The Place to Be (NBC)

1990 and 1991
"NBC: The Place To Be" is the slogan that NBC used from 1990 to 1992, and the second of the campaigns to feature the current six-feathered peacock. During this period, several new series arrived to supplement shows such as The Cosby Show, Cheers and A Different World. Some of the most notable changes included the premiere of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the short-lived Ferris Bueller, and Blossom, which replaced Bueller in January 1991.

1990: MTV-Style Heavy Rock


In the first year of The Place to Be, the full length promo was 2:57 in length. The promo also was different than its predecessors in that its jingle utilized a modern rock soundtrack. It was also presented in such a manner that resembled MTV's music videos in order to appropriately fit the '90s and target a much younger audience.

The promo begins with a brief shot of a music stand/lecturn which from behind, a blue spotlight comes on. After this, some NBC stars seat themselves as audience members as they are waiting to what appears to be a concert. Meanwhile, an orchestra featuring The Cosby Show's Raven Symoné with an electric guitar is seen rehearsing for the musical number. The rehearsing abruptly stops when Bill Cosby arrives at the music stand where he takes on the role of conductor, while Kadeem Hardison controls the blue spotlight.

The video then cuts to a stage in the same theatre where various stars from NBC shows such as The Golden Girls, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and even Johnny Carson from The Tonight Show dancing or engaging in different activities/motions in front of a giant wall of television sets stacked one on top of each other often showing clips of NBC shows as well as the letters N, B, and C and the peacock logo. Midway through the promo, a segment featuring returning shows such as LA Law, The Cosby Show, and Empty Nest is shown followed by one featuring freshman shows; among them the now long running and Emmy Award winning Law & Order.

Towards the end of the program, the music ceases abruptly and the lights go out. The culprit was shown to be then-host of Late Night', David Letterman (shown on a TV) who apparently tripped on a pair of power cords. Letterman briefly laughs then re-plugs it resuming the promo. As the promo winds down we see the NBC logo above yellow lettering stating "The Place to Be" amidst brownish black background with CGI glass squares of different colors moving in different directions. Finally as the music stops, Raven hollers and exits the stage, as the audience applauses. This ident borrows the 1989 Sky Movies (UK) ident.

For TV ident bumpers, the NBC ident with the slogan was shown with Don LaFontaine saying, "NBC is the Place to Be!".

1991: R&B Dance Theme


This slogan returned for the 1991-92 season. The musical soundtrack for this second year was an upbeat R&B dance piece heavily scored by a choir-organ. Male vocals featured the chorus lyrics "Everybody knows we're the place to be!", and ended with the main stinger, "Got everybody watchin'..NBC's the place to be." A synthesized, hip rendition of the NBC chimes were a major integration into the song. The principal graphic motif features layers of color (the colors of which represent the NBC peacock) pressing atop each other, followed by the peacock placing itself in front of the layers. The peacock is positioned so that the edges meet and exceed all sides of the screen. Over the peacock, a glossy, black half-circle bar travels, with "The Place to Be" appearing on it in futuristic, white capital lettering.

Just prior to the start of this season, Brandon Tartikoff ended his widely-praised decade-long run as programming chief. The second season of The Place to Be effectively heralded the end of his era, as many of the hit shows he greenlighted during the 1980s were concluding their runs. In the spring of 1992, Night Court, The Cosby Show and The Golden Girls bid farewell; In the Heat of the Night was also leaving NBC, but moved to CBS for two more years. Matlock was also leaving NBC, but move to ABC for three more years. Most importantly, Johnny Carson retired from The Tonight Show that May, increasingly proving that the face of the network was changing. This was also the final year that NBC utilized the CGI animation of Harry Marks in its network image; the new musical and graphic elements of the NBC movie intros (mainly the NBC Sunday and Monday Night Movie) brought out that year were modeled on the 1991 The Place to Be campaign.

