Nexstar Media Group’s WFLA, News Channel 8, has completely revamped its studio home with a set design boasting large LED windows that take advantage of the station’s downtown Tampa location.

“The overall set is a modern interpretation of several elements found in and around the Tampa Bay Area,” notes Rachel Bulgrin of FX Design Group, the set’s designer and fabricator.

“As a Floridian who grew up just north of Tampa I wanted to incorporate not just what Tampa Bay Area has become, but bring in elements that would be familiar and inviting to its viewers.”

Along with the view, the set includes a variety of local touches, Bulgrin explains, “The shutters are a nod to the past, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge its present, and the technology designed in is the wave of the future.”

At 5,000 square feet and featuring a real staircase to the adjacent newsroom, the studio mixes high resolution and low resolution LED panels to layer views of the area with topical graphics.

“You see all those monitors and you go – those are monitors? But they come together and create this beautiful vision of what Tampa Bay looks like on any given time,” said anchor Keith Cate. “I think it gives us a good backdrop that viewers can look and say yeah, this looks like our Tampa Bay.”

Neoti supplied and installed the set’s LED displays using 1.87mm panels from its UHD series for the foreground areas and 10mm Eco Lite series for the background, wrap-around elements.

In the stand-up area, which includes layering of LED, three monitors can be used as singles or combined to form one large 16×9 display, depending on the story.

The set also includes a large weather pod and weather work area flanked by a touchscreen and 4×4 Philips narrow bezel video wall.

Digital Video Group supplied this video wall along with recent studio technology upgrades including Hitachi SK-HD1300 cameras, Fujinon lenses and CueScript prompters.

Don Weaver provided lighting design for the set.

Along with the set debut, WFLA updated its motion graphics package using the look also on-air at KOIN and WISH.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misreported the corporate relationship between WFLA and WISH. It has been corrected in the version above.

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Indianapolis ABC affiliate WRTV has unveiled a new logo and branding as it also switches over to the Scripps Broadcasting graphics package.

The most significant change is that the station no longer brands as “RTV News” — but rather “WRTV News.”

The station also dropped its longtime “RTV 6” logo design and “The Indy Channel” tagline.

The new logo does not include the “6” — instead making the ABC logo more prominent — and adds the tagline “Working for you.”

WRTV’s new logo and tag are set in Proxima with a slight customization made to the “T” and “V” — both of which also appear in blue with “WR” in black.

Interestingly, the old use of the Bank Gothic font and “The (City) Channel” naming format was used on some Hearst Television stations for many years. 

The new look is also, like the graphics package, much flatter and eliminates the glass effects on the red circle behind the “6” and ABC logo.

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Talk about breaking news. A security camera caught images of a man who threw two rocks at the large windows the enclose the main news studio and set of WABC, the flagship ABC owned station in New York City — all while the station was on the air.

The incident happened in the middle of “Eyewitness News at Noon.”

By the next morning, NYPD released three images taken from surveillance cameras showing the alleged perpetrator. 

None inside or outside the studio was hurt in the incident. 

WABC debuted the windowed studio at the corner of 66th Street and Columbus Avenue in 2011 after moving out of a studio it shared with “Live!” k

WABC-TV debuts new streetside studio

The video wall heavy set was updated with seamless LED panels eight years later.

WABC shares a building — that has the address of 77 West 66th Street as homage to its Channel 7 assignment — with various other ABC operations, including studios for ABC News, “The View” and “Tamron Hall,” but none of these spaces have external windows.

ABC News overhauls main news studio in time for Super Tuesday

ABC will be moving most of its operations to Hudson Square in the next few years.

Most windowed TV studios are equipped with special glass that is reinforced to prevent objects such as bullets or, in this case, rocks.

In images shot by WABC, one panel has been almost completely cracked with what appear to be two large impact “craters” visible. Most likely the glass is laminated to prevent it from sending glass flying in the event it doe shatter — either by accident or as a result of vandalism.

Windowed TV studios have been a popular trend for TV stations, though they’re not always consistently used. 

How the ‘Today’ windowed studio influenced modern set design

One of the most prominent examples is probably NBC News‘ Studio 1A in Rockefeller Center (which is often credited for making windowed studios popular) — a high profile attraction that has had a handful of flashers and other off color incidents over the years. In 2013, the studio had to cover its windows during the broadcast after a stabbing took place out on the plaza.

