Worldvision Enterprises

Background
Worldvision Enterprises Inc. was a television program and home video distributor established in 1973 as the successor of ABC Films after the former company spun off because it was against the FCC regulations for a television network to distribute its programs under its own name. They primarily licensed programs from others, rather than producing their own content. By the time Worldvision was in operation for 10 years, the company had offices in many important cities around the world such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, London, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, Toronto, Rio de Janeiro, Munich, Mexico City, and Rome. In 1979, Worldvision was sold to Taft Broadcasting (later renamed to "Great American" in 1987 and "Citicasters" in 1993), and was later sold to Aaron Spelling in 1988 and became part of Spelling, Inc. The transaction was completed on March 11, 1989. On April 6, 1991, Spelling Entertainment Inc. was acquired by the Charter Company, an oil refining, insurance, and communications company. Spelling and Charter merged on October 5, 1992 and Charter was renamed as "Spelling Entertainment Group". On October 5, 1993, Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation acquired a 67% stake in the Spelling Entertainment Group and later merged with Viacom on September 29, 1994. In 1997, the production arm of Worldvision Enterprises was incorporated into Republic Pictures, and in 1999, Viacom (later "CBS Corporation" and "ViacomCBS", now "Paramount Global") acquired the rest of the Spelling Entertainment Group, and folded the distribution arm of Worldvision into Paramount Domestic Television (now "CBS Media Ventures"). Currently, most of the Worldvision Enterprises library (the exceptions: most of the Hanna-Barbera library is owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment through Turner Broadcasting, Let's Make a Deal is now owned by FremantleMedia, and the TV movies produced by Fries Entertainment co-produced by Worldvision are owned by MGM Holdings Inc.) is owned by Paramount Global through CBS Media Ventures and Spelling Television Inc. The movies that Worldvision syndicated, such as those from Carolco, are now syndicated by Trifecta Entertainment & Media, under license from Paramount Pictures.

1st Logo (January 8, 1973-January 10, 1976)
Nicknames: "Radar Globe", "Radar W", "Worldvision W Globe"

Logo: On a yellow background, we see a black oval-shaped globe with longitudinal and latitudinal lines wiping in upwards, as a navy blue "W" wipes itself in downward. The "W" is stylized in a way that makes it blend with the spherical shape. The company name "WORLDVISION ENTERPRISES INC." appears below the globe.

Trivia: The company's slogan was "The World's Leading Distributor for Independent Television Producers".

Variants:
 * A special superimposed in-credit variant with no animation was created to replace the ABC Films ID, with "A" placed above and "PRESENTATION" placed below. This was used on Let's Make A Deal.
 * On television movies such as Hey, I'm Alive and theatricals such as Beyond Atlantis, the still logo is on an orange background.

FX/SFX: The globe drawing itself in.

Music/Sounds: None. The in-credit variant has the end-title theme from Let's Make a Deal.

Availability: Rare. The animated version was seen on a syndication print of a 1973 episode of The Mod Squad with an aqua blue circle. The in-credit scroll version was used on Let's Make a Deal. The still variant was sighted on the 1975 TV movie Hey, I'm Alive on Starz Encore Drama. Can be also seen on Someone I Touched on Amazon Prime, Epix.com and formerly Netflix. May appear on old television prints of Dimension Pictures theatricals such as Beyond Atlantis and The Twilight People.

Editor's Note: A kinda simple, but decent logo, though the globe design is kind of ugly as the lines on the globe aren't all equal distance.

2nd Logo (1974-August 1988)
Nicknames: "Radar Globe II", "Radar W II", "Worldvision W Globe II"

Logo: Same as the previous logo, but the background is red, the globe, "W" and text are white, and the logo is completely redrawn to be cleaner in appearance. The text "Not affiliated with World Vision International, a religious and charitable organization" appears below the company name from this point onward.

