 | Circle 7 logo: Encyclopedia II - Circle 7 logo - History and information
Circle 7 logo - History and information
The Circle 7 logo was first designed by G. Dean Smith, and first used in 1962 by ABC for its then five owned and operated stations (O&Os): WABC-TV in New York City, KABC-TV in Los Angeles, WBKB (now WLS-TV) in Chicago, KGO-TV in San Francisco and WXYZ-TV in Detroit. When ABC applied for TV licenses in the late 1940s, it was thought that the low-band (channels 2 through 6) TV channels would be discontinued, thus making these five stations broadcasting on VHF channel 7 the lowest on the TV dial.
As part of its marketing, all anchors and reporters on those stations were required to appear on the air wearing a lapel pin with the Circle 7 logo. Alternately, blazers with an embroidered logo were worn. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., ABC's corporate parent, registered the Circle 7 logo with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1962.
The Circle 7 logo was designed to be interchangeable with the circular ABC logo in network and channel imaging, although many current variations of the Circle 7 have incorporated the ABC logo itself (see below).
This logo has become iconic in local television, largely due to the presence of the logo in major markets. Today, many other ABC affiliates around the United States which broadcast on channel 7 are allowed to use the Circle 7 logo. Such stations include KATV in Little Rock, Arkansas, WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., KMGH-TV in Denver, WVII-TV in Bangor, Maine, KVII-TV in Amarillo, Texas, KOAT-TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico, KVIA-TV in El Paso, Texas, KSWO-TV in Lawton, Oklahoma, KLTV in Tyler, Texas, and WBBJ-TV in Jackson, Tennessee.
Due to its popularity, several variations have arisen for use by non-ABC affiliates.
In addition, the channel 7 band in Boston, Massachusetts has had three different Circle 7 logos. In the mid-1970s, as WNAC, it had a logo similar to the ABC logos (except it was a white "7" inside a filled circle). That logo was abandoned in 1977 for a Times-Serif-Italic "7". In 1987, as WNEV, the filled-circle came back, and inside was a "7" made up of 7 small white dots. That logo was abandoned shortly after the sale of the now-WHDH to WSVN, after which WHDH took on WSVN's Circle 7. WHDH still uses the WSVN logo to this day.
Circle 7 logo - Usage by stations not on channel 7
Similarly, some stations that do not broadcast on channel 7 have used a variation of this logo adapted for their channel number:
KRON-TV, an independent station in San Francisco, California, currently uses a circle 4 logo. CBS O&Os WBZ-TV in Boston, Massachusetts and WCCO-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota previously used circle 4 logos.
WEWS in Cleveland used a circle 5 logo for many years, discontinuing it in 1998. This circle 5 is still used on sister station WPTV in West Palm Beach, Florida, an NBC affiliate.
El Paso's KVIA was originally on channel 13 (using a circle 13 logo) until 1981, when the station switched to channel 7 and adopted the regular circle 7 logo. ABC O&Os WTVG in Toledo, Ohio and KTRK in Houston, Texas currently use circle 13 logos.
Circle 7 logo - International usage
ATN-7 in Sydney, Australia used a circle 7 in the 1960s that resembled the ABC O&O version, but had the top line of the 7 extend out of the circle as an arrow. ATN-7, along with other Seven Network stations in Australia, later used another variation of the circle 7 logo (based upon WJLA's old logo) from the early 1990s until 2000. [1]
The GMA Network in the Philippines used a circle 7 logo in the 1970s and 1980s to identify its channel designation in Metro Manila. (See: GMA Network logos)
Malaysia's NTV7 also uses a circle 7 logo that greatly resembles the one used originally on the ABC O&Os, specifically the current WABC version.
Brazil's Rede Record used in the 1970s, for its São Paulo station a text logo all in capital letters, but the O was replaced by a circle 7 logo.
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 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History and information", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
