American Broadcasting Company

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum

Credits
Descriptions by
Matt Gauer, imacomputergeek, Gilblitz112, lukesams, The_Username_15, Lappy4861, and Tjdrum2000


This article is about the American commercial television network. For other uses, see ABC (disambiguation).



Background

The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American multinational commercial broadcast television network that is the flagship broadcast property of Disney General Entertainment. Launched in 1927 as the NBC-operated radio network NBC Blue Network, and after it became an independent radio network in 1945, it extended its operations to television in 1948, following in the footsteps of CBS and NBC. ABC has 8 owned-and-operated and over 232 affiliated television stations throughout the United States and its territories. Some ABC-affiliated stations are available in Canada & parts of Mexico via pay-television providers.

1st ID (April 19, 1948-1952)

Visuals: On a gradient background, there is a map of the United States. In front of the map, there is:

American
Broadcasting
Company

in the middle of the screen.

Variant: A variant exists where a globe is shown on a cloudy background. The logo zooms in to the United States, and then, the letters "American Broadcasting Company" zoom toward the camera.

Technique: A still, printed image filmed by a camera; live-action footage for the globe variant.

Audio: An announcer saying, "This is ABC, the American Broadcasting Company."

Audio Variant: A variant exists where the announcer says, "The preceding program, originally telecast by ABC in New York [or in rare cases, Chicago or Hollywood], has come to you by special video recording. This is ABC, the American Broadcasting Company."

Availability: This logo has been spotted on Tales of Tomorrow and some other programs at the time.

2nd ID (1952-1953)


Visuals: On a gray background, there is a circle which consists of a black ring with with camera lens in the middle, The lens open up to reveal a light black circle that has the words "ABC".

Technique: Cel animation.

Audio: An announcer saying, "This is ABC Television Network."

Audio Variant: A different variant exists where the announcer says "The preceding program, originally telecast by ABC in New York, has come to you by special video recording. This is ABC, the American Broadcasting Company."

3rd (known) ID (March 1953-1957)

Visuals: An eagle with a bolt through its head, with the text "ABC" at the bottom where the feathers are sticking out.

Variants:

  • An animated variant exists, where the logo is dark at first, but it brightens up the second after it, showing the final product.
  • Another animated variant has the ABC text zoom in surrounded by a star shape, which continues to zoom until it goes beyond the circle and is no longer visible, leaving just the text in the circle.

Technique: A still, printed image filmed by a camera.

Audio: An announcer says "This is ABC Television Network."

Audio Variant: The animated version on The Mickey Mouse Club has the announcer say "Stay tuned for more Mickey Mouse Club on the ABC Television Network."

Availability: Can be found on ABC releases from that time. It has recently been spotted on a Disney+ print of an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club.

4rd ID (May 1956-1963)

Visuals: A prototype version of the current ABC logo is shown, which is a giant lowercase "A" with "abc" situated within it.

Variants: In addition to the more common still variant, there are two known animated variants

  • The "a" zooms out. "abc" and "television network" fade in once the "a" is in place.
  • The "a" flips in. "abc" and "television network" fade in once the "a" is in place.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: An announcer says "This has been an ABC Television Network Presentation."

Availability: This logo was also shown on a Digiview DVD of a public domain episode of The Lawrence Welk Show.

5th ID (October 19, 1962-1969)

Visuals: Against a black background, six circles come in from the left, colored red, pink, blue, light blue, green, and yellow. They all disappear off to the right except the red, blue, and green, which transform into an "a", "b", and "c" respectively, and in the corporate font used for the network. The letters then zoom out a bit and the black area shrinks to a circle, forming the ABC logo against a beige background.

Trivia: The ABC logo was designed by Paul Rand (1914-1996), who is also known for creating the logos of IBM, Westinghouse and UPS, among others.

Variants:

  • A black-and-white version exists.
  • There are two unique variants, both of which are used in Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
    • In the special Intermission Accomplished: A Tribute to Trump, the American flag was shown and the colors of the letters were changed to red, white and blue to match the American colors. Furthermore, the aspect ratio was shifted from 4:3 to 16:9 to show the flag.
    • Starting in late September 2020, upon the show returning to the studio, the logo was recreated in a 16:9 aspect ratio, and the "abc" letters are thinner. It was later changed to a still version of the finished logo with the line "live in front of no studio audience", later changed to "live in front of a vaccinated studio audience" in May 2021, with the studio audience being returned. This is due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was later removed in December 2022, upon the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • There is a B&W variant.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: A dramatic horn fanfare, coupled with an announcer saying, "This is an ABC color presentation." Sometimes, the announcer is not used.

Audio Variants:

  • There was an earlier version that used an orchestral string fanfare and no announcer.
  • Another version had a news theme-like orchestra fanfare, with an uplifting finish. This was seen on airings of The Bullwinkle Show.
  • On the Jimmy Kimmel Live! special Intermission Accomplished: A Tribute to Trump, it added "...in dazzling red, white and blue." to the line.
  • Starting in late September 2020, a re-arranged version of the opening theme of Jimmy Kimmel Live! plays over the still version of the finished logo. Starting from May 2021, it was changed to the original version. Dicky Barnett, then later Lou Wilson, said "From Hollywood..." during that time.

Availability:

  • This appeared before network broadcasts of The Bugs Bunny Show, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Bewitched, and other color programs ABC aired in the 1960s.
  • The earlier music variant may have been seen on at least one episode of The Bugs Bunny Show.
  • It also appeared on a 2009 rebroadcast of a 1968 episode of The Lawrence Welk Show.
  • This is left intact at the beginning of some episodes of The Baron on DVD, in place of the ITC logo.

