Nine's Wide World of Sports

Background
Nine's Wide World of Sports is a sports anthology brand used by the Nine Network in Australia, introduced in 1982 to replace the old "Nine Sports" name. All major sports events and series covered by the network are broadcast under this brand.

(1977?-1982)


Logo: We see the 9 Sports logo in blue against footage of a satellite spinning above the Earth.

Technique: Live-action model work, presumably stock footage.

Music/Sounds: A funky disco theme.

Availability: Extinct.

1st Logo (1982-March 1992)


Logo: On a black background, we see a sparkling Channel Nine logo without the dots to the left of it, off-centered from the middle of the screen. A bunch of glowing yellow balls appears one by one, circling around the logo and creating various thin blue circles that rotate behind the logo in a way that resembles an atom. The glowing balls then start to create the dots in the Channel Nine logo one by one, flashing as they land in place, while the thin circles that surround it all wrap into an oval that encloses the logo. This oval then becomes a wireframe globe, as "WIDE WORLD" and "OF SPORTS" flash in above and below the logo respectively, both colored white and in an old-looking computer font.

Closing Variant: At the end of sports telecasts or productions, a truncated version of the logo is used, beginning from the point where the "WIDE WORLD" and "OF SPORTS" texts flashes in. Another closing variant also exists, which has the logo starting from the point where the blue circles are almost finished wrapping around the Channel Nine logo.

Variant: On cricket and golf matches aired by Nine from c.1985 onward, special variations were used which will be described at a later date.

Technique: The sparkles on the Channel Nine logo (plus its dots), the glowing balls flying around and flashing as they stop in place, the rotating circles that eventually combine into the wireframe globe, and the text flashing in.

Music/Sounds: A bunch of laser sound effects with a 9-note xylophone theme that coincides with each dot forming on the Channel Nine logo, followed by a funky fanfare played on a drum, trombone, and saxophone. The closing variant usually had the closing theme playing over it, with long-time Channel Nine announcer Steve Britten (or ex-cricketer and renowned commentator Richie Benaud on cricket matches) saying: "This has been another presentation from Nine's Wide World of Sports."

Music/Sounds Variant: The previously described cricket and golf variations have the opening excerpt of "New Horizons" by Brian Bennett in place of the regular logo theme.

Availability: Extinct. Was seen at the start and the end of Channel Nine sports telecasts between 1982-1992, as well as episodes of Wide World of Sports and Sports Sunday from the time period, but it usually can't be seen nowadays outside of old off-air recordings. The cricket variant had made a few appearances in recent years when Channel Nine aired an old cricket match to fill time when a current match was rained out, but after Nine lost the rights to televise international cricket matches in 2018, this variant has also become extinct outside of off-air recordings.

2nd Logo (April 1992-December 1996)
Logo: On a black background, several CGI spears fly around the screen in many directions, each of which leaves a silver trail behind them that fades away shortly afterward. The Channel Nine logo (in gold and without the dots) then zooms out from the right side of the screen, with the spears stopping in place to the left of it one by one, flashing as they create the dots in the logo. As the Channel Nine logo continues to zoom out, a silver wireframe globe draws itself in, which the logo stops in the center of. Once the globe is complete and the final dot stops in place, the Channel Nine logo begins to sparkle and shine as "WIDE WORLD" and "OF SPORTS" flash in above and below the logo respectively, this time in a more conventional font and with some shine effects.

Closing Variant: Unknown

Variants: Unknown

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo, but recomposed. The laser sound effects are replaced with a heavenly choir, the 9-note xylophone theme has been redone, and the majestic drum, trombone, and saxophone fanfare at the end now sound more professional.

Music/Sounds Variants: A few different variations of the opening theme exist, but here are some of the ones we've been able to find.
 * Like the previous logo, the cricket variant uses the opening excerpt of "New Horizons" by Brian Bennett.


 * Formula One sound variants:
 * 1992 Australian Grand Prix: The theme from the previous logo is heard, but with the added sound effects of F1 cars revving and rattle guns in use during the fanfare.
 * 1993 Australian Grand Prix: Similar to the 1992 Australian Grand Prix variant, but with the updated logo theme and different F1 car and rattle gun sound effects.
 * 1994 Formula One Season (excludes Australian Grand Prix): During the fanfare portion of the theme, the faint sounds of an F1 car can be heard.
 * 1994 Australian Grand Prix: During the logo theme's fanfare portion, the sound of an F1 car revving its engine can be heard.
 * 1995 Formula One Season: Same as the 1994 Australian Grand Prix variant, but with a different rev sound effect.
 * 500cc World Championship (Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing/MotoGP) sound variants:
 * 1994 Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing Season: During the logo theme's fanfare, the sound of motorcycles revving their engines can be heard.
 * 1995 Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing Season: Same as the 1994 variant, but with a different rev sound effect.

