Fremantle

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum



Background

Fremantle Limited (formerly FremantleMedia) is a British-based media conglomerate company founded on August 20, 2001, as a merger of Pearson Television and CLT-UFA; the companies merged to become "RTL Group" and by renaming the production arm to FremantleMedia, who currently owns the All American, Mark Goodson, and Reg Grundy libraries, among other formats.

In 2003, FremantleMedia acquired Australian production company Crackerjack Productions, who merged with Grundy Television to form "FremantleMedia Australia".

On September 7, 2018, the company changed its onscreen name to simply "Fremantle", though FremantleMedia remains its legal name. Today, Fremantle is a division of the RTL Group, and is 90% owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, which is 80.9% owned by the Bertelsmann Foundation and 19.1% owned by the Mohn Family.


FremantleMedia

Logo (January 31, 2002-)

Visuals: On a royal blue background, white paint bubbles out in the center, then pulls back and to the right as the paint orbits around to form a stylized atom design. The text "FREMANTLEMEDIA", in Futura font with different font weights, blurs in to the left of the atom. Afterwards, four white paint drops appear around the atom.

Variants:

  • On North American-produced shows, the words "NORTH AMERICA", in a non-bold Futura typeface, appear right under "FREMANTLEMEDIA" next to the bubble.
  • For Australia, the word "AUSTRALIA" would appear under the name.
  • For Poland, "POLSKA" would appear under the name in a basic font (either Arial or Helvetica).
  • Starting in 2005, the logo was remade in HD, and a 5th paint drop is also added.
  • In some cases, the paint drops randomly appear.
  • On old Familiada episodes, a paint stroke appears, until the show fades. Also after it gets done, it crossfades into the Astro logo.
  • On the North America variant, the short version sometimes fades in.
  • The text "Distributed by" appears above the name for distribution of shows from the UK.
  • The text "Distributed by FREMANTLE INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION" appears underneath the logo for global distribution since 2003.
    • On some international airings of older episodes of Neighbours, the AUSTRALIA variant at the end appears as normal, but a few seconds after, the "AUSTRALIA" text fades out and another text "Distributed by FREMANTLE INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION" fades in.
  • For other shows that they produced or distributed globally such as MTV's Eye Candy, either the text Enterprises or International fades in.
  • A 16:9 stretched to 4:3 variant of the "International" logo also exists, which is seen at the end of the French dub of the live-action series of Mr. Bean.
  • A 16:9 stretched to 4:3 variant of the "Enterprises" logo also exists, which was seen at the end of a December 9, 2022 airing of S01E29 of Dale's Supermarket Sweep on Challenge, following the 1990 A Central Production for ITV endcap.
  • An early variant has been spotted with a white background, black text, a blue atom, and no animation on the final season of Bruce's Price is Right, an early 2000s reissue print of a 1996 episode of Neighbours (following the mid-1996 production variant of the 1988 Grundy Television logo), a September 14, 2022 airing of The Sweeney episode "In From The Cold" on ITV4, plastering the 1969 Thames Colour Production endcap, and the international master copy of S02E01 of Homicide: Life on the Street. Some episodes of U.S. TPIR from 2002 (like the 30th Anniversary Special, which was the first ever programme to use this logo) also have this logo. This variant is also used on games based on TV shows. It is also seen at the start of very early UK DVD releases between 2001-2002.
    • An in-credit version appears on the first two seasons of Tree Fu Tom, along with the second series of Kate & Mim-Mim (with white text); season 1 of Kate & Mim-Mim used an in-credit variant with the white background.
    • On the Finnish TV quiz show Voitto kotiin from 2002, the black text and a blue atom are seen quickly fading in on a white background.
  • Another variant of the early version has an enlarged second half of the blue atom on a white background on the first half; beside it is a small FremantleMedia logo. Copyright information is below.
  • The logo is on the right on some shows like Philippines Got Talent (blue atom, black text on white background).
  • A long version exists. In this version, a splash of white paint flies through the air, going from left to right. Then, it fades into a scene of two more splashes: one other direction, and the other flying down from left to right. Afterwards, it fades in to what is described in the more commonplace short version.
  • Some versions of this logo are stretched out, such as the one appearing after episodes of The Price Is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular from 2008.
  • On the 2014 Australian version of Family Feud, the short version of the logo is superimposed onto a blue background with a shining yellow line on top of it, This is superimposed onto the final few seconds of the program.
  • Starting with the 36th season of The Price Is Right, the FremantleMedia logo can be seen on the show's credits, replacing the Mark Goodson Productions logo. "FREMANTLEMEDIA" is in white, and the atom symbol is royal blue. The logo is accompanied by the following announcement: "This is (announcer's name) speaking for The Price is Right, a FremantleMedia production."
  • A B/W variant exists.
  • On some BBC airings of Neighbours in the 2000s, the URL "www.bbc.co.uk/neighbours" appears below.
  • The logo appears superimposed, inside a box, on the pilots for Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck and later episodes of 100 Mexicanos Dijeron (Mexico's version of Family Feud).
  • The fully animated logo is also seen on ¿Que Dice la Gente?, inside a box (with a white border), against a black background.
  • On Portugal's O Preco Certo (em Euros), the phrase "Uma producao RTP executada por:" ("An output performed by RTP") appears above the logo, and is true for all shows on RTP from the company.
  • The French version of Going for Gold, titled Questions pour un Champion, has the logo superimposed into a blue rippling background, and after it finishes animating, a copyright stamp appears under the logo.
  • On Komunikata (which is the Indonesian version of Hot Streak), the logo is on the left along with the 2002 TPI logo and copyright below superimposing the background with Komunikata logo.
  • An in-credit version appears above the Endemol logo on the Netherlands' version of TPIR, Cash en Carlo.
  • A superimposed version of the logo appears in rectangular form, above the Caracol TV logo, on 100 Colombianos Dicen (Colombia's version of FF).
  • On the Cartoon Network version of Hole in the Wall, the short logo is superimposed in the credits after the HITW theme ends. The logo plays with a +1 pitch in a blue rectangle, and after the superimposed logo ends, the American version of the logo plays.
  • A still shot version of any of the variants exist.
  • On older editions of X Factor Romania, an in-credit notice with the logo in a white box appears. The phrase "Produs în asociere cu FremantleMedia" (Produced in association with FremantleMedia) fades alongside it. After a few seconds, a copyright stamp also appears.
  • One of the last programmes that used this logo was the New Zealand soap drama Shortland Street (which still airs as of September 2023), where the AUSTRALIA logo appears in-credit. It was used up until March 13, 2020.

