Worldvision Enterprises

Credits

Descriptions by
Jason Jones, Sean Beard, ClosingLogoLover, DaBigLogoCollector, and imacomputergeek

Editions by
Shadeed A. Kelly, Eric S., V of Doom, snelfu, Gilblitz112, Derrick Anderson, TrickyMario7654, Mario9000seven and whatacuck/LogoCuck

Video captures courtesy of
TVLOGOS708090, Eric S., mcydodge919, JohnnyL80, and SeanElGatoTelevision

Background

Worldvision Enterprises Inc. was a television program and home video distributor established in 1973 as the successor of ABC Films after the former company spun-off because it was against the FCC regulations for a television network to distribute its programs under its own name. They primarily licensed programs from others, rather than producing their own content. When Worldvision was in operation for 10 years, the company had offices in very important cities around the world such as: NY, LA, Chicago, Atlanta, London, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, Toronto, Rio de Janeiro, Munich, Mexico City, and Rome. In 1979, Worldvision was sold to Taft Broadcasting (later renamed as "Great American" in 1987 and "Citicasters" in 1993), and was later sold to Aaron Spelling in 1988 and became part of Spelling, Inc. The transaction was completed on March 11, 1989. On April 6, 1991, Spelling Entertainment Inc. was acquired by the Charter Company, an oil refining, insurance, and communications company. Spelling and Charter merged on October 5, 1992 and Charter was renamed as "Spelling Entertainment Group". On October 5, 1993, Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation acquired a 67% stake in the Spelling Entertainment Group and later merged with Viacom on September 29, 1994. In 1997, the production arm of Worldvision Enterprises was incorporated into Republic Pictures, and in 1999, Viacom (pre-2006) (later "CBS Corporation") acquired the rest of the Spelling Entertainment Group, and folded the distribution arm of Worldvision into Paramount Domestic Television (now "CBS Television Distribution"). Currently, most of the Worldvision Enterprises library (the exceptions: most of the Hanna-Barbera library is owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment through Turner Broadcasting, Let's Make a Deal is now owned by FremantleMedia, and the TV movies produced by Fries Entertainment co-produced by Worldvision are owned by MGM Holdings Inc.) is owned by CBS Corporation through CBS Television Distribution and Spelling Television Inc. The movies that Worldvision syndicated, such as those from Carolco, are now syndicated by Trifecta Entertainment and Media, under license from Paramount Pictures.

1st Logo (January 8, 1973-January 10,1976)

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Nicknames: "Radar Globe III", "Radar W III", "Worldvision W Globe III", "Whoosh Globe"

Logo: It's only a warp-speed variant of the 1983 Worldvision Home Video logo, except the Worldvision text emerges from the front and both layer themselves into position as the background fades to black. "HOME VIDEO, INC." is replaced by the thin white text "ENTERPRISES INC." The radar globe then shines and the same "WVI" print stamp (in much smaller type) fades onto the bottom of the screen. The name then shines as well.

Bylines: When introduced in 1988, there was no byline present (like the chyroned version of the previous logo it replaced). After Great American Broadcasting (the former Taft Broadcasting Co.) sold Worldvision to Aaron Spelling the same year, these bylines would appear beginning in 1989:

• 1988-1990: (Bylineless; just the "WVI" print stamp)
• 1989-1995: "A UNIT OF SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT INC." Trademark symbol appears by the "Radar W" logo in 1991.
• 1994-1995: "A UNIT OF SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT INC., A BLOCKBUSTER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"
• 1995-1996: "A UNIT OF SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC., A BLOCKBUSTER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"
• 1996-1999: "A SUBSIDIARY OF SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC."

Variants:

• There is a filmed variation of this logo.
• When Blockbuster Entertainment bought Spelling, their movie ticket logo unfolded below Worldvision's logo (it was briefly placed next to the globe after the Blockbuster purchase of Spelling), underneath Spelling's byline (itself having the "A Blockbuster Entertainment Company" byline underneath it).
• There is also a still variant of this logo.
• There is also a B&W variant.
• A stretched to 16:9 variant was strangely spotted on AMC's HD print of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

FX/SFX: The sped-up zoom-out, the layering FX on the company name, and the shining radar globe at the end of the sequence. Also, there was a quick shining wipe at the Worldvision text.

Music/Sounds: A shortened version of the Worldvision Home Video theme (the slowed-down version of "Moog Statement 14"), shortening and toning down the "WHOOSH" and cutting the jingle to the last 2 notes.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• Two variants of this jingle exist: one has the theme in a lower pitch and the other has a higher-pitched theme. Both low and high tone versions can be found in numerous places: for example, the 1991 logo in both low and high tones are seen on some episodes of syndicated prints of Little House on the Prairie. The 1995 logo in low tone was sighted in a few season 2 episodes of Dallas in its S1&2 DVD release. A high pitch variant of the 1996 logo was seen on a M1 channel airing of some episodes of The Love Boat: The Next Wave.
• Sometimes, the closing theme was used (like on some parts of The Stand) or it's silent.
• On Hallmark Channel Italy reruns of Dallas, a few season 2 episodes had the 1971 Lorimar music over the 1995 variant. This is due to a poor plaster job.