Local Versions

 * KAMR-TV in Amarillo, Texas: "Channel 4, The Place to Be!"
 * KARE in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota: "KARE-TV, The Place to Be!"
 * KARK-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas: same as KAMR
 * KCBD in Lubbock, Texas: "Channel 11, The Place to Be!"
 * KCEN-TV in Temple/Waco, Texas: same as WJAC
 * KCNC (now a CBS O&O station) in Denver, Colorado: same as WNBC
 * KCRA-TV in Sacramento / Stockton / Modesto, California: "Channel 3, is The Place to Be"
 * KFDX-TV in Wichita Falls, Texas/Lawton, Oklahoma: "TV-3, The Place to Be!"
 * KFOR-TV in Oklahoma, City, Oklahoma: same as KNBC
 * KGET-TV in Bakersfield, California: "17, The Place to Be!"
 * KGW in Portland, Oregon: "Channel 8, The Place to Be!"
 * KHAS-TV in Hasting/Kearney/Grand Island, Nebraksa: same as KSDK
 * KIEM-TV in Eureka, California: "Channel 3, The Place to Be!"
 * KING-TV in Seattle, Washington: "KING-TV, The Place to Be!"
 * KMOL (now WOAI) in San Antonio, Texas: same as WNBC
 * KNBC in Los Angeles, California: "Channel 4, is The Place to Be!"
 * KNSD in San Diego, California: "39 Cable 7, The Place to Be!"
 * KOAA-TV in Pueblo/Colorado Springs, Colorado: "5 & 30, is The Place to Be!"
 * KOB in Albuquerque, New Mexico: "TV-4, The Place to Be!"
 * KOMU-TV in Columbia/Jefferson City, Missouri: same as KGW
 * KPNX in Mesa / Phoenix, Arizona: "KPNX, The Place to Be!"
 * KPRC-TV in Houston, Texas: "Channel 2, The Place to Be!"
 * KRIS-TV in Corpus Christi, Texas: same as WECT
 * KRON-TV in San Francisco, California: same as KNBC
 * KSBW in Salinas/Monterey, California: "Channel 8, The Place to Be!"
 * KSDK in St. Louis, Missouri: "Channel 5, The Place to Be!"
 * KSEE in Fresno, California: "24, is The Place to Be!"
 * KSNF in Joplin, Missouri-Pittsburg, Kansas: "KSN, is The Place to Be!"
 * KSNW in Wichita, Kansas: "NewsChannel 3, The Place to Be!"
 * KTEN in Sherman, Texas & Ada, Oklahoma: "K-T-E-N, The Place to Be!"
 * KTSM-TV in El Paso, Texas: "Channel 9, The Place to Be!"
 * KTVB in Boise, Idaho: "Channel 7, The Place to Be!"
 * KTVE in El Dorado, Arkansas-Monroe, Louisiana: "Region 10, The Place to Be!"
 * KUTV (now a CBS affiliate) in Salt Lake City, Utah: "KUTV, The Place to Be!"
 * KVBC (now KSNV) in Las Vegas, Nevada: "TV-3, is The Place to Be!"
 * KVOA-TV in Tuscon, Arizona: "TV-4, is The Place to Be!"
 * KWES-TV in Midland/Odessa, Texas: TV-9, The Place to Be!"
 * KXAS-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas: same as KHAS
 * KYMA-DT in Yuma, Arizona/El Centro, California: "KYMA, The Place To Be!"
 * KYTV in Springfield, Missouri: "KY-3, The Place to Be!"
 * KYW-TV (now a CBS O&O station) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: same as KCRA
 * WAFF (TV) in Huntsville & Decatur, Alabama: "WAFF, The Place to Be!"
 * WALA-TV (now a Fox affiliate) in Mobile, Alabama / Pensacola - Fort Walton Beach, Florida: "Turn to 10, is The Place to Be!"
 * WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee: "WBIR, The Place to Be!"
 * WBZ-TV (now a CBS O&O station) in Boston, Massachusetts: "WBZ-TV, The Place to Be!"
 * WCIV (now an ABC affiliate) in Charleston, South Carolina: "WCIV, The Place to Be!"
 * WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio: "WCMH, The Place to Be!"
 * WCNC-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina: "WCNC, The Place to Be!"
 * WCSH in Portland, Maine: "6 Alive, The Place to Be!"/"6 Alive, Count on Us!"
 * WDAF-TV (now a Fox affiliate) in Kansas City, Missouri-Kansas: "WDAF, The Place to Be!"
 * WDIV in Detroit, Michigan: "WDIV, The Place to Be"
 * WDSU in New Orleans, Louisiana: "WDSU, The Place to Be!"
 * WEAU-TV in Eau Claire, Wisconsin: "TV-13, is The Place to Be!"
 * WECT-TV in Wilmington, North Carolina: "Channel 6, The Place to Be!"
 * WESH in Daytona Beach/Orlando, Florida: "WESH-TV, The Place to Be!"
 * WFIE in Evansville, Indiana-Henderson-Owensboro, Kentucky: "WFIE, The Place to Be"
 * WFLA-TV in Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida: "Channel 8, is The Place to Be!"
 * WFMJ in Youngstown, Ohio: "WFMJ, The Place to Be"
 * WGAL in Lancaster / York / Harrisburg, Pennsylvania / Lebanon, Pennsylvania: "WGAL, The Place To Be!"
