NBC logo
The National Broadcasting Company has used several corporate logos over the course of its history. The first logo was used in 1926 when the radio 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 universally become the network's sole logo until the fall of 1988.
Recent logos have been themed for different holidays during the year, in observance of its upcoming or ongoing broadcasts of the Olympics, as well as an American flag-themed logo following the September 11 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 formerly adopted by other networks including: CNBC, MSNBC, Golf Channel, and ShopNBC. It is currently used with NBCSN and NBC Sports Regional Networks. The logo was also incorporated into the corporate emblem of the network's parent company, NBCUniversal, then became a part of a redesigned Comcast mark at the end of 2012 after it was acquired by the latter a year before.
As a radio network (1926–1943)
1926–1937
NBC debuted as a radio network in 1926, with a logo depicting a microphone surrounded by lightning bolts, superimposed over a map of the United States. The "NBC" letters appeared in an arc above the graphic.1931–1943
In 1931, NBC introduced its second logo – a square with a diagonal NBC text in it, with lightning bolts around the "B." This logo was later adopted in 1941 for use as the original logo for the newly formed NBC television network.As a television network (1943–1975)
In 1943, NBC introduced its third logo, a microphone surrounded by lightning bolts. Lightning bolts denoting electricity were common in the iconography of broadcasting in the early 20th century, and were also depicted in the logo of corporate parent RCA, as well as that of one-time sister company RKO Pictures. The waves placed on the left side were meant for the radio network, and the right waves were meant for the television network. A network identification featuring this logo includes a male announcer saying "This is NBC, the National Broadcasting Company," followed by the NBC chimes. On the network's flagship television station WNBT, this was accompanied by the same announcer saying "WNBT, New York." At the beginning of telecasts, a card was shown with a different NBC logo with the letters in cursive and enclosed in a rectangle. This was replaced by another card depicting an NBC cameraman operating an RCA camera was shown underneath the text "NBC Television Presents." The letters "NBC", lighting in tune with the chimes, indicated time for station identification or the end of a telecast.In 1953, a stylized xylophone and mallet was introduced, symbolizing the NBC chimes, which were first heard on NBC radio in 1927 as a seven-tone sequence. The current tones – which were first adopted in 1929 as a simplified cue for identification of its radio affiliates because of issues with orchestrating the seven notes properly – are only three notes, G, E' and C'. There is some indication that the xylophone logo was used at 5:32 p.m. Eastern Time on December 17, 1953, to announce the Federal Communications Commission's approval of the new color standard, which would go into effect 30 days later. This logo debuted in December 1953, during the Tournament of Roses Parade.
Introduction of the Peacock (1956–1959)
Network art director John J. Graham and designer Herb Lubalin of Sudler & Hennessey designed a new symbol for the television network in 1956: an abstraction of an eleven-feathered peacock indicating richness in color. This brightly hued peacock, which NBC called "the Bird," was adopted because of the increase in color programming. In addition, NBC's owner, RCA, manufactured color television sets. As a result, the peacock became a marketing tool, in the hopes that people tuning in to NBC would purchase color TV sets. NBC's first color broadcasts showed only a still frame of the colorful peacock. Several modifications were made by NBC before the emblem made its first on-air appearance on May 22, 1956.In the summer of 1957, beginning with Your Hit Parade, the peacock became animated and introduced every NBC color telecast until a revamped animation appeared in 1962. Its musical backing was a gong while the peacock began its formation, with a male announcer saying "The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC," while the music crescendoed followed by a nine-note flourish while the peacock's feathers changed color and finally spread out. According to Game Show Network executive David Schwartz, the first announcer who spoke those famous words behind the Peacock graphic logo was Ben Grauer, who had been a familiar voice on NBC since 1930. A slide with the letters "NBC" in red, green, and blue respectively and with "TELEVISION" underneath appeared at the end of every color telecast.
