewing on the Museum of Broadcast Communications Archives website.

Scare Factor: Medium to high; even though it is not as widely remembered as the 1968 logo and later CBS logos, this could be quite scary, as the music, spooky announcer, live-action fire, and animation could set off people.

3rd Logo

(1968-1970)

Nicknames: "The Roof", "The CBS Logo", "Tri-Colored Roof Of Doom"

Logo: First, the left section of the screen fills with red from the bottom, the middle section fills with yellow from the top, and the right section fills with blue from the bottom. One by one, each colored section flips to form the letters C B S on a black background. Then either one of two things would happen:

Variants:


 * 1968-1969: The words “COLUMBIA TV TELEVISION” appear above the CBS logo and morph into a line, which bends to form a gable roof with an aerial antenna on top, which is connected to the S. The announcer says “The following program is the CBS Television network.” (opening) or “This is the CBS Television network.” (closing).


 * 1969-1970: A blue line is drawn above the letters, which bends to form a gable roof with an aerial antenna on top, which is connected to the S. The announcer says “The following program is from the CBS television network.” (opening) or “This is the CBS television network.” (closing).

FX: The flipping effects.

Cheesy Factor: The flipping effects are a very cheesy '60s and '70s FX standard.

Variants:


 * The 1968 version came in both black and white and color versions.
 * Some shows, such as “Black Journal”, used opening versions of this logo.
 * On the first few seasons (1968-1970) of “MisteRogers Neighborhood” (including some early black and white ones), the NET logo was built into the apartment building that was part of the toy neighborhood in the show’s opening and closing (it was in black on B&W broadcasts to stand out better). This feature remained in reruns until the mid 1980's. A copyright notice to “National Educational Television and Radio Center” continued to be used on the show through 1971.
 * There could be a variation where the "antenna" on top of the "roof" rotates, sort of like a wind up toy.

Music/Sounds: A violin-like synth fanfare composed by Eric Siday, similar in style to his Screen Gems “S From Hell” and CBS “In Color” jingles, and the announcer saying his part. The 1968 and 1969 versions had different announcers.

Availability: Extinct on television. The b/w 1968 logo made an appearance on the VHS release of “Our Neighbor, Fred Rogers”, but was cut from 2003 TV rebroadcasts of the documentary. It can be seen on several shows available for viewing at The Paley Center for Media, including the series premiere episodes of “MisteRogers Neighborhood” (1968 version, B&W), “Black Journal,” (1968 version, color) and “Sesame Street” (1969 version, color). The 1969 opening and closing versions can also be seen on the "Sesame Street: Old School Volume 2" DVD set on the test pilot episode.

Scare Factor: Low to medium; Siday’s creepy synth fanfare, the loud announcer, the dark background, and the poor audio and grainy film can be quite scary.

4th Logo

(1970-1971)

Logo: Just a black background with the words

COLUMBIA

BROADCASTING

SERVICE

stacked on top of each other.

FX: None; this is a still logo.

Cheesy Factor: The logo is TOO plain. C’mon, how about some animation and music?

Music/Sounds: None, just an announcer (MacDonald Carey) who says "This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting Service.".

Availability: Extinct. It was used concurrently with the NET logo from 1970 to 1971 midseason (as a placeholder logo) and then quickly replaced with the 2nd logo.

Scare Factor: Low to medium; though not widely seen the announcer might get to some. But it would change with the second logo...

5th Logo

(1971-1984)

Nicknames: "The Tri-Colored Everyman C-Heads," "The Tri-Colored CBS logo," "1971 CBS logo", "The Tri-Heads from/of Hell/Doom".