Availability: Common.

• This logo was used on 1990s prints of pre-1973 ABC shows, but also applied to the Hanna-Barbera (until the cartoon studio's sale to Turner Broadcasting in 1991), Republic Pictures Television (after 1996), Weintraub Entertainment Group, Carolco Pictures (the company distributed their films to TV as part of a syndication package) and Spelling Television libraries, among others. Also appeared on some first-run syndicated programs, such as the first 3 seasons of Judge Judy.
• It was seen on syndicated prints of Little House on the Prairie (with the exception of the pilot movie from March 1974, which in recent airings, has the 1979 logo) when it was on the Hallmark Channel and TV Land, and is also on DVD releases (seasons 1-3 only with the NBC Enterprises and the NBC Universal Television Distribution logos following it), DVD releases and TNT airings of S1 episodes of Charmed, which is followed by the 1995 PDT logo (Though both logos were plastered by the CTD logo on its recent Blu-Ray release), Syfy and former Chiller airings of Tales from the Darkside, Hulu airings of season 1 of Beverly Hills 90210, which is followed by the 2003 PDT logo, and on some international prints of earlier episodes of 7th Heaven.
• Also seen on the mini-series The Stand on Syfy and Chiller and on most B&W prints of Combat! on Me-TV and H&I. Also seen on The Fugitive (1963 TV series), Sci-Fi Channel prints of Dark Shadows, older TV broadcasts of Carolco films, such as Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Universal Soldier and Repossessed, among others, and older syndicated prints of Weintraub films such as My Stepmother is an Alien. The logo was also seen on Troop Beverly Hills when it aired on Encore in 2009, but streaming prints on The Roku Channel and Tubi end with the 2002 Sony Pictures Television logo instead.
• Surprisingly, it recently appeared on Trifecta's print of Basic Instinct before the Trifecta logo, and was preserved on syndicated prints of Three For the Road, with the 1995 Paramount logo and Trifecta logo appearing afterwards (although Laff's print doesn't have Trifecta and the Worldvision/Paramount logos are shown before the credits).
• The filmed variant was spotted on early video releases of the Twin Peaks pilot episode from Warner Home Video, and on some international prints of The Love Boat.
• A handful of episodes from the second season of Dallas retain this logo on the Warner Home Video DVD release of S1/S2, and it was also retained on some 1987-91 syndicated prints (followed by the 2003 WBTV logo) of the series. These are easy to catch because they are sourced from PAL transfers and run 4% faster than an NTSC standard print; Worldvision distributed the series internationally until the 1990s, when the rights reverted back to Warner Bros.
• On Netflix, it can be seen on a couple of S1 episodes of Melrose Place; it was also seen when MP reran on the Style network as well when it was reran on SoapNet (now Disney Junior) though it's plastered on the pilot by the 2003 Paramount Domestic Television logo.
• Recently spotted on some episodes of Bonanza on its German DVD release and also appears on some episodes of said show on Me-TV. Also seen on The Rebel and some episodes of The Love Boat on Me-TV.
• It also made surprise appearances on the Warner Home Video DVD release of The Greatest Adventures: Stories from the Bible - The Miracles of Jesus and one iTunes print of an episode of Hong Kong Phooey.
• It is unknown if this was seen on late 1980s/early-to-mid 1990s prints of One Step Beyond, The Doris Day Show, Barnaby Jones, Ben Casey, and Car 54, Where Are You?, among other Worldvision/Republic-distributed shows.
• DVD prints of The Key to Rebecca kept this logo (with the Blockbuster byline) intact followed by the CTD logo.
• It is also intact on the seasons 3-5 DVDs of The Mod Squad.
• Recently, all variants of the logo has been sighted on various episodes of Highway to Heaven on British TV channel True Movies.
• The 1996 version has also been spotted on a Starz Encore Westerns airing of The Last Command with the 2012 Paramount Pictures logo following afterwards. Also seen on Amazon Prime's print of Gunsmoke Ranch and a Grit airing of The Punisher (1989).
• It was also seen on at least one episode of That Girl on Antenna TV, followed by the Paul Brownstein and Stadium Media logos afterwards.
• The logo appears at both the beginning and end of the 1994 VHS of Cujo instead of the Worldvision Home Video logo.
• It appears at the end of the 1990 film Disturbed on Court TV Mystery, followed by a silent 1995 Paramount logo.

Editor's Note: The logo is the truncated 1983 Worldvision Home Video logo, but with crisper and smoother animation (at least on the videotaped variant). Like with the home video logo, it's also known by some for being eerie, but it's still a favorite for those who can appreciate it.