Snake logo (1959–1975)
Starting in September 1959, an animated monogram logo joined the Peacock, appearing at the end of every telecast. Starting with the "N", each letter would grow from the other, forming a stacked typographic logo consisting of an "NB" ligature with the "C" forming the base. This would be known as the "NBC snake". Several versions of this exist; the first is the snake forming in front of a multicolored background while an RCA TK-40 or TK-41 camera passed by with a jazz rendition of the NBC chimes, while the second consists of the snake forming against a color-changing background, going from blue to green to red, on each note of the regular, automated NBC chimes. The logo was also designed by John J. Graham.''Laramie'' era (1962)
In 1962 on Laramie, a new version of the Peacock opening logo was introduced in which the bird fanned its bright plumage against a kaleidoscopic color background. As with the 1956 Peacock, this logo appeared at the start of every NBC color telecast; as all NBC shows eventually began airing in color, it was generally used only to open those shows that were produced by NBC itself, such as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. It was, however, seen on the NBC airings of The Wizard of Oz as well as on the broadcast of Peter Pan, which had been videotaped at NBC Studios. The "Laramie Peacock," named for the series which introduced it, used the same "living color" tagline as the first peacock, but the accompanying music was a soft, woodwind-based number, with Mel Brandt providing the voiceover. It was revised further in April 1968, the music having been slightly rearranged and the animation shortened by a few seconds. Another version, with Vic Roby announcing, "Now, a special program in living color on NBC," was unveiled for use on specials during this same period. It was shortened further on December 31, 1975, when the peacock was retired.The "Laramie Peacock" made special appearances throughout the ensuing years, mostly in a retro-kitsch context or to commemorate a significant broadcast event on NBC. It was used to promote the network's coverage of the NASCAR Cup Series race held at Darlington Raceway in the Florence, South Carolina region from 2015 to 2020, when it was the series' annual throwback round, where many racecars featured a throwback motif. The Peacock also made an appearance before the premiere of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien in 2009. The "Laramie Peacock" has also been used by local stations: the sequence was shown at the beginning of Pittsburgh Dad's Guide to Christmas, a special aired on Pittsburgh NBC affiliate WPXI on December 19, 2014.
On December 6, 2024, in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, as well as its return to NBC after over 50 years of annual airings on CBS, the "Laramie Peacock" logo made a brief return as a nod and tribute to its original broadcast, though shortened to 3 seconds. Additionally, the logo also made appearances during that year's airings of Frosty The Snowman and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.
"N" logos (1975–1986)
Trapezoid "N" (1976–1979)
In a bid to modernize the network, NBC retained New York corporate identity consultancy Lippincott & Margulies in June 1974, to create a modern and standardized identity program across all of its divisions. At its center was an abstract "N," a bold geometric design consisting of two trapezoids – one red and one blue,. First teased in a print ad in October 1975, it made its official on-air debut on January 1, 1976, at the start of the Bicentennial year. One of the technological innovations of this logo was its use in the first electronically animated ident for a United States television network. On the January 10, 1976 episode of NBC's Saturday Night, Weekend Update host Chevy Chase mocked the new logo and its reported $1million design cost. Johnny Carson also discussed the new logo and its cost on The Tonight Show.In February 1976, the Nebraska ETV Network, the PBS member network for Nebraska, filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against NBC. Nebraska ETV had adopted a virtually identical logo upon their own rebranding the previous June; the only difference being NBC's inclusion of blue whereas NET's symbol was rendered in solid red. The logo, designed in-house by the network's art director, reportedly only cost around $30; this fact was often contrasted against the "million dollar" - later revealed to be around $62,500 - development cost of NBC's updated identity. In the ensuing litigation, NBC's preliminary identity proposals were revealed to have been completed by the agency in January 1975, whereas NETV's was designed and selected around March; however, the latter were the first to publicly display the symbol. An out-of-court settlement was reached in which NBC gave the network over $800,000 worth of new broadcasting equipment, including a color mobile unit, and an additional $55,000 to cover the cost of designing and implementing a new logo. In return, NBC was allowed to keep the "N" logo.