Kentucky Educational Television

Background
Kentucky Educational Television is a PBS station affiliate located in Lexington, Kentucky, founded in 1968.

1st Logo (1968-1975, August 10-16, 2014)
Nickname: "1960's KET"

Logo: On a black background, we see the letters "Ket" in a wide light yellow lowercase font, appearing one by one (with the "t" appearing first on the right, the "K" on the left, and finally the "e" in the middle, replacing a spiral shape that had eight sections in it). When the animation is finished, the letters rapidly spin around, and flip around to reveal the words KENTUCKY EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION stacked on each other. After that, the logo is still for a few moments before finally fading out.

FX/SFX: Primitive 2D computer animation.

Music/Sounds: The sound of a 5-note electronic water dripping sound, in steady pace, which is then followed by 2 rapid synthesized drumbeats (sounding almost like a gong or pans falling to the floor), as they almost echo and fade out.

Availability: Almost extinct. Seen on any KET produced programs at the time. You can see this logo (and all subsequent logos) in the video section of ket.org before episodes of Distinguished Kentuckian as well as on KET KY. This bumper could formerly be seen as part of KET's 'Back to the '60s Week' block, which aired the week of August 10-16, 2014. This went into effect on all KET channels, with the logo for each channel (with the exception of KET KY) in the style of this logo. The old-style logo was only used in promos for 'Back to the '60s Week' instead of being an on-screen logo.

Editor's Note: The strange music and black background, along with the animation, make this seem atypical from logos of the time.

2nd Logo (1975-1978)
Nickname: "KET Trail", "Rainbow Trail", "KET Marquee", "KETendo"

Logo: On a black background, we see a trail that contains the letter "K" in blue zooming away from us, which is then followed by a "e", leaving a trail behind it, only in yellow. At the exact same time, a green "t" animates the same way until all three letters meet with each other and stop. The KET logo is in the same style (or font) as the last logo, but in a rose bonbon outline. Then, we see a marquee design, in an oblong shape (much like the '80s WHYY logo, or the Nintendo and 1985 Hemdale logos) around the KET letters.

Variant: There is a variant with a copyright date for the respective year.

FX/SFX: Primitive 2D computer animation.

Music/Sounds: A fluttering synthesized horn crescendo, followed by a 5-note piano tune that plays at the same time. It sounds like something from an Atari/Nintendo video game, and was likely composed on analog synths.

Availability: Very rare. Seen on any KET produced program of this time.

Editor's Note: The animation of the logo, and the music may get to some. Others may find it cool and/or unique.

3rd Logo (GED variant) (1977-1985)
Logo: We see the words "ket" in a strange blue font spinning up to the screen on a yellow background. "KENTUCKY EDUCATIONAL TV" appears below. On the GED-based programs it produced, the logo would fold away sideways, causing the background to turn brown as the yellow letters "ged" (arranged in a strange way) unfold. Then, they would fold away downward, causing the background to turn yellow again as several blue "general educational development"'s are wiped onto the screen. They then dissolve together, turning the background blue, and the episode name appears on the screen.

FX/SFX: Rough Scanimate effects.

Music/Sounds: It begins with a UFO-like sound, followed by 2 long synth notes, a descending spaceship sound, and ending with a three-note synth trumpet sound.

Availability: Long extinct. No stand-alone versions of this logo are even on YouTube. The fully formed logo showed up in September of 2018 during an on-air promo commemorating KET's 50th Anniversary.

Editor's Note: The logo design and music concept seem unnerving.

Possible 4th Logo (197?-1978)
Logo: N/A

FX/SFX: N/A

Music/Sounds: N/A

Availability: The first reported sighting was during an on-air promo commemorating KET's 50th Anniversary in September of 2018. It is unknown where else this logo can be seen or how long it was used for.

Editor's Note: N/A

4th Logo (1978-1980)
Logo: We see the letters "KET" in a stylized outlined blue font above a round rectangle containing "eastern kentucky university television".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: After a second of silence, a male announcer says "The following program is made possible through the combined effort of Kentucky Educational Television and Eastern Kentucky University Television."

Availability: Pretty rare.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (1980-1984)


Nickname: "KET Puzzle", "Stylized KET"

Logo: On a black background, we see two stylized shapes coming to the center of the screen from the top right, and bottom right side of the screen, respectively. As we see that, then another figure comes from the top left side (which contains a fair portion of the logo), and a couple pieces from the left and right sides of the screen. When all of the pieces are jointed together, they form the "KET" letters from the previous logo in a stylized font. Then, the words "THE KENTUCKY NETWORK" (in a font similar to Kabel) appear under the KET logo, via a flash effect and colored milk yellow. Afterwards, the logo turns blue.

