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The Oscars and 'Up'cake
Posted by Tannerman on March 10th, 2010 08:04 PM
Happy Casimir Pulaski Day!
Posted by Tannerman on March 1st, 2010 07:45 AM
The first Monday in March is always a school holiday here in Illinois, thanks to Revolutionary War hero, Casimir Pulaski. He was a Polish cavalry officer known for his contributions in training U.S. soldiers.
Kazimierz Pułaski, a.k.a. Casimir Pulaski
(Source: Wikipedia)
Given that Chicago has the largest Polish population outside of Poland's capital city of Warsaw, we celebrate his birthday via Casimir Pulaski Day! Starting in 1977, it's been a city/county government holiday, which includes the public schools (and most private) getting the day off. I have always particularly been fond of Mr. Pulaski because his little day of honor always fell around my birthday of March 2, meaning quite often I got a "no school birthday" growing up. (Incidentally, both Indiana and Wisconsin also honor Pulaski, but not to the extent of Illinois. Though in the case of the Hoosier state, they actually designated part of I-65 from the Kankakee River to I-90 as the "Casimir Pulaski Memorial Highway").
So, hoist your bottles of Fanta Pomarańczowa and Fanta Lemonic high and drink a toast to Casimir Pulaski! |
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Logos of Olympic Broadcasters - Part 6: 2000s and Beyond
Posted by Tannerman on February 25th, 2010 07:25 PM
We're wrapping up our look at the U.S. Olympic Broadcaster Logos as we jump into the 2000s and beyond! If you've missed previous installments, make sure you catch up with our Introduction, then jump into the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s
The 2000s brought us NBCs reign and their proclamation as "America's Olympic Network," owning the rights to every Winter and Summer Games throughout the decade and a few beyond. Including 2010, NBC produced 3 Winter event and 3 Summer events.
Interestingly, it also brought us customized Broadcaster Logos for each year, which makes things interesting!
2000 Summer Olympics
Sydney, Australia - More Info
The rights to Olympics in the 2000s were often sold off in "bundles," with the IOC grouping Winter and Summer Games together as packages. This is the case with the 2000 Syndey Games, as they were bundled with the 2002 Salt Lake Games. NBC paid $1.2 billion for the rights to both, with $795 million being the payout for the 2000 Summer Olympics. In turn, the network produced 441.5 hours of coverage from "down under."
NBC 2000 Summer Olympics Logo
Thankfully, NBC started to get a little more creative with their Olympic Broadcaster Logos during this decade, continuing the customization they started at the 1996 Atlanta Games. In this case, they used the iconic Sydney Opera House as the anchor for their logo, complimented by the NBC Peacock and the Olympic rings.
Of note is the start by the network to put the words "NBC" in smaller type between the Peacock on the Rings themselves, a trend that would continue in latter Games, often with "NBC" being replaced by sister networks (CNBC, MSNBC), which marked the return of NBC to carrying events on cable -- but much differently than the 1992 Olympics Triplecast disaster.
NBC's coverage was pretty much all tape-delayed due to the 15-hour time difference, with the exception being a live broadcast of a Men's Basketball game featuring US vs. France.
NBC Olympics Brand Logo
Also introduced in the 1990s was a standardized "NBC Olympics Brand" logo that referred to the general coverage of NBC, vs. a specific Olympics itself. This was often seen via more official channels, as well as the nightly "copyright" message that NBC presented.
2002 Winter Olympics
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States - More Info
Ah, the Salt Lake City Games of 2002. Held in a post-9/11 era and packed with its own set of controversies, including bribery to win the Games, a figure skating judging scandal, and a very strong home country "patriotic" tone.
Nevertheless, NBC continued their broadcasts, this time on home soil. They paid $545 million for the rights and produced 376 hours of coverage. 207 of those hours were shown on sister cable networks CNBC and MSNBC. But believe it or not, this was the network's first Winter Olympics since the 1972 Sapporo Games, with CBS owning the rights through the 90s.
