CBS National IDs

1st Logo

(1947- October 19, 1951)

Nickname: "Spotlight"

Logo: The blocky letters "CBS" are illuminated by a spotlight against a dark background.

Variant: A version with a overlay featuring some farm plants and house exists.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None or the end theme of the show, which may be coupled by an announcer saying "This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System".

Availability: This is long extinct on TV. A water-damaged 16mm filmstrip of this logo turned up on eBay once. It may be found on kinescope recordings of period CBS programming, or archives of it on home media. The variant was featured on a episode of "Inside USA" from November 24, 1949, and was likely used because it aired during the Fall of 1949. It's unknown if this version appears has different seasons or appearances.

Editor's Note: This is the only CBS ID to lack the famous Eyemark.

2nd Logo
(October 20, 1951-Late '50s)

CBS Television Network (January 17, 1954)

CBS Television Network (Sepia-toned variant/March 10, 1953)

Nickname: "Eye in the Cloudy Sky"

Logo: The familiar CBS "Eyemark" is presented against a cloudy sky. Inside the center of the eye are the words "CBS TELEVISION NETWORK",with "CBS" in a tall font.

Variants:

Sometimes, the clouds in the background move from left to right.
Usually, the logo is completely still.
On rare occasions, a shutter may open up in the center to reveal the text, like the other ID CBS used at the time.
There is a sepia-toned variant.

FX/SFX: Depends on the specific variant (the shutter opening, the clouds moving, or nothing whatsoever).

Music/Sounds: May be silent or accompanied by the end theme of the program. However, most of the time, it is accompanied by an announcer, either identifying CBS ("This is the CBS Television Network") or giving information on upcoming programming (e.g. "Stay tuned for Toast of the Town on the CBS Television Network").

Availability: Extinct. As this was mainly used as a ID, its unlikely to see this on prints distributed by CBS. However, it is possible to find it on prints that are either not distributed or owned by CBS. Some examples include a public domain VHS of The Jack Benny Show, and some mid-2000's DVD's of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. Currently, the latest known use of this logo was on "Liberace Show," an episode of The Jack Benny Show that originally aired on January 17, 1954.

Editor's Note: Nowhere near as well known as the other CBS card of the time due to its scarcity.

3rd Logo
(Late '50s)

Nickname: "Sun-Eye"

Logo: In a white background,we see a blue CBS eyemark. In the eye,we see a ring of red and blue circles. In the ring,we have a "sun-like" shape,and in the middle,we see:

CBS

TELEVISION

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: An announcer saying "This is the CBS Television Network."

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo
(1950s-1960s)

CBS Television Network (1955, Kaleidoscope variant)

TBA

5th Logo
(Late '60s)

Nickname: "Boring CBS"

Logo: In a blue background, the CBS eyemark is seen,along with a yellow "CBS" in the middle.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: An announcer says: "This is CBS."

Availability: Extinct on TV.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo
(1970-1971)

Logo: In a black background,we see a white CBS eye. In the middle,we see a red "CBS" in a stylish font.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Likely an announcer saying "This is CBS."

Availability: Extinct on TV.

Editor's Note: None.

7th Logo
(1971-1972)
TBA

8th Logo
(1972-1973)
TBA

9th Logo
(1973-1974)

Nickname: "Easy On The Eyes"

Logo: In a black background,we see the CBS Eyemark in red,and a white circle bouncing to the theme. The circle bounces on the last three notes of the music left to right,revealing the letters "CBS" in white.

Variant: A different version was used,where in a black background,we see the white circle revealing the letters "CBS" in blue. There is no eyemark in this variant.

Music/Sounds: The end of the promo. (The three notes of the music the circle bounces for)

Availability: Extinct on TV.

Editor's Note: None.

10th Logo
(1974-1975)

Logo: In a black background,we see a white CBS eyemark,and in the middle and the letters "CBS" in orange.

Variants:

The font and color of the text might vary.
An animated variant exists,where in a starry background, white glowing text says "CATCH THE BRIGHTEST STARS" zooms away a distance then stops. The other letters disappear except "C B S". They form together,making the starry background disappear. When the letters "CBS" have formed,a bright glow appears for a second then fades out,revealing the eyemark.
Another animated variant exists,we see a spark drawing the circle of the CBS eye. As the spark has drawn 1/4 of the circle,another line is drawing up,drawing the eye. When the line that draws the eyes have drawn 3/4 of the eye,a smaller circle is drawn,representing the pupil. The eye is now finished,but the lines go a second lap. The letters "CBS" suddenly sparks up from nowhere.

FX/SFX: None for the regular variant. For the "CATCH THE BRIGHTEST STARS" variant, the glowing text moving. The second animated variant has the sparks drawing the logo.

Music/Sounds: An announcer says "This is CBS."

Music/Sounds Variants:

The announcer may say: ".. on CBS."
The "CATCH THE BRIGHTEST STARS" variant has a loud flute that goes away when the letters merge. We hear an announcer that says "Try and reach the Seven Central on CBS!". We also hear windy sounds when the letters "CBS" merge.
The sparky variant has a sparky sound accompanied with an announcer saying "Tomorrow,starting at 9 at central on CBS."