Technique: Computer animation mixed with live-action footage, all produced by Lambie-Nairn.

Audio: First, there is a low guitar strum, segueing into a synthesized percussion-driven instrumental. It then culminates with a three-strum guitar jingle, the last note of which echoes. This was composed by Score Productions, who also did the 1978 and 1990 versions of the theme music to ABC's World News Tonight and the music for The Price is Right, Family Feud and the 1986 Lorimar-Telepictures "Crashing Comets" logo.

Audio Variants:

  • In other cases, the end-title theme plays over, the generic network theme on CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox or The CW, or the logo is silent.
  • Both high tone and low tone variants exist, with the low tone variant appearing on Baywatch, episodes of The Price is Right on the 2008 DVD "Best of" set, episodes of Family Feud from season 14 and onward, and all game shows aired on Buzzr.
  • A long version exists. It uses the extended version thereof, complete with a piano note in the middle of the music.
  • A very short version with the last four notes of the theme also exists.
  • On Challenge's airings of Strike It Lucky in the UK, the end of the theme plays over the logo on the first two seasons; on the third season, the logo jingle plays, cutting off the theme music presumably due to a plastering error.
    • A similar variant of this theme exists when Challenge airs the 1995 series of Bruce's Price is Right where it cuts off the theme music due to plastering.
  • On DVD releases of the 1983 television film Adam, the closing theme of this movie is heard, and, after the logo has finished, then the short version of the 1978 Alan Landsburg Productions theme over the finished logo. The ALP logo is seen before the FremantleMedia logo.
  • On the DVD release of the 1988 TV movie Where the Hell's that Gold???!!! and the Direct Source Special Products DVD release of the 1991 TV movie Baby of the Bride, it uses the low tone variant of the 1996 Pearson Television music on the "North America" version, as a result of double plaster.
  • A variant that has the long version jingle played on the common variant "paint bubble" also exists. The logo freeze-frames for a few seconds here.
  • On the Komunikata variant, a voiceover in Indonesian says "Komunikata is a production of FremantleMedia in association with TPI. Nusrin Nuerdin speaking". The closing theme is used (sometimes after the jingle plays).
  • On current prints of series 1 of Count Duckula, the downpour of rain is heard due to this logo plastering over the 1969 Thames Colour Production endcap.