NBC 2002 Winter Olympics Logo (Pin Version)
Starting what eventually becomes a bland trend for NBC, their Olympics Broadcaster Logo for Salt Lake features mountains. You'll see this again in the 2006 and 2010 Games as well. Apparently, the only visual element that can define the Winter Olympics is mountains. It's a pretty bad design cop-out, in my opinion, and doesn't factor in any local host city personality.
Above is a look at the logo as illustrated on a lapel pin, so it's missing some of the fine detail seen in the actual broadcasted version.
NBC 2002 Winter Olympics Logo
This poor-quality example above is a screenshot of the logo as used during telecasts. You can see the differences between this version and the lapel pin version. Unfortunately, these are the best quality images I've been able to find regarding the 2002 logo.
2004 Summer Olympics
Athens, Greece - More Info
After not getting the Olympics on the ceremonial 100th anniversary of the Games in 1996 (Atlanta hosted those), Athens finally got their shot in 2004.
NBC continued their coverage of the Olympics, once again with a multi-year deal penned with the IOC covering 3 different events. It produced a record-breaking $2.3 billion television rights agreement, with $793 million designated towards the Athens Games.
This Summer Olympics produced 1210 hours of coverage on "The Networks of NBC". That breaks down to 226 hours on NBC, 133.5 hours on MSNBC, 111 hours on CNBC, 122 hours on Bravo, 49 hours on USA, and 169.5 hours on Telemundo (the first non-English Olympics coverage designated to a U.S. broadcaster).
NBC 2004 Summer Olympics Logo
NBC returned to thematic Olympics Broadcaster Logo design with their take on Athens, featuring a light blue icon denoting the Parthenon and some "swooshes" above the now-ever present NBC Peacock, "NBC", and Olympic Rings. In contrast, the official host city emblem featured a crown of olive branches.
2006 Winter Olympics
Torino, Italy - More Info
NBC returns once again with coverage of the Winter Olympics in Torino. These Games cost the network $613 million, producing 416 hours of coverage. Again, sibling cable networks were also used, with the flagship NBC showing 182.5 hours, and another 233.5 split among CNBC, MSNBC, and USA. These Games were known for an abundance of drug doping problems as well as poor ratings due to extensive tape delay.
NBC 2006 Winter Olympics Logo
Looking at NBC's Olympic Broadcaster Logo for Torino, it would seem they also phoned in the design. Yes, we have mountains again, set on a blue oval. And the "swoosh" seems to be a reversed sibling of the same one used on the Athens 2004 logo. There is very little that is memorable about the Torino identity.
2008 Summer Olympics
Bejing, China - More Info
The 2000s wrapped up with the Summer Olympics in China, also known as the Games where NBC sold out all journalistic integrity in order to keep the host country happy (my personal opinion, of course!) The network paid $894 million for the television rights, producing 3600 hours of coverage plus streaming video on NBCOlympics.com. Sibling cable networks were also part of the mix, utilizing CNBC, MSNBC, USA, and Oxygen.
NBC 2008 Summer Olympics Logo
We return to creativity with NBC's logo for the Beijing Games, noting a very heavy use of white and red in the color scheme. The uniquely-shaped icon denotes the Great Wall of China in an artistic fashion, while once again including the Peacock, "NBC", and the Olympic rings. It's probably one of the better identities that NBC has produced for their Olympics coverage.
2010 Winter Olympics
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - More Info
Though technically part of the 2010s, we're going to include the Vancouver Winter Olympics in our look at broadcaster logos. For these Winter Games, NBC once again went the "bundle" route, paying for the 2010 Winter and 2012 Summer events together -- it only cost them $2 billion, with $820 million being tied to the Vancouver Games and $1.181 billion for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The deal allowed NBC to show 835 hours of coverage.