Logo: On a black background, an abstract-cut blue C zooms out to upper-mid screen. The C turns into a C-Head, albeit facing left, with the text "COLUMBIA" written below, and both move to the left of the screen. An abstract-cut orange B appears to the right of the C-Head, and two black dots appear in the B, the latter dot coinciding with the text "BROADCASTING" appearing below the "COLUMBIA." An abstract-cut green S appears to the right of the B and black dots appear twice as well, the latter dot coinciding with the text "SERVICE" appearing below the "BROADCASTING." The final text stack reads:

CBS

COLUMBIA

BROADCASTING

SERVICE

FX: The C-Heads' animations.

Cheesy Factor: Really choppy limited animation.

Music/Sounds: A telephone-like moog synthesizer scale descending rapidly, followed by five moog synthesizer tones.

Availability: Appeared on older prints of CBS shows produced from 1971-1984 for many years, but due to replacement with newer logos and newer shows it is on the chopping block of extinction on TV as of 1990, but can be found on CBS Video releases of 1971-1984 CBS programs up until 1990. A surprising find of this logo was seen on an recent episode (circa 1999-2000) of “Saturday Night Live” hosted by Freddie Prinze Jr., in which it opened a spoof of “Charlie Rose”. This was very surprising, considering past sketches spoofing CBS shows have used more recent CBS logos. The logo can also be found on the DVD sets. In the latter case, this logo even replaces the NET and 1970 CBS logos on the respective episodes!

Scare Factor: High; the creepy moog synthesizer music and primitive animation is certain to unnerve more than a few, especially if viewed in a completely darkened room or succeeding credits with a black background. Nevertheless, this logo has a huge following.

6th Logo

(1984-1989)

Nicknames: "Split Profile", "The Everyman/Everyperson C"

Logo: On a black background, a blue C-Head appears on the upper-mid screen, facing backwards. A Piece comes out to the right and settles itself about half an inch away. The text "CBS" appears below in a typewriter font.

Variants:


 * On the series premiere of "Square One TV," after the logo forms, the C-head and letters multiply off into the distance, with voiceovers singing "and on...and on...and on..." (taken from a song from the episode) until it fades.
 * A rare 3D variant has been spotted.
 * Another version was made, where the letters CBS were in yellow, instead of white, so as to enhance the color quality of the identity.

FX: The C-Head appearing and stretching.

Cheesy Factor: Simple animation.

Music/Sounds: A majestic piano chord, followed by six pizzicato tones, and then a softer version of the piano chord.

Availability: Appeared on old prints of CBS shows produced from 1984-89 but is now as rare as it gets without being extinct. Can also be found on early CBS Video releases from the 80s; just look for a banner with the C Head on the left and "CBS VIDEO" filling the entire rest of the banner.

Scare Factor: Low; the music is fairly dramatic and the logo does not give much warning to its appearance, so some may be startled by it. But much tamer than the previous logo because of the use of acoustic instruments instead of synths.

7th Logo

(1989-1993)

Nickname: "Transparent Blue C-Heads", "Merging Glass C-Heads"

Logo: On a black background, a side-facing transparent blue C-Head folds to the right, leaving behind a residue trail of P-Heads. The residue trail disappears as the C-Head settles itself in place taking up the entire screen. Several white lines wipe across the bottom of the screen, leaving the text "CBS" in the typewriter font to the bottom left.

Variants:


 * In an alternate version of the ident, the C-head appears just by fading in with the CBS text. No lines streak across the screen; therefore it is a still version of the ident. The same music, as in the ident's original version, is used. Once again, Neeson says "This is CBS"

FX: The C-head folding, the lines wiping. Great animation for its time.

Music/Sounds: A bell string tune, followed by an announcer who says "This is CBS.". The announcer is said to be Liam Neeson.

Availability: As with other vintage CBS logos, the chance of showing up on TV now is almost nada, but some CBS Video releases from the era at libraries may have it; just look for a square in the top-left corner of the front of the box with "CBS VIDEO" below a C Head.

Scare Factor: Minimal; the dark vibe of the logo may get to some, but the music and animation are cleaner this time.

