Milwaukee Public Television

Background: Milwaukee Public Television is a PBS affiliate located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1st Logo
(1965-1970)

Nickname: "10 & 36 Tubes"

Logo: On a photo of the Milwaukee skyline, we see two TV tube-like shapes (not like in the Mark Goodson logo), the big one having "10" inside it, and "WMVS" on the bottom, and the small one having "36" inside it, and "WMVT" on the bottom. If you look closely on one of the buildings in the background, you can find the NET logo in white.

FX/SFX: None; it's a still logo.

Music/Sounds: None

Availability: May be on some old tapes at the Museum of Broadcast Television and Radio, but it did make an appearance on the 50th anniversary special (called "MPTV: 50 Years of Being More")

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo
(1970-1983)

Nickname: "Ten Pentagons"

Logo: On a black background, we see a white, wavy, swirly thing waving all over, while ten pentagons, five green, and five blue, spin from the right of the screen. The wave moves over to the right to reveal the text "A PRODUCTION OF WMVS MILWAUKEE", and we fade out.

FX/SFX: Early 70s scanimation.

Music/Sounds: A 70s-esque Moog synth sound.

Availability: See above. It was also seen on Hatha Yoga.

Editor's Note: The music and Scanimation are both very cool.

3rd Logo
(1975?-1988)

Nickname: "Glass 10 & 36"

Logo: On a black background, we see a brown/pink glass marquee, comprised of the same pentagons. with the number 10 inside, turning into place. "WMVS MILWAUKEE" is below the logo. Then, the same marquee spins, but with the number 36 inside it, and the "S" in the call letters changes to a "T".

FX/SFX: The glass logo spinning, similar to the late 70s KPBS logo of the time, which isn't too bad, but the cheap chyron does not fit with the logo.

Music/Sounds: Probably a V/O saying, "You're watching WMVS and WMVT in Milwaukee, 10 and 36."

Availability: It was likely used as a station ID, but it also showed up in the 50th anniversary special.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo
(1988-1993?)

Nickname: "WMVS and WMVT Pedestal"

Logo: On a black-blue gradient background, we see a silver pedestal. "A Production Of" and "Milwaukee", on top and bottom, respectively, zoom out a bit. Jumbled shapes then zoom into place and form "WMVS" and "WMVT". They then turn and face each other, and we cut to the program intro.

FX/SFX: The jumbled shapes zooming into place, the logos turning.

Music/Sounds: A synth-pop drum beat sound, then two orchestral drums and an orchestral hit at the end.

Availability: Seen on many shows from this period, like I Remember, Smith & Company, Tracks Ahead, Outdoor Wisconsin, etc.

Editor's Note: The CGI here isn't bad for the 80's, but it started to look dated by the early 90's.

5th Logo

(1993?-2000)

Logo: On a black background, we see a big pentagon containing the Milwaukee skyline. (It doesn't spin, though.) Then it splits into five smaller pentagons at the same time "MILWAUKEE" slides in from the left. A bit later, "Public Television" slides in from the bottom and zooms out into place, and pentagons glow as they spin. They seem to get smaller, that they begin to form a star in middle and stop.

Variant: A zoomed-in widescreen variant exists.

FX/SFX: The spinning.

Music/Sounds: A quiet synth-country note followed by a cymbal.

Availability: Seen on programming of the era.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo

(2000-2001)

Logo: On a black background, we see a person with highway like arms and "MPTV" carved below zoom in against a drop shadow that is zooming out. Above that is "PRODUCTION OF" spaced out. All of a sudden, the "person" zooms out, shines, and the words "MILWAUKEE PUBLIC TELEVISION" zoom out via a trail effect. The logo shines as a white square "blinds" in.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.

Availability: Rare, considering its short lifespan.

Editor's Note: None.

7th Logo

(2001-2004)

Logo: Over the Milwaukee skyline, as we pan to the left, we see signals being emmited from the center. "PRODUCTION OF" centers in and fades out. "mptv" fades in and then above fades in "MILWAUKEE" and below "PUBLIC TELEVISION". The P-Head flips into place.

FX/SFX: Live action and modern animation.

Music/Sounds: A short piano tune.

Availability: Uncommon.

Editor's Note: None.

8th Logo

(2004-2006)

Logo: We see the same background from the 2002 CPBlogo,superimposed into a tower and camera, with a long, black rectangle stretching out throughout the screen on top. Inside of that is "PRODUCTION OF" stretching into view. The PBS logo fades in and zooms out from the left, wiping in the italic letters "mptv" from the previous logo, beating from right to left, and zooming out. Above fades in "MILWAUKEE" and below "PUBLIC TELEVISION". The tower fades in place of another.

Variant: For local use, "PRODUCTION OF" and the rectangle is absent. Below is "(WMVS/WMVT) · WMVS-DT · MILWAUKEE" and then "Viewer-Supported Service of MATC". For WMVT, it has a green tint.

FX/SFX: Similar effects to that of the previous logo, with the inclusion of the 2002 PBS template.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.

Availability: Rare.

Editor's Note: None.

9th Logo

(2006-December 1, 2009)