6th ID (October 5, 1968-1969)


Visuals: On a black background, there is the ABC logo with some blue trails that have the ABC logo and are placed forward and backwards respectively.

Technique: A still, printed image filmed by a camera.

Audio: The closing theme of the show.

Availability: Appears on Turn-On.

7th ID (Let's Get Together) (1970)

Visuals: On a black background, four instances of the text "let's get together", in gold, yellow, green, and pink, slide in from either corner of the screen. Once they overlap each other, they flash before cutting to seven copies of the same text sliding over each other, this time stacked on top of each other and in blue, gold, pink, orange, green, yellow, and red. They flash when they overlap each other, and an outlined version of the ABC logo in white appears next to them, with several orange circles surrounding it forming a tunnel that flashes.

Variant: On promos from the era, the order of the first two scenes is reversed, followed by eight copies of the ABC logo sliding into place.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: The campaign's song "Let's Get Together".

8th ID (This is the Place to Be!) (1971-1972)


Visuals: On a black background, a white outline of the ABC logo flies into the center. It turns red and then splits into several multicolored copies that continue flying until the logo freezes.

Variants:

  • There is a promo variant where there are several pictures from ABC shows fly in from the sides. After the last clip (a boy playing drums) flies in, the normal animation plays, but this time, there are silhouettes of various people in different colors (two men, a doctor and her husband, a judge, and a family). After the animations of them fly out, the text "this is the place to be!" in purple slowly scrolls past.
  • There is another promo variant, which is the same as the previous one, but the silhouettes of the people are deleted in favor of the yellow text "this is the place to be!", which zooms in. This process repeats itself many times before it fades out.

Technique: Scanimation.

Audio: The campaign's song "This is the Place to Be", composed by Harry Betts and sung by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter.

Audio Variants:

  • The first promo variant features an announcer saying, "This September, you'll come home to some familiar faces." after the choir.
  • The second promo variant has the choir sing, "Come this September, this is the place to be!" This is repeated a few times.

9th ID (This is the Place to Be!) (1972-September 1973)

Visuals: The logo opens with a blue ABC logo, rendered in wireframe and followed by several trailing copies of itself. This is followed by stills of various ABC shows and stars scrolling by using a parallax effect, first on the bottom of the screen, then the right side, the top, and the left side. At the end, the scrolls trail away, and "This is the place to be!", this time rendered in a pink slab-serif font, zooms toward the screen.

Technique: A mix of slit-scan opticals and 2D animation.

Audio: A version of ABC's 1971-72 season them, sung by a different chorus in a higher key; the instrumental opening is not used. At the end, Casey Kasem says "Come this September, this is the place to be!"

10th ID (What You See on ABC...) (September 1974)


Visuals: An array of clips from ABC shows of the period are shown on a black background. Several of the clips disappear in rhythm with the music as the white text:

What You See
On ABC This Fall
You'll Be Talking About
Tomorrow!

zooms in. Then, it fades to the ABC logo in burnt orange with an orange-yellow glow.

Variant: The logo described is the main logo, but this logo is used for promos of shows from the period as well.

Technique: Live-action footage.

Audio: One clip has audio, which is heard before the music starts. The music itself includes, in the beginning, a 7-note bass playing with a 7-note trumpet that starts at the third bass note and is at a faster pace. Then, groovy music plays, as a choir sings "What you see on ABC this fall you'll be talking about", then a man finishes the slogan saying "Tomorrow!". The choir then sings that same line and holds it for a bit.

11th ID (Welcome to the Bright New World of ABC) (September 1975-September 1976)

Visuals: On a black background, the neon word "WELCOME" zooms in three times. Then the slogan "WELCOME TO THE BRIGHT NEW WORLD OF ABC" scrolls up. Then it fades to a set of neon blue/red lines, where the ABC logo in orange rises up like a sun and stops in mid-air.

Variant: There's a version where the logo is still. This was mainly used as a secondary ident.

Technique: 2D animation by Robert Abel and Associates.

Audio: The campaign's song "Welcome to the Bright New World of ABC".

Availability: It made an appearance during the opening montage of the network's 40th anniversary special.

12th ID (Let Us Be the One!) (September 1976-September 1977)

Visuals: On a black background, a shining, glowing blue ABC logo appears. Then the pink words "LET US BE THE ONE YOU TURN TO" flash in time with the lyrics of the music ("Let us be the one you turn to / Let us be the one, let us be the one"). Then a small group of sparkles move around in different directions until they form the words "LET US BE THE ONE!" (tilted at an angle). A pink glow flashes behind the words as they zoom towards the camera. Then it cuts to the ABC logo from before as it slowly zooms out.

Variants:

  • A version was made for Nine in Australia. In this version, the Nine logo replaces the ABC logo.
  • An alternate version was also made for Nine in Australia in which the network's "nine dots" logo replaces the Nine logos.
  • A still version was also used as an alternate ID and for closed-circuit broadcasts. Sometimes the glow around the ABC logo would be smaller and darker.

Technique: 2D animation by Robert Abel and Associates.

Audio: The campaign's song "Let Us Be the One", which is based on the song "Let Me Be the One" by The Carpenters.

13th ID (Still the One!) (Fall 1977-Summer 1978)

Visuals:

  • Opening: On a black background, sparkles come down from the top-right to the bottom-left of the screen. After they almost disappear, the ABC logo, with the font in gold and the circle styled like a bubble, zooms in while sparkling.
  • Closing: The same animation from the opening plays, minus the sparkles coming down, but after it's done zooming in, the sparkles come down again and the ABC logo glows and shines while the words "STILL THE ONE!" zooms down right beside the ABC logo. The camera then zooms closer to the ABC logo and the entire thing cuts to black.