Availability: Rare. Seen at the start and the end of Channel Nine sports telecasts between 1992-1996, as well as episodes of Wide World of Sports and Sports Sunday from the time period. Once again, you'll likely need to look at old off-air recordings to find this logo for yourself nowadays, but the standard logo can also be found on the 1997 VHS release of The Best of The Footy Show: Volume 3 (and presumably on the first two volumes too). As per the previous logo, the cricket variant had made appearances in recent years when Channel Nine aired an old cricket match to fill time when a current match was rained out until they lost the rights to televise international cricket matches in 2018. However, this variant can still be seen on several cricket-related VHS releases issued by Visual Entertainment Group/Australian Cricket Video from the time period.

3rd Logo (January 1997-December 2000)


Logo: Same as the 2nd logo, but with slightly redone animation. The spears/dots and the Channel Nine logo are in a brighter shade of, the trails and wireframe globe are now blue, with the latter glowing in various places. The flash in effects for the "WIDE WORLD" and "OF SPORTS" text are also much improved, and the shining effects for the text are more noticeable compared to the previous logo.

Closing Variant: Unknown

Variants: Unknown

Technique: Same as the 2nd logo, but with the added glow effects on the wireframe globe and brighter colors overall.

Music/Sounds: The same theme from the previous logo, but redone in a guitar-heavy rock style

Availability: Rare. Seen at the start and the end of Channel Nine sports telecasts between 1997-2000, as well as episodes of Wide World of Sports (until the show was discontinued in 1999) and Sports Sunday from the time period. This logo can be found on the DVD release of ''Howzat! Kerry Packer War'' as an extra feature on Disc 3.

4th Logo (January 2001-2004)
Logo: On an orange background, we see sports paraphernalia and imagery, surrounded by futuristic graphics and diagrams, as glowing orange dots fly past rapidly. Two of the dots collide causing an explosion. We zoom out as the wireframe globe appears and the dots fly in to form the 9 logos as per the previous intros. The logo zooms out to a comfortable distance and the words "wide world of sports" appear with a flash above and below the logo.

Closing Variant: We see the logo animate as usual from the appearance of the 9 logos onwards.

Variant: From 2002, the logo and globe were updated to look slightly more metallic. The dots in the 9 logos were also changed to spheres.

Technique: CGI

Music/Sounds: A remixed/re-orchestrated version of the previous logo's theme. The closing variant has a whoosh sound and an announcer delivering the same spiel used since the 2nd logo.

Music/Sounds Variant: Cricket broadcasts used an alternate theme which would lead to an updated version of "New Horizons"

Availability: Seen on sports broadcasts from the time.

5th Logo (2004-2006)


Logo: An updated version of the previous opening which uses live-action sports footage instead of CG images of sports paraphernalia

Technique: CGI and Live Action

Music/Sounds: An updated, higher-pitched version of the previous logo's theme

Availability: Same as the previous logos

6th Logo (2006-2008)
Logo: Against a roundel of lights, we see overlaid footage from various sports events. We then see the roundel from above which zooms out, resulting in a flash which reveals the new Wide World of Sports logo- the new dot-less Channel 9 logo in its standard blue square with a white rectangle containing the text "Wide World of Sports", with sports being bigger than the rest of the text.

Later Variant: When Channel 9 rebranded in 2008 and re-instated the dots, the intro was updated. Some new clips were used and the 2006 WWOS logo was replaced with an updated version of the wireframe globe, positioned higher in the frame than the earlier rectangle logo.

Technique: CGI and live action.

Music/Sounds: A funkier version of the previous theme with various commentary clips corresponding to the sports shown played over it.

Availability: Same as the previous logos.

7th Logo (2008-2012)


Logo: Against a background of light streaks, we see CGI figures performing a number of sporting actions, such as hitting and bowling a cricket ball and racing on a horse. Finally, we see the parts of the wireframe globe zoom out and rotate into place as the WWOS logo forms.

Closing Variant: A shortened variant with a voiceover by Channel 9 Sports presenter Ken Sutcliffe (Or Richie Benaud on cricket matches) delivering the traditional closing statement of "This has been another presentation of Nine's Wide World of Sports.

Technique: All CGI.

Music/Sounds: A new modern rock version of the WWOS theme.

Availability: Same as the previous logos.

8th Logo (2012- )
Logo: On a white background, a series of red CGI spheres drop down and explode into larger wireframe spheres, which then fill out into solid spheres. We then cut to several shots of CGI streaks crossing the screen, which in turn, cuts to the elements forming the classic WWOS wireframe globe logo on a tilted angle. The globe then zooms out and tilts to a regular angle, stopping in the center of the screen as the "WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS" text flies out from the bottom of the screen and stops underneath the globe.

Technique: This logo is all CGI, containing no live-action clips. This is the first WWOS logo since the 2001 logo to feature no live-action clips.

Closing Variant: A short version of the opening logo with the same VO from the previous logo. The Benaud version was still used on cricket matches and continued to be used after his death in 2015 as a tribute to him.

Variants:
 * Starting from early 2016, the logo was recolored light blue and became glossier.
 * There are also purple, green and yellow variants.

Music/Sounds: The same theme from the previous logo.

Availability: Current. The original red variant was seen on all Channel Nine sports broadcasts between 2012-2016, while the blue variant has been used on said broadcasts since 2016.