Paramount Television Service

Credits

Descriptions by
Cody E. and Shadeed A. Kelly

Captures by
Cody E. and Pygmalion X

Editions by
Shadeed A. Kelly

Video captures courtesy of
metrodfclpt

Paramount Television Service
Founded:	1977 (unofficially)
Defunct:	1980s
Parent:	Paramount Pictures

Background

The Paramount Television Service ("PTS" or "PMTS" for short) was the name of a proposed but eventually unrealized "fourth television network" from Paramount Pictures (then a unit of Gulf+Western), unofficially established in 1977.

Logo (September 24, 1980-1982)

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Visuals: A dark mountain with a light blue outline is seen against a pitch-black background. Suddenly, a large flash of light occurs at the mountain's peak, and several balls of light zoom in from the peak to the center of the screen. The "Paramount" script in yellow can be seen zooming in with the lights, which then arrange themselves in a near-circle of 22 star-like lights. An elongated orange beam also zooms in to the bottom of the screen, and once everything is arranged, the orange beam transforms into the words "PARAMOUNT TELEVISION SERVICE" as the light blue outline transitions to orange.

Trivia:

• The logo was actually supposed to be a television station ident; it was around this time that a fourth commercial network by Paramount was in the works, but plans eventually fell through.
• Eventually, new footage would be added to the beginning of the logo and the words "HOME VIDEO" would be chyroned over "PARAMOUNT TELEVISION SERVICE" to create Paramount Home Video's second logo.

Variant: An earlier version made in 1978, with a brighter background, simplified animation, and a byline reading "THE NEW NETWORK", was ultimately featured on the demo reel of the motion graphics company Sullivan & Marks, which you can view here.

Technique: Backlit animation by Sullivan & Marks.

Audio: The 1979 Paramount Television theme.

Availability:

• It was only on a select number of shows, such as the first season of Solid Gold.
• VH1 airings of Solid Gold from 1998-99 have this logo plastered by the silent 1995 Domestic Mountain instead.
• The original VHS and PAL DVD releases of A Woman Called Golda also replaced this with a silent version of the 1975 Paramount Television logo and the NTSC DVD release has the 2007 CBS Television Distribution logo instead.