Trivia:
 * This logo was used on '70s-'80s prints of old TV shows originally aired on ABC among others. Worldvision was also the top distributor of most Hanna-Barbera TV shows from post-1979 when Taft acquired Worldvision.
 * The note below the company name was added after the charitable organization World Vision International sued Worldvision Enterprises over the use of its name in 1974, one of the reasons the first logo was replaced. The two parties settled, and Worldvision Enterprises was allowed to keep its name, provided that the aforementioned note was used in its logo.

Bylines: When Taft Broadcasting acquired Worldvision, these bylines would appear under the company name:
 * 1979-1982: "A TAFT BROADCASTING COMPANY"
 * 1981-1987: "A TAFT COMPANY"
 * 1987-1988: Bylineless; just the "WVI" note (Great American Broadcasting era).

Variants:
 * A special superimposed in-credit variant with no animation was created to replace the ABC Films ID, with or without "A" placed above and "PRESENTATION" placed below, and with the note included. This was also used on co-produced TV movies.
 * A variant of the first bylineless version exists, in which the radar lines are visible through the "W". This version has been sighted on A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story and Louis Armstrong: Chicago Style on Encore Drama.
 * Another variant exists of the first, bylineless version, in which the "WVI" print stamp is smaller. This stamp has been sighted on the "translucent W" variant, on the aforementioned Encore Drama print of Louis Armstrong: Chicago Style.
 * On the 1977 made-for-TV movie Night Terror, the logo is still.
 * There is also a B&W variant.
 * On the syndicated version of The Newlywed Game from 1977-1980, the text says "SYNDICATED BY WORLDVISION ENTERPRISES, INC.".
 * On the Throb season 1 episode "Wedding Bell Blue", after the logo forms, the globe and words are replaced with superimposed footage of the musician James Brown saying, "I feel good!".

FX/SFX: Same as the previous logo.

Music/Sounds: None.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On the 1982 made-for-TV movie The Capture of Grizzly Addams, the logo had an ascending four-note jazzy Fender-Rhodes electric piano theme.
 * On '80s international prints of classic H-B shows, a generic variant of this logo with the H-B "Box" logo theme was heard.
 * In the 1978 made-for-TV movie Little Mo and the show Project U.F.O., the drum roll from the Mark VII Limited logo is extended to play over this logo.
 * On an '80s print of an episode of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, part of the H-B "Swirling Star" theme plays over the logo.
 * On season 9 episodes of The Love Boat on Pop and a December 22 2005 Channel 5 UK airing of the 1986 TV movie "The Christmas Gift", the 1988 music from the 3rd and final logo is heard as a result of reverse plastering.

Availability: Rare.
 * It appears on some episodes of The Streets of San Francisco on Me-TV.
 * The B&W version was last seen on a few B&W episodes of Combat! on H&I, and the color version is seen on the final season of Combat!, as well on current prints of classic TV movies and mini-series like Holocaust, followed by the CBS Television Distribution logo.
 * The in-credit variant was last seen on GSN reruns of Let's Make a Deal.
 * The first version (no byline) was recently sighted on A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story and Louis Armstrong: Chicago Style on Encore Drama.
 * This was also even spotted on at least one episode of General Hospital from around 1980 or 1981 during SOAPnet's General Hospital: 50th Anniversary marathon.
 * This was also spotted on a few recent final season Me-TV reruns of The Love Boat.
 * It also made a surprise appearance on an episode of Hong Kong Phooey on the Saturday Morning Cartoons - 1970s, Volume 1 DVD set.
 * It was also seen on Benji, Zax & the Alien Prince (except episodes 1, 11, and 12) where it is retained on DVD releases.
 * When the infamous Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos was rerun on Adult Swim, this logo with the Taft byline was intact as well.
 * Recently, this logo has been sighted on various episodes of Highway to Heaven on British TV channel True Movies.
 * The Capture of Grizzly Addams variant can be seen on said movie, whenever reran (usually on Decades), and is retained on the film's DVD release, followed by a silent CBS Television Distribution logo.

Editor's Note: Same as the previous logo, though the globe design has been improved on. However, the disclaimer at the bottom of the screen somewhat clutters the design.

