Background: APT was founded in 1961 as the Eastern Educational Television Network (EEN), distributing public TV shows such as The French Chef, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, and Washington Week to public television stations on a regional basis, and then nationwide when NET (now PBS) was formed. They changed their name to Interregional Program Service in the 1980s, became American Program Service (APS) in 1992, and became American Public Television in 1999.



1st Logo
(1992-1999)

Nickname: "A Production of..."

Logo: On a maroon-colored background, we see the text


which zooms in throughout and shimmers.

Variants: There is a variant which has "BOSTON" under the text. Another variant has the text "Distributed By" in place of "A Production Of".

FX/SFX: The name zooming in, the "shimmer".

Music/Sounds: None; in other cases, it uses the end theme of the show. Bloopy's Buddies, however, used their own genereric theme over the logo,(as well as two other logos that produced Bloopy's Buddies as well).

Availability: Seen on Bloopy's Buddies and The Big Comfy Couch episodes from the era. However, since Bloopy's Buddies doesn't air anymore and newer prints of The Big Comfy Couch plaster this with the next logo below, it's pretty much extinct outside of personal recordings. Used in tandem with the 2nd logo.

Scare Factor: Low.



2nd Logo
(1994-1999)

Nickname: "APS", "Programs For Public Television"

Logo: On a black background with 2 orange/brown squares, we the letters "aps" in orange/brown with the words "American Public Service" below the letters zooming out from us, with the "p" slightly on top of the "a", a white bracket revealing the "p", and a black bracket revealing the "s". Once the letters shift into place, the words:


FX/SFX: The animation in the logo.

Music/Sounds: A somewhat patriotic 7-note synth tune with a drum crescending throughout. It is possible that this version was sometimes used for the 1st logo.

Availability: Extinct. Was seen on 1994-1998 episodes of Computer Chronicles. A few episodes from the era on the Internet Archive retain this.

Scare Factor: None


3rd Logo
(1999-2008)

Nickname: "The Squares"

Logo: On a black background, we see two squares, one with white outlining and the other with red outlining, shifting throughout, and each one is blue with watermarks of the name on them. Then a red outline forms another square, which appears in the same color also with watermarks of the name as it finishes, with the text "American Public Television" on it.


Variants:

• Starting in 2000, the URL text "aptonline.org" appeared under the company's name. In more recent years, it reads "APTonline.org".
• On The Organ Wise Guys shorts, The logo appears at the bottom of the screen with the text: Copyright (C) (Year) American Public Television to the left of the logo
  

FX/SFX: The animation in the logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as 2nd logo.

Availability: Ultra common. It's the Sony Pictures TV of public television. Appears on many shows airing on PBS stations, as well as independent Public TV stations such as KCET. It is also common on shows on the digital broadcast network Create (which APT partially owns).

Scare Factor: None.



4th Logo
(2008-2011)

Nickname: "The Squares II"

Logo: Nearly the same as before, but darker and seemingly quicker in pace. The company name is in the Gotham font instead of the Helvetica font.

Variant: Originally, there was no URL in the logo, but starting in late-2009, the URL text "APTonline.org" appears under the company's name.

FX/SFX: All of the animation.

Music/Sounds: See 2nd and 3rd logos.

Availability: Common. Can be seen on WORLDFOCUS, a news program which may or may not air on your local PBS station(s).

Scare Factor: Low. This logo may be jarring if you expect the 1999 logo and end up with this one, but this one will become more common over the years, and therefore less sudden.



5th logo
(2011-)

Nickname: "Shady Squares"

Logo: On a shady steel gray/blue gradient background, we see the words "American Public Television" in a Garamond font appear. Then, several blue/aqua/white-textured squares zoom out from out of nowhere and the URL "aptonline.org" appears below.

FX/SFX: Modern computer animation.

Music/Sounds: A 4-note synthesized new-age tune.

Availability: Brand new.

Scare Factor: None.