Most windowed studios have a way to cover the windows in cases like this or when they prefer not to have people milling around in the background.

There can be set pieces that roll into place to block the view, roll down “shades” or even special glass that go from clear to translucent with the flick of a switch.

In addition to “Today,” ABC News also has a Times Square location that’s been used for “Good Morning America” as well as “Strahan, Sara and Keke” and ABC and ESPN sports productions over the years.

Most of the first floor windows are blocked by set pieces so the show tends to spotlight crowds gathered outside by taking a camera out on the street. The second floor studio providing sweeping views of Times Square, though there’s less risk of lewd or violet behavior taking place behind the anchors because of this.

“CBS This Morning” had originally planned to have a windowed workspace overlooking the street for “CBS This Morning,” but structural issues didn’t make the possible. However, the studio does have smaller window that mostly captures cars and people going by — as well as an additional window that is visible when the “barn door” to the right of the primary video wall is left open.

High profile local stations that have used windowed studios include WMAQ and WBBM in Chicago, both of which have since been shuttered (obituaries here and here).

KHOU in Houston has an ancillary studio as does WTVD in Raleigh. WFAA in Dallas broadcasts from a local sports and mixed area complex (a look that was updated in 2018).

WTVD’s studios were damaged during protests earlier this year and “Today” built a temporary wood wall to protects its windows as well.

In 2007, WLS in Chicago, which still uses its windowed studio today, was on the air with a weekend newscast when a minivan drove through a portion of the studio windows overlooking State Street.

All in all, because of the high profile nature of the streetside TV studios as well as the millions of dollars in equipment, set and video displays often inside, TV stations tend to be highly vigilant of keeping these spaces under the watchful eye of security cameras.

WLS, for example, even has small signs in prominent locations reminding passerby and would be pranksters that the areas is under constant video surveillance. 

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San Francisco Bay Area station KRON, owned by Nexstar Media Group, has debuted a new set from FX Design Group.

The new set design nearly doubles the height of the station’s old set, also from FX, making use of the studio’s height and providing a towering window for the main vista wall. This faux “window” is fed during different newscasts from skycams around the Bay Area, such as of the Embarcadero, Golden Gate Bridge or airport.

Red accents, present on the desks, knee wall and divider walls, bring KRON’s signature color into the studio while light grays and white round out the palette.

Low res LED from Neoti provides the backdrop to the multi-purpose area, which can be used for interviews and stand-ups, with three vertical displays for topical content.

The set’s spacious weather center includes a presentation pod and large work area with a tracking monitor backed by more views from faux windows. This area is separated from the main anchor area by a 4×4 Philips monitor array powered by a TVOne Corio Master.

Ahead of the set update, KRON also invested in new Hitachi studio cameras, Autoscript promoters and Vinten robotic camera pedestals and FH-145 heads.

Digital Video Group worked with the station on the video wall integration and studio cameras.

Along with the set change, KRON dropped its long-time “Instant Classics” custom music package in favor of Stephen Arnold Music’s “Aerial.”

KRON broadcasts from the Financial District in the same building as ABC owned-and-operated station KGO, however, the two do not share operations.

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KMBC, Hearst’s ABC affiliate serving Kansas City, Missouri, utilized TVU Networks IP-based live video solution this summer to help produce a local news special on race and policing.

Through TVU Networks technology, remote guests were easily integrated into the program despite restricted in-studio production due to coronavirus.

Together, TVU Producer, the company’s live cloud-based production platform, and TVU Partyline, its cloud-based video conferencing solution for live production, enabled the station to provide two return video and audio feeds to the remote guests so they could watch pre-produced segments and see each other during live interview segments, making it possible for them to react to the facial expressions of one another as if they were together in the studio.

“I don’t know that we could have delivered the return video needed to make it possible for guests to have a more natural interaction using traditional means because there were two return paths,” said Neeley Schmitz, director of news operations at KMBC. “You’re talking two satellite shots, and then there would have been a huge delay on the satellite return video. Without TVU, this would have been very difficult to do.”

TVU Networks’ cloud-based low-latency alternative also proved to be far more cost-effective and much less technically complicated than depending upon traditional satellite or microwave feeds to deliver the return video, he added.

The program, “Project CommUNITY: The People and the Police,” hosted by KMBC anchor Lara Moritz, examined the demands local advocates of police reform have made to the city to change policing policies and to address the bigger issue of local control over the police force.