Availability:

  • Short Version
    • With the sounder, it can be seen on the current version of Family Feud in syndication and GSN, the second season of Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck on GSN, live editions of Fox's American Idol, The Price is Right, and Let's Make a Deal on CBS, Grojband on Teletoon and Cartoon Network, Max Steel on Disney XD, and a Buzzr airing of Match Game (in lower pitch, nonetheless).
    • The Enterprises and International version is seen on shows that it's companies produced or shows that Fremantle only distributed.
    • This plasters the Thames Television logo on episodes of Strike It Lucky, and the 1998 Central/Carlton logo on episodes of Dale's Supermarket Sweep, when aired on Challenge in the UK.
    • Some episodes of the 1995 series of Bruce's Price is Right have this logo plastering the Yorkshire/Talbot variant.
    • One episode of the 2000 series of the latter also have this logo plastering the Yorkshire/Grundy variant.
    • The Australian version is seen on post-2006 episodes of Neighbours and Temptation, among other then-current, then-new and former series in Australia.
    • It was last seen on Hole in the Wall on Cartoon Network.
    • It is also seen on seasons 3-8 DVD releases of The Bill and on Baywatch on the now-defunct More>Movies ("More Than Movies") in the UK.
    • This was also seen at the end of every game show episode aired on their network Buzzr, and still occasionally shows up there unplastered.
    • It is also seen at the end of Jack The Ripper (1988) after the final credit that precedes the 1986 Lorimar-Telepictures "Crashing Comets" logo since it's a Thames production.
    • When Mr. Bean (the live action series) aired on Disney Channel Asia, both a still "Distributed by" version or a short animated version with Distributed by appeared.
    • This was also seen on the October 29, 2020 episode of ABC's Match Game (over a year after it was last used), as it was recorded in 2019.
    • It was also seen at the end of Challenge airings of Lily Savage's Blankety Blank, following the 2001 Thames logo.
    • It is also seen at the end of ITV3 airings of Never the Twain, following the 1969 Thames Colour Production logo.
    • It was also seen at the end of the ITV4 airings of the Minder episodes "A Number of Old Wives' Tales" and "From Fulham with Love"
    • The short version of the "International" variant of this logo is also seen at the end of the French dub of the live-action series of Mr. Bean.
  • Long Version
    • It is seen on Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck's first season with the show's theme playing over it.
    • It was also sighted on The Aquabats! Super Show! on Hub Network (before the rebrand to Discovery Family), My Babysitter's a Vampire on Disney Channel, and Monsuno on Nicktoons.
    • With its theme, it can be found on ¿Que Dice la Gente? (the Spanish-language version of Family Feud) on Telefutura, on DVD releases of American Idol, Match Game, Family Feud, and The Price is Right, Fatal Love (plastering over ACI logo), The Moving of Sophia Myles (plastering over the 1996 Pearson TV International logo) and was also seen on Temptation: The All-New Sale of the Century, when last seen on MyNetworkTV. It also appears on season 1 and season 2 episodes of Asia's Got Talent on AXN, following the Sony/SPT (S1), or Sony Pictures Television Networks (S2).
    • It is also used as a de-facto home video logo in the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States (in the latter country, Fremantle licenses its content to third-party distributors, but their logo is followed by this logo).
    • It is also seen at the end of current prints of Count Duckula, either by plastering over the Thames Television logo (on episodes from series 1) or being seen after the Thames Television logo (on episodes from series 2) and being seen after Cosgrove Hall Productions's second logo (on episodes from series 3).
    • It is also seen on 2014-2018 Familiada episodes.
    • The Polska version is seen on Season 1 of Brzydula and later episodes of Kuba Wojewódzki.

Legacy: It's not seen as popular due to its wide prevalence on television, in part due to its plastering of older logos, though it's not on the scale of Sony Pictures Television, the pre-2020 20th Television or CBS Television Distribution. Despite this however, it is still a favourite to many.

Fremantle

Logo (September 10, 2018-)

Visuals: On a black background, two shots fade in and out depicting the letters "Fr" and "e" in white being written out in cursive. A third shot shows a cursive white "m" being drawn, which zooms out to reveal the words "Fremantle" being drawn out in cursive handwriting. The stem of the "t" is the last of the lettering to be drawn after the zoom out.

