The History of the CBS Eye Logo 2001

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the CBS eye in 2001, Charles Osgood did this report on the creation of the famous logo.

[@DStroyerPA]

I NEVER knew it was an eye until about 10 years ago. When I was growing up, we always seemed to be watching a lot of football and basketball on CBS, so I just always thought the CBS logo was a basketball inside of a football!

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

The "CBS Sports" Turducken: Basketball (the eyelid), football (the white), baseball (the iris). If you see it, you can't unsee it...

[@DAngelCM]

This is very creative how this logo gives an inspiration for other television companies. - The first was Fuji Television which is made and two gathered eyes forming as the abstract number eight from 1957 to 1986. This was not familiar with a single eye logo; however it changed with a cartoon-ish eye logo in 1986 which is using today. - Then was Canal 4 from El Salvador (Owned by Telecorporación Salvadoreña), which uses a classic television screen with the eye logo in 1966, making similar to Eyemark logo with a old TV screen and the number four on an iris. Three years later, Canal 4 made more similar to the CBS logo with four rounded corners, as forming the quadrilateral TV screen which is still using today. - When Rede Bandeirantes founded in 1967 in São Paulo, Brazil, its prime logo is based on CBS Eyemark logo. There are few examples to make sure that these logos made inspiration for the iconic CBS logo. If anyone mentions that I missed some of each of eye logos on Television, or if I have mistake in this comment. Everybody is welcome.

[@Musicradio77Network]

And it is still the scariest logo in its existence. CBS started this logo in 1951 and remains to this day, and it still scares the viewers away from the TV sets to this very day. The logo is nicknamed the "Eye from Hell".

[@MsKingkog]

It is not the scariest logo, This logo is what made CBS it is today and that is the number one local channel in America. NBC has a logo with a Peacock and CBS has a logo with a Eye, Is that really scary?

[@Musicradio77Network]

***** And it is still scary to this day. The CBS eye is a logo nightmare, and it is right up there with the Screen Gems "S from Hell" and the Viacom "V of Doom".

[@SuperAV21]

+Musicradio77 Television Network If the CBS eye logo's scary to you, then how's so?

[@PuffyCraftOfficial]

Why is it scary?

[@Musicradio77Network]

Because of the "Eye of Doom" is watching at you!

[@beeps7]

in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

[@mca1218]

Thank you for this YT clip. I'd seen sporadic images of the CBS eye as the iris-as-diaphragm-shutter, and always wondered where it came from.

[@DJKhrome]

Isn't it amazing after all of these years, as much as there's companies always changing logos, the big 3 networks has been content with The CBS Eye, The ABC Circle, and the infamous NBC Peacock!

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

The ABC logo is also called the "dot."

[@Netstryke]

You got to love these classic Sunday Morning segments.

[@fromthesidelines]

The "CBS spotlight" logo {:29} was used between the summer of 1948 and September 1951, usually accompanied by announcer saying (as on radio), "This is CBS- the Columbia Broadcasting System". In September 1951, the network divided itself into "Radio" and "TV" divisions- hence, the "eye" usually had an announcer declare under the slide, "This is the CBS Television Network" {on radio, "This is the CBS Radio Network"}. There was a filmed version of the logo {2:09} that was used through the '60s...

[@GaylordCohen]

George Orwell, anybody...? The CBS "eye" logo sorta reminds me of one of his books, "1984". Sometimes, I think of CBS (TV), as some kind of "Big Brother" (which, ironically, is (or was?) a show that HAPPENS (or HAPPENED?) TO AIR on CBS!)...watching America watching back...go figure! :-\

[@ksol1460tv]

Bill Golden was wearing the WRONG RING the day he designed this thing!

[@AllRequired]

"Just when you're beginning to be bored by what you've done is when it's beginning to be noticed by your audience." When a new logo was being considered for the network, Frank Stanton struck the idea down. Good advice and way too often ignored.

[@Blackwolff9]

@IAmASharpedo:Actually,he said,"MURINE!" Murine is a brand of eye drops that is still sold today.

[@IAmASharpedo]

"what have you got there?" "URINE." (eye widly rotates). its funny to me.

[@VigilanteAgumon]

Murine

[@antdogg422]

When I was a kid I watched all my cartoons on the CBS TELEVISION NETWORK every saturday morning.

[@Musicradio77Network]

One of the very early CBS logos at 0:29 was the “Nest” from 1949-51. That was the pre-“Eye From Hell”. And today, after 68 years, the “Eye From Hell” is still going strong. Happy 68th birthday to the “Eye From Hell”.

[@wiedep]

William Golden hatched the "eye", but the guy most responsible for the overall look of CBS is Lou Dorfsman (featured in this clip) who succeeded Goldman as CBS Creative Director in '59. The ABC disk logo was designed by Paul Rand in '62. Both men are towering figures in American design.

[@kingbee1500]

Once again...the CBS Eye Logo first appears on the TV network Friday, October 19, 1951.

[@Musicradio77Network]

King Bee This should be called the "Eye From Hell".

