WMC-TV Modified Its Logo. Again.

[TennTV1983 804]

After a few years, WMC-TV modified its logo and branding once again as of 4:00pm yesterday, going back to just Action News 5 without the call letters. Graphics have not changed.

 

New logo:

 

Previous logo: 

 

They have also adopted the slogan "Taking Action For You" after years of going without an official one on their newscasts (Only saying "With all of today's Breaking News, WMC Action News 5 at _____ starts now!")

 

I do have my criticisms about the new logo:

 

1) They ditched the steamboat, which had been a part of the station's image for years.

2) The NBC Peacock is in the wrong spot (should be on the right side of the 5 instead of the left). It's like the 5 is about to EAT the Peacock.

3) The slanted box has been straightened, but they added a curve on the lower right of the logo, which seems unnecessary.

 

Those are my two cents. What does everyone else think?

[GodfreyGR 652]

33 minutes ago, TennTV1983 said:

1) They ditched the steamboat, which had been a part of the station's image for years.

The boat in the logo dates back to 1952, which is impressive; but given how reduced it has been in the previous logo, how many people will really notice? Of those who notice, will the average viewer care?

 

I'm a traditionalist and think it was dumb to drop something that has been a part of the station longer than any person at the station, but this isn't a "WPVI changing the theme music" moment in the least, unfortunately. It would be interesting to see if there was a reason behind the change?

[Yankees4life 559]

I don't get it

 

I think they made a big mistake. 

[memnews 36]

I'm just now finding out about this (recently moved away from the Memphis area). I'm sad to see the steamboat disappear, but to tell you the truth, I didn't even notice that until you pointed it out. I guess that speaks to just how diminished it had become in the WMC-era logo. In my mind, the steamboat was gone as soon as they removed the whistle from the opening, back before they even rebranded as WMC Action News 5.

 

I can't say I care much for the curve, but it seems to add some sort of flair to the logo, which seems to be something they've been trying for (with the previous logo having ditched the hard straight edges for a hard diagonal edge, this seems like the next logical step!). It strikes me as more of an app-suited logo too, which is probably another benefit in their eyes.

 

I'm happy the old white color and "Action News" font have returned, but yeah, I definitely agree about the NBC logo being out of place. I don't so much mind it filling up that white space between "News" and the 5, but the new curve at the bottom right is just begging for something to be there -- otherwise it draws too much attention to the blank blue space at the opposite, upper left corner of the shape. If anything they should've curved that corner, too.

 

I notice in your screenshot that they've swapped to just actionnews5.com as well; I wonder how soon it will be before their social media handles change along with that.

 

The new slogan is nice and overall I really like that they're embracing the Action News branding, after somewhat burying it during the prior logo era and especially as opposed to other stations that have taken to scrapping it entirely. With the Olympics timing of this debut, I wonder if this is new or if they've actually been sitting on it for a full year given the delayed games.

 

I'm having trouble accessing the full file, but here's a screenshot of the logo as seen on their website: 

[tyrannical bastard 3951]

It does make this logo a tad more generic (without the steamboat), but it's a nice refresh (and throwback) for a station that has seen their ratings tank in favor of WREG in recent years.

 

The 5, and the other Bert Ellis stations at the time were heavily inspired by WSB in Atlanta.  It was a nice change back then when Scripps sold the station to Ellis, as their WMC logo at the time was less memorable than the "5" they had before.

 

Perhaps the steamboat met it's demise due to current trends.  Didn't they use to play "Dixie" after the whistle in old IDs?

[MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie 915]

WFTS called and wants their Action News logo back

[memnews 36]

Curiously, the shortened icon version of their logo that appears on WMC's website as one scrolls down has a much less dramatic curve than does the full logo that they seem to be using on-air and at the top of their website before scrolling. I wonder what the story is behind that... personally I like the less curved version much better.

[Justin Hill 40]

Only time will tell if they drop the "5" entirely and embrace the NBC Action News branding...hope I'm wrong!