MTV3

Background
MTV3 was launched in January 1, 1993 as the result of TV channel reform in Finland. All programs that originally run on its predecessor Mainos TV, moved out from Yleisradio's TV1 and TV2 channels into a new Finnish commercial television station. During the same year, MTV Oy was admitted as a full active member of the European Broadcasting Union. MTV3 become quickly popular and the full time broadcasts began in March 14. 1994. MTV Oy and daily newspaper Aamulehti merged into Alma Media in 1998 after the foundation of new Finnish commercial television channel Nelonen operated by media group Sanoma. One year later, MTV Oy launched a free Finnish cable channel TVTV!, that was then later formed into SubTV. In 2005, MTV Oy was sold and later owned fully by Swedish media group Bonnier AB. In 2008, MTV3 expanded with four pay-TV channels: MTV3 MAX, MTV3 Fakta, MTV3 Leffa and Subtv Juniori. The channel image for the television station has been fully updated twice since its launch (2001-2013 and 2013-present). Again, not associated by the American television network, MTV (Music Television).

Note: Many of these channel idents can be found in this compilation

1st Logo (January 1, 1993-September 6, 2001)
Nicknames: "Ribbon Owl", "Majestic Owl", "Owl Ball's Evolution"

Logo: On a time-lapse video of a sunset over water, a metallic triangle fades in, rotates, and zooms out into place. As it settles into place, a light emerges from it as triangles, ribbons and a live action owl flies out and ripples form on the water's surface. As a result, the triangle disappears and the sunset fades to a rippling orange and blue background. A shot of a owl fades in, turning its head as the background changes to blue. Another owl flies across the screen as a single ribbon comes around the screen. A close-up of the owl's eye then fades in before fading back to a close up of the flying owl, surrounded by auroras. The ribbon flies across the screen again as the owl fades before the final shot on a cloudy background. A spotlight appears and rotates around as the owl flies across the screen. The owl fades out as several blue ribbons and one red ribbon fly in, the former forming an owl and the latter forming a "3". The spotlight forms a glass triangle and another light forms, finishing the triangle and making the owl disappear as "MTV" fades in below, with the "V" on the tip of the triangle. Ripples form on the bottom of the screen, with the cloudy background and ribbons waving around continuing until the end of the logo.

Trivia:
 * The logo was created by graphic designer John Kennedy of the now dissolved British company McCallum Kennedy D'Autria Ltd.
 * According to Heikki Hellman in his book Koko illan ilo? Kolmoskanava ja television kaupallistuminen, the transparent triangle seen in both idents is a reference to the fusion of MTV and the nationwide television channel Kolmoskanava (the channel featured a triangle in their logo), that previously owned the third channel slot.

Variant: The closedown variant has a darkened owl looking around and another owl, this time as a silhouette, flying across the sunset background. This then cuts to the logo forming, but without the owl.

FX/SFX: The live-action shot of the owl, the ribbons. Excellent use of live-action and CGI that holds up 24 years later and a proud step up from before.

Music/Sounds: A majestic orchestral piece, with string instruments before ending with a proud hit. The closedown variant has a quiet "WHOOSH" before ending with an abridged version of the piece.

Availability: Extinct on TV. Both variants can be discovered in numerous preserved VHS recordings from the 1990's. The closedown variant could also be spotted after the closure of the seven o'clock newscast (Seitsemän uutiset).

Legacy: The dramatic piece may surprise some, but this is a majestic logo and a nostalgic memory for many in Finland.

2nd Logo (September 6, 2001-October 3, 2005)
Nicknames: "The Owl Eye", "Translucent Owl Eye"

Logo: On a varying background, we see a transparent object that slowly rotates on the center of the screen. Small bars are seen wiping in and out of the object with the between parts of the bars having the small text "mtv3" on them. The object then comes into full view with a snowy owl briefly seen on the center of the object before disappearing on it, revealing it to be an abstract owl eye with a glossy texture. Then, the transparent text "MTV3" appears below, in a round font.

Trivia: International design agency Novocom created the new logo, that is used from 2001 up to 2013 with only simplified changes being made in 2005. There's a compilation video showcasing different variants created by Novocom, some of which may had or had not been aired on television.