Four guests, including Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas; Kansas City Police Chief Richard Smith; local filmmaker Khalid Abdulqaadir and Lora McDonald, executive director of MORE Squared, a faith-based organization focused on racial equality, joined the show remotely—three via TVU One cellular transmitters and one via TVU Anywhere, the company’s mobile broadcast smartphone app.

To enable the low-latency interaction, KMBC used TVU Partyline with TVU Producer to allow all four remote parties to communicate with each other using return video and/or audio via TVU Partyline’s Real-Time Interactive Layer (RTIL) that sits on top of TVU solutions like TVU Producer and allows for integration across the TVU ecosystem.

“Initially, the plan was for the return video to be delivered from the studio,” says Schmitz. “But as we discussed how to do that, we determined there was no way to provide the reaction of guests to each other with the way we switch our shows.”

“With TVU Partyline, however, we realized we had a reliable way to make return video a reality,” he says. “While this was one of our first uses of Partyline, it proved to be exceedingly easy to set up and delivered the low-latency interaction needed to make discussion of these important community issue natural.”

The solution involved several simple steps. Schmitz used TVU Producer to create a quad-view box in which the four remote guests appeared. Live video of three guests was shot with ENG cameras and transmitted to the station using the TVU One transmitters. The mayor used the TVU Anywhere mobile app to stream live video of himself from his smartphone to the station.

Each of the four video streams was assigned in TVU Producer to one of the panes in the quad-view box, which in turn was streamed back in HD with no detectable latency using TVU Partyline to the three TVU Ones. Each transmitter was connected to monitors, so the guests could see each other. The mayor, working from his smartphone, listened to the responses via TVU Partyline.

“KMBC’s application of our technology illustrates how our solutions working in concert can solve production problems that arise—especially as the new requirement to respect social distancing mandates takes hold and remote workflows increasingly become the norm,” says Paul Shen, CEO of TVU Networks. “TVU Partyline in particular stands out in this application because it leverages both RTIL and IS+ technology to deliver reliable high-quality video and audio return with no detectable latency in a virtual interactive conference setting.”

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WNEM, the CBS affiliate licensed to Bay City, Saginaw and Flint, Michigan, aired a helpful reminder about daylight saving time Oct. 31, 2020 — but sharped eyed viewers got more than they bargained for.

The graphic was assumedly supposed to read “Turn your clocks back one hour tonight” but whoever created the image missed an “L” resulting in “Turn your cocks back one hour tonight.”

Ouch. That sounds painful.

In a Facebook post, the station wrote: “We regret the unfortunate typo in a spot for changing clocks this weekend. We’ve taken steps to address it” accompanied by a different graphic with, thankfully, the correct spelling of “clocks.”

The incident sparked a variety of responses on social media, including some speculating that someone might have been fired. Like many businesses, TV stations typically don’t comment on personnel matters. 

“Are you hiring? I’m a desint proofe reeder (sic),” wrote one commented. 

The image quickly went viral and also began popping up on as responses and comments on the station’s social media accounts. 

Reddit also quickly sparked some clever perhaps NSFW comments.

Others pointed out that the graphic itself, in an effort to use the “C” in “back” as a counterclockwise arrow used a bit of artistic license.

The circular arrow started just before the “2” on the clock face — which is the time of 2 a.m. used to “fall back” (or “spring forward”) as it where.

However, the arrow ended just before the “3” leaving some wondering why the station appeared to be suggesting that at 2 a.m. it would become 3 a.m. (or, depending on how you read the graphic, even 4 a.m.).

The “C” arrow could have by an attempt to represent either what would happen with the minute hand if a clock were to “run backward” or just the overall idea of time “going back.”

The station’s probably now regretting all the time (pun instead) it put into attempting to turn that “C” into a clock and arrow (complete with its logo in the middle) and maybe proofread the graphic once or twice.

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Hearst’s WGAL in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is using a home studio for daily weather broadcasts from chief meteorologist Joe Calhoun, powered by TVU Networks for the remote connection.

The station turned to TVU Grid, an IP-based point-to-multipoint live video distribution solution that uses commodity internet, to provide a professional, remote weather broadcast with studio functionality and capability.

