Universal Television

Prior to 1963
Universal-International Television was a short-lived division of Universal Pictures, prior to the merger with MCA. This is one of the rarest and most confusing logos ever made. Even the most experienced logo fans haven't a clue about where this logo appeared or whether or not the television show it appeared on is still rerun. One guess is that it aired on older television reruns of Universal cartoon shorts. Though that may be unlikely, it fits most of the clues described in CLG Wiki that we are able to extract.

Dennis McDougal's book "The Last Mogul," a biography of MCA's Lew Wasserman, mentions Universal-International's involvement in what are described as several "unmemorable documentary series," ANIMAL FUN AND MISCHIEF, STRANGER THAN FICTION, and GREAT MOMENTS ON THE GRIDIRON; all apparently edited from stock footage in the company's United World/Castle Films library. Those early series are probably the source of this logo. U-I did not release the early Walter Lantz black and white cartoons to TV themselves, but licensed them to Guild Films; who remade all the title sequences and removed any references to Universal.

Universal's subsidiary, United World Films, bought Castle Films from its founder, ex-newsreel cameraman Eugene Castle, in 1947, and operated the company for the next 30 years. Castle Films released the Lantz cartoons and other subjects for home-movie use in 8mm and 16mm. In 1978, Universal closed down Castle in favor of a new home-movie subsidiary called Universal Eight, which operated until about 1983.

1963–1964
Following the merger, Universal adopted the logo design from MCA's television arm Revue Studios. The color variant shown here has a typical '60s style wallflower design as a background.

1964–1969
In early 1964, the studio introduced the TV version of the respective theatrical movie logo, which remained thereafter.

2011–present


Universal Media Studios reverted back to its original moniker name, Universal Television on September 12, 2011, along with a redesigned logo and new staff. The subsidiary of NBCUniversal stated that the logo "pays homage to a global-inspired trademark that is reminiscent of its earlier years but it has been slightly updated".