Worldvision Enterprises/Summary

Logo descriptions and editions by Jason Jones, Sean Beard, ClosingLogoLover, and DaBigLogoCollector

Logo captures and editions by Shadeed A. Kelly, Eric S., V of Doom, snelfu, and Gilblitz112

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. Their slogan was "The World's Leading Distributor for Independent Television Producers". When Worldvision was in operation for 10 years, the company had offices in very important cities around the world such as New York, Los Angeles, 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). In 1988, it was sold again, this time to producer Aaron Spelling, who made it 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 to "Spelling Entertainment Group". On October 5, 1993, Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation acquired a 67% stake in Spelling Entertainment Group. On September 29, 1994, Blockbuster merged with Viacom. In 1997, the production arm of Worldvision Enterprises was incorporated into Republic Pictures, and in 1999, Viacom (now "CBS Corporation") acquired the rest of the Spelling Entertainment Group, and folded the distribution arm of Worldvision into Paramount Domestic Television (now CBS Media Ventures). Currently, most of the Worldvision Enterprises library is owned by CBS Corporation through CBS Media Ventures and Spelling Television Inc. Most of the Hanna-Barbera library is owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment through Turner Broadcasting, Let's Make a Deal is now owned by Fremantle, and the TV movies produced by Fries Entertainment co-produced by Worldvision are owned by MGM Holdings Inc.

On most of its logos, a disclaimer stamp reads "Not affiliated with World Vision International, a religious and charitable organization". World Vision International sued Worldvision Enterprises in 1974 over misuse of their name, but the two parties settled after the latter company agreed to put the aforementioned disclaimer in their logos from then on out.

1st Logo (1973-1976)[]

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

Logo: On a yellow background, a black oval-shaped globe with longitudinal and latitudinal lines is seen wiping in upward. At the same time, a navy blue "W" is wiping in downward. The "W" is stylized such that it blends with the spherical shape. The company name "WORLDVISION ENTERPRISES INC." then appears below the globe.

Variants:

A special superimposed in-credit variant with no animation was created to replace the ABC Films ID, with "A" placed above and "PRESENTATION" placed below.
On the 1975 TV movie Hey, I'm Alive, the logo is a still shot on an orange background.
Based on film quality, one variant of this logo appears in Naples yellow.

FX/SFX: The globe drawing. Kinda simple, but decent.

Music/Sounds: None.

Music/Sounds Variant: For the in-credit variant, it uses the end theme from Let's Make a Deal.

Availability: The in-credit scroll version was still intact on Let's Make a Deal when GSN last aired it. Otherwise, expect the CBS Television Distribution logo to plaster it.

2nd Logo (1974-1988)[]

Nicknames: "Radar Globe II", "Radar W II", "Worldvision W Globe II"

Logo: Same concept as before, but with a red background and a white logo and text. A print disclaimer stamp for "World Vision International" appears below the company name from this point onward.

Trivia:

This logo was used on period prints of old TV shows originally aired on ABC among others. Worldvision was also the top distributor of most Hanna-Barbera TV shows from post-1979.
The disclaimer was added after WVI sued Worldvision Enterprises over use of the name in 1974, one of the reasons the first logo had to be replaced. The two parties settled, and this Worldvision was allowed to keep its name, provided that the aforementioned stamp was used in its logo.

Bylines:

1974-1978; 1987-1988: Bylineless
1979-1982: "A TAFT BROADCASTING COMPANY"
1981-1987: "A TAFT COMPANY"

Variants:

A special superimposed in-credit variant with no animation was created to replace the ABC Films ID, with or without "A" placed above and "PRESENTATION" placed below with the print included. This was also used on co-produced TV movies.
A variant of the first bylineless version exists, in which the radar lines are visible through the "W". This version has been sighted on A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story and Louis Armstrong: Chicago Style on Encore Drama (now Starz Encore Black).
Another variant exists of the first bylineless version, in which the "WVI" print stamp is smaller. This has been sighted on the "translucent W" variant on Louis Armstrong: Chicago Style.
There is a B&W variant.
On the syndicated version of The Newlywed Game from 1977-80, the text says "SYNDICATED BY WORLDVISION ENTERPRISES, INC.".
Sometimes, the logo is still.

FX/SFX: Same as above.

Music/Sounds: None or the end theme of the show or TV movie.

