Hearst Television

1st (official) ID (1995-1999)

Visuals: Taking place on a close-up of a camera lens with orange and lavender lights moving around it, a large print logo of the station's network (NBC peacock on WBAL-TV, ABC logo everywhere else) tilts and zooms back to the the top left, illuminated in silver and then turning dark as it settles in position. As this happens, the station's logo (in the form of their channel number) appears in front on its side at a slight angle, and zooms out to the right side of the screen while rotating clockwise into view. Station ID info fades in on the left in the Bank Gothic font, with the call letters on top and city/cities below in smaller, spaced out text with a line in between both and on the left (or right in WDTN's version) of the latter.

Trivia: These were made by LoConte-Goldman Design in Boston, MA, and was part of a larger branding and graphics package mandate for the Hearst stations that was also designed at the same agency, all based on a "camera lens" theme.

Stations:

WBAL-TV in Baltimore, MA (1995-1998)
WCVB in Boston, MA (1995-1998)
WDTN in Dayton/Springfield, OH (1995-1999)
WISN-TV in Milwaukee, WI (1996-1999)
KMBC-TV in Kansas City, MO (1995-1998)
WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, PA (1995-1998)

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A short brass-based fanfare from the "Image News" music package. Composed by Gari Communications (now known as Gari Media Group) and was originally commissioned by Hearst as part of the aforementioned mandate.

This is often accompanied by an announcer.

Availability: These usually appeared at the beginning of news intros during this period, and were sometimes used as standalone IDs.

2nd (official) ID (1998-2005)

WCVB "AP Station of the Year" version (2001)
WXII 2002 version

Visuals: On a diagonally stretched black and blue camera lens background with red/white highlights and constantly moving rings and lights, a bright flash brings forth the station's (channel number) logo at a 3D angle facing towards the top right and filling the screen, followed by a few more flashes bringing in the logo of their affiliated network on the left in the same 3D treatment; both zoom out to a comfortable distance. Station ID info (stylized like before) appears below the logo and converges to bottom left corner of the screen. The station and network logos rotate clockwise very slowly for the remainder of the ID sequence.

Trivia: Like before, these were also animated at LoConte-Goldman Design. They were part of a refresh of the existing "camera lens" mandate.

Stations:

WESH in Orlando/Daytona Beach, FL (1999-2005) (Revolution)
KCRA in Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, CA (2000-2005) (Revolution)
WTAE in Pittsburgh, PA (1998-2005) (Image News)
WYFF in Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC/Asheville, NC (2000-2004) (Revolution)
KOCO in Oklahoma City, OK (1998-2005) (Revolution)
WCVB in Boston, MA (1998-2001) (Image News)
WLWT in Cincinnati, OH (1998-2004) (Revolution)
WPTZ in Plattsburgh/Burlington, VT (1999-2003?) (Image News)
WDSU in New Orleans, LA (2000-2004) (Revolution)
KETV in Omaha, NE (2000-2005) (Image News)
KOAT in Albuquerque, NM (1999-2002) (Image News)
KCCI in Des Moines, IA (2000-2005) (Revolution)
KSBW in Monterey/Salinas/Santa Cruz, CA (1999-2004?) (Image News)
WGAL in Lancaster/York/Harrisburg/Lebanon, PA (2000-2005) (Revolution)
KMBC in Kansas City, MO (1998-2005) (Image News)
WBAL in Baltimore, MD (1998-2004) (Image News)
WISN-TV in Milwaukee, WI (1999-2000s) (Image News)
WXII in Winston-Salem/Greensboro/High Point, NC (2000-2005) (Image News)
WAPT in Jackson, MS (1999-2005) (Image News)
WPBF in Tequesta/West Palm Beach, FL (1998-2000s) (Image News)
WLKY in Louisville, KY (2000-2005) (Image News)
KHBS/KHOG in Fort Smith/Fayetteville, AR (2001-mid/late 2000s) (Revolution)

Variants:

KETV, KHBS/KHOG, WGAL, WXII and WLKY has their logos facing toward the middle of the screen instead.
On WLWT's version, their logo comes to a hard stop after zooming out instead of slowing down. The NBC peacock is animated normally, however.
On WAPT and WPBF's versions, the angles of their respective logos do not match with ABC's logo.
For WCVB, their stylized "5" logo starts off colored white, then changes to red once it's in position.
WCVB also used a variant in 2001 that commemorated being named "Station of the Year" by the Associated Press that year. It starts off with blue text zooming in reading "AP NEWS STATION OF THE YEAR" spanning across two rows with a line in between both, with a blurry tilted circle behind it. After a couple seconds, they fade out and the usual logo animation continues as normal. The camera lens background is even more distorted and three scrolling lines of text, each reading "AP NEWS STATION OF THE YEAR", is seen behind the logo.

Technique: Computer animation. The camera lens background was most likely animated using motion control.

Audio: Same as before ("Image News") on some stations, others used a different brass-based theme from the "Revolution" music package (also originally commissioned by Hearst and composed by Gari Communications). Details are listed above in the "stations" section.

This is often accompanied by an announcer.