Variants:
 * A minute and half long startup ident features a slow sunrise behind a forest with shots of a flowing river and forests shown in-between. Bars are seen wiping across the screen three times; first as vertical lines, second as regular "mtv3" bars and third as bars regularly wiping in and out of the slowly rotating logo. The logo appears at the last third of the ident with the sun having fully rised up on the background.
 * A closedown ident from 2002 has a pond shore background at sunset (the exact same shot is also seen briefly in the startup variant). The camera keeps slowly zooming-in, while the logo animation is presented on the screen.
 * Regular #1: We see a red and white room with an active steel table fan on the right side. The camera is slowly zooming-in.
 * Regular #2: An ident variant spotted in 2002 has a distance shot showing the city coast of Helsinki.
 * Regular #3: Another variant spotted in 2002 has a low angle shot of conifers in the winter. The camera slowly pans to the right, while pointing upwards.
 * Regular #4: A variant used in 2003 has the camera panning to the right upwards. The camera stops towards the end of the ident to display the coastal area of Helsinki in wintertime.
 * Regular #5: A variant used in 2004 has a landscape shot showing a lake during a cloudy sunset. The camera is seen slowly panning right and stops after the logo has come into full view.
 * Regular #6: A variant used in 2004 has another landscape shot depicting the lake during a sunset, but the camera pans left.
 * Regular #7: We see a simple rack focused shot of a red room with a white couch on the right side. The camera is slowly zooming-in.
 * Regular #8: Another variant from 2004 has a landscape shot showing the coast of Helsinki at dusk. The camera slowly pans left and stops at one place when the logo has come into full view.
 * Regular #9: We see a simple shot of the camera pointing to the corner of a red room with wall coverings that have round formations on them.
 * Regular #10: Same shot as the previous one, but now we see a white round table with a photo frame standing on it, while the camera zooms in towards it. On the photo frame, a simple slideshow of four different portraits or pictures is seen.
 * Regular #11: A variant used in 2005 features another landscape shot showing a Finnish lake and forestry bay. The camera constantly moves to the left while a water splash can be seen on the bottom left side, as the footage is taken during a motor boat ride.
 * Series #1: We see a rack focused shot with the camera pointing on a horizontal direction, showing the top of a red padded chair and a tall fish tank. Between parts of the wiping bars, we can see the word "SARJAT" ("SERIES").
 * Series #2: We see an extreme close-up shot, showing the same padded chair and corner of the fish tank as the Series #1 bumper on the right side. There is also a regular variant of this ident, that replaces "SARJAT" with the basic "mtv3" on bars.
 * Series #3: A rack focused shot of a red room with a white couch seen in the far distance. We can see a brown clean table with a set of soda canisters on the right side. The camera is slowly zooming-in straight forward. Unlike the previous two variants, the wiping bars are missing and only the words are seen wiping in and out of the logo.
 * Drama #1: A rack focused shot depicting a white couch with a red pillow. Various copies of the word "DRAAMA" are seen between the bars, wiping in and out of the logo.
 * Drama #2: From a rack focused perspective, we see a white couch and a couple of tissues on a table in a red room. The camera is slowly zooming-in, as we see the word "DRAAMA" (with slight glimpses of tiny diamond formations) moving back and forth on the screen and behind the owl eye logo.
 * Entertainment #1: A rack focused shot, this time depicting the top of the red padded chair, a piece of a lamp post and a yellow lava lamp. Between the wiping bars, we can see the word "VIIHDE" ("ENTERTAINMENT").
 * Entertainment #2: The logo animation is happening on a red room background with a large loudspeaker seen on the right. The camera is slowly zooming-in.
 * Comedy: In a dark room, we see a man on a couch, watching TV, while picking up a popcorn kernel and tossing it upwards. As a result, a big pile of popcorn falls down on him, as the man takes a kernel and eats it. While this is happening, the word "KOMEDIA" ("COMEDY") is moving through the screen back and forth via a tunnel made of tiny diamond formations, as the tunnel pipe is seen stretching. We can also see large rhombus quadrilaterals popping in and out on the right side as well. The logo comes into full view on the screen after the big pile of popcorn falls down and the diamond tunnel fades out.
 * Kids: We see a typical children's room with toys on the floor, cabinet and bed. A wooden toy train is also seen driving around by itself with a stuffed frog riding it. The word "LAPSET" ("CHILDREN") is written on the bars, wiping in and out of the screen. We then cut into another shot of someone making a red top spin around at one place, while the wooden toy train is moving past on the background. At this point, the logo rotates on the screen.
 * Teenagers: Used in 2001 and 2003, we start in a close-up shot of two television screens with the one on the left showing a rotating egg chair and the one on the right showing a woman with headphones. The camera then slowly zooms-out but we have a quick cut to a wider and more prominent shot of the egg chair and six television screens, each one depicting different shots of the woman and egg chair. As this happens, the word "NUORET" ("YOUNG PEOPLE") is written on the bars, wiping in and out of the screen. We have more quick cuts the previous shot and then far away of the egg chair and monitors, while the woman on monitors has a happy expression on her face. During these quick cuts, the logo rotates in the screen, while the camera keeps zooming out of the egg chair room.
 * Movie #1: We see some movie theater seats from the front, as the camera slowly scrolls down. We see bars with the word "ELOKUVAT" ("MOVIES") written on them, as these bars seen wiping in and out of the logo with rhombus quadrilaterals popping in and out around them. The abstract owl eye creates a beam of light like a film projector while rotating. The light beam disappears after the logo has come into full view. The camera stops scrolling in front of the movie seat that has numbers "003" labeled below the seat.
 * Movie #2: Used for action movies, we start up from a black background with vertical and horizontal dotted lines, while the word "E L O K U V A T" is flashing on center of the screen. The flashing gets faster until the letters leap away from an sudden explosion, with another set of letters flying on the screen. As the logo then appears, the explosion animation is repeated in reverse, leaving a round yellow light on the screen, while bars with words "ELOKUVAT" written on them are wiping in and out of logo.
 * Sport #1: Used between 2001 and 2003, we see an orange background with a blurry motion and a Formula One stadium on the left side. As the camera pans left and the logo slowly rotates into full view, bars with the word "URHEILU" ("SPORTS") on them are wiping in and out of logo.
 * Sport #2: Used in between 2003 and 2005, we see a white CGI sports stadium with a rounded left side on a red background. Unlike the previous variant, only the word "URHEILU" is seen wiping in and out of the logo.