[@VintageTelevision]

Wonderful! Thanks for posting this report about the CBS Eye Device.

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

I'm surprised they didn't modify the logo for CBS Sports, with the eyelid being a basketball, the white of the eye being a football and the iris being a baseball...it could've worked...

[@OpinionsAnimationStudios]

*Superb* bit of broadcasting history! Thanx fer it, m8..

[@kjchicago1]

This is The Best CBS Logo Ever!

[@Harveycartoonlvr11]

Well they ought to make a CBS Television Network "Bow Tie" for Charles Osgood! :)

[@AlexSpalex1]

Hopefully, that was his retirement gift.

[@TheOriginalJarvees]

his speech sounds reheased as hell "The story goes as I recall..." Robot That eye is starting to creep the shit outta me. One eye. Everywhere..

[@SuperAV21]

I was readin' CBS' logo history on Wikipedia sometime back, I stumbled 'cross 1 other staff designer who may've done some work on da eye symbol, Georg Olden; an African-American who achieved some notoriety in the postwar graphic design field.

[@KellyEntertainmentNetwork]

Awesome history!! I remember Rod Roddy wore a CBS neck tie!

[@SantiagoRevecoLepeReborn]

**KZbin nostalgia intensifies**

[@VectraQS]

I've always liked the Eye. Though it did take me years to realize that it was, in fact, an eye. Granted, of course, it's pretty abstract.

[@marigoldmusic33]

Its the most abstract eye

[@fromthesidelines]

At 3:01, Alan Young is seen satirizing the network logo in an excerpt from his 1951comedy/variety series; he was on for two seasons (1950-'52), doing very clever and well-praised comedy sketches; today, he's best known for starring on the network's "MR. ED" in the '60s...

[@kooarchived]

We called the logo's name "CBS" on Cartoon Elimination.

[@bdog840]

Towards the end about the bow tie, well there is Chevrolet's bow tie logo

[@SeedPlus710]

Drunvalo sent me here. It's all love.

[@Robansuefarm]

This is really very interesting. I never thought of it as an all seeing eye, but I guess it is.

[@VoiceoverIsland]

No, that's not Dick Van Dyke, it's Charles Osgood, host of "CBS Sunday Morning," a great magazine-type show that I wish would be shown to a wider audience than is up on Sunday mornings. This story was likely done for that show. Osgood also can be heard daily with interesting commentary on the CBS radio network.

[@soap1919jt]

VERY interesting!

[@Woollylinnet]

To add a postscript to the story: Four years later, commercial television stared in the United Kingdom. One of the four original companies was Associated Television (ATV), whose logo was based on that of CBS. It featured the familiar eye, but with a shadow. The logo remained until the company's demise in 1981. See: watch?v=W9UUeUaXdcs for an example of ATV's logo on screen.

[@kachoo2135]

I think either a tie tac pin or a lapel pin in the shape of the CBS eye would look mighty cool in addition to the earrings I made

[@RonaldVaughan]

For the record: When CBS,in the late Fifties, was experimenting with its "color-wheel" system (NTSC color didn't come in until 1966) the center of the "eye" was replaced by a colored snowflake. This only happened for special events,such as showings of "The Wizard of Oz",etc.

[@cmvogt5951]

So this is How CBS Eye was began in 1951.

[@susangwalker]

I was absolutely terrified of the "eye in motion" in the late 50s and early 60s!

[@kachoo2135]

I've used Shrinky Dinks shrink plastic and made a pair of CBS Eye earrings. I think they are mighty cool

[@kachoo2135]

I think this logo is mighty cool

[@jaycahuenga6416]

I stay watching

[@Jantv81]

Eye of CBS is the Eye of the Camera

[@SaillantCoofArizona]

More like God's Eye on Satan

[@MikhailEbora]

The Eyemark Is Watching Me

[@kjchicago1]

CBS's logo is with us.......forever! CBS sure picked a good logo!

[@Musicradio77Network]

Happy 68th birthday to the “Eye From Hell”.

[@WC3POchannel10A]

@SoniQ15 You are exactly right. And it is one of the greatest logos ever created.

[@rolko52]

The story that I read somewhere was that Bill Paley walked into the Graphics Department and fished a copy of the eye out of the waste basket. He liked it and that was it. If you want to see the "eye" in a creepy connotation, click on my Video Response entitled "CBS Fall Preview Show for 1961 Part 1/3 ". It looks like something from a cheesy 50"s sci-fi flick.

[@pit10-zrhlkuzgun23]

Prinsesse Pixelina tittar på Pikachu's sommerlov. Kortfilmen blev kanske vist i SVT1.

[@kjchicago1]

CBS liked this eye logo the best! And it's still around!

[@kachoo2135]

I think it's cool

[@s4m5on]

when will u continue this tale?

[@RkivUnderground]

Calm down, guys. It's just a logo. I'm pretty sure he chose the eye not for illuminati, but to symbolize how television is unique from radio as it uses your eyes for enjoyment, too. 3DTV is up-and-coming and if CBS would start broadcasting in 3D, they would have to use two eyes! Ha!

