Logo of NBC

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) has used several corporate logos over the course of its history. The first logo was used in 1942, when the television network began operations. Its most famous logo, the peacock, was first used in 1956 to highlight the network's color programming. While it has been in use in one form or another for all but four years since then, the peacock did not become part of NBC's main logo until 1979 and did not become the network's sole logo until 1986. The logos were designed by NBC itself. The first logo incorporated design from parent company RCA, and was a unique logo not related to the NBC radio network.

Recent logos have been themed for different holidays during the year (such as Halloween, Valentine's Day and New Year's Day), in observance of its upcoming or ongoing broadcasts of the Olympics, as well as an American flag-themed logo in the wake of the events of the September 11 terror attacks. The logo has been adapted for color television and high definition as technology has advanced. As NBC acquired other television channels, the logo branding was adopted to other networks including: CNBC, NBCSN, MSNBC, Golf Channel, and Comcast SportsNet. The logo was also incorporated into the corporate emblem of the network's parent company, NBCUniversal, until Comcast took control of the company in 2011. Since December 10, 2012, the peacock has been integrated into the corporate logo of Comcast.

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network that is the flagship property of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The network is headquartered in the Comcast Building (formerly known as the GE Building) at Rockefeller Center in New York City, with additional major offices near Los Angeles (at Universal City Plaza), Chicago (at the NBC Tower) and soon in Philadelphia at Comcast Innovation and Technology Center. The network is part of the Big Three television networks. NBC is sometimes referred to as the "Peacock Network", in reference to its stylized peacock logo, which was originally created in 1956 for its then-new color broadcasts and became the network's official emblem in 1979.

Founded in 1926 by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), NBC is the oldest major broadcast network in the United States. In 1986, control of NBC passed to General Electric (GE) – which previously owned RCA and NBC until 1930, when it was forced to sell the companies as a result of antitrust charges – through its $6.4 billion purchase of RCA. Following the acquisition by GE (which later liquidated RCA), Bob Wright served as chief executive officer of NBC, remaining in that position until his retirement in 2007, when he was succeeded by Jeff Zucker. In 2003, French media company Vivendi merged its entertainment assets with GE, forming NBC Universal. Comcast purchased a controlling interest in the company in 2011, and acquired General Electric's remaining stake in 2013. Following the Comcast merger, Zucker left NBC Universal and was replaced as CEO by Comcast executive Steve Burke.

Logos

Logos (UK /ˈloʊɡɒs/, /ˈlɒɡɒs/, or US /ˈloʊɡoʊs/; Greek: λόγος, from λέγω lego "I say") is an important term in western philosophy, psychology, rhetoric, and religion. It is a Greek word meaning "a ground", "a plea", "an opinion", "an expectation", "word", "speech", "account", "to reason", but it became a technical term in philosophy beginning with Heraclitus (ca. 535–475 BC), who used the term for a principle of order and knowledge.

Ancient Greek philosophers used the term in different ways. The sophists used the term to mean discourse, and Aristotle applied the term to refer to "reasoned discourse" or "the argument" in the field of rhetoric. The Stoic philosophers identified the term with the divine animating principle pervading the Universe. Under Hellenistic Judaism, Philo (c. 20 BC – AD 50) adopted the term into Jewish philosophy. The Gospel of John identifies the Logos, through which all things are made, as divine (theos), and further identifies Jesus Christ as the incarnate Logos. Although the term "Logos" is widely used in this Christian sense, in academic circles it often refers to the various ancient Greek uses, or to post-Christian uses within contemporary philosophy, Sufism, and the analytical psychology of Carl Jung.

Universal Television

Universal Television is the television production subsidiary of the NBCUniversal Television Group and, by extension, the production arm of the NBC television network (since a majority of the company's shows air on NBC, and accounts for most of that network's prime time programming). It was formerly known as Revue Studios, MCA/Universal, NBC Studios, NBC Universal Television Studio, and Universal Media Studios. Both NBC Studios and Universal Network Television are predecessors of Universal Media Studios.

Predecessors

Revue Studios

Revue Productions (also known as Revue Studios) was founded in 1943 by MCA to produce live radio shows and also produced "Stage Door Canteen" live events for the USO during World War II. Revue was re-launched as MCA's television production subsidiary in 1950. The partnership of NBC and Revue extends as far back as September 6, 1950, with the television broadcast of Armour Theatre, based on radio's Stars Over Hollywood. MCA bought the Universal Studios lot in 1958 and was renamed Revue Studios. Following the acquisition of Decca Records, the then-parent of Universal Pictures, the studio backlot name was changed back to Universal. In 1964, MCA formed Universal City Studios to merge the Motion Picture and Television arms of both Universal Pictures and Revue Productions, and Revue was officially renamed Universal Television in 1966.