 * WGEM in Quincy, Illinois / Hannibal, Missouri / Keokuk, Iowa: "WGEM, The Place to Be!"
 * WGRZ in Buffalo, New York: "WRGZ-TV's the Place to Be!"
 * WHO in Des Moines, Iowa: "Channel 13, The Place to Be!"
 * WICS (now an ABC affiliate) in Springfield/Decatur, Illinois: "WICS 20, The Place to Be"
 * WILX-TV in Onondaga/Lansing/Jackson, Michigan: "WILX-TV, The Place to Be!"
 * WITN in Greenville/Washington/New Bern, North Carolina: "WITN, is The Place to Be!"
 * WJAC-TV in Johnstown/Altoona/State College, Pennsylvania: "JAC, The Place to Be!"
 * WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island/New Bedford, Massachusetts: "Channel 10, is The Place to Be!"
 * WJHG-TV in Panama City, Florida/Dothan, Alabama: "WJHG, The Place to Be!"
 * WKJG (now WISE-TV) in Fort Wayne, Indiana: "WKJG, The Place to Be!"
 * WKYC in Cleveland, Ohio: "Channel 3, Turn to Us!"
 * WLBT in Jackson, Mississippi: "Channel 3, The Place to Be!"
 * WLBZ in Bangor, Maine: "Channel 2, Count on Us!"; later modified into "2 Alive—You Can Count On Us!"
 * WLEX-TV in Lexington, Kentucky: "WLEX, is The Place To Be!"
 * WLIO in Lima, Ohio: "WLIO, The Place to Be!"
 * WLUK-TV (now a Fox affiliate) in Green Bay/Fox Cities, Wisconsin: "Channel 11, is The Place to Be!"
 * WLWT in Cincinnati, Ohio: "TV-5, is The Place to Be!"
 * WMAQ in Chicago, Illinois: "WMAQ, The Place to Be!"
 * WMAR (now an ABC affiliate) in Baltimore, Maryland: same as KPRC
 * WMC-TV in Memphis, Tennessee: "WMC-TV, The Place to Be!"
 * WMGM-TV in Wildwood/Atlantic City, New Jersey: "WMGM, The Place to Be!"
 * WMTV in Madison, Wisconsin: "WMTV is the Place to Be"
 * WNBC in New York City, New York: "Channel 4's The Number One Place to Be!"
 * WNEM-TV (now a CBS affiliate) in Bay City/Saginaw/Flint, Michigan: "WNEM, The Place to Be!"
 * WNNE in Hartford, Vermont/Hanover, New Hampshire: "31, Close to Home, It's the Place to Be!"
 * WNYT-TV in Albany/Schenectady/Troy, New York: "Channel 13, is The Place to Be!"
 * WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Michigan: "TV-8, is The Place to Be!"
 * WOWT-TV in Omaha, Nebraska: "WOWT The Place To Be!"
 * WPBN-TV in Traverse City/Cadillac, Michigan and Cheboygan/Petoskey, Michigan: "TV 7&4, The Place to Be!"
 * WPSD-TV in Paducah, Kentucky/Harrisburg, Illinois/Cape Girardeau, Missouri: "WPSD, is The Place to Be!"
 * WPTZ in Plattsburgh, New York-Burlington, Vermont: "PTZ's The Place To Be!"
 * WPXI in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: "WPXI-TV, The Place to Be!"
 * WPTF (now WRDC, a MyNetworkTV affiliate) in Durham/Raleigh/Fayetteville, North Carolina: "WPTF, The Place to Be!"
 * WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.: "WRC-TV, The Place to Be!"
 * WRCB in Chattanooga, Tennessee: "WRCB, The Place to Be!"
 * WSAV-TV in Savannah, Georgia/Hilton Head, South Carolina: "WSAV, The Place to Be!"
 * WSFA in Montgomery/Dothan, Alabama: "Channel 12, The Place to Be!"
 * WSLS-TV in Roanoke/Lynchburg, Virginia: "WSLS, The Place to Be!"
 * WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tennessee: "WSMV, The Place to Be!"
 * WTHR in Indianapolis, Indiana: "WTHR, The Place to Be!"
 * WTLV in Jacksonville, Florida: "WTLV, The Place to Be!"
 * WTMJ-TV in Millwaukee, Wisconsin: "WTMJ, The Place to Be!"
 * WTVJ in Miami / Fort Lauderdale, Florida: "WTVJ, is The Place to Be!"
 * WTWC-TV in Tallahassee, Florida: "Channel 40, is the Place to Be"
 * WVIR-TV in Charlottesville/Harrisonburg, Virginia: "WVIR, is The Place to Be!"
 * WVIT in New Britain/Hartford/New Haven, Connecticut: "Channel 30, is The Place to Be!"
 * WVLA-TV in Baton Rouge, Louisiana: "WVLA, The Place to Be!"
 * WVTM-TV in Birmingham-Tuscaloosa-Anniston-Gadsden, Alabama: "WVTM, The Place to Be!"
 * WWBT in Richmond, Virginia: "WWBT, The Place to Be!"
 * WXIA-TV in Atlanta, Georgia: "WXIA, The Place to Be!"/"11 Alive, The Place to Be!"
 * WXII in Winston-Salem/Greensboro/High Point, North Carolina: "Channel 12, is The Place to Be"

International versions

 * In Italy, La7 in 2003 and in the Philippines's GMA-7 was used in 1996. Elements of the promo were used in "Aqui Tem" for Brazil's SBT in 1992 and the Seven Network's Good Vibrations campaign of 1992-93.