Variant: There is a slow variant with different music.

FX/SFX: 2D animation, possibly done by a computer.

Music/Sounds: A simple soft rock/new age tune, that contains a soft guitar jingle and cymbals that crash throughout the logo or the theme from the show

Availability: Seen on any KET produced programs seen around this era.

Editor's Note: It's a relaxing logo.

6th Logo (1984-1987)


Nickname: "KET", "Drawing KET", "KET Snake"

Logo: On a black background, we see the letters from the previous logo being drawn in. Then, "THE KENTUCKY NETWORK" (also in the same font as the previous logo) fades in under it.

FX/SFX: 2D animation, possibly done by a computer.

Music/Sounds: An upbeat Moog synth tune that loops 4 times, then 3 synth tones.

Availability: Very rare. This used to appear on the math and writing programs of the GED series, which were replaced with the next logo below. This is still intact on some local KET shows on KETKY and KET ED. Appears on episodes of Bywords on KET's website.

Editor's Note: Despite debuting later, this unfortunately feels a lot less timeless than the previous logo.

7th Logo (1987-1993)


Nickname: "CGI KET", "Zooming KET", "The Surprising Network"

Logo: Against an orange background, white flares bring forth the KET logo in silver, then it shines all over, and "THE KENTUCKY NETWORK" fades in below.

FX/SFX: Scanimate-like CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A synth whoosh, then a 3-note big band tune, and one big bass drumbeat (a trombone note is also heard at the same time). [Although the whoosh is original, the actual music is the ending of the Valentino music library track "Like the Wind", by Walter Murphy.] In the later years, it used a rapid crescending, then descending synth-xylophone sounder, with two light synthesized notes heard at the end.

Availability: Rare. Seen on old GED-based programs (it plasters the previous logo on the Writing and Math programs of the GED series, and some PBS affiliates still air the GED series), and the entire "Learn to Read" series that still airs in reruns on WNET.

Editor's Note: The appearance of the logo, loud noise at the beginning, and the music afterward could startle more than a few.

8th Logo (1993-2004)


Logo: On a purple/black gradient background, we see the KET logo, now in a silvery-bluish color. It rotates into place, seemingly out of nowhere. Then, the words "THE KENTUCKY NETWORK" appear below.

FX/SFX: 3D CG animation.

Music/Sounds: A calming country tune played on a guitar or the opening theme of the show.

Availability: Rare. Can be found on old episodes of Great Conservations on ket.org, as well as some DVDs available on the company's website.

Editor's Note: Some might be unnerved by the sudden appearance of the logo, but the music is lovely. This is also better than the previous logo.

9th Logo (1995-1998)
Logo: Against a red background, a dark red vertical stripe fades in on one side, with a yellow horizontal stripe near the top and a gray vertical stripe to its left. The KET translators fade in and out in white before the KET logo appears.

FX/SFX: 2D computer animation and superimposed footage.

Music/Sounds: A new-age piano-driven tune with choir backing. Interestingly, and unusually, the opening segment of the music is clean. Only later is an announcer heard; the announcer says, "You're watching the Kentucky Network, KET." Usually, the music fades out before a different announcer mentions the translator.

Availability: Extinct. Used only as a local ID.

Editor's Note: None.

10th Logo (1999-2009)


Logo: We see closeups of the KET logo, in a metallic violet color, over a violet steam background. Again we see the text "The Kentucky Network" below.

FX/SFX: 3D CG animation.

Music/Sounds: A different calming country tune played on a guitar.

Availability: Uncommon. Again, can be found on old episodes of Great Conservations on ket.org.

Editor's Note: The giant closeups of the logo can catch people off-guard, but at least the music is again lovely and relaxing.

11th Logo (2006-)


Logo: We see one closeup of the KET logo in blue. The logo fades and rotates, revealing the logo to be on a white/gray gradient background. A URL or other information can be seen below.

FX/SFX: 3D CG animation.

Music/Sounds: Yet another guitar excerpt that varies, but mostly with a pop/hip-hop beat to go with it. It may also use a different guitar tune with a bongo/conga esque beat. It also has the closing theme.

Music/Sounds Variant: A version has been spotted with a medium length version of the previous logo.

Availability: Current. Can be seen on Great Conservations and Connections, as well as any other program produced by KET.

Editor's Note: The music in any case is relaxing.