Variants:

  • A version was made for Nine in Australia. In this version, the Nine logo replaces the ABC logo.
  • An alternate version was also made for Nine in Australia in which the network's "nine dots" logo replaces the Nine logos. After it's done zooming in, the bubble glows and shines and the "nine dots" logo fades into the Nine logo. The ball's glow fades away and the Nine logo fades back into the "nine dots" logo.
  • A still version was also made in which the logo is slightly larger, doesn't shine, and is a little darker. This variant was used for closed-circuit broadcasts.

Technique: 2D animation by Harry Marks.

Audio: The campaign's song "Still the One", which is based on the song of the same name by Orleans.

Availability: It was only used as a station ID. However, it appeared on WISN-TV's 50th anniversary special.

14th ID (We're the One) (Fall 1978-Summer 1979)

Visuals: On a starfield, several multicolored streaks zoom into the distance before a line with a rainbow and white streaks inside it zooms toward the camera. The white text "WE'RE THE ONE!" is revealed to be inside it, and zooms past the camera. Then a white swirl flies past as the rainbow gives way to the same starfield. Another flash reveals the ABC logo in chrome with a spinning rainbow around it. Several white streaks fly onto the text until the logo fades out.

Variants:

  • There's a version without the spinning rainbow.
  • A version was made for Nine in Australia. In this version, the familiar multitude of streaks pass by, but this time, it's on a black background. Then a flash appears where the slogan "We're The One" now zooms out in a golden texture and a white circle appears. The starry swirl then appears. After the swirl passes, there's a white flash where it fades into the Nine logo's dots inside a red circle. It then fades into the "9" while streaks pass by.
  • A version was also made for Canal Trece (now El Trece) in Argentina. In this version, streaks pass by again, but this time, it is on a different night sky. Then a flash appears and suddenly, the logo cuts to the starry swirl instead leading to an explosion showing the stylized "13" with no circle whatsoever while streaks pass by. After that, the words "Transmite LS 85 TV Canal 13 Buenos Aires" wipe in below the "13".
  • A version was used on a 1979 closed-circuit feed where the background was black, the spinning rainbow was gone, the logo was still, and the words "CLOSED CIRCUIT" were right below the logo.
  • There is another version of the animated generic ID in which the words "ABC" are nowhere to be shown. This version was mostly used for either promo advertising ABC's programming (for example, "MONDAY", "WEDNESDAY", etc). However, this version was also used for ABC stations to place their logo or channel number when needed.

Technique: 2D animation by Sullivan & Marks.

Audio: The campaign's song "We're the One," which is based on "You're the One" by Glen Campbell, or silent. The Nine variant has an instrumental version of the song. The Canal 13 Argentina variant instead has a sampling of the track "World Champion" by Keith Mansfield with a Spanish announcer saying "LS 85 Television Canal 13, Buenos Aires".

Availability: It was only used as a station ID. However, the generic ABC ID made a guest appearance on the opening montage of ABC's 40th anniversary special in 1993, as well as a TGIF promo from 1999.

15th ID (Still the One!) (Fall 1979-Summer 1980)

Visuals: On a black background with blue grids on the top and bottom, the words "STILL THE ONE!" in golden yellow tilt into place and zoom in. Then when the grids disappear, a pair of stars, lined up horizontally, shoot out into the place where they flash and segue into a pair of multicolored lines (blue, green, and orange). The lines then tilt clockwise with streaks shooting left. A black circle then fades in where the letters to the ABC logo flash dimly. The streaks continue to shoot left.

Variants:

  • A version was made for Nine in Australia. In this version, the Nine logo replaces the ABC logo.
  • A version was also made of ABC's coverage of the Olympic Winter Games Lake Placid 1980, for which ABC was the host broadcaster.
  • A still version exists where the letters "ABC" are brighter. This version was used for closed circuit broadcasts and sign-offs.

Technique: 2D animation by Harry Marks.

Audio: A slower version of the song from the 13th ID, rearranged by JAM Creative Productions.

16th ID (You and Me) (Fall 1980-Summer 1981)

Visuals: On a black background, the words "YOU AND ME" in a style of a flashing sign appear in a sliding effect with shimmering red and blue lines all across the screen. Then it zooms in and cross-fades into a line of stars with two lines of text reading "ABC" on the top and bottom respectively. It then zooms out the reveal the ABC logo with red lines going across the logo and blue lines going down it. When the logo gets into place, a blue/red border zooms out into place. The circle of the logo continues to spin when the logo finishes.

Variant: There's a version where the background is black. This, in particular, was only used for closed circuit broadcasts, which, according to the Museum of Broadcast Communications, is "a television transmission system in which live or prerecorded signals are sent over a closed loop to a finite and predetermined group of receivers, either via coaxial cable or as scrambled radio waves that are unscrambled at the point of reception."

Technique: CGI by Marks & Marks.

Audio: The campaign's song "You and Me", produced and composed by JAM Creative Productions.

17th ID (Now Is the Time!) (Fall 1981-Summer 1982)

Visuals: On a black background, the orange text "NOW IS THE TIME!" shoots down like a beam onto a blue-dotted grid. After that happens, the camera zooms into the center of the text before a flash reveals the ABC logo with a blue and gold finish, shining.

Variants:

  • There is a sped-up version that was mostly used on promos.
  • Two versions exist where the logo is blank. The first version has the circle and the other has no circle. This was done so local affiliates could add their logo when needed.
  • There were versions specifically made for promos where it usually said "SUNDAY'S THE NIGHT!", "MONDAY'S THE NIGHT!", and so on.
  • There's a still version where it is basically an open-matte version of the logo. This was used on sign-offs at the time.
  • A version exists where the words "CLOSED CIRCUIT" are at the bottom. This variant is still.