“The pandemic forced us to start thinking outside the box when it came to remote work,” said Kevin Kalia, Director of Engineering at WGAL. “The secret was sending a broadcast-quality feed of Joe’s weather graphics to him, keying his shot with a switcher at his location and then sending a program feed back to the station – all with TVU. The whole process was seamless.”

By using TVU Grid’s bi-directional feature, WGAL was able to provide studio capabilities to Calhoun to deliver the weather forecast as if he were live in the studio. The station set up a green screen with graphics and pushed it from master control to Calhoun’s home for presentation while providing video content from his home back to the studio. All of this was accomplished with HD video and low-latency using TVU Grid.

TVU Grid delivers scalable point-to-multipoint switching, routing and distribution of live video over IP. TVU Grid is used by news agencies and media organizations around the world to share and exchange reliable live broadcast-quality video feeds with virtually no latency. It uses commodity internet to deliver high-quality, low-latency video from one location to many others, providing a cost-effective alternative to traditional fiber and satellite. TVU GridLink provides a video preview from hundreds of news agencies and has embedded rich metadata to help with live content search.

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An experienced broadcast lighting designer has died from COVID-19 complications.

Danny McElroy, the longtime lighting director at CBS owned KCBS and KCAL in Los Angeles died Dec. 16, 2020, according to the station.

In addition to keeping the duopoly’s studios in tip top shape, McElroy also lit sets at other CBS owned stations in New York, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco and Sacramento. He also worked on telecasts of the Academy Awards.

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When the COVID-19 pandemic began in spring 2020, Lonnie Quinn of WCBS turned his home into a temporary studio like many weathercasters across the country. With one exception, Quinn’s property includes a circa 1820 barn that became his base of operations.

Living in Westport, Conn., since 2019, Quinn would typically head to the local train station and ride the rails into Manhattan, like many other commuters on the East Coast. However, when the pandemic hit, the barn on the property became the perfect place, secluded from family and noise (for the most part).

Quinn’s barn has a bit of history in the community, even winning a preservation award prior to his purchase, serving the previous owner for gatherings, concerts and events.

‘Listen to Lonnie’ gets work from home edition

While Quinn has been largely back at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City for weather this fall and winter, including broadcasting in studio, the barn was once again called into action for the end of December holiday travel forecasts on the “CBS Evening News.”

Appearing on the Dec. 30 and 31, 2020, editions with guest hosts Margaret Brennan and
Major Garrett broadcasting from the Washington, D.C. studio, Quinn used a home studio complete with chromakey and multiple Astra 1×1 panels from Litepanels.

Throw in an over-the-top plot about being snowed in and, dare we say, this home set up would have been straight out of a Hallmark holiday movie this winter. 

Post-holiday, Quinn returned to the CBS Broadcast Center for the January 4, 2021 broadcast.

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KTLA, Nexstar Media Group’s CW affiliate in Los Angeles, has introduced KTLA+, a streaming service for smart TV platforms including Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV.

The free service will offer live streams of the station’s newscasts as well as its existing digital only show “5 Live,” as well as archives of specific segments after they air, supported by advertising.

Given that KTLA produces about 84 hours of newscasts a week plus “5 Live” and some additional sports and lifestyle programs, it appears that a good chunk of its content will be “cleared” to appear on KTLA+. For times without newscasts, KTLA relies mostly on syndicated shows, which typically do not allow their local stations to stream them.

KTLA is also planning original content for the service, though it did not offer additional details in its announcement.

As a Nexstar owned station (acquired from Tribune), KTLA is also part of the group’s effort to launch a national cable newscast culling content from its hundreds of newsrooms across the country.

That started life as a primetime newscast called “NewsNation” on WGN America, also acquired as part of the Tribune deal, and the company will rebrand the channel as a whole under the “NewsNation” name March 1, 2021.

San Francisco sister station KRON, meanwhile, operates a streaming service called “KRONon” with a key difference — it costs money to subscribe to the ad free feed. 

Like KTLA, KRON’s service features live newscasts from its news heavy schedule as well as replays and original content throughout the day. Users have to pay $30 a year to watch the service.

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KSTP, the Hubbard-owned ABC affiliate serving St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, rolled out a new logo and graphics this week.

That station thankfully opted to keep its iconic “5” logotype at the core of its new look— instead of dropping it for a rather straightforward but unimaginative TV station logo, as has been the case with many recent station redesigns.

