Over the years NBC used a number of slogans -- some memorable and others instantly forgettable. Now with a new boss, a fresh Fall season, and a controversial plan for 10PM, NBC is defining its new brand. The network has been very hush-hush, but TV Tango uncovered the main contender for NBC's new slogan.

More Colorful.

Here's what we know:

• On July 30, 2009, NBC Universal, Inc. filed six trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Three of these applications protected "More Colorful" and the other three were for "Peacocks Tell More Colorful Stories."
• Just days before NBC Universal filed these trademark applications, new network chairman Jeff Gaspin said the following in a Newsweek interview: "It's not been made public, but they've already been working on something [for the NBC brand]. I need to spend time with them and see what that is. I think it's almost more importantly internally than externally. You want everyone to be on the same page and understand what NBC stands for."
• About a month earlier -- on June 22, 2009 -- some organization used a service to hide its identity when it registered the domain, morecolorful.tv. Don't bother going to that site yet; it's still inactive and you'll get an error message. But I think we all have a pretty good guess who the secret company is.
• During 2009, NBC Universal, Inc. only filed nine other trademark applications. Eight of them listed "Green Lives Here," the slogan for its Earth-Week-themed "Green Is Universal" campaign. The last one protected the name "Face the Ace" for NBC's Saturday-night poker-themed series.

What does all that mean? NBC probably looked at thousands of ideas and taglines, and it decided that only "More Colorful" was worthy. But "More Colorful" was developed on someone else's watch, so there's still a chance that Gaspin will have his people go in a different direction for the NBC brand -- but we haven't seen or heard anything different yet. With the new season starting soon, it's getting late to make any drastic changes to such a huge marketing campaign. "More Colorful" looks more likely everyday.

Update August 30, 2009 at 8:35 PM Pacific Time: We were right! For more details about the campaign, check out Variety.