Technique: 2D animation by Harry Marks.

Audio: The campaign's song "Now Is the Time", composed by Frank Gari and Artie Schroeck, or silent.

Audio Variant: The promo version usually had "Now is the time" being replaced with such examples as "Sunday's the night...", "Monday's the night...", etc. The Saturday version had "Saturday's the time..."

18th ID (Come On Along!) (Fall 1982-Summer 1983)

Visuals: On a black background, orange stars shoot in from the top of the screen which make the words "COME", "ON" and "ALONG" appear one by one. The camera rotates to the left as a red streak comes down which reads out "ABC" and hits the three O's. A burst of stars form a blue neon background where the circle of the ABC logo in black with red emitting from the bottom of the circle fades in while the ABC text comes down and lands on the circle.

Variants:

  • There's a variant where the emitting red at the bottom of the circle is blue. It's unknown if this variant is real.
  • There's a version where the logo is blank. This was used for closed circuit broadcasts so local stations could their logos in.
  • There is a version where the entire logo is still. This was used for closed circuit broadcasts and station sign-offs.
  • A version was made for Nine Network in Australia. In this version, after the word "ALONG" appears, the entire logo freezes halfway through. The words slide away after a few seconds and the gold Nine Network logo comes in on a space background.

Technique: 2D animation by Harry Marks.

Audio: The campaign's song "Come On Along", composed by Frank Gari and Artie Schroeck.

Availability: Was used as a station ID. This logo also made an appearance on Mysteries of the Universe, a fictional program from ABC that was connected to Lost. This appearance can be found on the fifth season DVD of Lost as a bonus feature.

19th ID (That Special Feeling!) (Fall 1983-Summer 1984)

Visuals: On a black background, the gold text "THAT SPECIAL FEELING!" appears from behind a jagged blue surface and shines while flying over it. The blue surface covers the rest of the black background as the text zooms in. A flash then reveals the ABC logo, also in gold, which zooms out and shines as the same slogan appears in a gold script font below it.

Variant:

  • There is a close-circuited version where everything doesn't move and an announcer says, "This is ABC."
  • A version with the text "1984, The Olympic Tradition Continues" also exists, used to promote ABC's coverage of the Olympic Winter Games Sarajevo '84 and the Olympic Games Los Angeles 1984 respectively which the latter, also served as the host broadcaster.

Technique: 2D animation by Harry Marks.

Audio: The campaign's song "That Special Feeling", composed by Frank Gari, or the announcer (Bill Rice) saying, "This is ABC."

Audio Variants: Sometimes, the logo is silent.

20th ID (We're with You) (Fall 1984-September 1985)

Visuals: On a black background with red dust in the distance, the striped text "WE'RE WITH YOU" appears slanted at an angle. The text then flies past the camera while tilting upward to reveal it being made of red and blue layers. The camera pans to a blue gradient background where a gold ABC logo quickly assembles itself while various geometric shapes fly around it. It then settles against an orange gradient with more dust in the background.

Variants:

  • There is a close-circuited version where everything doesn't move and an announcer says, "This is ABC."
  • On one promo, the ID is on a television set.

Technique: CGI by Bo Gehring and Associates.

Audio: The campaign's song "We're With You", composed by Frank Gari, or the announcer (Bill Rice) saying, "This is ABC."

Audio Variants: Sometimes, the logo is silent.

21st ID (You'll Love It) (September 1985-July 5, 1986)

Visuals: On a blue starfield, several pink bars zoom past the camera to reveal the text "YOU'LL LOVE IT" with a purple and red trail. Another instance of the same slogan with a silver finish lands on it, followed by the ABC logo, also in silver, positioning itself under it. The ABC logo shines, and the pink bars from earlier zoom past the "YOU'LL LOVE IT" text once more.

Variants:

  • There is a close-circuited version where everything doesn't move and an announcer says, "This is ABC."
  • There is a variant for Nine in Australia.

Technique: CGI by Cranston/Csuri Productions.

Audio: The campaign's song "You'll Love It!" (based on Randy Newman's "I Love L.A."), composed by Frank Gari and sung by Larry Santos, or the announcer (Bill Rice) saying, "This is ABC."

Audio Variants: Sometimes, the logo is silent.

22nd ID (Together) (July 6, 1986-September 1987)

Visuals: On a blue gradient background with what looks like an ocean on the bottom, the camera rotates around a glass ball with gold "abc" text and a gold ring in front of it as red, purple and green trails circle around it to form the letter "O". The camera pans around it as the glass ball flies through the "O" and the rest of the word "TOGETHER" forms with a shiny metal finish. It situates itself on a different blue gradient as the camera zooms out to show the ABC logo from earlier in front of the text, which shines along with the logo itself.

Variant: A close-circuited version exists where only the glass ABC logo on a water background is shown as an announcer says, "This is ABC."

Technique: CGI by Omnibus Computer Graphics.

Audio: The campaign's song "We Belong Together", sung by Aretha Franklin and Leon Russell.

23rd ID (Something's Happening) (September 1987-September 9, 1988)


Visuals: On a black background with faint purple grids, the metal text "SOMETHING'S HAPPENING" (with each word rotated on either side) zooms past the camera as several colored lines fly by behind it. The lines form a circle, and the "abc" text, with a silver finish, zooms out onto it as other lines continue to zoom offscreen. The silver text "Something's Happening" forms above it.

Variants: On network IDs, the "Something's Happening" text is absent.

Technique: CGI by Rhythm & Hues.

Audio: The campaign's first song, based on "Happening '68" by Paul Revere and the Raiders.