Changes did include dropping the “swooshes” from either side and moving it into a bold red square with rounded corners with the ABC globe tucked in a similar location as before and peeking out a bit from the red box.

Those elements aren’t a particular loss since they seem like a bit of an afterthought and didn’t quite match the “attitude” of the curves in the “5” and also created some awkward trapped white space. 

This is the old look. The blue shape is mostly gone from the new look.

Here’s the new title card with new logo.

The station’s new graphics, meanwhile, rely on a blend of diagonal line elements and red, white and black elements, many with rounded corners.

There are also think outline elements that help frame and connect on-screen elements. 

Insert banners span the entire width of the screen, with a time and temp bug on the far left separated with a version of the logo between it and the story and identifier banners. The far-right includes a small area that can be used for topical or franchise imagery or text designs.

It can also revert to a generic, ghosted “Eyewitness News” graphic. 

The station still uses the branded “5 Eyewitness News” with the tagline “Minnesota’s News Leader” and there’s also an updated lockup with the “EW” moniker — as well as a version that includes both that name and the station’s website address.

KSTP also operates satellite stations KSAX, licensed to Alexandria, Minnesota, and KRWF, Redwood Falls, but these stations also carry the station’s newscasts and call letters are included in most opens for the purpose of serving as IDs.

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After a six-year hiatus, local news programming is back on WLII, an independent station serving San Juan, Purto Rico.

The station fired its news department and canceled most original programming in October 2014, under then-owner Univision Communications, relying on Univision network programming to fill the schedule.

However, Univision was forced to divest the station in 2020 after investment firms ForgeLight and Searchlight Capital agreed to acquire a controlling state in the Spanish language broadcaster due to their ownership of WAPA, also in San Juan.

Now part of Liberman Media Group, from broadcast veteran Lenard Liberman, the station has seen the investment to restart its news department.

WLII has opted to return to its former identity dating back to 1986 under then owners Lorimar-Telepictures (now part of WarnerMedia) branding as TeleOnce and “Las Noticias TeleOnce.”

Scenically, the station has revamped its existing newsroom space with the help of designer Edgardo Viruet.

While also used as the backdrop during the Univision era, the newsroom now includes a glossy red riser and internally lit desk, while two dimensional “Las Noticias” signs have been added overhead.

The newsroom can accommodate 12 reporters along with the assignment desk, editing rooms, weather center and offices for the news department.

“It’s a modern set and we wanted it to be unlike other channels at all. We wanted to maximize the space within the newsroom… and give dynamism to the newscast,” said Viruet in an interview with newspaper El Nuevo Día.

Colorful lighting emblazoned on the walls continues the bright look with a variety of display technology added to the space for weather and sports.

Musically, the station is using “A New Wish” from Warner Chappell Production Music for its news music package. 

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Television affiliate group meetings will return to the NAB Show this fall, scheduled for October 9-13 in Las Vegas.

The 2021 NAB Show marks the 12th year the ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC affiliate boards have met in conjunction with the event.

“The challenging, changing times and events we have all experienced in recent memory have reinforced the critical importance of broadcasting, particularly accurate, trusted, relevant local journalism – and the vital need to not only preserve it, but to see that it thrives now and in the future,” said Mike Meara, president of NPG Broadcast and chair of the ABC Television Affiliates Association.

“NAB Show – with industry leaders and representatives all back live and in-person, and the latest, emerging technology on display – provides the ideal platform to explore how to ensure that happens. The ABC Affiliates look forward to seeing and meeting with one another, with our network partners, and with other broadcasters in Las Vegas in October.”

“Broadcasters are excited about the future and are poised to capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead for our industry. That is why NAB Show is the right venue for the CBS Affiliate Board meeting — it is where industry leaders, innovators and influencers come together to not only reflect on the current state of our businesses but to discuss and lead the charge into the future,” said CBS Affiliate Board Chair Patrick McCreery, president of Meredith Local Media Group.

“The last two years have shown us that local broadcasters and the trusted journalism we provide are essential to our communities, and no other event provides us with the tools, insights and networking to help us reinforce our commitment to serving our audiences.”

“NAB Show is the only event where the world can come together and share the future of broadcasting. In this critical environment of change, we need this playground to learn about the smallest of technology to the futuristic,” said Patricia McRae, president of KHQ Inc. and Cowles Montana Media and chair of the FOX Television Affiliate Board of Governors.