8th Logo

(1989-1998)

Nickname: "Pink/Purple CBS Alternate ID," "Blurry C-Head"

Logo: We see a blurry image of a pink glass C-head in front of other shapes. As the logo progresses, we see the letters "CBS" appear to the left of the C-head in the typewriter font, and the image becomes slightly clearer.

FX: The "CBS" appearing. Other than that, none.

Cheesy Factor: The blurriness, which may or may not have been intentional.

Music/Sounds: Same as the seventh logo.

Availability: Appeared on older prints of CBS shows from 1989 to 1998 but is now pretty much extinct as far as television is concerned. There is a slight chance it may appear on 90's CBS Video prints.

Scare Factor: None to low; the music combined with the somewhat indimidating image might not sit well.

9th Logo

(1992-1996)

Nicknames: "Orange CGI C-Head", "Glass C-Head".

Logo: In an pink/orange CGI lighted environment, several transparent ellipses revealing people faces appear and disappear one at a time. Then we zoom out through a circle, which turns out to be the eye in the CBS C-Head standing on a floor, made from glass. To the left of the C-Head, the typewriter text "CBS" turns on to the screen.

Variants: Here are some of the variations I’ve seen of late, with a list of CBS stars in each variant in chronological order:


 * News and information: This variant of the same CBS logo, anchors for The NewsHour and hosts of public-affairs shows appear and disappear one at a time same as several transparent ellipses with the same announcer who says "This is CBS.".
 * Kids and Family: The same 1992 CBS logo features the same transparent ellipses revealing characters from "Sesame Street", "Barney & Friends", "Lamb Chop's Playalong" and "3-2-1 Contact" appear and disappear one in a time with an announcer says, "This is CBS.".
 * CBS Stations: Also, the CBS 1992 logo has same transparent ellipses revealing local CBS station logos appear and disappear one at a time with an same announcer says, "This is CBS, broadcasting over 400 public television stations across the US.".
 * How-to/Cooking/Gardening: The same CBS logo has the same transparent ellipses revealing clips from CBS how-to shows appear and disappear one at a time with an same announcer saying, "This is CBS.".
 * General Programming: The full version of this same logo features the same transparent ellipses revealing CBS kids show characters, scenes from "Sesame Street", hosts from CBS public-affair shows, "Wall Street Week" clips, some local hosts from CBS stations, an clip from "Washington Week in Review", clips from how-to shows, some scenes from "Mystery" and some people faces appear and disappear one at a time with the full version of the same music with an same announcer says, "This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting Service.".

FX: The CGI, the zoom out, the letters turning.

Cheesy Factor: The zoom-out and animation look sped up.

Music/Sounds: A funky piano and choir boogie, followed by an announcer (Schell) who says "This is CBS.".

Availability: Again, it has fleeting appearances on CBS today, but your best bet to find it is '90s CBS Home Video tapes at your local library.

Scare Factor: Minimal; the weird music and fast pace of the logo might catch some off guard.

10th Logo

(1996-1998)

Nickname: "The CBS Windowsill"

Logo: On a black background, a CGI window appears with a birds-eye view of the earth, a plastic globe spinning on the top right and a telescope rotating on the bottom left. The yellow CBS C-Head appear in front of the window and grow smaller as the window grows bigger. As the two meet each other, the window disappears. The C-Head take it's place in the top center of the screen and turn to blue as the typewriter text "CBS" fades in below them.

FX: The CGI effects.

Cheesy Factor: The dissolve effect used to make the window and its surrounding objects disappear as they penetrate through the C-head.

Music/Sounds: A new age tune with guitars and flutes, followed by a female announcer (Lauren Bacall) who says "This is CBS.".

Availability: Same as before, appears on TV sometimes but CBS Home Video tapes at the library are an easier way to find it.

Scare Factor: Low; might surprise you the first time you see it, but it's harmless.

