A B-Side BY Armin

Liquid Television

I’m posting this for purely sentimental reasons. I loved this show. First aired in 1991 on MTV, Liquid Television was a showcase for weird animations. Beavis and Butt-head and Æon Flux got their start there. Recently, MTV put up the whole library online.

Thanks to Matt Rower for the tip.

A B-Side BY Armin

Audience Network

Launched in 1999 as the 101 Network and renamed Audience Network this past June, this DirecTV channel has original programming like Damages as well as the beloved, NBC-dumped, now done Friday Night Lights. The new logo and on-air look were designed by Trollbäck + Company. Montage of animation work here. Press release here [PDF].

Opinion BY Armin

Sportsnet Shoots and Misses

Launched in 1998, Sportsnet is the main sports multimedia platform in Canada, which includes six TV channels, two radio stations, a magazine, and a website. It has been owned by telecommunications giant, Rogers, since 2001. Sportsnet is the official broadcaster of the London 2012 Olympic Games. This week, it introduced a new logo and on-air look designed by Los Angeles, CA-based Troika.

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Opinion BY Armin

Portal On-Demand

Launched in 2006, BT Vision is an on-demand digital TV service available to broadband customers of BT, the London-based über telecommunications services company. BT Vision’s offerings are broken down by genre — Film, Music, TV, Kids, Sport, and others — and can be consumed through an unlimited package or at fifty pence (about US$0.80) a show. Despite having over 5.7 million broadband customers, only 575,000 are BT Vision subscribers. This past September, BT Vision introduced a new identity and on-air look designed by Proud Creative (identity) and ManvsMachine (on-air).

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A B-Side BY Armin

A+E Networks

Established in 1984 as A&E Television Networks or AETN, A+E Networks is the umbrella company for multiple cable channels, including A&E, Lifetime, History Channel and Bio. Cheesy logo animation on their home page.

Thanks to Alex Poleshuk for the tip.

Opinion BY Armin

Qwik DVDs

One of the biggest stories this week has been the announcement from Netflix that it would be splitting its streaming and DVD options. The streaming business is to remain named Netflix while the DVD-by-mail business is to be renamed Qwikster. Yup, straight out of 1999. Be glad it’s not Qwikstr a la Flickr, at least. “We chose the name Qwikster,” explains an apologetic Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix, “because it refers to quick delivery.” This came on the heels of Netflix’s faux pas of doubling the subscription price to charge for streaming and DVDs separately but without much of an explanation or warning. It’s also a testament to the difference each of the two deliveries represent: With DVDs you can get any movie imaginable, with streaming you get an almost laughable fraction of those choices. Yes, you can get it now but that now is usually a movie from the 1980s that nobody wants to see now — except maybe Robocop. I digress. The division makes strategic sense in a way, you don’t want people comparing the two delivery systems, especially when streaming is mired in godknowswhat lockdowns with movie and TV studios so creating two separate brands might be able to establish an apples vs. oranges comparison where people stop questioning the two services of one company and instead question two separate companies: Not Netflix vs. Netflix but Netflix vs. Qwikster.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Teletoon

First airing in 1997, Teletoon is a Canadian TV channel focused on cartoons and animation. The new logo was updated in-house. Press release here. Bigger view of the logo below (or after the jump).

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Opinion BY Armin

Critter Type

First opened in 1931, Chester Zoo, located in Chester county in North West England, is one of the largest and most popular zoos in the UK. Located on 110 acres, Chester Zoo is home to over 7,000 animals and hosts 1.3 million visitors per year. In August, Chester Zoo introduced a new identity designed by Manchester-based Music.

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Guest Opinion by John J. Custer Posted BY Brand New

Elementary, My Dear Watsoon

Since 2006, Sleuth has been known as the channel of choice for your favorite crime and mystery reruns—such as Law & Order, JAG; NCIS; Walker, Texas Ranger; and MacGyver. As of August, Sleuth will be known as Cloo. With the help of loyalkaspar, NBCUniversal has completely rebranded Cloo, which sits alongside a fleet of channels that include The Weather Channel, Oxygen, and Chiller.

Update 8/14/12: loyalkaspar was in charge of all on-air graphics and package. You&Me Studio helped with the upfront media kit. Logo was reportedly designed by Digital Kitchen and the tagline in-house.

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Opinion BY Armin

Cinemax’s New Angle

Launched in 1980, Cinemax is best known for its roster of action movies and after-dark softcore porn movies and series with really bad plots, which have earned it the nickname of “Skinemax”. Originally a single channel, Cinemax, owned by HBO Inc., is now a premium (meaning you have to pay extra to get it) network of eight channels and it counts with more than 12 million subscribers — by comparison, HBO has more than 28 million. Within the last few months a new logo has been popping up here and there and last week, to coincide with the launch of Cinemax’s app, MAX GO, the channel has fully implemented its new logo and look, rolling out across all channels. There is no press release or credits.

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