WTVS

Background
WTVS is a PBS affiliate located in Detroit, Michigan.

1st Logo (Mid-Late 1960's)
TBA

2nd Logo (1978-1986)
Nickname: "Flying Skyline"

Logo: We fly over a live-action shot of downtown Detroit as the text "From WTVS/Detroit" zooms away slowly.

FX/SFX: Simple, but OK animation for the text. Other than that, it's all live-action.

Music/Sounds: A warbling shuttle sound with an ascending whoosh and whistling sounds.

Availability: Rare. Seen on pre-1992 VHS prints of David Macaulay's Castle. On the 1995 PBS Video (and later PBS Home Video) release, expect this to be plastered by the WHYY-TV logo, which is then moved to the end.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1986-1991)
Nickname: "The Skyline Returns"

Logo: Against a purple/tan BG, we see a distorted, purple, multi-lined "56" arrange itself on a dark purple square as it zooms out to the top left. Then, the BG fades to a skyline of Detroit, and the text "WTVS/Detroit" slides out from the bottom left of the screen.

FX/SFX: The logo's arrangement and fading skyline.

Music/Sounds: A rising synth chord followed by a rather spacey three-note tune.

Availability: Extinct. Only used as a local ID.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1986-1991)


Nickname: "The Universe, The World, Detroit, and You"

Logo: We fade into a close-up shot of the Milky Way, but just half a second later, we start zooming away, and in the process, we pass the earth, then we arrive at the Detroit skylines. As soon as the zooming stops, the texts "The Universe", "The World", and "Detroit" all zoom out, stacking each other, and then the text "and you" writes out in cursive, and the WTVS logo of the time, next to "WTVS/56" fades below.

Variant: There is a shorter version that just starts at the texts zooming out.

FX/SFX: The zooming of the camera and text, plus the writing of "and you". Decent animation for the 1980s.

Music/Sounds: A majestic eight-note synthesized orchestra tune, with a "ding" at the beginning. The shorter version uses a quicker, 10-note synth tune.

Availability: Extinct. Seen with the "Skyline" ID, this was used as a "You're watching..." ID on WTVS. It would then cut to a national program intro tag at the time.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (1991-1998)
​​​​​​Logo: On an animated blurry background of different shapes (like the 1998 logo), we see a spinning Taijitu (used in representing yin and yang, even though here it doesn't show dots here) with one half teal and the other pink. "A PRODUCTION OF" in a white Impact-like fontfades in above. A gray sphere (kind of like the moon) with "WTVS" in the same font colored teal zooms in. "DETROIT" in the same font again colored white fades in below.

FX/SFX: The zooming.

Music/Sounds: A 4-note orchestral fanfare.

Availability: Extinct. Only known to appear on Club Connect.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (1991-1998)
Nickname: "Quality Shows", "56 Circle"

Logo: Inside is a bunch of PBS program clips stacked as they fly by them, much like those movie theater chain logos. Then it comes out of the bottom of the circle and turns so that "56" is in the center. the logo shines. The bottom says "QUALITY SHOWS" then turns into "WTVS DETROIT". Both are in the same font of the previous logo.

Variant: Sometimes this logo is abridged, starting as the circle 56 rotates. "QUALITY SHOWS" does not show up.

FX/SFX: The flyby of the stacked clips, the turn of the circle and the shine.

Music/Sounds: An extended version of the previous logo. Starts with a mild action-news like fanfare which then turns into harp music and we hear the four notes on a flute followed by a bassoon. On the abridged variant, an announcer says "You're watching WTVS, Channel 56 in Detroit."

Availability: Extinct. Only used as a local ID.

Editor's Note: None.

7th Logo (1998?-2003?)
Nicknames:“Crayons”, “Dad and Son”

Logo:On a brown wooden background, we see a white piece of paper and a yellow crayon, we then zoom out to reveal a picture of the WTVS logo drawn out with a blue crayon appearing and, “DETROIT PUBLIC TELEVISION” underneath drawn in blue crayon and “WTVS Detroit” written in the bottom right corner of the screen.

Variants:There are two versions of this logo, a long version and a short version. The shorter version has been described above. The longer version consists of the blue crayon coming in first and drawing the logo before the yellow crayon joins it.

FX/SFX:All CGI animation.

Music/Sounds:A lively instrumental theme with dialogue between a father and a son: “Hey what are you doing?”, “Watching Detroit public television “, “That’s WTVS Detroit “, “I knew that”.

Availability:Extinct. It only appeared during PBS Kids programming in the WTVS viewing area. Only one recording has been found of the short version to this day. VHS recordings are the only way to view it.

Editors Note:This is a classic ID to those who viewed it back in the day.

8th Logo (1998-2002?)
Logo: On a blurry animated background similar to the previous logo, we see a blue box containing a stylized version of part of an eclipse. Above and below the logo colored blue is "A Production Of" and "Detroit Public Television".

Trivia: The "Eclipse" logo in this ident came from a public produced-organization company called LARK International, which is its parent original company, next to PBS. The company had also formerly ownedKUHT/Houston Public Television (now HoustonPBS) until around 2003. The company, however also owns KCTS Seattle, who currently carries the "Eclipse" logo.

FX/SFX: The background, though amazing, is too simple, like NBCUniversal's "Silk of Shame".

Music/Sounds: 3 chime notes against a string background.

Availability: Rare.

Editor's Note: None.

9th Logo (2002?-)


Logo: On a dark blue tinted action background, we see "A Production of" above and "Detroit Public Television" below zoom out leaving trails. In the background, we see the transparent letters "Detroit Public Television". Between the 3 and 3 arranged words is the same eclipse logo from 1998. The eclipse in the square shines.An enhanced version was introduced in the mid-late 2000's, where the background is lighter in color.

Variant: FX/SFX: The trail and the shine.
 * For the enhanced version, onseason 3 of In the Frame: Exploring the DIA, the logo (and the credits) now is played inside a photo frame laid on a red cloth.
 * "Production" may be replaced with "Presentation".

Music/Sounds: The three notes from the 1998 logo are now played on a piano and string, followed by two more notes. For the enhanced version, there is no string.

Availability: Common, as this is the current WTVS logo.

Editor's Note: None.

10th Logo (2002-2004)
Logo: On a filmstrip background, a box containing a stylized version of part of an eclipse (similar to the beginning of the 1994 Universal logo) zooms out from the center of the screen. As it zooms out, the words "Detroit Public TV" zoom out stacked "Detroit" on top, and "Public TV" on the bottom. Suddenly, the background morphs into one of those old "countdown" clocks as the words "WTVS Detroit" and DetroitPublic TV's web address scroll across the screen. The logo may be overlaid over the 2002 CPB background in 2:35:1. If not, it has "It's Worth Your Time" below.

Trivia: Same as above.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: The same 3 notes but in lower pitch played on a piano mixed with drums and what sounds like an organ, and then the sound of an old film projector.

Availability: Extinct. Was only used as a local ID.

Editor's Note: None.