PBS Home Video

PBS Distribution, formerly known as PBS Home Video, is the home video distribution unit of American television network PBS. The company releases DVDs (under the name "PBS DVD"), Blu-rays and VHS tapes of PBS series and movies.

PBS Distribution has gone through a long history of going through commercial distributors. Originally, the company simply released videos on their own, but when they went through wider distribution, newer releases from 1989 onward were distributed by Pacific Arts. In 1994, PBS moved distribution over to Turner Home Entertainment, and then Warner Home Video when Turner Home Entertainment's parent company merged with Time Warner in 1997. In 2004, PBS began distributing with Paramount Home Entertainment, before forming a joint venture with WGBH-TV, shuttering their ties to Paramount, and going independent again in 2011, and being renamed to its current name, PBS Distribution.

Logos

PBS Distribution, like its network, is fairly well known for its on-screen production logos. Prior to 1989, there was no special logo for the company, as the tapes were simply copies of PBS' master tapes. When PBS began video distribution through Pacific Arts, they introduced a new logo for its tapes.

1989-1998

The first logo was used from 1989 to 1998. A large 3-D glass profile is set on a black background, filling the screen as it did on the TV logo. Initially, a cloudy sky pattern fills the profile, which then fades to a blue stylized P against the cloudy sky background. Lines shoot into the profile's eye, and "PBS HOME VIDEO" appears below in the familiar slab serif typeface. The text is filled with a "water" pattern. The accompanying music is a calm piano/flute/string sounder, along with an announcer saying: "The following presentation is from PBS Home Video." On some tapes, a PBS television logo appears afterward. The ident (minus the announcer and with a different ending) would repeat itself at the end of the videotape, save for releases of Adventures from the Book of Virtues, which used either the first PBS Kids logo or the 6th PBS logo.They also had a song at the beginning of the video called "use your imagination" that continued on PBS KIDS VHS Releases until 2006.

1998-2004

The second PBS Home Video logo was used from 1998 to 2004 when PBS began video distribution through Warner Home Video, but the previous logo continued to be used until mid-1998. Three circles (a red, a green, and a blue circle) meld together and then zoom out resulting in a dark fuchsia P head and the words "PBS DVD" under it, or "PBS HOME VIDEO" for VHS releases only.

2004-2009

The third PBS Home Video logo was used from 2004 to 2009. It begins on an ethereal blue/purple/red CGI background, then the PBS logo appears within a circle with "PBS" to the right.

2009-present

The fourth PBS Home Video logo has been used since 2009. It is based on the blue version of the generic 2009 PBS logo.

More information on PBS Distribution's logos can be found on this page.