 * Sport #3: We see a dark red and black background with racing track with a smooth lightning effect going on them. It should be noted that the bars with "URHEILU" on them have small bubbles popping up, as the words wipe in and out of the logo. There's also a short ad break variant with the same background, but we see the word "JATKUU" ("TO BE CONTINUED") passing back and forth through the transparent owl eye logo.
 * News #1: Used between 2001 and 2003, we see footage of the Helsinki Metro station with the right half of the screen being a mirror image. At first, the footage is in fast forward motion until it changes into slow motion as chain-formatted bars with the word "UUTISET" ("NEWS") written on them, wipe in and out of logo.
 * News #2: Used between 2004 and 2005, we see an extreme close-up shot of a couch's lower side, while the camera slowly zooms-in. A pillow is seen in front of the couch, that reflects images of city buildings. Unlike the previous variant, only the word "UUTISET" is seen wiping in and out of logo.
 * In 2005, some regular idents feature the snowy owl seen on center of the logo. Unlike the previous idents, this time the snowy owl does not disappear after the transparent logo has came into full view and it keeps staring at the audience towards the end of the ident. In the first variant, the background features a red room with a glass table and white curtain, while another one features a view of a table with a white bowl full of strawberries.
 * Ad break (2001-2002): On black background, we see a large, clean and red object similar to the owl eye logo. The large object is in same rotation speed as the logo itself, as bars with small words "mtv3" written on them, wipe in out of the logo. After the logo comes in full view, the word "JATKUU" is seen wiping in and out of it. A shorter version exists, usually showing the last three seconds of the logo as it is already in full view. The Christmas variant used in December 2001 has the logo with snow on it.
 * Ad break #1 (2002-2003): We see a complex background with a larger logo seen in slow rotation. Bars with "mtv3" on them wipe in and out of the logo normally, but turn into different ones with "JATKUU" on them during the process. Two extra sections wipe in at the bottom part of the screen, as the left side shows basic vertical line background, while the right side features another, larger logo in horizontal rotation, except the round part of the object is rotating in 45 degree angle. A shorter version also exists.
 * Ad break #2 (2002-2003): An exclusive variant used during the breakfast television program Huomenta Suomi features a quick and complex background like the previous variant, featuring some shots of the sun rising behind the forest seen in the startup variant and scrolling document text on the left side. Notably, the background here is colored light blue rather than red with the exception of the red bottom right corner with the owl eye logo rotating in a 45 degree angle. On the right side where some bars with "JATKUU" are scrolling past the screen, there are transparent cubic symbols seen flashing before they disappear from the screen.
 * Sport ad break (2001-2003): Featured during live sport broadcasts, we see the abstract owl eye spinning around at a high speed while leaving a after images on a gold background with a Formula car on the center. The word "JATKUU" is seen going through the spinning logo back and forth, while the center point of the background fades out. As the text appears below, the owl eye stops spinning instantly.
 * Movie ad break (2001-2003): Again, we have quick and complex background similar to previous variant. The large object is seen on rotation as there is also short film reel countdown going from 3 to 2, while lower sections of the screen with vertical line background and rotating object parts are already there. All of these parts wipe out as the scenery of movie theater seats takes large part of the screen. This scenery will then slowly fades back to the end part of the 2002-2003 ad break variant. Two shorter versions exist: the first one showing the first three seconds and the second one with the last three seconds of the ad break.
 * Movie ad break #1 (2002): Once again, we have the quick and complex background of the 2002-2003 ad break variant with the same details. This time, the right half of the screen has an overhead view of an man sitting on a couch, while tossing a popcorn kernel into the air. We then cut into a close-up shot of popcorn being dropped down to the floor. The scene then fades out and we see the background of the 2002-2003 ad break variant.
 * Movie ad break #2 (2002): Again, the same complex background is featured, but this time we see a blue, round object dashing through the screen from left to right, leaving a flame wall behind it. This transitions then to another background with large explosion bursting from the right side of the screen before the background changes to the regular one seen at the end of previous movie variants. As the logo rotates in full view, the owl is not seen in it.
 * Christmas ad break (2002): We have the same complex background seen in the two previously described variants with some lower parts. The above part, however, has a cartoony setting taking place on a living room with a huge chunk of presents. Here we have Santa Claus and a dog moving rapidly across the room. The scene then cuts to outside in night time with Santa chasing his own sleigh that has left without him. During last seconds, the scene then fades back to the background seen in the 2002-2003 ad break variant.
 * Teenagers ad break (2003): On a similar complex background, we have the extreme closeup shot of the slowly spinning egg chair's top, that then transitions to a further shot of the chair with monitors seen behind, displaying the parts of the spinning chair and an eerily smiling woman. Much like the previous ad break variants, it then transitions to a red background with the owl eye logo and the text below it coming to full view.
 * Ad break (2003-2005): Here we have two rack focused shots sharing the screen space, while camera pans right on left shot and left on the right shot. Three versions exists with all of them having a right, rack focused shot of a white couch and cabinet. The first one has what looks like a white bowl, the second one has the edge of a cup and the third one features a closer look of the white couch. Shorter versions of these variants also exist.
 * Christmas ad break (2003): Closely similar to the regular ad break variants, but we see numerous silhouettes of snowflakes being visible on a white couch left, dropping down on the left side of the screen.
 * Christmas ad break (2004): Used in December 2004, there are three versions of these featuring Aulis the owl on a red-painted studio background with wooden ladders and lights: the first one has him doing a moonwalk, the second one has him taking a peek on the left side of the screen while winking its right eye and the third one features him simply taking a peek on the right side of the screen.
 * Ad break (2005): We see a red room with a white curtain on the left side. Much like the 2005 closing ident variants, the snowy owl can be seen staring at the camera in the owl eye logo towards the end of the ad break. There are four different versions: the first one has an empty red room at the right side, the second one has objects spread around the floor, the third one has a glass vase on glass table and the fourth one shows apples on a wooden table.

