National Educational Television: Difference between revisions

NET (National Educational Television) was a former major educational and public TV network, founded in early 1952 and incorporated in November of that year. Among their original affiliates were WNET 13 New York, KCET 28 Los Angeles, WGBH 2 Boston, WQED 13 Pittsburgh, WETA 26 Washington D.C., KUHT 8 Houston, KERA 13 Dallas-Ft. Worth, WYES 12 New Orleans, 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. It was succeeded by PBS in 1970, due to the Corporation of Public Broadcasting and the Ford Foundation pulling its funding. It merged with WNDT to become the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, the parent company of WNET, in 1972.

===1st Logo (November 4, 1952-1955)===

{{YouTube|id=L0HsVAGjnrM}}

'''Editor's Note:''' This logo, despite being basic, is an interesting look back at the very early years of what would become PBS, back when it was a limited service for distributing educational films produced by local stations nationally.

===2nd Logo (1955-1959)===

'''Nicknames:''' "The NET Circle", "Spotlight", "Big, White Shine"

'''Editor's Note:''' None.

===3rd Logo (1958-1960's?)===

'''Nickname:''' "ETVNETETV"

'''Editor's Note:''' This logo appears to have been used for NBC co-productions, since all of its appearances (as discovered so far) have been on such.

===4th logo (1958-1960's)===

'''Nicknames:''' "Boxes", "Epitome of 50's Graphic Design", "Art Deco Carpet Design"

'''FX/SFX:''' None.

'''Editor's Note:''' This logo is an oddity, as the existence of this logo was essentially unknown until Jordan Rios uploaded it.

===5th logo (1956-1961)===

'''Nicknames:''' "NET Map of America II", "Animated NET Map", "The United States of NET II"

'''Editor's Note:''' One of the first NET logos to feature animation, albeit limited.

===6th logo (1959-1961)===

'''Nicknames:''' "NET in a House", "The NET House"

'''Editor's Note:''' An introduction of the iconic house motif, marking the start of the most recognizable NET logo, and associating the network with said logo/motif. However, this is most likely a prototype/placeholder logo as the design does seem rough.

===7th logo (1959-October 2, 1966)===

'''Nicknames:''' "The Carpet", "The NET House II", "The House on TV Static"

'''Music/Sounds/Voice-over:''' Until October 1962, an announcer (Edward R. Murrow) said "This is National Educational Television."

'''Availability:''' Common. Appeared on most AAPB programs by NET during the period.

'''Editor's Note:''' The background looks like they just aimed the camera at the floor (hence the nickname).

===8th Logo (1961-1966/1967?; 1970)===

'''Nicknames:''' "Smooth NET House", "Generic NET House", "Plain NET House"

'''Editor's Note:''' Another oddity, this time in terms of how and when it was used.

===9th Logo (What's New? Variant)(1961-1970)===

'''Nicknames:''' "Marching Band Children", "Backwards Musical Trio", "Sparkles on Jeans"

'''Editor's Note:''' None.

===10th Logo (Perspectives variant) (1962)===

'''Nicknames:''' "The Animated NET House Globe", "NET Map (Sort of) Returns!", "A New Perspective of the NET House", "NET House On a Globe", "Foldable Earth Diagram"

'''Editor's Note:''' A unique and wonderful logo, one of the few animated custom logos NET has had.

{{YouTube|id=BAPh_317f3Q|id2=0iNx-9Ff-z4}}

'''Logo:''' On a black screen, several dots flash near the center of the screen (a la the Screen Gems “Dancing Sticks” logo, or like YouTube dots while a video is buffering), and then we see a circle being drawn in the counter-clockwise direction. A line is drawn through the circle going downwards, which quickly vanishes. A small fire can be seen starting within the circle. Another line is drawn through the center of the circle from left to right. Two lines similar to a Worldvision-like globe are drawn. Another pair, closer to the circle are drawn, like that of the first lines, and then two horizontal lines above the first horizontal line. The camera zooms backwards and we see a thick line (the top of the "T") being drawn under the ball of fire, which later connects to the ball of fire. A vertical line (the beginning of the "N") is then formed. The "T" then finishes, and then the diagonal part of the "N" appears. Lastly, the "E" is formed. The fire continues blazing until we fade out.

'''Editor's Note:''' While it is not as widely remembered as the 1968 logo and future PBS logos, this is one of the first to be recognized more widely compared to the previous logos.

===12th logo (April 1967-November? 1970)===

'''Nicknames:''' "The Roof", "The NET House III"

'''Logo:''' First, the left section of the screen fills with red from the bottom, the middle section fills with yellow from the top, and the right section fills with blue from the bottom. One by one, each colored section flips to form the letters "NET" on a black background. Then either one of two things would happen:  

'''Variants:'''  

* The 1968 version came in both black and white and color versions.  

* In early shows, the logo had more lighter colors (NET), likely due to film/tape deterioration.

'''Music/Sounds/Voice-over:''' A low-tone mellotron fanfare edited from "Plenipoteniary" by Eric Siday, similar in style to his Screen Gems “S from Hell” and CBS “In Color” jingles, and an announcer saying his part below depending on the variant:

* July 2, 1967-Fall 1968: The announcer says “The following program is from N-E-T, the National Educational Television network.” (opening) or “This is N-E-T, the National Educational Television network.” (closing).

* Fall 1968-Summer 1970: The announcer says “The following program is from N-E-T, the public television network.” (opening) or “This is N-E-T, the public television network.” (closing).

'''Editor's Note:''' This is by far the most well known NET logo. With its mellotron fanfare, the announcer, the dark background, and the poor audio and grainy film quality, it gained a reputation of frightening children who grew up with Mister Rogers Neighborhood or Sesame Street. It is one of the more fascinating logos in the history of NET/PBS.

===13th logo (October 5, 1970-March 1972)===

'''Nicknames:''' "Scanimate Letters"

'''Variants:'''  

* Some programs carry a custom variant for their respective shows, in which the logo leads out to their intros. This was seen on Fanfare and Realities (with the latter also carrying a "News Special" variant).

* A "Special Events" variant was seen on an NET special.

'''Editor's Note:''' This is highly one of the most advanced logos of its time, and is even more advanced than some of the later Scanimate logos. This logo was extremely unique, and the later was reused for its use on WNET's logo. There was a debate if this logo was the original NET's logo or WNET's logo due to its usage on both of the station's shows and their relationship and interactions with each other. However, this logo first appeared only a few days before PBS officially began broadcasting, and a show the logo can be seen on wasn't produced by WNET, instead Washington, DC affiliate WETA. Plus, WNET carried an entirely different logo under the WDNT name around the same time this logo was being used. However, the logo under WDNT's name was changed to use the WNET name for a 1971 in-credit notice. When NET merged with WNET, it was known as EBC, a division of NET. NET was also still around when PBS started, as PBS didn't fully take over until NET dissolved completely in 1972. Regardless, this is an interesting logo.

===14th Logo (October 5, 1970-Early 1972)===

'''Logo:''' Just an in-credit logo with either "NET PRESENTS" (opening) or "A PRODUCTION OF NET EDUCATIONAL BROADCASTING CORPORATION (Copyright year)" (closing).

'''Final Note:''' NET was fully absorbed into WNET in 1972. PBS took over what NET left behind, while WNET took control of all still-airing programs aired by NET.  

[[Category:PBS]]

[[Category:Television Logos]]