24th ID (Something's Happening) (September 10, 1988-September 10, 1989)

Visuals: The words "Something's Happening!" are written out in an orange script font. It's then revealed to be above the "abc" text, which has a gold finish and rotates onto a metal circle on a brown background. The orange script moves offscreen as each hole in the "abc" text is illuminated one by one, with another version of the orange script just below the "abc" text.

Variant: A still variant exists.

Technique: CGI by Pacific Data Images.

Audio: The campaign's second song "Dancing in the Street" (based on the song of the same name by Martha and the Vandellas), composed by Non-Stop Music and sung by Bill Champlin and Jill Colucci. The still variant just has an announcer saying, "This is ABC".

25th ID (Something's Happening) (September 11, 1989-September 9, 1990)


Visuals: On a background composed of green rings, the camera pans around two different columns of the text "SOMETHING'S HAPPENING!"; one in yellow and orange, and the other in blue. The former continues to move upward as the latter leaves behind several blue bars, which rotate to reveal the "abc" text in gold on the other side. It rotates while shining before coming to a stop.

Variants:

  • An alternate version exists where the camera zooms out to show the logo on a TV as the song ends, with blueish footage of a woman laughing in the background. Then it slowly fades out as the TV turns itself off.
  • A close-circuited version exists that only has the end of the animation and an announcer saying, "This is ABC."

Technique: CGI by Marks Communications and Pacific Data Images.

Audio: The campaign's third song, which is a mix of the songs "Shout" by the Isley Brothers and "Mockingbird" by Carly Simon and James Taylor.

26th ID (America's Watching) (September 10, 1990-September 9, 1991)

Visuals: On a silver background, the metal text "AMERICA'S WATCHING!" moves in from the right, with another, larger version of the text in purple and blue moving behind it. Then the screen explodes to reveal a silver disc on a dark background. Then the "abc" wordmark in blue zooms in front of the camera as beams of light pull it onto the disc. It passes through another disc and turns white as the camera reveals the slogan from before (now in gold), also sitting on the back disc. When it settles in its proper place, more beams of light shine from behind the logo.

Variant: A close-circuited version exists that only shows the end of the animation (albeit without the "AMERICA'S WATCHING!" slogan) as an announcer says "America's watching ABC."

Technique: CGI by Marks Communications and Pacific Data Images.

Audio: The campaign's song "America's Watching ABC", sung by Jermaine Jackson.

27th ID (America's Watching) (September 9, 1991-September 13, 1992)

Visuals: On a black background with several colored circles, the "abc" text is seen in gold. The camera zooms back as another purple panel slides in to complete the half-circle.

Technique: CGI by Marks Communications and Pacific Data Images.

Audio: An announcer saying, "America's watching ABC."

28th ID (It Must Be...) (September 14, 1992-September 5, 1993)


Visuals: On a white swirl background, the black words "IT MUST BE" flash one by one. Then a shining, iridescent square appears along with a gold circle as the letters "a", "b" and "c" rotate out onto it. As this happens, different squares flash in several corners of the screen before stopping on the right side of the screen and turning into a dark shade of gold. A gray rectangle also appears on the left side of the screen as the gold circle shines.

Variant:

  • An alternate variant exists where once the animation ends, Baby Sinclair from Dinosaurs appears within a screen and says, "Don't touch that dial!" (or "This concludes our broadcast day") before turning off the screen. A white ABC logo then briefly appears on a black background before zooming out.
  • A close-circuited version exists where the animation is on a black background as an announcer says, "This is ABC."

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The campaign's song "It Must Be".

29th ID (Watched by More People Than Any Other Network/The American Broadcasting Company/Still the One) (September 6, 1993-September 1, 1996)

Visuals: On a black background, the words, "American Broadcasting Company" appear. Then, the wordmark shrinks out with rings that also have the words "American Broadcasting Company" around it. Then, a big bang-like light explosion occurs, forming the ABC logo before the rings disappear.

Variant: On network promos, the animation is shorter.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A triumphant fanfare, with an announcer saying "Watched by more people, than any other network: ABC".

Audio Variant: The 1993-94 season promo had a different announcer saying "This is ABC".

30th ID (Nobody Does It Like ABC/This Is Your TV) (September 2, 1996-September 17, 1997)

Visuals: There is the ABC circle logo on a background that reflects a prop from their 1996-97 season campaign. As the ABC jingle from that year plays, the logo repeats itself three times with the background changing to the same prop but in different angles as it synchronizes with the jingle's three beats before zooming out briefly.

Technique: CGI and live-action by 3 Ring Circus.

Audio: A triumphant orchestrated fanfare with a three-note jingle, accompanied with an announcer saying "You're watching ABC".

31st ID (TV Is Good) (September 18, 1997-September 6, 1998)

Visuals: This logo consists of four idents, used interchangeably:

  • On a gold background, there is a gold ABC circle logo, which after two diagrams of the logo are placed in, the logo zooms in as it syncs to the beat of the three-note ABC jingle.
  • On a yellow background, there is the ABC circle logo as it forms together with the "ABC" wordmark being surrounded by circles. After the circles are merged together, the little circles disappear, while three rings shoot out as it syncs to the jingle's beat. After the third one is shoot out, the ABC circle logo is shaded in black with the wordmark being in white.
  • On a yellow background, there are multiple copies of the ABC circle logo as they form together to become a giant ABC logo with the circles forming a giant circle. After that, the letters "A", "B" and "C" are filled in white before zooming out.
  • On a yellow background, there is the ABC circle logo with some diagrams of the logo merging together. After the diagrams are merged, the "ABC" wordmark shoots out three times (in the jingle's three notes) before briefly zooming in.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The ABC theme from the 1996-97 season, albeit a bit shorter with an announcer saying "You're watching ABC".