“It is a crucial opportunity for broadcast affiliates to share with the networks their thoughts and explore new creative content ventures and ideas to keep this business robust. We look forward to meeting once again in Las Vegas.

Emily Barr, president & CEO of Graham Media Group and NBC Affiliate Board of Directors chair said, “As we all gather for the upcoming NAB Show in Las Vegas, we are thrilled to also hold our first, in-person, NBC Affiliate Board meeting in well over two years. The network-affiliate relationship continues to undergo considerable change in the wake of technological advances, business adjustments and resulting viewing pattern disruptions and it is critical that the NBC Board gather together and fully explore the myriad future opportunities and challenges facing us. I can think of no better venue than to do this while attending the NAB Show.”

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Scripps has sold the building of KMGH, branded on-air as Denver7, for $35 million with the site primed for redevelopment. 

Joint venture Property Markets Group and Greybrook Realty Partners plan to demolish the station’s current five-story building and replace it with a 12-story, 600-unit apartment and 14,000 square feet of commercial space.

The building at the corner of Speer Boulevard and Lincoln Street was completed in 1969 and features a unique Brutalist design with an octagonal floor plan.

Set Design

KMGH

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Locals have been trying to preserve the structure through a landmark designation with Landmark Preservation Commission voting 6-1 in favor. They noted, “the building embodies the history of KLZ and serves as a physical representation of television industry’s explosive growth during the 1960s, and its continued dominance in the following decades, as the preeminent source of news and entertainment for Denver-area residents.”

However, the Denver City Council denied those efforts in May 2021, clearing the way for the sale. 

The neighborhood, along Cherry Creek, has seen multiple redevelopments demoing other buildings in favor of apartments. 

The building, branded on-air as “The Communications Center” was built for KMGH — then known as KLZ – which moved to the site from a former used-car dealership.

Today, Denver7 shares the space with independent channel KCDO, Local 3 Denver.

The E.W. Scripps Company first began exploring a sale in 2019 as the building was no longer a good fit for the station’s employees and as an opportunity to reduce operating costs, the station notes.

A new location has not been announced for KMGH but a leaseback is expected until a new spot is found and updated for the requirements of a broadcast facility. 

Image courtesy of Andrew Williams.

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NBC Connecticut, WVIT, has updated its West Hartford studio.

The updates come ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which are broadcast on NBC, and with the launch of a new group-wide graphics package, “Look S.”

NBC owned stations’ new graphics let peacock’s true colors shine a bit

Working with John Casey Production Design, the new set occupies a similar footprint to the old, adding additional flexibility through display technology. The overall update follows the current NBC Owned Television Stations design mandate that mixes large amounts of LED with glass and warm woods.

An updated anchor desk fronts a large LED display while bright blue backlit panels flank the anchor area with hints of the peacock logo.

Next to this area is a 12 monitor array that creates a curved standup position for topical stories.

Weather now comes from a new weather work area on the set that includes a new band of display technology and backlit panels.

Two large LED video walls form a corner of the set and allow for walk and talks and are wrapped wood and backlit columns.

Sacks Exhibits fabricated the updated set with lighting design by Spectrum 401 and AV integration by Greg Gerner Inc. 

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WSNS, the NBCUniversal owned Telemundo station in Chicago debuted the shared “Look S” graphics package Monday, July 19, 2021.

The move comes almost a month after its sister NBC station, WMAQ, debuted the look in June 2021. Both stations operate out of the NBC Tower in downtown Chicago.

The package, which has two distinct versions — one for NBC stations and one for Telemundo ones — will eventually be rolled out to all 36 stations between the NBC Owned Television States and Telemundo Owned Stations groups, which are both owned by NBCU.

The Telemundo version of Look S first debuted on KDEN in Denver, Colorado in June 2021 and WSNS’s look is nearly identical.

For the opens, there is generally a general, sweeping view of the Chicago skyline (including an impressive view of the NBC Tower) followed by imagery from the “Little Village” neighborhood, a largely Mexican-American part of the community.

As noted previously, the Telemundo version of Look S trades the “T” logo for the most places the NBC peacock is featured in the NBC iteration. 

It also uses a darker blue accent on lower third banners, which can also be switched to red for breaking news. The rainbow gradient that appears when the graphics insert is dropped in favor of blue (or red for breaking news).

The Telemundo version also notably features a slightly different layout for tease headlines — which are large white boxes with black text.

