Kolmoskanava (Finland)

Background
Kolmoskanava was launched on December 1, 1986 as the first nationwide commercial channel in Finland. Operated by Oy Kolmostelevisio Ab, the commercial channel had a joint ownership of Yleisradio (the public broadcaster in Finland), MTV Oy (now owner of the commercial station MTV3) and Nokia Oy. The broadcasting began in Espoo and it was the first channel in Finland that did not produce any programs of its own; most of its programs were either live sport events, imported television series from North America or a small number of Finnish quiz shows produced by separate production companies. During the 1990's, MTV Oy managed to gain the rest of the channel's shares from Yleisradio and Nokia Oy. During the New Year's Eve of December 31, 1992, Kolmoskanava ceased to exist and was replaced by MTV3. A large chunk of programs that originally started on Kolmoskanava then went to kept airing on MTV3.

1st Logo (December 1, 1986-October 1990)
Nicknames: "Rotating Triangle", "Chromed Metal Triangle", "Half-Invisible Triangle"

Logo: On a black-blue gradient background, a spinning metal triangle logo with a similar shaped hole in the middle of it and a small gap above its lower left corner appears. The triangle keeps getting closer and the camera eventually passes through its center hole. The camera quickly zooms out from its center hole and the triangle is seen rotating on center of the screen, while the white word "KOLMOSKANAVA" flies from the top of the screen downwards, slightly tilted to the bottom. The word bends straight before it lands below the triangle logo. As the music ends, the triangle logo stops rotating, leaving it to stand towards the left angle. A few seconds later, the screen fades to black.

Trivia: The triangle logo itself is a chromed metal object shot on camera chroma keyed into the background, as evident by the many times it partially disappears. The object is about 30 centimeters wide and it spins on the platform before being added to the ident sequence. The ident itself is known to have costed 20 000 Finnish markka (5,200 Euros/$3558 USD).

Variants:
 * The prototype variant features a thinner font below the rotating triangle logo.
 * The closedown ident features a dark blue background and a floor with triangle logos embossed on it. The rotating triangle logo is seen approaching closer from far distance until it stops at slightly right side of the screen. As this happens, three RGB stripes (from left to right: light blue, green and red) pop out from the left side of triangle and continue to follow the lower side of the triangle. The word "KOLMOSKANAVA" then floats above the screen, while retreating back near close to the camera, only to land in the middle of the RGB stripe line below the triangle logo.

FX/SFX: The practical triangle and the RGB stripes on the closedown variant.

Music/Sounds: A long, synthesized whoosh sound, which is followed by a proud fanfare.

Music/Sounds Variant: The closedown ident features a re-arranged version of the startup ident music with louder synth instruments. This one is also used in the prototype variant.

Availability: Extinct on TV. Archive footage of the prototype-like variant could be spotted in the 2007 three-part documentary series Taistelu Televisiosta.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (October 1990-December 31, 1992)
Nicknames: "Rotating Triangle II", "Rotating Number", "Bright Triangle", "Rainbow Triangle"

Logo: On a black background, three groups of stripes, each having three long stripes with a transparent effect following at other ends, appear from different sides of the screen; red stripes pop out from above to do a smooth turn below the screen, blue stripes from the lower right corner do a sharp turn on the top of the screen and green stripes appear in a straight line from the right side. All three groups collide at the same time, as they morph into a large thick "3" with a bluish and reddish glow on the top and bottom parts, respectively. The glowing aura appears around the light steel blue number as it starts rotating at one place, only to quickly disappear from the screen. As this happens, blue and red stripes fly together from down to up through the screen, while a green stripe flies down from the top, moving past between the blue and red blocks. Right after, three stripe groups once again fly across from different points; blue stripes fly in the middle of the top towards the right lower corner, blue stripes from the right lower corner in a straight line and green stripes upwards from the left lower corner to the top. All three then morph into the trademark triangle. The triangle is then seen briefly glowing with all three colors from each sharp point before changing its color to light steel blue, as it starts to rotate at one place with a glowing aura.

Variants:
 * The ad break variant has three groups of different colored stripes coming from different sides of the screen: red ones from bottom left, blue ones from the above the screen and green ones from bottom right corner. These stripes fly into different corners to form the light steel blue triangle (red to bottom right corner, blue to the bottom left corner and green to above end of the triangle). The triangle has a brief rainbow aura around it before it starts rotating and the screen fades to black.
 * A separate closing logo variant also exists: the triangle stops rotating while having a rainbow aura around it. All three groups of different colored stripes, as mentioned in the ad break variant, then break free and fly away from the direction where they previously came from, while making the triangle disappear on the black background.

FX/SFX: The CGI stripes, number 3 and triangle logo in rotation.

Music/Sounds: A soft, synthesized fanfare with horns and drums.

Availability: Extinct on TV. The regular variant was used as both startup and closedown idents towards the end of the channel's run. The closing logo variant is known being used at the end of Finnish programs, which were produced by VipVision.

Editor's Note: None.