NBC 2010 Winter Olympics Logo
While we once again have mountains in a Winter Olympics-oriented Broadcaster Logo, NBC at least put a little more effort into a 3D-style design. The Vancouver "shield" approach is very clean, with the Peacock and "NBC" name at the top, Rings at the bottom, and a light blue "Vancouver 2010" banner running across the middle. I can't say I'm too excited about the generic font and the stretching it endured to fit that banner, but the overall result is rather positive.
Of course, millions of Americans might associate this logo with NBC's strategy to heavily tape delay the broadcasts, even though Vancouver is in the Pacific Time Zone. West Coast viewers traditionally experienced a 3-hour delay, and the only live events shown online were hockey and curling -- accessible if you had a participating cable provider. Before the Games started, NBC claimed they would lose $200 million on these broadcasts.
And that wraps up our look at the history of U.S. Olympic Broadcaster Logos. I hope you enjoyed this look at a subset of Olympics design that often goes overlooked. If you happen to come across any logos that may have been missed, feel free to let me know!
Thanks for reading!
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Logos of Olympic Broadcasters - Part 5: 1990s
Posted by Tannerman on February 18th, 2010 09:42 PM
Hey, we're back with our continuing look at Olympic Broadcaster Logos. If you've missed previous installments, make sure you catch up with our Introduction, then jump into the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
We're now into the 1990s, an era where the U.S. broadcasting rights for the Olympics went all crazy. Seriously, it's a big mess. But it's not just the rights that are messy. The timetable of the Games also gets rebooted, as we shift from a schedule where both Winter/Summer are held together every 4 years to an alternating schedule which separated the events every 2 years. As such, the 1990s offer only 5 Olympics... 3 Winter, 2 Summer.
The players? CBS and NBC... and a host of weird cable solutions.
1992 Winter Olympics
Albertville, France - More Info
1992 was the last year that both the Winter & Summer Olympics were held in the same year. Returning to the Olympic game is CBS, which last broadcast the 1960 Winter & Summer Olympics from Squaw Valley & Rome.
The winning bid for the Albertville games was $243 million, with CBS generating 116 heavily tape-delayed hours of programming. However, in a creative financing move, CBS sub-leased some of their Winter Olympics rights to cable network TNT. The outlet gave CBS $20 million for the rights to show 45 hours of supplemental programming in what the was U.S.'s first hybrid broadcast/cable model for the games. New territory indeed!
These Games were notable for the addition of freestyle moguls skiing and short track speedskating to the Olympic program. It also featured the death of Nicolas Bochatay, a Swiss skier who crashed into a piece of equipment during a training run. Incidentally, he competed in an exhibition sport, speed skiing. The sport has yet to reappear at the Games.
CBS 1992 Winter Olympics Logo
Let's talk about CBS' logo, shall we? I like to call it the "CBS Line Mountain" logo, and it's obvious why. Here's another look at the design:
CBS Line Mountain Logo, introduced in 1992
It's clean. It's simple. But it seems to be lacking an iconography that really ties it to the network. I mean, if you remove the letters "CBS", would you be able to tell who this is for? I'm amazed that the logo did not contain CBS' famed "Eye" logo, which was first introduced in 1951. Everyone associates that with their brand.
Where in the CBS "Eye"?
Overall, the logo execution is rather underwhelming because of this. Taking a page from NBC's late 80s "Peacock Rings" logo, CBS decided to run with this generic look for the multiple Winter Olympics they broadcast in the 1990s. They didn't attempt to tie the look to the official host city emblem, which makes it rather bland for 3 different Games.
TNT 1992 Winter Olympics Logo
TNT 1992 Winter Olympics Logo
Then we have the co-broadcaster on the U.S. front, TNT. I'm not sure if they even had an official logo. All I've been able to find is the above two examples seen on Olympic lapel pins, which showcases the TNT logo used at that time along with the Rings... and that's it. Surely, they had something more creative than this? In any case, that's Winter '92!
