Circle 7 logo
The Circle 7 logo is one of the most commonly used television station logos in the United States. Designed in the early 1960s for the ABC Television Network's five owned and operated stations (O&Os), the logo, or a version of it, is currently being used not only by ABC stations and affiliates, but also by a number of TV broadcasters around the world.
History and information
The Circle 7 logo was created by G. Dean Smith, a San Francisco graphic designer[1]and first used in 1962 by ABC as the logo for its (then) five television stations: WABC-TV in New York City, KABC-TV in Los Angeles, WBKB (now WLS-TV) in Chicago, KGO-TV in San Francisco and WXYZ-TV in Detroit. When ABC applied for TV licenses in the late 1940s, it was thought that the low-band (channels 2 through 6) TV channels would be discontinued, thus making these five stations broadcasting on VHF channel 7 the lowest on the TV dial.[2] American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., ABC's corporate parent, registered the Circle 7 logo with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1962.
When WABC-TV adopted the Eyewitness News format in 1968, all reporters and anchors were required to wear a blazer with a Circle 7 patch (in later years a lapel pin)[3] when they appeared on the air—a marketing practice that spread to the other ABC O&Os, and eventually to other ABC affiliates. Stations commonly used the logo on microphones, newscaster clothing and design of sets, as well as on-air graphics for locally originated programming.[4]
The Circle 7 logo was designed to be interchangeable with the circular ABC logo (as redesigned in 1962 by legendary graphic designer Paul Rand) in network and channel imaging, although since the late 1990s, the ABC logo was incorporated into the logo design in different variations (see below). It also was used as the name Circle 7 Productions of the production company for locally-produced programming by ABC owned-and-operated stations prior to ABC's takeover by Capital Cities Communications in 1985. Originally a proprietary logo for ABC's owned-and-operated stations, ABC's sale of WXYZ-TV to E. W. Scripps Company in 1986 as a result of the ABC/Capital Cities merger effectively made the logo available to ABC affiliates, as well as stations affiliated with other networks.
Stations that use the Circle 7 logo
1Indicates sale of station to Sinclair Broadcast Group currently pending.
2Indicates station is operated through LMA by Waterman Broadcasting Corporation.
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Foreign use
In Malaysia, The "Circle 7" logo was adopted by NTV7 which is owned by Media Prima Berhad.
In Philippines, While GMA (also known as DZBB-TV) was used in early 1960s while it dropped in 1974 due the Marcos' martial law.
In Peru, RTP (now TV Perú) adopted this logo in 1989-1991.
Starting in 1956 and then brought back from 1968-1970, the Seven Network in Australia used the logo.
References
- ↑ Fischbeck, George; Roach, Randy (2013). Dr. George: My Life in Weather. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 9780826353337.
- ↑ Murray, Michael D.; Godfrey, Donald G. (eds.) (1997). Television in America: Local Station History from Across the Nation. Ames, IA: Iowa State Press. p. 6. ISBN 0-8138-2969-0.
- ↑ Chicago Sun-Times:: Search
- ↑ Grey, Johnathan; Johnson, Derek (2013), A Companion to Media Authorship, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 9781118495254
See also
- American Broadcasting Company logos
- Enclosed Alphanumerics, a section of Unicode that includes circle-IRP dingbats (e.g. ➆)
Sources
- "New '7' logo designed for KGO-TV (ch.7)" (PDF file), Broadcasting, August 27, 1962, p. 72.
- "Designed Symbols for AT&T, ABC Stations Dean Smith; Corporate Logo Creator", Los Angeles Times, March 28, 1987
- Station logos as seen in vintage TV guides and screen captures