Audio Variant: On the first ident, an upbeat variation of the 1996-97 season fanfare with trumpets play.

32nd ID (America's Broadcasting Company) (September 7, 1998-September 1, 2002)

Visuals: Usually a bunch of shapes moving around, which always ends with the ABC logo in the middle of a yellow background with the text "American Broadcasting Company" or "We Love TV" (usually in the Resbaloso typeface) appearing one-by-one below to the beat of the music.

Variants: All idents end with the ABC logo on a yellow background with either "American Broadcasting Company", "America's Broadcasting Company", "America's #1 Broadcasting Company", or "We Love TV" appearing one-by-one, unless otherwise marked.

  • 1998
    • On a yellow background, a black circle moves around in various places of the screen. After a few seconds, two other circles appear, and all three circles form lines at the top, middle, and bottom. The usual ending plays.
    • The ABC logo pops up on screen, along with zooming circles. The usual ending plays. This is a shorter ident and only lasts 3 seconds, however an extended version does exist where the animation is slower.
    • The ABC logo appears in three different places of the screen, surrounded by rippling effects. An alternate version of this exists where the animation is much faster-paced. The usual ending plays.
  • 1999
    • Stripes of black and yellow ABC logos quickly move and zoom throughout the screen. Then it cuts to the ending.
    • An SMPTE color bar appears. The rectangles and colors move around and slowly disappear. Soon, there are only three rectangles left (red, yellow, blue). The rectangles go closer together, and disappear afterwards, so only the yellow remains. Then it cuts to the ending, but with the text already formed.
  • 2000
    • A yellow background slowly "loads" in, row by row. Once done, it cuts to the ending, with the text reading "No download time."
    • The logo zooms through two different curves made out of circles and ABC logos. The colors switch between yellow and black throughout the ident. After that, the yellow ABC logo zooms in. Then it cuts to the ending.
    • Similarly to the last ident, the camera moves through a spiral made out of yellow circles. The ABC logo zooms out to the center of the spiral, and after a few more seconds zooms in again. The now-black spiral then moves back quickly, over a yellow background. The usual ending plays.
    • Inside a yellow/black tunnel, the yellow ABC logo moves inside, with the tunnel inverting colors and sides after a few seconds. The tunnel zooms up and swirls back inside the logo. The usual ending plays.
    • Over a black background, a yellow ABC logo flashes twice. It then cuts to an up-close black ABC logo, and flashes between the two colors twice. Then, it cuts to a tunnel, similar to the previous ident. The camera moves through it for a few seconds, then it suddenly changes speed and zooms past it. Then it cuts to the ending.
    • On a yellow background, a black star appears. It slowly grows in size, as the colors shift between yellow and black before it cuts to the ending.
    • On a yellow background, black dots fall when the ripples appear. All the dots begin to fall fast, then the ABC logo pops in before the usual ending plays.
    • In a black background, there is yellow dots dropping to the bottom of the screen, resembling rain drops. At the end, one drops and zooms up to the screen, forming a yellow background. The usual ending plays.
    • Over a black background, a trail of yellow circles move across the screen in swirling patterns, resembling an interchange. One of the circles has an ABC logo inside. After it moves off screen, the trail moves faster, and zooms out to a yellow background with the ABC logo. The usual ending plays.
    • On a black background, there is yellow flowers with their petals spinning around like pinwheels. A yellow ABC logo zooms out in the middle, revealing another set of black petals, and another ABC logo zooming in. It then zooms out, with other flowers appearing in the process. The usual ending plays.
    • On a black background, multiple yellow circles were moving around like snakes. Four circles crashed together to form the ABC logo in a yellow background. The usual ending plays.
    • A mirrored black C is seen over a yellow background. Several circles appear one-by-one, which causes the white lines and the yellow ABC logo to break it, while one of the circles zooms out to form the ABC logo. The usual ending plays.
    • Over a black background, there is the ABC logo with the yellow bars, resembling a sun. The ABC logo flashes in to the beat and the bars spinning around like a DJ turntable, then they disappear and the yellow background is showing. The usual ending plays.
  • 2001
    • The ident animates similarly (but not exactly the same) to the 2002 "On ABC" ident.
    • The sequence starts over a yellow sun that zooms out, resembling a sunset, with white circles coming out of it. Then the background becomes black, and another yellow circle reveals itself in the center. The word "definitely" rotates to the right of it, as an arrow shape appears alongside the ABC wordmark. As that happens, gray "stars" animate in the background.
    • The camera zooms through a circular mosaic made out of yellow ABC logos. A yellow circle then zooms in, with the black ABC logo zooming up inside of it. As the four-note jingle plays, the ABC logo zooms in slightly, to the beat. No text was shown below.
    • The first ID has shapes of circles made by stripes moving around in circles. The logo's wordmarks zooms in the middle of the B. More shapes of circles formed, revealing a yellow background with a circle. The logo's wordmark appears, The usual ending plays, with the text now in a sans serif font.
    • There is some white and black circles as a piano playing some notes, and it gets faster until all white notes disappear and only four black circles remain. The 3 circles disappear, leaving the middle circle. The logo's wordmark appears. No text was shown below.
    • There is the ABC logo on a yellow background, with black and white circles forming many patterns. The usual ending plays.
    • There is a landscape of a yellow city in a black background and a street with another city landscape. Sometimes on the commercial breaks of NYPD Blue, the name of the show zooms in. At the end, there is 3 yellow circles moving to the right. The middle circle is the ABC logo in yellow. No text was shown below.

Variant: Talent variations of the ID exist, where black-and-white pictures of the show's stars are seen before cutting to the usual ending.

