PBS/Summary

Background
PBS replaced NET, a former major educational and public TV network, founded in early 1952 and incorporated in November of that year. Among their original affiliates were WETA Washington D.C., WNET New York, KCET Los Angeles, WGBH Boston, WQED Pittsburgh and various others. Originating from The Educational Television and Radio Center from 1952-1959, and later The National Educational Television and Radio Center from 1959 to 1962, when the radio portion was dropped.

1st logo
(August 30, 1970-October 3, 1971)

Nicknames : "The Text", "The Text of Boredom", "Multi-Colored/Tri-Colored Text", "The World's Most Generic Logo"

Logo : Just a black background with the words:

 PUBLIC    BROADCASTING    SERVICE  

stacked on top of each other.

Effects : None.

Cheesy Factor : This logo is too plain. It was probably a placeholder for the next logo.

Music/Sounds : None, or the opening theme. At the end, a voiceover, attributed as MacDonald Carey, says, "This is PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service."

Availability : Extremely rare. It was used concurrently with the NET logo from 1970 to 1971 mid-season as a placeholder logo and then quickly replaced with the 2nd logo. Though PBS officially went on the air on October 5, 1970, the logo itself actually debuted just over a month earlier, on the Grateful Dead concert program Calebration. It also appeared on the initial broadcasts of the NET Fanfare episode "Go Ride the Music", featuring Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver Messenger Service, as well as the fourth season of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, the second season of Sesame Street, some of the earliest known extant episodes of WNET's Soul!, and the first Masterpiece Theatre serials (from The First Churchills to Pere Goriot).

Scare Factor : Low. Though not widely seen, the announcer might get to some, or else this logo may cause possible boredom. But it would somewhat change with the second logo...