1992 Summer Olympics
Barcelona, Spain - More Info
Having had the first crack at the Summer Olympics back in Seoul '88, NBC returned in 1992 once again with the Summer rights. In fact, they would show all the Summer Games throughout the decade. Barcelona had some interesting happenings, including the inclusion of the Unified Team (i.e. former Soviet republics), a unified Germany, and South Africa -- returning after being suspended after the 1960 Summer Olympics due to apartheid.
NBC 1992 Summer Olympics Logo
Depending on your love/hate relationship with NBC's Olympic coverage, Barcelona also the beginning of the Dick Ebersol-era of NBC Olympics programming. NBC hired him in 1989, where he became the head of NBC Sports. His history had him being the protégé of ABC's Olympics guru Roone Arledge. Since then, he's pretty much shaped how Americans have perceived the Olympics in the 90s and 00s.
Olympics Triplecast 1992 Summer Olympics Logo
With the introduction of Ebersol, NBC did make some changes for the Games in Barcelona. They put Bob Costas into the role of primetime host, replacing Bryant Gumbel from the '92 Games... and he remains there even now in 2010. The most ambitious "innovation" was the fabled Olympics Triplecast. You see, NBC had paid $401 million for the rights to the '92 Summer Games, and though they broadcast 161 hours of coverage, they saw dollar signs through a way to recoup part of their investment.
Color version of Olympics Triplecast 1992 Summer Olympics Logo
NBC partnered with Cablevision to create 3 pay-per-view cable channels (Red, White, Blue). The network estimated that 2 million people would pay up to $125 for 15 days of exclusive live coverage on the 3 channels (or $29.95 per day). This commercial-free coverage had the Red Channel carrying team sports, White Channel showcasing individual sports, and Blue Channel handling swimming and track & field. All together, the Triplecast concept featured 1,080 hours of coverage.
But guess what? It flopped... big time.
There are some estimates that the venture lost between $50-100 million, signing up only 125,000 subscribers. Oops! Apparently, no one found value in that type of offer, at least in the pay-per-view domain. And that's the last time we'd see that technique applied to U.S. Olympic broadcast rights.
As far as general broadcaster logo is concerned, NBC returned to their "Peacock Rings" look that they debuted 4 years earlier in Seoul, with some applications adding the tag "Barcelona '92" to the top of the symbol. This logo did not attempt to integrate any look/feel of the host city emblem, instead sticking with strict NBC branding.
1994 Winter Olympics
Lillehammer, Norway - More Info
CBS returned with another Winter Olympics just two years after the last Winter event. This is the only time in history where the Winter Games were this close together, kicking off the start of the IOC's reconfiguration of the Olympic schedule. '94 would feature Winter, '96 Summer, then back to Winter in '98.
CBS 1994 Winter Olympics Logo
The Lillehammer Games cost CBS $300 million for the rights, with the network broadcasting 119.5 hours of programming. Once again, CBS outsourced about 50 hours of programming to cable partner TNT, who coughed up $30 million for the honor. The Games proved to be pretty successful for CBS, thanks in part to the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan attack. It was a media circus!
TNT 1992 Winter Olympics Logo
CBS returned to their "Line Mountain" logo, which could either be two-tone in color or feature different shaded Olympic rings. It's hard to tell which was the "official" look for the logo. TNT returned as well, and I've been unable to find a 1994-specific logo for their efforts, so we'll just showcase their '92 version once again.
1996 Summer Olympics
Atlanta, Georgia, United States - More Info
The 1996 Summer Olympics were sentimentally expected to go to Athens, Greece, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Games. But they didn't. So NBC had the benefit of an Olympics on U.S. soil, and paid $456 million for the privilege. In the end, they cranked out 171 hours of coverage, none of which was handed off to cable partners.
Of course, the Games weren't without problems, the largest of which was the Centennial Olympic Park bombing where 2 people were killed and over 100 injured. Beyond that, the Games were considered overtly commercial and corporate. Notably, then-IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch simply called the Atlanta Games "most exceptional", rather than his tradition of labeling it "the best Olympics ever" -- which he ended up calling the Syndey Games 4 years later.