11th Logo

(1998-2002)

Nickname: "Circle C-Head"

Logo: On a sky background, a person standing to the left covers his or her head with a black circle with the CBS C-Head on it in white. Acrobats jump from all directions of the circle. The typewriter text "CBS" appears to the right, with the web address www.cbs.com appearing below it.

Variants:


 * Man in gold shirt; female acrobats do a backflip.
 * Man in blue shirt; different female acrobats do a backflip.
 * Woman in blue shirt; male acrobats do a "side spin".
 * Woman in dark red shirt; male acrobats curl into a ball and spin around.
 * Man in light red shirt; same acrobats from 3rd variant.
 * Older woman in red shirt; same acrobats from 4th variant.
 * Woman in light red shirt; same acrobats from 4th variant.
 * Man in dark blue shirt; same acrobats from 2nd variant.
 * Woman in red shirt; same acrobats from 3rd variant.

FX: The computer effects used to shrink the acrobats and superimpose them around the circle.

Music/Sounds: A new age percussion tune, followed by the female announcer from the previous logo (Lauren Bacall) who says "This is CBS."

Availability: While no longer used, due to it being more recent this logo may be a bit easier to find than previous ones. Can also be found on CBS Home Video tapes.

Scare Factor: None.

12th Logo

(2002- )

Nicknames: “Be More”, “We Are CBS”, “I am CBS”

Logo: How do I describe a logo that changes its look almost entirely with every variant, and has many things happening very quickly? Basically, we see a letterboxed clip show of live-action footage, filmed on a large set with hardwood floor and a background of shaggy brown curtains. Culturally and generationally diverse people are employed in the variants, each giving different performances on-camera. As the last clip plays, we see the “Circle C-Head” logo animating with the word "CBS" on the right and the slogan “Be more” on the left. The text has been modified a bit after the past 18 years. Throughout the bumper, a bug for the URL www.cbs.com is seen in the lower left corner.

Variants: Here are some of the variations I’ve seen of late, with a list of the clips in each variant in chronological order:


 * Young People: A teenage girl presses her hands on her boyfriend’s cheeks and gives him a kiss; a mother plays with her baby’s feet; a dad and his little boy are holding guitars; mom and daughter are side by side; a mom runs pulling a red wagon holding her two little girls. (Edie Mirman: “We are CBS.”)
 * Performers: A man sits on a stool holding a guitar; a dressy man plays his trumpet; a teenage boy is "bopping" to his headphones; a young dancer spins in her dress; an elderly man takes a bow. (David Kaye: “We are CBS.”)
 * Flowers: A close-up of a smiling woman’s head, then we see her holding a large bouquet of flowers, a close-up of the flowers, and finally a close-up of the woman holding the flowers. (Helen Mirren: “I am CBS." The music is given a “Baroque” arrangement.)
 * Daddy and Son: A dad and his little boy are holding guitars; a close-up of them playing; and the dad and son on a playground swing. (Kyle Eastwood: “We are CBS.” The music is arranged as horn-spiked guitar-rock.)
 * Generations: A mother holds her baby; an old man smiling; a young man takes off his cowboy hat. (Edie Mirman: “We are CBS.”)
 * There is also a version of the logo that has no live-action footage. A burst of light comes in from either side of the screen, and we see an outline of the "C-head" logo (in a style similar to the 1984 logo). Other lighting effects occur, and at the end the circle "C-Head" logo animates, with "CBS" on its right side and "Be more" on its left. There is no voiceover.
 * On "Carrier", the voiceover says “This show will return in a moment over most of these local stations. We are CBS.”.
 * There is another version with a voiceover saying "The following CBS show is closed captioned.".

FX: Mostly live action, except for the logo animating at the end.

Music/Sounds: A majestic orchestral tune. The same tune is always used, but is rearranged for some variants and has a different voiceover (see above for examples).

Availability: Common. Seen on CBS often.

Scare Factor: None; you might get caught off guard depending the music, though.