NorthEast Radio Watch 6/27/2022: Public Broadcasters’ New Brand

In this week’s issue… Public broadcasters rebrand – CT morning host de-Camps – New TV in Syracuse – Up is down in Utica – Father-daughter team on anchor desk

By SCOTT FYBUSH

Jump to: ME – NH – VT – MA – RI – CT – NY – NJ – PA – Canada

Programming note: Because of the July 4 holiday and travel, the next NERW will appear on Tuesday, July 5. 

*What do you call it when a public TV and public radio network merge? We’ve been waiting for that answer for a while now in VERMONT, where Vermont Public Radio and Vermont PBS officially joined forces almost a year ago.

Since then, both entities have continued operating publicly under their old names while combining operations behind the scenes under the legal name of Vermont Public Company – and now we know what the new public identity of the organization will be.

“Vermont Public” is the new combined brand, with a new logo that incorporates the signature green color of the Green Mountain State and a design reminiscent of Vermont’s outline.

The sharp corners of the stylized state design, developed by the Burlington-based agency Solidarity of Unbridled Labour, represent the new slogan, “Stories from every corner.”

We note, too, that the new identity leaves a lot of flexibility about what exactly “Vermont Public” is – it’s not just “radio” or “TV,” or even “media” (and the “VPM” brand is already taken, anyway, by Virginia Public Media in Richmond), but rather leaves the door open to all sorts of broadcast, digital and social connections to its statewide audience.

While the new design and identity have rolled out immediately, there’s still more work to be done behind the scenes to fully merge Vermont Public. In particular, there’s the matter of physical space – the Vermont Public radio side remains at the longtime VPR studios in Colchester, while the TV side is in the former Vermont PBS space in Winooski.