CBS Broadcast International

Credits

Descriptions by
codyfinke, Shadeed A. Kelly and Eric S.

Captures by
1deal2008, Eric S., Shadeed A. Kelly, thehugetvfan, V of Doom, Derrick Anderson, Gilblitz112 and Pygmalion X

Editions by
Shadeed A. Kelly, thehugetvfan and Michael Kenchington

Video captures courtesy of
Eric S., Broken Saw, MacBookPro1990, ClosingLogosHD, thatvhstapeguy (VectraQS) and retro VHS trailers

Background

CBS Broadcast International was the worldwide syndication unit of CBS, Inc., launched in 1981 to sell news, sports and entertainment programming produced in-house to foreign markets as well as non-broadcast and new technology markets in the United States. Previously, the CBS library was distributed by Viacom Productions, a company spun off from CBS due to the "Fin-Syn laws", which only applied in the United States and their territories.

On December 17, 1984, it was merged with the CBS Worldwide Enterprises branch along with CBS Theatrical Films to form CBS Productions, which co-existed with, but was unrelated to, what was then CBS Entertainment Productions.. The following year, CBS Theatrical Films was shuttered, and CBS Broadcast International spun-out from the production unit. The newly-restored CBS Broadcast International produced syndicated episodes of a revival of The Twilight Show (which would later be dubbed The New Twilight Zone) in 1985. Two years later, it signed a partnership agreement with MGM/UA Telecommunications to syndicate its episodes from both seasons with a third season of 30 new first-run episodes to form a 90-episode syndication package.

On October 28, 1987, CBS Broadcast International announced that it had acquired television and ancillary-market rights to four Academy Award-winning films produced by Arthur Cohn: Dangerous Moves, Black and White in Color, The Garden of the Finzi Continis and The Sky Above, The Mud Below. It also announced plans to pick up the bulletins of the CBS Evening News, then anchored by Dan Rather, and place them on international channel Tele Monte Carlo on a tape-delayed basis, and planned to provide the CBS Evening News bulletins to UK-based British Satellite Broadcasting in 1988.

In 1997, CBS Broadcast International launched a global programming alliance with Virgin Media Television. The following year, the division named Stephanie Pacheco its managing director of international sales.

On August 10, 2004, Viacom, Inc. merged CBS Broadcast International with Paramount International Television to form CBS Paramount International Television (later CBS Studios International); the new company would be headed by Armando Nuarez Jr.

1st Logo (September 27, 1985-1987)

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Visuals: On a light blue background, the cerulean text "CBS" (in ITC Avant Garde) flies in from the left. While it does so, the "C" leaves two trails behind; the second one is patterned like a globe, and some black stripes move towards it from the top and bottom of the screen. Then the white text "A CBS BROADCAST INTERNATIONAL PRESENTATION" (in the same font as "CBS", but in a lighter weight) fades in.

Variant: A still version has the text "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" above the logo and the bottom text reading "CBS BROADCAST INTERNATIONAL".

Technique: CGI.

Audio: An arpeggiating nine-note synth tune. Sometimes, none.

Availability:

• Seen on some TV movies from the era, like Who is Julia? and Under the Influence, among others.
• It is also preserved on some episodes of The (New) Twilight Zone on Chiller, followed by the 2007 CBS Television Distribution logo.
  • It is unknown if MeTV airings retain this due to CTD plastering.

2nd Logo (1987-1995)

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Visuals: Over a dark blue (or purple) background, various outlined circles drop from the top of the screen, gradually forming a wireframe globe. When the globe is completely formed, it shines, becomes 3D and zooms out, as the background fades to a sky blue background, with the CBS Eyemark around the globe (which acts as its pupil), the letters "CBS" in the trademark Didot font next to the CBS Eye, and "CBS BROADCAST INTERNATIONAL" in Helvetica below the logo.

Variants:

• Above, there may also be the text "A PRODUCTION OF" or "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" (the latter also has the logo start when the globe is completely formed.
• Justice Network airings on Rescue 911 have the regular version shortened to start at the point where the "IAW" variant begins.
• Sometimes, the logo is still.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: An ethereal synth theme with a low synth note as the globe is formed, then a higher synth note as the logo pans out, then another high synth note. Sometimes, the closing theme plays over. Otherwise, none.

Later Audio Variant: Starting in 1992, a stereo mix version exists.