Audio Variants:

KCRA's version contained an sounder towards the end that resembles their slogan, Where The News Comes First.
As a new graphics and music package was being rolled out to the Hearst-Argyle stations between 2003 and 2005, several stations stopped using their aforementioned music packages early and switched to the newer Jerome Gilmer-composed music for the remainder of this graphics' run on the following stations:
- KCCI (2003)
- KCRA (2004)
- KETV (2004)
- KHBS-KHOG (2004)
- KMBC (2004)
- KOAT (2004)
- KSBW (2004)
- WBAL (2003)
- WCVB (2003)
- WDSU (2004)
- WESH (2003)
- WDSU (2004)
- WGAL (2004)
- WLKY (2003)
- WPTZ (2003)
- WXII (2004)
- WTAE (2004)
- WYFF (2004)

Availability: Same as the 1st ID.

3rd (official) ID (2012-2018)

WGAL 2015 version
WCVB later variant
WLWT updated variant

Visuals: There is footage of the station's respective city surrounded by white and orange lights. Several blue and white diagonal shapes wipe across the screen from the bottom left and upper right and rest on the opposite sides, revealing the station's logo at a slight angle in shiny, metallic 3D that zooms backward slowly. Station ID info (call letters, cities) appear below via a "blur" effect and written in small, spaced out text. After a couple seconds, more diagonal shapes appear, wiping across the screen from the bottom left and briefly revealing a blue diagrid background that covers the entire screen except for the logo, which is now zooming in past the upper right of the screen. The diagrid background dissolves away and brings forth either the rest of the news open, the cold open headlines, or (following a commercial break) the newscast itself.

Trivia: This was animated at National Ministry of Design, via their "National Boston" division. HTV Design, Hearst Television's graphics hub based at WESH, likely also played a role in this set of ID's as they (along with National Boston) worked on the rest of the graphics package. The "diagrid" patterns are based off the design of the Hearst Tower in New York City.

Stations:

WESH in Orlando, FL (2012-2018)
WBAL-TV in Baltimore, MD (2012-2016?)
KCRA in Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, CA (2012-2015)
WGAL in Harrisburg/Lancaster/Lebanon/York, PA (2012-2018)
WISN in Milwaukee, WI (2012-2018)
WTAE in Pittsburgh, PA (2012-2014)
WCVB in Boston, MA (2012-2016?)
WPBF in Tequesta/West Palm Beach, FL (2012-2018)
KCCI in Des Moines, IA (2013-2018)
KOCO in Oklahoma City, OK (2013-2016)
WLWT in Cincinnati, OH (2012-2015?)
WLKY in Louisville, KY (2013-2018)
WDSU in New Orleans, LA (2013-2015)
KHBS/KHOG in Fort Smith/Fayetteville, AR (Dates unknown)

Variants:

In KCRA's version, the diagonal shapes are missing and there are no lights surrounding the Sacramento city footage; only a set of shiny diagonal lines wipe across the screen to bring forth the logo. The sequence is shorter overall and it quickly fades to the rest of their news open instead of the usual wipe-off animation.
The animation of the 3D logo in WGAL's version was redone in 2015, which now zooms towards the top of the screen at the end.
WCVB's version uses a different animation of the diagonal shapes which also contains some diagrid patterns and orange highlights within. The logo zooms out and rotates from the left side of the screen instead of being wiped in, and a slanted dissolve transitions to the rest of their open. Also, the legal ID text just says "BOSTON". Starting around 2014, the ID text is deleted and replaced with larger text that says "BOSTON'S NEWS LEADER" appearing letter-by-letter and this trails over the first couple seconds of the open proper.
WLWT used an abridged version coming out of some commercial breaks that's nearly the same as KCRA's version, but with the diagonal shapes and orange lighting kept in. A updated version was used starting around 2013(?) with a flatter "WLWT News 5" logo that rotates and flashes away at the end. Another version was used at the beginning of their weather opens during this period, it's the normal version with the original 3D logo treatment but it starts with the logo already formed. The ID line is absent on all versions.
WLKY's version is nearly the same as WCVB's original version, except here the logo quickly zooms back from the top right of the screen and rotates once it settles in position; this was redone in 2016 when their logo was refreshed (replacing the "32" symbol with the CBS eye). Also, the full legal ID text is used.
A variant was used on KHBS/KHOG in 2015 that commemorated being the most watched station in Fort Smith, AR that year. It includes text at the beginning that reads "MOST WATCHED" and Nielsen viewership rating info in much smaller text below it. Additionally, some of the diagonal shapes that reveal the logo appear to be sliced in half, the legal ID line only says "FORT SMITH · FAYETTEVILLE", plus the ABC logo and "KHBS/KHOG" parts of the "40/29" logo have a more flatter appearance with a blue slanted rectangle surrounding the latter. It is unknown if a regular version without the "MOST WATCHED" text was ever used.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A rock-based theme containing a four-note mnemonic in the notes of E, D#, G# and F#, in order. It trails into the news open sequence or cold open headlines if attached to either one of those. This is part the "Strive" music package composed by In the Groove Music exclusively for Hearst Television.

Audio Variants:

An orchestral variant was used on WGAL (evening newscasts), KCRA and KHBS/KHOG.
WBAL-TV used a synthesized guitar riff over the ID animation, with the actual theme playing over the open proper.

Availability: These were only seen on newscasts from this era. All Hearst stations (except for WMUR) used the first-generation diagrid graphics package that these were part of from 2012 through 2018. However, only the stations listed above used this ID set in the time periods listed above.