FX/SFX: The CGI or live action background, wiping bars and the logo rotating in.

Music/Sounds: A three-note synth tune, similar to the NBC Chimes.

Music/Sounds Trivia: The three-note jingle originated from 1995-2001 ad break bumpers and many of MTV3's in-house production logos in mid-1990's.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * A shorter version of the startup ident tune with three-note jingle is used for most of the regular and 2005 owl variants.
 * A soft wind with a three-note synth jingle with another soft wind ending the tune is used for most of the regular variants.
 * A relaxing, pop music version of the tune is used for some of the regular variants, the 2003 series variant and several 2005 owl variants.
 * A synth tune with three-note jingle played with an electric guitar is used for the 2001-2003 series variants and the single regular variant.
 * A soft and relaxing rendition of the tune is used for the 2001-2003 drama variant.
 * A different rendition with an electric guitar playing the three-note tune is used for the second drama variant.
 * A modern Finnish schlager (Iskelmä) rendition of the tune is used for the 2001-2003 entertainment variant.
 * A cheery version of the tune with stock cartoon sound effects is used for the 2001-2005 kids variant.
 * A hip-hop rendition of three-note tune with synth beats and a creeping sound heard at the end is used for the 2001-2003 teenagers variant.
 * A John Williams-inspired rendition of the tune is used for the 2001-2005 movie variant.
 * Corrupted computer and explosion sound effects, followed by a tight spy-themed version of the three note-jingle is used for the 2001-2005 action movie variant.
 * An intense rendition of the tune is used for the 2001-2003 sport variant. The same melody is used for the sport-themed ad-break variant, that only fades out earlier.
 * A soft and thrilling rendition of the tune is used for the 2003-2005 sport variants.
 * Both news variants have a calm tune, that contains a somewhat different nine-note jingle.
 * A soft wind with a three-note synth tune is used in the 2001-2002 ad break variant. Also included in the Christmas 2001 variant.
 * A shorter version of the closing movie tune is used for the 2001-2003 movie-themed ad break variant.
 * The 2002 movie-themed ad break variant uses a noisy, re-arranged version of the three-note tune that ends with a deep sound.
 * Another movie ad break variant from 2002 has the intense spy-themed rendition of the three-note tune.
 * A soft three-note tune with different synth instruments is used for the ad break variant from 2002. It can also be heard in the Christmas variant from 2002, as well as the 2003-2004 and 2005 owl-themed variants.
 * The December 2004 ad break variants use a small piece of the background music heard in television station's animated promos featuring Aulis the owl with a Christmas-inspired rendition of the three-note jingle.