NBC 1996 Summer Olympics Logo
Let's talk Olympic Broadcaster Logos! In a break from their rather boring "Peacock Rings" design, NBC's fashioned their broadcast logo to reflect the design of the host city's official emblem, as you can see if you compare the two here. The notable carry-over is the "base of the torch" element and the position of the Olympic rings. The blue solid background color also compliments the forest green background on the host city emblem. Even the font used for the word "Atlanta" mimics that used in the official version.
This move started a trend for NBC to create more location-specific logos for the Olympics they broadcast, which is a welcome change from their first couple of attempts in '88 and '92.
1998 Winter Olympics
Nagano, Japan - More Info
We wrap up the 1990s with the '98 Winter Games in Nagano... the final Olympics for CBS, completing their trilogy of Winter events ('92, '94, '98). The network paid $375 million to broadcast 123.8 hours of programming. Once again, TNT was called upon as a cable partner to air 50 hours of programming (for a fee which I cannot find at this time).
The Nagano Games were notable for their inclusion of women's hockey, curling, and snowboarding. NHL players were allowed to participate in the hockey tournament, with the league suspending play for the Games.
CBS 1998 Summer Olympics Logo
The "CBS Line Mountain" logo reappears for the last time, with the poor-quality example I provided above featuring a "Nagano 1998" callout below the image. I'm not sure what TNT's logo looked like, as I've been unable to find a '98 specific version.
In all, a ho-hum attempt as far as broadcaster logos are concerned to wrap up the decade.
As we conclude the 1990s, it closes the door on the odd timing and many network transitions for U.S. broadcast hosts. However, a new door opens for complete NBC dominance in the 2000s, as the network took over exclusive rights for the next 6 Olympic Games. And with each Games... a unique logo!
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Logos of Olympic Broadcasters - Part 4: 1980s
Posted by Tannerman on February 11th, 2010 09:24 PM
Continuing our look at Olympic Broadcaster Logos (Introduction, 1960s, 1970s), we jump into the busy 1980s, complete with network changes and boycotts. Fun fun!
During this era, there were 6 Olympics... 3 Winter, 3 Summer, with ABC broadcasting 4 of those events, NBC showing 1, and NBC, well, not showing 1.
So, let's start...
1980 Winter Olympics
Lake Placid, New York, United States - More Info
Picking up where we left off in the 1970s was ABC landing the rights to these Winter Games held on American soil. They paid $15,500,000 to broadcast 53.25 hours of programming.
This programming included the now-famous "Miracle on Ice" hockey game between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. -- and dramatically recreated in the 2004 film Miracle. It was thought that the Soviets might not attend these games, given the disapproval by the U.S. of their invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. President Jimmy Carter was already calling for a boycott of the Summer Olympics (to be held in Moscow), but the U.S.S.R. attended nevertheless.
Incidentally, only two cities bid for these Winter Games: Lake Placid and Vancouver... but the Canadian city pulled out before the final vote, giving the bid automatically to the United States. It's here we start to note the lack of interest in hosting an Olympics after the financial disaster that was Montreal '76.
ABC 1980 Winter Olympics Logo
The "ABC Olympic Badge" makes its appearance once again as the official broadcaster logo used by the network, though only the overall shape is what continues. The logo primarily uses the official Olympic emblem for Lake Placid as the basis, with a red "ABC Circle" logo sitting in the upper right corner of the design, all situated on a white background. Once again the ribbon at the bottom features a black background with the phrase "Lake Placid 1980" denoting the location.
The pin design illustrated above lacks the colored stripes featured in the official Olympic emblem, along with the colored Olympic rings, however I'm not sure if that is just a reflection of the medium being used to show the logo or if that was the official representation of ABC's identity.
1980 Summer Olympics
Moscow, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - More Info
Oh, now things get interesting!
Here we have NBC making a comeback with the U.S. television rights, spending $87,000,000 to do so -- tripling ABC's rights fee from the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. The plan was to show 150 hours of coverage.
