TBS (United States)

This page only shows primary logo variants. For other related logos and images, see: Logo Variations Other

Contents
1976–1979	1979–1981	1981–1984	1984–1987	1987–1989	1989–1990	1990–1994
1994–1996	1996–2003	2003–2004	2004	2004–2015	2015–present

WTCG Channel 17

1976–1979

Beginning in the early 1970s, many cable systems in middle and southern Georgia and surrounding states—namely Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina—began receiving the WTCG signal via microwave relay, enabling the station to reach far beyond the Atlanta television market.

Eventually, this enabled WTCG-TV in Atlanta, then merely a local independent station in Atlanta, to establish itself as a national superstation, and at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on December 17, 1976, WTCG became America's first "superstation"—independent stations distributed to cable providers throughout their respective regions, or the entire country—when its signal was beamed via Satcom 1 to four cable television providers in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States.

SuperStation WTBS

1979–1981

In 1979, Turner began branding the station as SuperStation WTBS; the prefix word was re-rendered in mixed case in October 1980, with both "S"s capitalized and occasional references within the logo to the channel 17 frequency in Atlanta. However, the national feed continued to occasionally use the same on-air branding as the Atlanta area signal (which was referred to on-air at the time as "WTBS Channel 17") until October 1980.

1981–1984

Designer:  Television by Design

Typography:  Helvetica Black Oblique Helvetica Medium Oblique

Launched:  Unknown

By 1981, the Atlanta station would be branded as SuperStation 17. However, on the national feed available outside the Atlanta area, references to the station's over-the-air channel number were completely removed (outside of minor technical issues where local ads and promos aired erroneously on the national feed).

1984–1987

Designer:  Digital Productions

Typography:  Garamond Bold Italic

Launched:  Unknown

SuperStation TBS

1987–1989

Designer:  Studio Productions

Typography:  Garamond Bold Italic

Launched:  September 7, 1987

On September 7, 1987, the "W" from the "WTBS" callsign was dropped from the superstation's on-air branding, changing its name to SuperStation TBS in order to emphasize the channel's national programming prominence, with the WTBS Atlanta signal continuing to use the separate SuperStation 17 branding.

TBS Superstation (first era)

1989–1990

Designer:  Studio Productions

Typography:  Garamond Bold Italic

Launched:  September 28, 1989

On September 28, 1989, the channel's name was changed to TBS SuperStation to reflect the strong national standing of the channel.

TBS (first era)

1990–1994

Designer:  Studio Productions

Typography:  Garamond Bold Italic

Launched:  September 10, 1990

On September 10, 1990, the word "Superstation" was removed from the cable channel's on-air branding and promotions, rebranding it as simply TBS, which it had used verbally in on-air promotions since the beginning of that year.

1994–1996

Designer:  PMcD Design

Typography:  Bodoni Condensed

Launched:  September 12, 1994

On September 12, 1994, the logo was modified, with the letters recolored yellow and italics removed.

TBS Superstation (second era)

1996–2003

Designer:  PMcD Design

Typography:  Bodoni Condensed Zurich Light Extra Condensed

Launched:  December 17, 1996

On December 17, 1996, in celebration of its 20th anniversary as a national service, TBS reincorporated the "Superstation" moniker into its name (this time with the second "s" rendered in lowercase).

2003–2004

Designer:  Unknown

Typography:  Myriad Pro Bold Italic

Launched:  January 1, 2003

TBS (second era)

February–June 2004

Designer:  Unknown

Typography:  Myriad Pro Bold Italic

Launched:  February 2, 2004

On February 2, 2004, the "Superstation" sub-brand was once again dropped, with the channel reverting to being branded as simply TBS. As such, the logo was modified to only include the "TBS" wordmark from the previous logo in Myriad Bold Italic. This logo was used only for a short time before its next logo debuted.

2004–2015

Designer:  Publicis NY

Typography:  Helvetica Rounded

Launched:  June 4, 2004

On June 4, 2004, TBS introduced a new logo designed by Publicis New York, which rendered the channel's name in lowercase and incorporated a half-circle resembling a smiling mouth, as if the logo was laughing. This new look, along with the new slogan "veryfunny", emphasized the channel's new focus on comedic programming, following Time Warner's sale of its half of Comedy Central to Viacom. The half-circle element took on a motif with half a baseball or basketball rendered within it for sports programming.

• Time Warner Press Release

2015–present

Designer:  Sean Heisler (2015-2020) Trollback+Company (2020-present)

Typography:  Custom

Launched:  September 16, 2015

On September 16, 2015, TBS unveiled a new logo on its Facebook profile picture and its cover photo promoting the then-upcoming series Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. The logo made its official on-air debut on October 31, 2015, although it had appeared on TBS's website before then. On 2020, TBS got a new look with the colors now gradient.

See also

• WPCH-TV, an independent station in Atlanta that operated TBS as a national superstation feed of the Atlanta-area station until 2007.