WTVI

Background

WTVI (branded on-air as PBS Charlotte) is a PBS affiliate serving Charlotte in North Carolina, owned by Central Piedmont Community College. It first signed on the air on August 27, 1965.

1st (known) Logo (1970's?-1983)

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Visuals: On a space background with zooming stars, a large orb of blue light flies towards the screen, as a band of white light appears and stretches over the screen. 2 more orbs of light fly towards the screen as a skyline appears in the distance. The background then changes to a purple gradient and the lights disappear, revealing "roads" in front of the city. 2 more orbs then shoot out of one of the buildings with "WTVI" with a white outline appearing and sliding out below, and an abstract "42" in the same colors rises up from the back. A white circle then zooms out and surrounds the whole thing, revealing more stars as the circle shines with pings.

Variant: A short version has the logo start with the text sliding in.

Technique: Motion-controlled animation.

Audio: A funky disco tune or none.

Availability: Seen on Of Quilts and Sabres, Red Clay Gold Dust, and Thunder in Carolina.

2nd Logo (1983-1987)

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  Standard

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  Lime variant

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  Light blue variant

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  Red variant

Visuals: On a black background with white lines, a black square grows in size and rests in the middle of the screen. Inside it, the text "WTVI", made up of abstract shapes and connected with a bar on the top edge, zooms in and arcs into place, leaving trails while changing colors constantly. When it stops moving, it becomes turquoise as a turquoise gradient fades in at the top part of the screen. "Charlotte" then fades in the top left corner of the square, colored white with a black drop-shadow.

Variants:

• A variant with a red and light blue color scheme exists.
• A still version has a different-looking design. "WTVI" is instead a cut-out inside of a lime box with glowing teal edges. "Charlotte 42" can be seen in teal, and the background is gray with a lime gradient on the bottom and white gridlines.

Technique: Motion-controlled animation.

Audio: A bouncy synth theme, with a whoosh for the text flying in. The still version has none.

Availability: It's seen on From Uncle Tom To Jim Crow, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, and Shaping New Dimensions.

3rd Logo (1987-1995)

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  Standard

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  "Stereo"/Station ID

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  "Text Change" variant

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  "New" version

Visuals: On a space background, a floor of blue boxes with "42" embossed on them can be seen. A golden rounded rectangle then appears from the top and zooms out, rotating around a lot. When it zooms out at its furthest point, it zooms back in, revealing a blue front resembling the previous logo, with "WTVI" in white with golden bordering, and the number "42" in the top left corner. When it stops, "Charlotte, NC", or "Charlotte-STEREO" when used locally, fades in below.

Variants:

• In 1991, the word "Charlotte, NC" changes to a different font.
• In 1994, the square animates as normal on a black background, but with the addition of the text "Charlotte, NC" flying in from the right and turning around to face the viewer, and the background turning into violet with a silhouette of a farm on it.

Technique: CGI animation.

Audio: A dramatic synth theme with twinkles. When used as a local ID, it's accompanied by an announcer.

Audio Variants: In the 1994 version, a short fanfare with a twinkle and a few timpani and string notes at the end was used.

Availability: It can be seen on The Pap Test: A Cure for the Crisis, Opportunity Knocks, and also seen as a local ID.

4th Logo (1995-2003)

Visuals: On a black background, the word "charlotte" slowly flips in from the left side of the screen, along with a metallic blue circle from the bottom of the screen. Just before they flip into place, the word "WTVI", also in metallic gray, flips in from the top of the screen. When the objects are just about to be flipped in place, a 3D wooden rectangle, the words "Stay curious", and a white PBS P-head (without the split piece) appear from the bottom of the screen. The rectangle flips in behind the word "charlotte", the words "Stay curious" flip in below the rectangle, and the PBS head flips into the circle.

Technique: CGI animation.

Audio: Same as the 1994 version.

Audio Variants: A short synth note, followed by an ascending synth note, then a chime, and two synth notes mixed with a flanged whoosh. This is "Movie Logos" by Mike Hooker off of Smartsound's Full Spectrum album and Quicktracks. This fanfare was also used by Advanced Media Post, Company of Kids in Netherlands, TV Sinal in Brazil, Star Records in Philippines, and Tower Video in Hungary.

Availability: This was only used as a local ID.