Technique: 2D animation by Pittard Sullivan and Troika Design Group. Six of the 2000 idents were done by Primal Screen, and four of the 2001 idents were done by Belief.

Audio: Depends on the variant, but they usually end with the four-note ABC jingle played on bass instruments, itself based on the "We Love TV" tagline used during this period. Composed by Mad Bus Music.

Availability: These idents were frequently used during commercial breaks on ABC between 1998 and 2002. It also appears at the end of 1998-2002 episodes of Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher.

33rd ID (America's Broadcasting Company) (September 2, 2002-September 7, 2003)


Visuals: The ABC logo forms in the center of the screen. Behind it, a yellow circle drops down and zooms in to fills the rest of the screen. After this, a red circle drops down in front of the ABC logo and covers the screen. After the circle drops, a shadow turns clockwise and zooms out revealing that it is the ABC text in its signature font. Afterwards, green, blue and orange circles drop down in tune with the beat, and finally, a black circle drops down. Once it hits the middle, a white shine appears. This white shine dissolves and reveals to be the ABC logo, whilst the black circle fills the screen. Once the logo is done forming, another green circle appears, drops down behind the ABC logo, and fills the screen. With this, the words " America's Broadcasting Company" appear in white. The logo stays on screen and shines along with the green background.

Variant: The ID is sometimes shortened for local commercial breaks. Another version exists where the text is located directly below the logo, presumably to make room for a station identification logo.

Technique: CGI by Troika Design Group.

Audio: The ABC theme, but dramatized and an extra note at the beginning. This gets shortened to the 2nd note on the shortened variant. Composed by Wow and Flutter Music.

34th ID (America's Broadcasting Company) (September 8, 2003-September 5, 2004)


Visuals: A 2D version of the ABC logo is formed on a black background. As this happens, 12 squares in different shades of blue slide in (and also slide right), accompanied by the text "America's Broadcasting Company" appearing word-by-word. Various ABC circles then zoom in behind the squares.

Trivia: If you look closely, the a's tail is slightly longer.

Technique: 2D animation by PMcD Design.

Audio: A guitar note, ending in a string rendition of the ABC theme, composed by Tonal Sound and Elias Associates. Sometimes the announcer says "You're watching ABC".

35th ID (America's Broadcasting Company) (September 6, 2004-September 4, 2005)

Visuals: On a background of nine red squares, a black disc rotates to face the screen. The letters "a", "b" and "c" are drawing themselves on the disc. When the logo positions itself, a “ripple-in-the-water” effect is seen, and the slogan "America's Broadcasting Company" fades in below.

Variant: Like the 33rd ID, there is a localized version of the ident where the text is on the right side of the logo, a la the previous ident.

Technique: CGI by Troika Design Group.

Audio: A triumphant, news-like rendition of the ABC fanfare, composed by Tonal Sound.

36th ID (America's Broadcasting Company) (September 5, 2005-September 5, 2006)


Visuals: On a green-blue aurora background with white lines trailing around, there is a black disc in the center. The letters "a", "b", and "c" write themselves on the disc with the white lines to make the finished logo. When it forms, the words "AMERICA'S BROADCASTING COMPANY" appear word-by-word below and the disc then shines.

Variant: Localized variants have the slogan moved to the top to make room for station logos.

Technique: CGI by 168 Design Group.

Audio: Same as the 2004-05 season theme, combined with whooshes.

37th ID (America's Broadcasting Company) (September 6, 2006-September 21, 2007)


Visuals: A shiny blue disc zooms out on a white background. This turns out to be an reflection inside the ABC logo, which then zooms out on a white background filled with blue bubbles and streaks. "America's Broadcasting Company" appears one by one.

Variant: Localized variants have the slogan moved to the top to make room for station logos.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: An orchestral rendition of the ABC tune.

38th ID (Start Here) (September 22, 2007-May 29, 2013)

Visuals:

  • Long Version: On a bright gray surface over a white and light gray background, a selection set emerges and rotates. It contains four ABC circles, each with a different device inside (a cell phone (for ideos on iPhone), an iPod/mp3 player (for videos on iPod devices), a computer (for the videos on the ABC website), and a TV (for Live TV)). When the set shows us every picture, it compresses into a single circle with an arrow (for On Demand), which immediately reverts to the ABC logo. Water drops appear around, and the words "start here" (written in the Aaux typeface) are drawn to the right. Red ribbons appear around the logo afterwards.
  • Short Version: On the same gradient background as before, the ABC logo appears tilted to the side, covered in water. The water is raised from the top of the screen, as the logo is revealed, taking its comfortable position. As this happens, a red ribbon flies by. The "start here" text from before may or may not appear. This version appeared at the end of promos for ABC shows during this period.

Logo Trivia: The ABC circles have unique icons to not only various platforms, but these are shown on the bottom left at the start of each program for additional program features. For example, a circle showing a TV with a "CC" icon shows that the program is available with Spanish subtitles via CC3. Furthermore, a fontype based on the ABC logo is used for various information related to icons, besides ABC HD.

Variants:

  • Sometimes, the background will be black and dark gray instead.
  • Between 2008 and 2011, the graphics are enhanced.
  • Between 2011 and 2013, the background is now a mixture of brown and gold.
  • In 2010, the "start here" text is absent.
  • The aforementioned ribbons that appear at the end in local are usually based on the color(s) of the station's logo.
  • The short version with the dark background and blue ribbons was used at the end of promos for ABC News programs.
  • Local versions of the short ID may include the station's city briefly being seen in the reflection of the ABC logo as it zooms out.
  • Some local stations have the "start here" text written in Myriad (the default font in Adobe applications), likely due to the given station not having the Aaux font installed in their servers.