Availability: Extinct on TV.

11th Logo
(1972-1980)

Nickname: "Boring CBS 2"

Logo: Just a still of the CBS eye (in Green, Blue, Orange, or Red) with "CBS" in the middle of it.

FX/SFX: None.

Variant:An animated version exists,where in a black background,we see an outline of the CBS eye in blue. A lightning strikes on the logo,then the whole eye slowly turns blue. The letters "CBS" appear in white.

Music/Sounds: The announcer saying, "This is CBS."

Music/Sounds Variants:

The announcer might vary,but they say the same thing.
The animated variant has a catastrophic theme's ending playing,we hear a thunderclap and an announcer saying " *insert show* is next on CBS."

Availability: Extinct on TV, however later uses of this logo could be a little more common due to home media kicking off to the consumer crowd.

Editor's Note: None.

12th Logo
(1979)

Nickname: "Boring CBS 3"

Logo: In a blue background,we see the CBS eyemark outlined in gold. In the middle,we can see CBS in silver in the middle of the eye.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The announcer says: "This is CBS."

Availability: Extinct, as this logo was only seen during CBS's 50th year of broadcasting. If you have CBS recordings from 1979, there is a chance this logo might pop up.

Editor's Note: None.

13th Logo
(1979-1980)

TBA

14th Logo
(1980-1981)

TBA

15th Logo
(1980?-1982)

Nickname: "Boring CBS 4"

Logo: In a blue-black gradient background, we see the CBS eyemark in a blue outline,along with a white "CBS" in the middle.

Variant: In a red-black gradient background,we see a silver ring. Inside the ring,it says "REACH FOR THE STARS",along with an USA flag with 12 stars in it. After a few seconds,a few flares fly up from the bottom of the screen,transforming the ring into the CBS eyemark in blue.

FX/SFX: None for the regular variant. The "REACH FOR THE STARS" variant has the the flag waving,the stars (dots) and the ring zooming out,and the transformation to the CBS eyemark.

Music/Sounds: In the regular variant,an announcer says "This is CBS.".

Music/Sounds Variant:The "REACH FOR THE STARS" variant has the end of the promo's theme.

Availability: Extinct on current TV, older TV broadcasts or recordings from the early 1980's are likely to have this logo.

Editor's Note: None.

16th Logo
(1982-1983)

TBA

17th Logo
(1983-1984)

TBA

18th Logo
(1984-1985)

TBA

19th Logo
(1985-1986)

Logo: On a blue background, we see a yellow outline of the Eyemark with "CBS" in its familiar font in the centre, in white.

Variants: TBA

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Just an announcer saying "This is CBS".

Availability: Extinct on TV. By this point, VCR's and other forms of recording media became popular with the consumer market. Due to this, this logo as well as ones after it are more common to find if you know where to look.

Editor's Note: None.

20th Logo
(1986-1987)

TBA

21st Logo
(1987-August 1988)

TBA

22nd Logo
(August 1988-November 16, 1989)

Logo: Same as the previous logo, only it's more brighter and it shines as well.

FX/SFX: The shining.

Music/Sounds: As with all CBS logos, an announcer says "This is CBS."

Availability: Same as the previous logos and the next few.

Editor's Note: None.

23rd Logo
(November 17, 1989-1990)

TBA

24th Logo
(1990-1992)

TBA

25th Logo
(1992-1995)

Nicknames: "Aurora CBS", "The Aurora Lights"

Logo: A lavender CBS eye zooms out, from an extreme close up and at an angle, over a black background filled with colorful Aurora lights. It gets a comfortable distance away from the screen, and a gray "C B S" is below, in Helvetica Neue. A lens flare brightens everything up, turning the CBS eye sky blue and the text white.

Variant: On the night of August 30, 1993, this ID played as normal, except David Letterman did the V/O spiel. Dave faded in midway through the animation, and shrugged. Dave fades out by the end of the ID.

Trivia: A picture of this logo is seen in Scott Pelley's office on CBS Evening News.

FX/SFX: Pretty nice CGI.

Music/Sounds: A four-note jingle, with a delay between the first two notes (which is filled with what sounds like a harp), followed by twinkling sounds (the network usually cut away by this point) This is coupled with an announcer (there were two different ones) saying "This is CBS.". The four note jingle has since served as the network's musical logo, akin to the NBC chimes.

Availability: Extinct on TV.

Editor's Note: None.

26th Logo
(1994-1995)

TBA

27th Logo
(January 2, 1995)

Logo: On a black background, the CBS eye swirls towards the viewer. When it gets a moderate distance away, it stops, and "CBS" (fashioned like the network ID of

the era) wipes in below.

FX/SFX: TBA.

Music/Sounds: A rising note (like in the Nelson Entertainment logo), followed by a "ding". It's also the same jingle heard in the early '90s WPBT logo.

Availability: Extinct. Its only known appearance was in the early hours of January 2, 1995, used to denote that Baltimore's WJZ had switched to CBS.

Editor's Note: None.

28th Logo
(1995-1996)