Music/Sounds Variants:

On the 1982 TV movie The Capture of Grizzly Addams, the logo had an ascending four-note jazzy Fender-Rhodes electric piano theme, which was the inspiration for the jingle to the 1988 Worldvision logo.
On '80s international prints of classic H-B shows, a generic variant of this logo with the H-B "Box" logo theme was heard.
On the 1978 TV movie Little Mo, the drum roll from the Mark VII Limited logo plays over this logo.
On season 9 episodes of The Love Boat on Pop, and a December 22, 2005 Channel 5 UK airing of the 1986 TV movie The Christmas Gift, the 1988 music from the next logo is heard due to a sloppy reverse plaster job.
On 1980s prints of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, part of the 1979 H-B "Swirling Star" theme plays over the logo.
On a Spanish 16mm print of the Speed Buggy episode "Speed Buggy Falls in Love", the 1976 Viacom "V of Doom" theme plays over the logo due to sloppy plastering.
On a early and mid-90s international airing of The Flintstones episode "The Gruesomes", the 1965 Screen Gems "S from Hell" theme plays over the logo due to sloppy plastering.

Availability:

It appears on The Streets of San Francisco on Me-TV.
The B&W version was last seen on few B&W episodes of Combat! on ALN (now Youtoo America), and the color version is seen on its final season, as well on current prints of classic TV movies and mini-series like Holocaust, followed by the CBS Television Distribution logo.
The in-credit was last seen on GSN reruns of Let's Make a Deal.
Check old tapes to find this on Hanna-Barbera shows as well. It is preserved on some Season 2 episodes of The Jetsons on the Max streaming service.
The version with the electric piano tune was used only on Grizzly Adams and related TV specials.
This was also even spotted on at least one episode of General Hospital from around 1980 or 1981 during SOAPnet's General Hospital: 50th Anniversary marathon.

3rd Logo (1988-1999)[]

Nicknames: "Radar Globe III", "Radar W III", "Worldvision W Globe III", "WHOOSH Globe (of Doom)"

Logo: It's a warp speed variant of the 1985 Worldvision Home Video logo, except the Worldvision text emerges from the front and both layer themselves into position as the background fades to black. The radar globe then shines and the same "WVI" print stamp (in much smaller type) fades onto the bottom of the screen.

Trivia:

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; this also included select Live Home Video titles and later Vestron Video/Pictures titles) and Spelling Television libraries, among others. They also appeared on some first-run syndicated programs, such as the first 3 seasons of Judge Judy which airs on Paramount Global-owned Pluto TV.

Bylines:

1988-89: Bylineless
1989-94: "A UNIT OF SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT INC." Starting in 1991, a trademark symbol was added.
1994-95: "A UNIT OF SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT INC., A BLOCKBUSTER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"
1995-96: "A UNIT OF SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC., A BLOCKBUSTER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"
1996-99: "A SUBSIDIARY OF SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC."

Variants:

A filmed variant exists.
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).
A still variant exists.
A B&W variant exists on '90s prints of B&W shows.

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 (which is really a modified version of Andy Clarke's "Moog Statement 14"), shortening and toning down the "WHOOSH" and cutting the jingle to the last notes. In some cases, it is silent or uses the closing theme of the show or TV movie (like on some parts of The Stand and Grit's print of The Punisher).

Music/Sounds Variants:

Low and high-tone variants of the theme exist.
- The 1991 logo with both variants can be heard on some episodes of syndicated prints of Little House on the Prairie.
- The 1988 logo in low tone appears on the Boomerang streaming service print of an episode of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo titled "Lights...Camera...Monster".
- The 1995 logo in low tone was sighted in a few season 2 episodes of Dallas on its Seasons 1 & 2 DVD release.
- A high-pitch variant of the 1996 logo also exists and can be seen on international prints of some episodes of The Love Boat: The Next Wave, as well as on episodes of Moesha and Beverly Hills, 90210 of the time, among others.
On Hallmark Channel Italy reruns of Dallas, a few season 2 episodes had the high tone variant of the 1971 Lorimar music over the 1995 variant. This is due to a poor plaster job.

Availability:

It was seen on syndicated prints of Little House on the Prairie (except 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 retained on DVD releases thereof (seasons 1-3 only with the NBC Enterprises and the NBCUniversal 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 are plastered by the 2007 CTD logo on its recent Blu-ray release and Peacock/Amazon Prime prints), Syfy and former Chiller airings of Tales from the Darkside, Hulu and Paramount+ prints of the Beverly Hills, 90210 pilot, 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, and most B&W prints of Combat! on Me-TV and H&I, as well as The Fugitive, Sci-Fi Channel prints of Dark Shadows, older TV broadcasts of Carolco films, such as Terminator 2: Judgement Day (retained on AMC, albeit stretched to widescreen), Jacob's Ladder (preserved on Trifecta's print, as it appears to have been sourced from a Worldvision print), Universal Soldier and Repossessed, among others, older syndicated prints of Weintraub films such as My Stepmother is an Alien, and older syndicated prints of The Terminator, Kickboxer and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, among others.
The original bylineless version was also seen on Troop Beverly Hills when it aired on Encore in 2009, but streaming prints end with the 2002 Sony Pictures Television logo instead as Worldvision/Paramount only owns the TV rights (while Sony retains the rest).
This logo also 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 afterward (although Laff's print doesn't have Trifecta and the Worldvision/Paramount logos are shown before the credits).
The filmed variant appears on early video releases of the Twin Peaks pilot episode from Warner Home Video, and was also seen on old TBS airings of the George of the Jungle cartoon, and some international prints of The Love Boat.
A handful of episodes from the second season of Dallas also retain this logo on the Warner Home Video DVD release of seasons 1 and 2, 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 to Warner Bros.
On Netflix, it was sighted on a couple of S1 episodes of Melrose Place; it was also seen on reruns of MP on the Style network and SOAPnet (now Disney Junior) though it's plastered on the pilot by the 2003 Paramount Domestic Television logo.
It also appeared on reruns of Beverly Hills, 90210 on SOAPnet.
The logo is also preserved on early episodes of Moesha on Paramount+.
It also recently appears on some episodes of Bonanza on its German DVD release and also appears on some episodes of the said show on Me-TV.
It was also seen on The Rebel and some episodes of The Love Boat on Me-TV.
It also makes surprise appearances on the Warner Home Video DVD 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, Rambo: The Forces of Freedom, Barnaby Jones, Ben Casey, and Car 54, Where Are You?, among other Worldvision/Republic-distributed shows.
DVD prints of The Key to Rebecca also kept this logo (with the Blockbuster byline) intact, which is followed by the 2007 CTD logo.
It is also intact on seasons 3-5 of The Mod Squad on DVD.
Recently, all variants of the logo have been sighted on various episodes of Highway to Heaven on True Movies in the UK.
The 1996 version has also been spotted on Movies! and Starz Encore Westerns airings of The Last Command, the latter with the 2011 Paramount Pictures logo following afterward, but does not appear on Crackle's remastered print (which only has the 2011 Paramount logo).
- It also appears on Amazon Prime's print of Gunsmoke Ranch, a Movies! airing of Flying Tigers, and a Grit airing of The Punisher.
It was also seen on at least one episode of That Girl on Antenna TV, followed by the Paul Brownstein and Stadium Media logos afterward.
The logo appears at both ends of the 1994 U.S. VHS of Cujo instead of the 1983 Worldvision Home Video logo.
It appears at the end of the 1990 film Disturbed on Court TV Mystery, which is followed by the silent 1995 Paramount Domestic Television logo.
It was also seen on a 2004 SpikeTV (now Paramount Network) airing of Kickboxer and is also retained on a few episodes of America's Dumbest Criminals on Tubi.
The 1988 version also appears on some Hanna-Barbera shows such as A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, The New Yogi Bear Show, original U.S. broadcasts of Fantastic Max, a 1990 USA Network broadcast of The Scooby-Doo Show episode "The Headless Horseman of Halloween" (following the 1969 Hanna-Barbera "Multiplying Rectangles" logo), an RTL Klub airing of The Huckleberry Hound Show short "Huck's Hack", a mid-1993 Nickelodeon U.S. airing of the Yogi Bear short "Big Brave Bear", Boomerang U.S. airings of The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park, late 1980s prints of Alice in Wonderland or What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This? (1966) and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1973), an old TVE 2/La 2 airing of Rock Odyssey (1987), a Tubi print of the season 4 Smurfs episode "A Circus for Baby" (following the blacked out 1983-era variant of the 1979 Hanna-Barbera "Swirling Star" logo), 2023 Boomerang U.S. airings of Jabberjaw, and the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episode "Nowhere to Hyde", included as a bonus episode on the 2001 UK VHS of Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase.
The still variant of the 1988 version was also seen on an October 3, 1996, UK airing of The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show episode "The Fall Dog" on CITV, following the 1983 variant of the 1979 Hanna-Barbera "Swirling Star" logo.
The 1988 version was also seen on a late 1980s print of Mister T (following the 1982 version of the 1981 Ruby-Spears Productions logo), HTV Night Club airings of the short-lived Garrison's Gorillas, mid-1990s airings of The Fugitive on BBC Two, the DVD print of the Most Wanted episode "The Corrupter," and an IMDb Freedive print of the Dallas episode "The Lesson," following the 1971 Lorimar Productions logo. It surprisingly does not appear on the Warner Archive Collection DVD of The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley.

Editor's Note: It's tamer than its home video counterpart, but can still unnerve a few due to its high speed and loud synth theme.