KCTS-TV

Background
KCTS is a PBS affiliate located in Seattle, Washington. It also serves Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

1st Logo (1954?-1969?, 1994)
Visuals: A crude drawing of a school is seen, next to "Serif" with a big "9" behind it, and "Courier" above it all. All of this is seen in a white background, possibly a sheet of cardboard.

Technique: None.

Audio: Possibly silent.

2nd Logo (1976-1979)
Visuals: Against a black background, four white number "9"s come together from each side of the screen (top, bottom, left, and right), then they zoom in towards the screen leaving a trail effect behind. Then we fade to "Serif" in big bold 3D letters, with "Serif" moving up towards "Serif" and stopping once it's close enough to that text, leaving a trail effect behind.

Technique: Scanimation.

Audio: An analog synth drone, followed by a female announcer saying "A production of KCTS Seattle". Afterwards, an upward piano sweep.

Availability: Only seen so far on The Boldt Decision.

3rd Logo (1978-1983)
Visuals: An updated version of the previous logo, with the same concept and similar animation/music. Against a black background, four abstract number "9"s come together with a trail effect to form a square like shape. As they come together, a beige colored outline of the shape forms as the trails suck into the logo. The numbers separate and rotate beyond the screen as the name "KCTS" in blue zooms in. "KCTS" stops and the text "SEATTLE" in the same font, but white and glowing, appears below.

Technique: Scanimation.

Audio: Same as the last logo, although the announcer is not as robotic. Sometimes, the announcer will say "The following is a production of KCTS Seattle." instead of simply "A production of KCTS Seattle." instead. Sometimes a male announcer will also be used instead.

Availability: Can be seen on Trident: Super Sub or Dinosaur and ''Subversive? The Life and Times of Terry Pettus'', both of which can be found on the American Archive of Public Broadcasting. The variant with the original female announcer with the alternate line/dialogue appears on Tarheels in the Northwest.

4th Logo (1983-September 24, 1993)
Visuals: Over a faded bright cerulean background, we see the word "Century Gothic", in ITC Avant Garde and colored yellow, zoom out to the right, very quickly. As it does this, "Century Gothic", in the same font and color, zoom out from the top to the left, very slowly. When both "Century Gothic" and "Century Gothic" meet, forming "Century Gothic", a yellow flash occurs, and the logo seems to sparkle a bit before we fade out.

Variant: Among other PBS-Affiliated stations of this time, KCTS used a bunch of local station IDs promoting their channel. In this promo, we see many clips of shows (either produced by KCTS itself and/or PBS, and other affiliates) being shown to us. After a whole bunch of shows are seen, then we see the KCTSeattle logo (which animates the same way as it does in the above-mentioned logo, only with a black/dark sapphire gradient BG instead of the usual bright cerulean), and then the channel station number "9" animates itself by flying away from the viewer, and place itself next to the text. Then, we see the text "TV Worth Watching" in a white script font write itself under the text. Another version has the normal background without "TV Worth Watching".

Technique: 2D computer animation made at Alpha Cine.

Audio: A rapid (and dramatic) orchestral tune, with a solo viola.

Audio/Variant: The local station ID features a long piece of music from PBS's slogan "TV Worth Watching". The music is an 80's synth/electric guitar theme which includes a female singer and a male singer. The female singer though, sings throughout most of the jingle. The jingle may also be referred to as the "You'll Turn Us On and You'll Love It!" jingle and was also used by WNED in Buffalo.

Availability: A VHS or DVD of The Miracle Planet should have this logo. Its last appearance was on To Write and Keep Kind.

5th Logo (1992-1999)
Visuals: Against a black background, we zoom out from what appears to be a glass circle with a spectrum shining through, and "KCTS" in copper carved into the circle. While we zoom out, the solid "KCTS" logo pushes into the circle, and the word "S E A T T L E", in Hattenschweiler and colored beige, and on a teal-colored dip, rotates into place, plus two glass tubes draw themselves in going on both sides, then we fade out.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A synthesized wind sounder, and then a four-note synth-chime tune.

Availability: Bill Nye the Science Guy had this logo after the funding credits in the mid-'90s, as well as a few medical programs from KCTS at the time.

6th (Bill Nye custom) Logo (1993-1998)
Visuals: Just the words "KCTS" and "SEATTLE" in Fusion after the credits. "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" may also be shown above it.

Technique: None.

Audio: The closing theme of whatever show was playing.

Availability: Seen at the end of Bill Nye the Science Guy which occasionally runs on MeTV. The tapes for said show are somewhat difficult to find, but it's incorporated into most elementary/middle-school curriculums.

7th Logo (1999-December 2006, July 17, 2010)
Visuals: On a white spotlight background, a black box containing a stylized drawing of an eclipse flips into the screen very fast along with the word """KCTS """, in black and in Century Gothic. Soon after, the word SEATTLE, in maroon, flies in from the bottom-left of the screen. Sometime in the mid-2000's, a different variant was used and looked similar, but the logo just simply zooms in.

Technique: Simple computer animation.

Audio: A simple jazz-pop tune combined with two piano notes and two fast bass violin notes as the words slide into place. All accompanied by a groovy beat box.

Availability: Can be seen on The Eyes of Nye on select PBS stations. It does not appear on VHS releases of the show.

8th Logo (2006-)


Visuals: On a water background, we see water drops rippling and four colored circles (in order: green, yellow, violet, and ) drop and float. "KCTS9" drops down at the last circle. "SEATTLE" fades in below.

Technique: Live-action and 2D computer animation.

Audio: The water.

Availability: Seen on some Rick Steves specials which Oregon Public Broadcasting didn't present, such as Dynamic Europe, European Travel Skills, and The Holy Land: Israelis and Palestinians Today.

9th Logo (2015-)


Visuals: Against a white background with flying birds, various navy blue, light blue and lime squares and triangles slide onto the screen. In the middle, a light blue rectangle with "INQUISITIVE" in white drops from the middle. Two large lime shapes appear on screen and "QUISI" becomes blue whilst the T becomes green and bold. The large shape shrinks and becomes a V, placing itself next to the T. All the other shapes disappear and the background changes to a shot of a kid in the rain jumping in puddles. Below "INQUISITV" is small text that reads "INSPIRING A SMARTER WORLD". The "INQUISITV" text zooms out to the left and "KCTS9" appears on the right before the PBS logo zooms in, between the texts.

Technique: Live-action and 2D computer animation.

Audio: A guitar tune.