Availability:

• Seen on TV movies from the era.
• It is also preserved on episodes of Rescue 911, the pilot episode of Walker, Texas Ranger on Charge!, PlutoTV, USA Network, the now-defunct Cloo network, and WGN America (now NewsNation), the final season of The (New) Twilight Zone on MeTV and on Horror in the UK which was seen with the next logo below, as well as 1990s international prints of said show years ago.
• It is also preserved on the first season of Touched by an Angel, as well as on some international airings of early Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman episodes.
• The short/muted/IAW variant can be found on the 1995 Hogan's Heroes VHS release from Columbia House (specifically a four-episode VHS release entitled "The Great Deceptions").
• It was also seen on several Dr. Seuss specials as seen on Cartoon Network in 1997.
• It was also seen on late 1980s prints of the 1986 miniseries If Tomorrow Comes, and episode 11 of Foley Square.

3rd Logo (April 30, 1995-2008)

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Visuals: On a black background, the tail end of the animation from the 1995 CBS Video logo plays, with the CBS Eye forming and the globe in the center of it still zooming out and rotating. However, instead of rotating into a box, the eye flips from an angle to the center of the screen and the globe does not turn completely silver. The letters "C", "B", and "S" in Helvetica Neue appear one-by-one above the eye in sync with the music (much like the network's 1992 ID), and then "Broadcast International" in Times New Roman fades in below.

Variants:

• A stretched widescreen version exists, where the picture is stretched from 4:3 to 16:9, with a lot of blocky artifacts in the background.
• A native widescreen version also exists.
• A shortened version exists. In this version, after "Broadcast International" fades in, the screen immediately fades to black.
• Another shortened version also exists. It starts off when the eye logo is in place and "CBS" appears. This can be found on Justice Network airings on Rescue 911.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The last part of the 1995 CBS Video theme, beginning with the piano glissando, with the final three orchestral hits marking the letter-by-letter appearance of "CBS". A low-toned version exists on an unknown DVD print of Quarterback Princess and a few NTSC prints of PAL shows using the logo. PAX TV/i: Independent Television airings of Early Edition used the channels' respective generic themes.

Audio Variants:

• On a French print of The (New) Twilight Zone season 2 episode "Song of the Younger World/"The Girl I Married", this logo has the 1984 music from the 1st logo due to a plastering error.
• On a French print of the TV movie The Wild Wild West Revisited, the logo has the 1987 music from the 2nd logo due to another plastering error.

Availability:

• This is usually seen on international and some off-network prints of CBS-produced series and TV movies from the era.
• It also used to be seen on reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond on TBS, but recent airings now have the 2007 CBS Television Distribution logo due to the channel now using HD prints.
  • However, it can still be seen on most current international reruns, like on Channel 4 in the UK.
  • It was also intact when the show used to be on Netflix a few years ago.
• When Early Edition aired on PAX TV/i: Independent Television a long time ago, this was seen at the end, plastering the CBS Productions/TriStar Television logos.
• It can also be seen on Horror Channel (UK)'s airings of The (New) Twilight Zone.
• UP (formerly Gospel Music Channel) also previously kept this logo intact on reruns of Judging Amy, but recent airings have the 2013 20th Television logo instead.
• It can also be found on reruns of Rescue 911 broadcast on Justice Network and getTV.
• It can also be seen on later seasons of Touched by an Angel on MeTV/Start TV/Pluto TV airings and on an OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) airing of Dr. Phil which was dedicated to the memory of Roger King.
• It is also preserved at the end of BET Her airings of Half & Half as well as on Netflix and Paramount+ prints of said show.
  • However, it does not appear on BounceTV airings.
• This was also seen on 1990s international prints of earlier Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episodes and international prints of The King of Queens, among others.
• This is also retained on Channel 4 UK airings of Everybody Loves Raymond and The King of Queens.
  • Strangely, if one watches Everybody Loves Raymond on demand (at least on Sky Q), it cuts out this logo for unknown reasons.
• It can also be seen on at least one episode of Walker, Texas Ranger on Crackle.
• Crackle prints of the short-lived CBS series Ladies Man also have this at the end, sandwiched between the 1995 Columbia TriStar Television and 2002 Sony Pictures Television logos.
  • This is most likely due to the fact that they used international masters (CBS owns the show internationally while SPT has U.S. rights).
• It is also seen at the end of most films in the 1939 Sherlock Holmes film series on TCM UK.

References

CBS Broadcast International

CBS Paramount International Television ►