Al Saudiya

Background
Al Saudiya (also known as Saudi TV Channel 1 or KSA 1) is the main television station of Saudi Arabia. The channel mostly centres on Arabic-language news and entertainment. The channel also coverts part of the other Arab regions, Europe and North America.

1st Logo (1984?-1990)


Visuals: Part, if maybe not all of the logo consists of the planet Earth spinning on a starfield with a zooming leaned line (representing a "1") zooming in front of the Earth.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: Part of the section "Sunrise" from Richard Strauss' Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

Availability: Was probably used on startups from the channel.

2nd Logo (1989-2007)


Visuals: There is the glowing Earth on a starfield. The camera then zooms on the upper region of the Earth, having the Middle Eastern region, and the screen passes through the clouds and see a 3D golden model of the Saudi Arabian territory on a water surface. We then pass to the central region of the country and the screen passes through the clouds again, as we see a starry sky and a segmented surface. What appears to be a 3D model of a city is also shown floating through the sky, and we start passing through the buildings. One of the buildings is a transmission tower with blue windows, and the camera quickly goes to it. With the transmission tower already at the center, the segmented surface appears below moving in. A palm tree zooms out to the centre of the tower, and two swords flip out and place below the tree, forming the Saudi emblem. The windows of the transmission tower start spinning and stars shine through the top of it. The surface is also seen moving.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A majestic Arab theme, that then transitions into a bombastic synth fanfare with a whoosh.

Legacy: This is a very well-known logo by Saudi residents, having been used there for almost 18 years.

3rd Logo (2007-2009)


Visuals: A close up of the inside of an open, spinning silver petal is shown on a surface with multiple light green rings surrounding the flower. A set of curls appear above the petal and sparkles. The sequence crossfades to a few dancers behind an sunburst on the top half of the screen dancing alongside the flying lights, each of which spiral around them. The camera focuses on one dancer before moving towards the next. After the shot with the male dancer in a red-white keffiyeh and launching lights, a far shot of the petal is shown with lights shooting out of the center, the first of which form the logo: a horizontal rectangular box with the left side in white and containing a "1" and a symbol consisting of a stylized palm tree on top of two curved leaves on the right of the box. Lights continue to shoot out of the flower for the remainder of the ident.

Technique: A mixture of CGI and live-action.

Audio: An 8-note Arabic-sounding jingle while the flower is shown, then followed by a groove-oriented traditional theme. The logo ends with the same 8-note jingle followed by a droning synth.

Legacy: This logo's animation is a majestic and welcome change from the previous logo.