[@dhhdsjjc2408]

All seeing eye.

[@Paddis92]

Known by many as the eye of Lucifer, yes. From what I know, the symbol comes from ancient Egypt and was later adopted by the church. Some see it as a symbol for good, some see it as the eye of Lucifer and some think that it resembles "Big Brother".

[@kjchicago1]

It's a great symbol!

[@Long_Wei]

@SoniQ15 but still...it feels pretty scary to have that thing looking at me while i watch tv....

[@AnalogueAudio1985]

nice rug

[@jasonvoorhees453]

2019 anyone?

[@jameshendricks2197]

Nope, 2022!

[@sillyone52062]

Reminds me of something from The Prisoner....always watching me.

[@thermaldog]

@Miskatakeable yep

[@luxbledstone]

the all seeing eye warth is upon us folks xD

[@DisneyPlusReviewer]

The eyeball network and the peacock were cool then in the 1980's. I missed the old times in the 1980's with great cartoon lineup such as Pee Wee's Playhouse, Muppet Babies, etc. The eyeball is a little bit scary but, however, nothing compare to Viacom "V" of Doom logo.

[@LopezMelendez]

Be on the lookout for the 60th year this october.

[@RonnoldCGEN]

Logo is too important part of each company I'd say. And that's why is important to create logo very carrefully.

[@griffincomm]

i did know that

[@NermalCat]

The Eye Reminds Me To Wheatly On Portal 2

[@LuvvyDuck]

I never would have thought the CBS logo was inspired by the "hex signs" on a farmhouse. Me likes The Eye. ^__^

[@AngelaJohnson-eb1zx]

Lucy=Lucifer, ball or baal=Goat god

[@GD29]

i used to think it was just a circle within a circle.....only when you look at it up close does it seem like an eye...i think the cbs eye logo has had more consistency and longevity than the nbc peacock....cbs has had it since the 50's while nbc kept changing til the 80's.....

[@TyrSkyFatherOfTheGods]

That eye in motion thing is actually kind of eerie, in an Orwellian way.

[@TKGB2006]

That eye now freaks me out.

[@ilmamartinez522]

They should have starred Marilyn Monroe in whatever the name the show was named

[@05Forenza]

Why did I watch the whole thing...

[@drandall1776]

The first color TV image I ever saw was the NBC Peacock. . so, I gotta go with the Bird. . .

[@motionlessinwhiteluv]

Was little, i had a dream of this logo and it was staring at me. At the time i had really no idea what it was. I was scared if it. And i never knew why. Now i know what it is of course the all seeing eye... :( i want someone to expain to me why i could have such a dream?

[@mickeymephistopheles]

That must mean that the Rocky Horror Picture Show was created by the Illuminati as well.

[@JackRussellTerrier2]

Alot of those amish hex symbols look like the patterns left near the crop circles in England.

[@kjchicago1]

And retired in 1975 replaced by the letter "N"

[@MadDogxbg]

yep you said it illuminiti

[@RkivUnderground]

@darkwhitty Symbols DO have meaning. I am not ignoring that. It's how the human associates with it. Strip it all down and it's just a design. Oh, and the swastika, before the Nazis, it meant good will and peace in India.

[@PluMGMK]

I'd pay for CBS eye toilet paper right about now.

[@OfficialyProdigised]

Did it ever occure to peoplethat maybe they took the shmbol because the eye is the strongest sense, its a noble symbol that posesses a lot of might... And for the nightmares people claim to have, you can have a nightmares from an eye just like you could from a foot..

[@miamivicepastels83]

lol segment at 3;01

[@ljcteehee]

Nice toupee there Dorssman.

[@mgb...]

youtube has this too.. just under neath the dis/like bar: "(eye) as seen on TV"

[@queenchrysalis5572]

that "Urine" scene is funny, that man make the eye come to life

[@ksol1460tv]

That's MURINE eye drops, you can still get them today.

[@ljaureguiv]

It's 60y's old now

[@iangriggs489]

KTVN CBS 2

[@freshprince58]

@viper19861986 i think you forgot that PBS ends with an S, not a C. its okay, you fix it and post again. :)

[@GodBlessHipHop]

ALL SEEING EYE..

[@SenorZorrozzz]

Lucy was not, but we loved her away way.

[@DCMemories]

Believe it or not... I know of one CBS eye that is sitting right in front of somebody's DC home!!!!!

[@pinedelgado4743]

EYE think the CBS eye is awesome. LOL. :) :) :)

[@upsetmom76]

1:54

[@qualqui]

The All-Seeing Eye,.....

[@MartellThaCool]

whoa! quite creepy...

[@upsetmom76]

1:12

[@rocotto727]

I still think it's better that the NBC's peaCock.

[@WithChildLikeFaith]

It is! And people don't even think twice about what that awkward little logo really means. This is completely diabolical and not of Christ.

[@TVVorld]

@PDS1990 correct math!!!

[@lucastavaresde]

a parte central do logo é igual o logo da band!!!