3rd Logo (September 1988-May 26, 1999)
Nicknames: "Radar Globe III", "Radar W III", "Worldvision W Globe III", "Whoosh Globe"

Logo: It's basically a warp-speed variant of the 1983 Worldvision Home Video logo, with the background fading to black after a second and the text and globe inverting with a gradient wipe effect and fade effect respectively. "HOME VIDEO, INC." is also replaced by the text "ENTERPRISES INC." in a white Helvetica font. The radar globe then glows and the same note from the previous logo (in a much smaller font) fades in on the bottom of the screen, after which the logo shines.

Bylines: When introduced in 1988, there was no byline present (like the chyroned version of the previous logo). After Great American Broadcasting (the former Taft Broadcasting Co.) sold Worldvision to Aaron Spelling the same year, the following bylines appeared beginning in 1989:
 * 1989-1995: "A UNIT OF SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT INC." A trademark symbol appears by the "Radar W" logo in 1991.
 * 1994-1995: "A UNIT OF SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT INC., A BLOCKBUSTER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"
 * 1995-1996: "A UNIT OF SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC., A BLOCKBUSTER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"
 * 1996-1999: "A SUBSIDIARY OF SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC."

Variants:
 * There is a filmed variation of this logo.
 * When Blockbuster Entertainment bought Spelling, their movie ticket logo unfolded below Worldvision's logo (it was briefly placed next to the globe after the Blockbuster purchase of Spelling), underneath the Spelling byline (itself having the Blockbuster Entertainment byline underneath it). The Worldvision logo was also shrinked and shifted up a bit to make space for the Blockbuster byline.
 * There is also a still variant of this logo.
 * There is also a B&W variant.
 * A variant that was stretched to 16:9 was strangely spotted on AMC Networks' HD print of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

FX/SFX: The sped-up zoom-out, the layering FX on the company name, and the shining radar globe at the end of the sequence. Also, there was a quick shining wipe at the Worldvision text.

Music/Sounds: A shortened version of the Worldvision Home Video theme (the slowed-down version of "Moog Statement 14"), shortening and toning down the "WHOOSH" and cutting the jingle to the last 2 notes.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * Two variants of this jingle exist: one has the theme in a lower pitch and the other has a higher-pitched theme. Both low and high tone versions can be found in numerous places: for example, the 1991 logo in both low and high tones are seen on some episodes of syndicated prints of Little House on the Prairie. The 1995 logo in low tone was sighted in a few season 2 episodes of Dallas in its S1&2 DVD release. A high pitch variant of the 1996 logo also exists and can be notably seen on international prints of some episodes of The Love Boat: The Next Wave, as well as on episodes of Moesha and Beverly Hills, 90210 of the time, among others.
 * Sometimes, the closing theme was used (like on some parts of The Stand and Grit's print of The Punisher) or it's silent.
 * On Hallmark Channel Italy reruns of Dallas, a few season 2 episodes had the 1971 Lorimar music over the 1995 variant. This is due to a poor plaster job.