But that never happened.
The United States led a 65 country boycott of the Summer Games to protest the Soviet war in Afghanistan. This resulted in just 80 countries competing (by comparison, 92 countries competed in Montreal '76).
The boycott was declared in April, with the Games themselves starting in mid-July. According to a NBC media guide, "the boycott dealt a major blow to NBC broadcast plans, but an insurance policy (the first time a sporting event had been insured) paid off. 90% of NBC's rights fee was insured and the bulk of the $34 million that was lost on the Summer Games was mostly due to "out-of-pocket" expenditures."
NBC 1980 Summer Olympics Logo
NBC's official broadcaster logo was based on the "Stylized 'N'" design that was introduced at the network in 1976, and used through 1979, replacing the popular "NBC Peacock". The red/blue "N" featured a superimposed set of Olympic rings on the lower portion.
T-shirt design of NBC 1980 Summer Olympics Logo
You'll note that typical of NBC's few Olympic logos up to this point, they didn't follow ABC's lead of integrating the official host city emblem into their design, preferring instead to showcase their own identity.
NBC did send a small crew to Moscow to shoot footage for their "SportsWorld" program, but I doubt that this official NBC Olympic logo was used for that coverage. Incidentally, Bryant Gumbel was slated to be the network's host for these Games... he'd finally get his chance in 1988.
1984 Winter Olympics
Sarajevo, Yugoslavia - More Info
ABC returned 4 years later with the rights for the '84 Winter Games, for which they paid $91,500,000 to broadcast 63 hours of programming.
With this deal, the network introduced a new style for their official broadcaster logo that they would adapt not only for Sarajevo, but also for use later that year with their coverage of the LA Summer Games.
ABC 1984 Winter Olympics Logo
I've nicknamed this look the "ABC Olympic Shield", which has notable contrast with their heavily used "Badge" design in previous Games. Anchoring the "Shield" design was the introduction of the "ABC Rings" look, integrating the lowercase "a", "b", and "c" letters with the Olympic Rings design.
Introduction of the 1984 "ABC Rings" design
The '84 "Shield" design featured the "ABC Rings" sitting on a dark blue background, nestled above a white background where the official host city emblem for Sarajevo was presented. This was boarded by an orange and blue line that overlapped at the bottom tip.
Believe it or not, I spent many hours attempting to draw and recreate both this logo and the Summer Olympics logo used by ABC later in the year. It was a clean look that clearly branded the network, looked official by use of the host city emblem, but also was able to match the color schemes associated with the specific event. Plus, how could you not love the clever use of the "ABC Rings" design -- an approach that could not be duplicated by either NBC or CBS due to their initials and typestyle.
1984 Summer Olympics
Los Angeles, California, United States - More Info
The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles are often considered the Games that "saved" the Olympic movement. To show you how far things had fallen, Los Angeles was the ONLY city to bid for the Olympics, and therefore won by default.
A couple of elements came into play to make LA a success. The first was the heavy use of existing infrastructure, thus saving money on construction (in contrast to the heavy building shown by Montreal in 1976). A big push towards corporate sponsorships also began with the '84 Games -- setting a standard that the IOC continues to use today. The Soviets boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics along with 13 other countries, mainly in retaliation for the 1980 Moscow boycott. This led to anticipated U.S. dominance and interest in the LA Olympics, also helping the bottom line.
The other element largely contributing to the financial success of the Los Angeles Games was the hefty price tag charged to ABC for the broadcast rights. TV rights for a Games held on American soil are automatically going to be higher, given the ability to show more events live without worry of many time zones. Plus, the Summer Olympics are considered far more valuable than the Winter Games.
As such, ABC paid an astronomical $225,000,000 rights fee, which allowed them to show 180 hours of coverage. To put this price tag into context, adjusted for inflation, it was roughly 2 times the amount NBC paid for the 1980 Moscow Games and 4 times that of the '76 Montreal event. Good ole American consumerism at work!