Trivia: According to Fremantle CEO Jennifer Mullin, she described the logo as a "creative signature" that "[puts] our own unique mark on everything that we do."

Variants:

  • A shorter version with the first two shots omitted has also been shown.
  • An in-credit version is seen on most episodes of The Price Is Right, accompanied by a revised announcement: "This is (announcer's name) speaking for The Price Is Right, a Fremantle production." Other episodes have the shortened logo, with the final bit of the show's closing theme playing over it.
  • On some older shows distributed by Fremantle, the text "Distributed by" or "Produced and Distributed by" appears above the logo.
  • A still version of the "Distributed by" variant also exists, which is seen on Jack the Ripper (1988 miniseries).
    • The Price is Right: A Tribute to Bob Barker and The Roku Channel prints of Celebrity Name Game use this variant without "Distributed by".
  • Rarely, the theme plays over a black screen. This was seen on Buzzr airings of a 1972 episode (#1662) of What's My Line?, episode #530 of Match Game '75, and episode #1331 of Match Game '78, respectively.
  • A 4:3 version also exists.
  • A version stretched from 4:3 to 16:9 also exists, which was seen on programming aired on Buzzr around May 20, 2021, and is also seen on Stan streaming prints of both Jamie's Chef and Jamie's Great Escape, respectively, due to a scaling error.
  • On the 2022 iteration of the Philippine version of Family Feud, the short version with the "Distributed by" above the logo is used. Afterwards, a copyright stamp appears on a black background.
    • On the show's first two episodes, only the copyright stamp appears.
    • Starting with episode 6, aired on March 30, 2022, the full animation plays, but sped up in order to fit with the show's runtime.
  • A zoomed-in variant also exists as well.
  • On the Netflix series Wellmania, the copyright notice reading "© 2023 Fremantle Media Australia Pty Ltd." appears at the bottom of the screen.
  • A variant with the words "IN ASSOCATION WITH" also exists, which is seen at the beginning of Little Bird.
  • On the pilot of Family Feud Africa, the words "Distributed by FreMantle Media International" appear at the top of the screen above the logo which also exists.
  • On Totally Completely Fine, the still version of the logo is used, except that the text reads "Distributed by Fremantle", which appears below the logo.
  • On an SBS on Demand streaming print of Shelter (aka El Refugio), the text which reads "CO-PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY FREMANTLE" appear above the logo.

Technique: 2D animation by Venturethree.

Audio: A dramatic three-note orchestral string theme followed by a chorus stinger when the stem of the "t" is drawn. This was composed by Reuben Shaljean.

Audio Variants:

  • The shorter version cuts out the first two notes.
  • In some cases, the final bit of the show's closing theme plays over the logo, omitting either the first note or the first two notes.
  • On Let's Make a Deal, the music starts playing over the show's closing theme.
  • On almost all CBS programs, the network's guitar-driven generic theme from the 2003-04 "It's All Here" on-air look (which is slightly high-pitched since 2008) is used.
  • ABC and NBC airings use the respective channels' generic themes.
  • Sometimes, the logo has the previous logo's theme if it plasters that logo, or the show's ending theme.
  • Both high tone and low tone variants also exist.
  • Rarely, the theme is slightly re-arranged.
  • On some episodes of the 2022 iteration of the Philippine version of Family Feud, the logo's audio is heard along with the show's ending theme.

Availability:

  • It first appeared on the September 10, 2018 episode of Neighbours.
  • It debuted in the U.S. on the September 11, 2018 episode of America's Got Talent and later appeared on both The Price is Right and Let's Make a Deal on the 17th of that same month.
  • The logo is also seen on most of the shows airing on Buzzr, replacing the previous logo, starting with the newly acquired Classic Concentration.
  • The logo should appear on newer episodes of American shows and Australian shows that once bore the previous logo.
  • The logo is also seen on new and future American and Australian shows such as Unleashed, Game of Talents, Lie With Me, and About Last Night, among others.
  • It is also seen on its rebooted game shows that they own like Card Sharks, Press Your Luck and Supermarket Sweep, respectively.
  • Season 20 of Family Feud also began using this logo on October of 2018.
  • Another place the logo appears is on S3 episodes of Asia's Got Talent.
  • Currently seen on the 2022 Filipino version of Family Feud (in still and animated forms starting with the episodes stated above).
  • The logo has also started to plaster the previous logo on prints of older shows outside of the United States as well.
  • It is also seen on later prints of the miniseries Jack the Ripper (1988), and on HD remasters of Baywatch, currently on Amazon Prime and Pluto TV.
  • As with the last logo, it is used as a de-facto home video logo in the United Kingdom and Germany, as well as American DVD releases of Fremantle content released by third party companies.
  • It is also seen on season 2 of Brzydula and Familiada episodes from 2018 onwards.
  • It is also seen at the end of the pilot to Wreck, SBS on Demand streaming prints of Empires of New York, and Manson Cult: The Lost Tapes, and the U.S. prints of Planet Sex with Cara Delevingne, respectively.
  • It is also seen at the end of a UKTV Play streaming print of S13E01 of The Bill, following both the mid-1996 production variant of the 1990 Thames Television and the "Presentation for ITV" variant of the original version of the 1996 Carlton endcaps.
  • It is also seen at the end of the Yle Areena streaming prints of Great Continental Railway Journeys, Royals Declassified (aka Secrets of the Royal Family) and First Ladies, respectively.
  • It is also seen at the end of Stan streaming prints of Jamie's Chef, Jamie's Great Escape, Jamie's Fowl Dinners, Jamie's Ministry of Food and Jamie Saves Our Bacon, respectively, following the Fresh One Productions logo.
  • It is also seen at the end of a Viaplay streaming print of Jamie Oliver: Together, following the Jamie Oliver Productions logo.
  • It is also seen at the end of Jamie at Home, Cook and Save with Jamie and Jamie's Comfort Food on the TV2 Hungary website.
  • It is also seen at the start and end of Little Bird.
  • It was also seen at the end of a September 22, 2022 airing of the Callan episode "Call Me Sir!" on Talking Pictures TV, following the mid-1996 production variant of the 1990 Thames Television endcap.
  • It is also seen at the end of both the SBS On Demand streaming prints of Brian Cox: How The Other Half Live and Toda la sangre (aka Pray For Blood), respectively.
  • It is also seen at the end of a Replay.lv streaming print of Chasing Life with Sanjay Gupta, following the Part2 Pictures logo.
  • It is also seen at the end of a Replay.lv streaming print of I Am Alfred Hitchcock, following the Network logo.
  • It is also seen at the end of a Replay.lv streaming print of A Year in the Ice: The Arctic Drift.
  • It is also seen at the end of the Portuguese adaptation of Taskmaster.
  • It was also seen at the end of a July 19, 2022 airing of S01E02 of The Mind of Mr J.G. Reeder on Talking Pictures TV, following the still variant of the black background version of the 1968 Thames logo.
  • It was also seen at the end of a June 15, 2023 airing of S01E02 of Rumpole of the Bailey on Talking Pictures TV, following the 1997 Thames and 1996 Pearson Television International logos.
  • It is also seen at the start and end of I Am Johnny Cash on the RTVSLO website.
  • It is also seen at the end of a Britbox streaming print of Nigella's Cook, Eat, Repeat on The Roku Channel, following the BBC Studios Unscripted Productions logo.
  • It is also seen at the end of Expedition with Steve Backshall on the RTHK website.
  • It was also seen at the end of a TVNZ airing of Negociador (aka Negotiator).
  • It was also seen at the end of a March 6, 2023 airing of a May 18, 2001 episode of the 2000 version of To Tell The Truth on Buzzr, following the 1996 Pearson Television logo.
  • It is also seen at the end of the SBS On Demand streaming prints of Roslund & Hellström: Cell 8 and Shelter (aka El Refugio).
  • It is also seen at the end of a Mediaset Infinity streaming print of Stonehenge: The Hidden Truth.
  • It is also seen at the end of Brian Cox: Seven Days on Mars on the RTVSLO website, following the Arrow Media logo.
  • It is also seen at the end of a 6Play video-on-demand streaming print of Trinity, following the blue background variant of the 2008 Roughcut TV logo.
  • This logo with the previous logo's theme is seen at the end of Lorraine Pascale: How to be a Better Cook on the TV2 Hungary website.
Pearson Television
Grundy Television
Crackerjack Productions
Fremantle