Technique: CGI by Troika.

Audio: A soft, majestic rendition of the four-note ABC News fanfare by VideoHelper for the dark variant. However, the bright variants have a soft synthesized rendition of the ABC theme, ending in a deep sounder.

Audio Variant: The long version sometimes has a male voiceover reading, "Anytime. Anywhere. ABC. Start Here".

39th ID (May 30, 2013-September 2, 2018)


Visuals: The sequence starts with the letters "'ABC" in its characteristic trademarked font suddenly appearing on the screen. They zoom out, revealing the rest of the 2013 ABC logo. As it zooms out, slowly decelerating, the light shining on it, in a similar shade to the background of the previous logo, becomes slightly darker. When the logo fills about half of the screen, the background fades to black, with continuous glowing around the logo. The logo slowly zooms out.

Variants:

  • 2015: On a black background, two brown transparent circles fly down about two-thirds of the screen while overlapping each other and reveal the ABC logo from before zooming out a bit, ending up with the same result as before but with the two circles still on the screen.
  • 2016: The 2013 ABC logo swings out from the right side of the screen to the center, encircled by gold dust. The dust flies away to the right as the ABC logo finishes forming.

Logo Trivia: Alongside the 2015 rebrand, a font design, inspired by the ABC logo font design, was debuted.

Technique: CGI by Loyalkaspar (Troika Design Group for the 2016 version).

Audio: Same as the previous ID, but the ABC jingle is absent. This is basically the last note of the 2007-2013 ABC Entertainment logos.

Audio Variants:

  • Sometimes, a voice-over would say "ABC".
  • In 2015, a new jingle with heavy drum music (based on the music ABC used in their branding at the time. Known as "Heroes," a piece written by Matthew Kajcienski of DreamArtists Music (a producer known for many other tunes on ABC) and performed with vocalist Taylor Carroll, created specifically for the network and their 2015 branding campaign.) is heard, ending with a vocal rendition of the ABC theme.

40th ID (America's Network) (September 3, 2018-August 8, 2021)

Visuals: On a large black circle on a red background, the ABC logo appears in the center of the screen. Thick and thin white and red lines swirl and draw themselves around the logo, with the black circle slowly growing in size.

Technique: 2D animation by The New Blank.

Audio: Same as the 2015 theme.

41st ID (August 9, 2021-)

Visuals: On a dark gray background, there is a red circle splitting into three circles. The circles get farther and farther, eventually getting closer as the middle one zooms out. It then forms a black outlined circle on a red background with circles, with three smaller black ones inside, with another black outlined circle to the right of it and yet another one to the left of it. The first of the small black circles immediately forms as "A" with the second later forming a "B" and the third eventually forming a "C", forming "ABC" on a red circle on the same dark gray background while a red outlined circle zooms in.

Variants:

  • On Trollback+Company's case study, as shown here, the Trollback+Company logo appears after the ABC logo, which was followed by the red circle zooming out before the full animation, within the same background, with the letters wiping from red with white outlines to the usual white color with blue on the "+" sign.
  • There is a version that shows the previous logo in a white background, then wipes to a dark blue background with a white squared grid, showing the letter's design. Then a red crosshair with a rectangle as it zooms out a little bit to show the design of the logo. After that, it zooms out as three small circles, then three cutout circles, then the letters, then the outline logo in white, then the white logo, then the red logo with two outlined circles, then the rest of the animation itself.
  • There is a white variant where the first background is white and the second is black with circles while the outlined circles and the three small circles are red while they form.
  • There is a stroke variant of both black/red background and white/black background variants, but they remove the red outlined circle zooming in.
    • On the black variant, the circles at the start are now outlined and not filled. The rest is also outlined, The finished product remains outlined. The animation is slighly off center for some reason.
    • The white variant is the same, but also outlined at the start and the finished product. Like the black variant, The animation is slighly off center for some reason, however it is less off center.
  • There is one variant in black and white without circles, and it cuts straight to the circles forming.
  • Another black/white version exists, with the full animation.
  • On ABC's preroll, a completely different animation is seen. On a dark gray background, there is a red circle, with three smaller black ones inside. The three circles zoom out one after the other, with the first one already formed as “A”. The circles zoom back up sequentially, while morphing into their respective letters, forming "ABC". with "ORIGINAL" also in red beside the ABC logo. As that is happening, spinning black/dark blue gradient circles fade in behind the logo.
  • On live shows, "ORIGINAL" was replaced with "LIVE".

Technique: 2D animation by Trollback+Company.

Audio: A snap, then a 3-note synth fanfare, which is the modified version of the ABC jingle introduced that year. Composed by YouTooCanWoo.

Audio Trivia: The synth fanfare itself was used at the end of the network's primetime programs instead of the generic music in the past. Therefore, a male announcer is heard during the synth fanfare.

Audio Variant: On the preroll, the synth fanfare is heard earlier. In the logo's transformation video, a quiet woosh is audibly heard as an ambient synth sound is heard. Then, another quiet woosh sound when it zooms out a little bit. After that, a woosh sound is heard as a synth note is being heard, along with a series of clicks, ending with three clicks, then the usual sound itself.

ID (1972)


Visuals: On a brown background, several yellow lines appear, forming a yellow grid. The grid turns red as the grid's squares morph into circles. The circles then converge into a single circle, which flips into the "ABC" wordmark in white, which zooms in. The background turns black as this happens.

Technique: Scanimation by Computer Animation Industries.

Audio: A synthesized warbling theme as the logo forms, followed by a droning tune when the wordmark zooms in.

Availability: It was found on a demo reel for Computer Animation Industries.

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