Availability: Extinct on TV. The startup ident was played in every morning after the TV-chat program has ended. Many idents could be spotted after the closure of different type of programs. Regular variants featuring live-action footage of nature or city buildings were played after news broadcasts or weather forecast programs.

3rd Logo (October 3, 2005-2010)
Nicknames: "The Owl Eye II", "Colored Owl Eye"

Logo: On a white background, an orange dot flies in and spreads into a circle of multi-colored dots. This rotates around and goes back to the orange dot. It immediately disappears and the same logo from before fades in, but colored. The area around the eye is orange, while the eye is black. The text is all black this time.

Trivia: While Novocom designed the owl eye logo, a new channel look with closing logos used since 2005, are done by Graham McCallum.

Variants:
 * Usually, some variants include the promo of an upcoming prime time program. One example features the Idols logo on a blue and white background along with stacked dark blue text of airing times of related programs. A separate star is seen rotating slowly on the left bottom corner, as the stacked text fades out and the Idols logo flips around to show the channel logo on the screen.
 * On March 2006, one variant features multi-colored dots being replaced by logos of the new premium channels that were launched at that time.
 * A separate variant replaces the multi-colored dots with stars that fly in the circle at a high speed. The camera zooms-in and away drastically, while the stars create a wider rotation length. The stars then merge back to the leading red one, that comes back to the full view, flips around and transforms into the owl eye logo. We also see the dark orange text "Tanssii Tähtien Kanssa" (promoting the show Tanssii Tähtien Kanssa, which was released at that time) below the logo. When the show was promoted again in 2009 with the high-definition variant of the logo animation, the orange text was changed to gray with smaller "sunnuntai-iltaisin" ("Sunday evening") added below it.

FX/SFX: The dots swirling around, the logo fading in.

Music/Sounds: A soft wind tune.

Availability: Extinct. Could be usually spotted after the program has ended. However, this did not occur with programs aired during evening or prime time.

Legacy: It's a calm logo, but it's unfortunately the last to be seen of the owl identity.

4th Logo (October 3, 2005-November 3, 2013)
Nicknames: "The Owl Eye III", "Colored Owl Eye II", "Playing with Light", "Finnish Activity"

Logo: TBA

Variants: TBA

FX/SFX: TBA

Music/Sounds: TBA

Music/Sound Variants: TBA

Availability: Extinct on TV. Could be spotted prior the next program.

Legacy: TBA

5th Logo (November 3, 2013-May 21, 2017)
Nicknames: "Alko-TV", "The Whirls", "No More Owls", "Brief Return of the Commercial Owl" "The Owl is Back, But It's Gone Again", "Owl Teasing"

Logo: On a live-action shot of a random activity, usually a roller derby, a group of whirl blades fly in as the new MTV3 logo, which is "mtv3" in a circle, with the "3" jutting out, is drawn in. The whirls then disappear.

Variant: The logo may be on a black background instead, with the blades taking up the whole background.

FX/SFX: The blades and logo drawing in. This was designed by DixonBaxi.

Music/Sounds: A calm beat composed by MassiveMusic

Availability: Extinct on TV.

6th Logo (May 22, 2017-)
Nicknames: "Alko-TV II", "Round Warp Tunnel"

Logo: TBA

Variants: TBA

FX/SFX: TBA

Music/Sounds: TBA

Availability: TBA

Legacy: TBA