Availability: Common.
 * This logo was used on 1990s prints of pre-1973 ABC shows, but also applied to the Hanna-Barbera (until the cartoon studio's sale to Turner Broadcasting in 1991), Republic Pictures Television (after 1996), Weintraub Entertainment Group, Carolco Pictures (the company distributed their films to TV as part of a syndication package) and Spelling Television libraries, among others. Also appeared on some first-run syndicated programs, such as the first 3 seasons of Judge Judy which airs on Paramount Global-owned Pluto TV.
 * It was seen on syndicated prints of Little House on the Prairie (with the exception of the pilot movie from March 1974, which in recent airings, has the 1979 logo) when it was on the Hallmark Channel and TV Land, and is also on DVD releases (seasons 1-3 only with the NBC Enterprises and the NBC Universal Television Distribution logos following it), DVD releases and TNT airings of S1 episodes of Charmed, which is followed by the 1995 PDT logo (Though both logos were plastered by the CTD logo on its recent Blu-Ray release and Peacock/Amazon Prime prints), Syfy and former Chiller airings of Tales from the Darkside, Hulu and Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access) prints of the Beverly Hills, 90210 pilot, which is followed by the 2003 PDT logo, and on some international prints of earlier episodes of 7th Heaven.
 * Also seen on the mini-series The Stand on Syfy and Chiller and on most B&W prints of Combat! on Me-TV and H&I, as well as The Fugitive (1963 TV series), Sci-Fi Channel prints of Dark Shadows, older TV broadcasts of Carolco films, such as Terminator 2: Judgement Day (in which AMC Networks' print surprisingly retains this, alebit stretched to widescreen), Universal Soldier and Repossessed, among others, older syndicated prints of Weintraub films such as My Stepmother is an Alien, and older syndicated prints of Kickboxer and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. The logo was also seen on Troop Beverly Hills when it aired on Encore in 2009, but streaming prints on The Roku Channel and Tubi end with the 2002 Sony Pictures Television logo instead as Worldvision/Paramount only owns the TV rights (while Sony retains the rest).
 * Surprisingly, it recently appeared on Trifecta's print of Basic Instinct before the Trifecta logo, and was preserved on syndicated prints of Three For the Road, with the 1995 Paramount logo and Trifecta logo appearing afterwards (although Laff's print doesn't have Trifecta and the Worldvision/Paramount logos are shown before the credits).
 * The filmed variant was spotted on early video releases of the Twin Peaks pilot episode from Warner Home Video, old TBS airings of the George of the Jungle cartoon, and on some international prints of The Love Boat.
 * A handful of episodes from the second season of Dallas retain this logo on the Warner Home Video DVD release of S1/S2, and it was also retained on some 1987-91 syndicated prints (followed by the 2003 WBTV logo) of the series. These are easy to catch because they are sourced from PAL transfers and run 4% faster than an NTSC standard print; Worldvision distributed the series internationally until the 1990s, when the rights reverted back to Warner Bros.
 * On Netflix, it can be seen on a couple of S1 episodes of Melrose Place; it was also seen on reruns of MP on the Style network and SOAPnet (now Disney Junior) though it's plastered on the pilot by the 2003 Paramount Domestic Television logo.
 * Recently spotted on some episodes of Bonanza on its German DVD release and also appears on some episodes of said show on Me-TV. Also seen on The Rebel and some episodes of The Love Boat on Me-TV.
 * It also made surprise appearances on the Warner Home Video DVD release of The Greatest Adventures: Stories from the Bible - The Miracles of Jesus and one iTunes print of an episode of Hong Kong Phooey.
 * It is unknown if this was seen on late 1980s/early-to-mid 1990s prints of One Step Beyond, The Doris Day Show, Barnaby Jones, Ben Casey, and Car 54, Where Are You?, among other Worldvision/Republic-distributed shows.
 * DVD prints of The Key to Rebecca kept this logo (with the Blockbuster byline) intact followed by the CTD logo.
 * It is also intact on the seasons 3-5 DVDs of The Mod Squad.
 * Recently, all variants of the logo has been sighted on various episodes of Highway to Heaven on British TV channel True Movies.
 * The 1996 version has also been spotted on Movies! and Starz Encore Westerns airings of The Last Command, the latter with the 2012 Paramount Pictures logo following afterwards, but is not seen on Crackle's print which has been remastered to 16:9 HD (and thus only has the Paramount logo). Also seen on Amazon Prime's print of Gunsmoke Ranch, a Movies! airing of Flying Tigers and a Grit airing of The Punisher (1989).
 * It was also seen on at least one episode of That Girl on Antenna TV, followed by the Paul Brownstein and Stadium Media logos afterwards.
 * The logo appears at both the beginning and end of the 1994 VHS of Cujo instead of the Worldvision Home Video logo.
 * It appears at the end of the 1990 film Disturbed on Court TV Mystery, followed by a silent 1995 Paramount Domestic Television logo.
 * It was also seen on an old SpikeTV (now Paramount Network) airing of Kickboxer and is also retained on a few episodes of America's Dumbest Criminals on the Tubi streaming service.

Editor's Note: Like with the home video logo, this logo is known by some for being eerie, but it's still a favorite for others.