ATV
Compiled by Matt Williams
(Note: ATV was the parent company of ITC until the early 1980s when ITC was sold to ACC)
1st Logo
(1955-1958)
Nickname: "Sound and Vision"
Logo: On a black screen, a gray "eye" (ala the CBS eye logo, minus the circle around it) zooms into view. It then moves upward, revealing a striped (or "shadowed") eye logo below it. It then stops at a point where both circles intersect. The letters "A", "T", and "V" appear in the spaces of the intersecting logo in sequence accompanied by three chimes. "ASSOCIATED TELEVISION LTD." is "wiped" onto the screen below it.
FX: The eye logo animation, the appearance of the letters, and the "wiping" on of the full company name.
Cheesy Factor: Standard 50s-type network animation. It doesn't look quite right, because the proportions of the logo were messed up!
Music: The three "chimes" used as the letters appear.
Availability: Extinct.
Scare Factor: Median, the primitive animation may startle some.
2nd Logo
(1958-1964)
Logo: A logo similar to the one above zooms into view, fully formed. The letters "A", "T", and "V" appear in the spaces as the logo moves in, accompanied by the same chimes as before.
FX: The zooming in of the eye logo, the appearance of the letters.
Cheesy Factor: Pretty simple but effective animation.
Music: Again, the three chimes.
Availability: Extinct.
Scare Factor: Low.
3rd Logo
(1964-1968)
Logo: On a gray background, a rectangle protruding from the top lists "MIDLANDS: Monday to Friday", a small ATV eye logo, and then "LONDON: Saturday and Sunday". 3 rectangles drop down beside it and a rectangle slides in from the right below the three rectangles. The letters "A", "T", and "V" appear in the rectangles with "PRESENTS" being wiped in on the rectangle below.
FX: The sliding in of the rectangles.
Cheesy Factor: Primitive animation.
Music: The same 3 chimes.
Availability: Extinct.
Scare Factor: Low.
4th Logo
(1969-1981)
Nicknames: "ATV Zoom", "ATV IN COLOUR", "Coloured Circles"
Logo: On a gray background, 3 colored circles, red, green, and blue grow in one after the other, intersecting each other and forming different colors. The caption "IN COLOUR" fades in underneath. The 3 circles then slide towards each other, forming one white circle, as the background fades to blue. The white circle grows out into an eye shape and bands of color sweep across it, cutting out the circle part and adding in the striped "shadow" underneath. The logo turns yellow and the letters "A", "T", and "V" appear in the spaces.
FX: The appearance of the colored circles, the "rainbow" effects.
Music: A loud, proud, and bombastic orchestral theme.
Availability: Can be seen on any British program produced by ATV during this time.
Scare Factor: High, the loud fanfare is certain to unnerve many viewers; nevertheless, this is a popular logo among British viewers.
5th Logo
(1969-197?)
Nicknames: "ATV Zoom", "ATV NOT IN COLOUR"
Logo: On a black background, a white circle grows into place. The animation then continues like the previous logo, only in black and white. This logo was used for programs that had not switched to Color in the late 1960s.
FX: The "growing circle", the logo formation effects
Cheesy Factor: Scary, sudden animation but not primitive.
Music: An abridged version of the "ATV Zoom" theme.
Availability: Could be seen on any black and white ATV program during this time.
Scare Factor: High, the scary music and animation are sure to unnerve people.
If you want to see some of these logos in action, http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/identzone/atv/index.html has them in RealVideo format