ABC 1984 Summer Olympics Logo
As for ABC's Olympic Broadcaster Logo, it closely modeled that which they used earlier in the year for the '84 Winter Games. Once again the "Shield" design was implemented, anchored on top by the "ABC Rings" design on a blue background. The large white space in the middle showcased the official Los Angeles host city emblem. The borders on this logo were red and blue, matching the colors used in the host city emblem and the U.S. flag color scheme. This logo was also very hard to draw... I mean, that star logo alone is a nightmare!
1988 Winter Olympics
Calgary, Alberta, Canada - More Info
The Winter Olympics in Calgary would be ABC's swan song, as it's the last Olympics they have broadcast, ending their years of dominance in the 70s and 80s. ABC was purchased by Capital Cities in 1985, and company management wasn't in favor of bidding on future Games. (Incidentally, Disney now owns ESPN and ABC, and has expressed interest in bidding for the 2014 Winter (Sochi, Russia) and 2016 Summer (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Games).
For their final run, ABC paid $309,000,000 for the broadcast rights (notice how the numbers stayed high after the LA Games?), producing 94.5 hours of coverage.
Personally, these are my favorite Olympics to remember, mainly because I was really "into" the Olympics at the time, as well as being at the height of my interest in Olympic lapel pin collecting. Plus, who doesn't like snow and Canada? These Games also featured such fan favorites as Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards in ski jumping and the Jamaica bobsled team (of which the 1993 film Cool Runnings is based). This infusion of "underdog" amateur athletes produced an element of fun and excitement. Unfortunately, the IOC has since modified their rules to prevent such participation from happening again.
ABC 1988 Winter Olympics Logo
When it came to identity, the ABC brand for Calgary has a lot of history working for it, as its a combination of the 1970's "Badge" and 1980's "Shield" designs. The shape of the logo was the same as the old "Badge" designs, complete with the rounded edges and ribbon at the bottom denoting "Calgary 1988".
The "ABC Rings" look returned from the "Shield" design to anchor the top of the logo, while the official Calgary host city emblem was used on a white background in the middle. A matching red border was used to emphasize a "Shield" outline on top of the "Badge" shape. When you look at all the ABC Olympic logos used over the years, the 1988 Calgary design really does impress because of the tributes it pays to the network's long history of broadcasting the Games. It's my favorite!
1988 Summer Olympics
Seoul, South Korea - More Info
Changing networks in 1988, we shift to NBC for the Summer Olympics in Seoul. The network paid $300,000,000 -- which you'll note is actually LESS than what ABC paid for Winter Olympics shown that same year. Calgary was in a favorable time zone for American broadcast, while South Korea... not so much. The network, anchored by Bryant Gumbel (who finally got his shot after losing out on the boycotted 1980 Games), produced 176.5 hours of coverage.
NBC 1988 Summer Olympics Logo
The return to NBC brought us a less-than-creative Olympic Broadcaster Logo, to be honest. Completely ignore the host city official emblem, take the 1986 version of the "NBC Peacock", slap some golden Olympic rings underneath... done. As I mentioned in our coverage of the 1972 Sapporo Olympics (also by NBC), the shape of the logo used for Seoul is exactly the same size as that year's implementation.
Comparison of NBC's 1972 vs. 1988 logos
The broadcasts during the Seoul Games primarily featured just the "NBC Peacock Rings" logo, though media guides and other implementations showcased a different version of the logo denoted with "Seoul 1988" at the top. This most likely was used to set apart the event from the upcoming Barcelona '92 Games, which NBC also broadcast.
Standard NBC Peacock Rings Logo introduced in 1988
Get used to the "NBC Peacock Rings" look, because you'll be seeing it quite a bit as we jump ahead to the 1990s!
And with the 1980s coming to a close, the 6 Olympic Games featured have passed the U.S. broadcasting torch from ABC to NBC. However, CBS gets into the fray as well, which we will explore in our next installment... the 1990s.
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