NBC begins using new bug, snipes, while hint of new vanity card emerges

NBC has continued the gradual rollout of its updated branding, including a new bug, snipes and a glimpse of its new vanity card animation. 

NBC confirms it’s switching to a redrawn peacock logo, updated type

A preview clip for “America’s Got Talent All-Stars” tweeted Dec. 20, 2022, revealed an animated sequence that uses a new look and updated audio.

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The new animation shifts through a gradient of blue, violet, yellow and red backgrounds as the colors inside the peacock at the center of the screen shift through a blend of shades using a side-to-side movement.

The vertical logo lockup, which includes both the peacock and updated typography that leverages a bolder version of the network’s custom NBC Tinker font, slowly grows slightly larger throughout the sequence.

Meanwhile, an updated version of the NBC chimes play which are noticeably more acoustic, with stronger notes that have more reverberation.  

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Toward the end of the sequence, the animation switches to concentric circles outlined with a subtle gradient of the six peacock colors, creating a look that’s a bit like ripples in water.

In some ways, it appears the rings are meant to echo the updated audio signature, though they don’t, at least in this version, match up with where the notes hit.

The end of the sequence’s background transitions from the bright colors of the start to darker shades, eventually landing at a not-quite-black shade, with the logo taking on a subtle blue-violent glow.

In this screenshot of NBC’s Twitter profile, the updated look appears in the profile photo. The profile’s banner image uses elements inspired by the network’s holiday and winter look.

Many elements of the new animation, particularly the ring effects, echo those found on the network’s updated social media avatars, as shown above.

Network sources say this sequence will replace the “NBC presents” vanity card (what the network calls its “curtain raiser”) that runs in front of most network primetime programming.

Sources say that the old card will continue to appear ahead of shows that completed post-production before the new graphic was available, but eventually the new curtain raiser will become network-wide.

NBC, has stopped inserting the old “presents” card during most programming as of late 2022.

In another step in rolling out the new branding, the new logo and logotype have also started appearing in the lower left of the screen.

Unlike the previous vertical version with “NBC” below the peacock, the new design features a horizontal layout.

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There is also a colored animation that can be used as an entrance sequence, again using a swath of the peacock’s colors in gradients that also leverages a side-to-side movement.

The bug fades in using the semi-transparent look that is used the bulk of the time, but only appears this way very briefly before a subtle left-to-right animation reveals the colors and fills in the letters “NBC” in solid white.

In select cases, the bug then disappears, feather-by-feather and letter-by-letter from right to left to make way for a snipe.

These snipes carry through the theme of color gradients, using them as way to make the element stand out and increase text legibility against whatever picture is behind it.

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The gradient originates from the lower left of the screen, but is wider than it is tall, which makes sense given that it needs to accomodate elements such as a program name, date and time, which the first line of text typically bolder and set in a color.

Snipes also use a standalone peacock feather turned on its side as a sort of pointer element that shifts from the first line to the second, serving as a way to draw the eye from one tier to the next.

When the snipes exit, the full color bug re-enters briefly before fading in a right-to-left swipe, to the semi-transparent version.

NBC, like most networks, continues to allow local stations to insert their own bug for a few seconds at designated times, so the bug and snipe entrance can be delayed by that. The video and animation shown here does not include the local bug insert.

NBC previously confirmed to NewscastStudio that the rollout of the new logo from Sibling Rivalry and branding elements will be gradual, with much of the look expected to solidify in early 2023.