Prior to Look S, NBC and Telemundo owned stations used two distinct but similar graphics package but Telemundo’s was considered its own “look.”

The Telemundo one had the distinction of using curved accents instead of the NBC version that was mostly right angles — whereas the two Look S versions have more in common. 

Like its NBC counterpart, Telemundo’s Look S was created by NBC Arthouse.

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NBC and Telemundo owned stations are debuting new mobile apps for iPhone and Android users.

The new apps use a redesigned layout that’s tied into the responsive websites the same stations rolled out in 2019.

In addition to the new look, the apps also add a “dark mode” feature, precipitation alerts and “trending” and “discover” news feeds.

Other updates include customizable alert options to let users break down the types of notifications they want to receive — including breaking news, commuter, weather, sports, live streaming events and more.

The interface also spotlights new content added since the last time the app was opened and allows users to easily swipe through stories side to side, an experience that Facebook’s Instant Articles, Google AMP and Google News, and Apple News, among others, have integrated into their respective apps. 

Weather forecasts are now presented in a graph-style format, a feature made popular by other weather apps such as Dark Sky, which Apple has acquired, while also letting users zoom in on radar imagery to street level. 

The app’s backend has been re-architected and improves the speed of the apps by up to 2 times, according to NBCUniversal Local, which operates 30-plus NBC and Telemundo stations. The apps are also integrated with the same content management system that backs the NBC and Telemundo websites the network transitioned to in 2019.

A new video hub also lets users browse and sort videos by topic and watch videos back to back.

The new free, ad-supported apps are available for downloading in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store starting July 22, 2021. 

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Fox’s Washington D.C. owned-and-operated station, WTTG, has moved into its new broadcast facility in Bethesda, Maryland.

Located about two miles away from its former Friendship Heights location on Wisconsin Ave., the new facility for Fox 5 DC is part of The Wilson mixed-use development from Carr Properties.

“Today’s debut of Fox 5’s new sleek and vibrant home has been a labor of love and a example of our commitment to keep innovating on the local news experience. We are excited to showcase our new technologically advanced facility which we designed to enhance coverage and further connect the intersection of news and the communities we serve,” said Patrick Paolini, Fox 5’s SVP and GM.

The IP facility is using the SMPTE 2110 standard and features the latest in broadcast technology, occupying 58,000 square feet across multiple floors.

The station’s new studio totals over 5,000 square feet with a secondary, smaller studio for podcasting. The newsroom, meanwhile, includes multiple broadcast areas and a desk that can rotate next to the assignment desk.

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Scripps’ WPTV, the NBC affiliate in West Palm Beach, has debuted a new set from Devlin Design Group.

The upgrade coincides with the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, a time when many NBC stations take advantage of increased viewership to run additional promotional spots and debut changes. Scripps’ NBC in Tulsa and Kansas City also updated ahead of the Games with new logo designs. 

Studio A at WPTV has been completely overhauled, scrapping its set of nine years which saw updates to set technology in 2018.

The new design re-orients the studio space with the set placed opposite of the newsroom, while the previous used the newsroom as a background element for many years.

The set’s focal point is a 6×3 video wall and standing anchor desk with internal lighting. Back-lit RGBA graphics wrap the space adding flexibility and a bit of the ocean through a wavy pattern. Meanwhile, the set adds a pop of color through a narrow color-changing header.

The design also includes a six-panel vertical video wall and a large weather area backed by two additional monitors.

These spaces also incorporate cool grey stonework with integrated cove lighting and a deep-blue ripple pattern that continues the ocean theme.

Inside the studio, Ross Video CamBot robotic pedestals are in use along with CueScript prompters and JVC Pro cameras. 

Lighting design for the studio was handled by Dan McKenrick of TVLD, Inc.

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Austin’s KXAN debuted a new image campaign promo during its network’s coverage of the 2020 Olympics.

The promo, created in house by the station’s creative director Joany D’Agostino and team, starts off with the line “We’re hopeful for what’s to come,” with a sunrise view of the city behind it.

The view then pulls back to reveal the image was “on” the bottom of a 3D rendition of the station’s logo — as if the logo was a dimensional figure laid on a flat surface and viewed from the side.

As the promo continues, various “sides” of the letters “k-x-a-n” are used to showcase additional imagery — a blend of talent shots, field footage and stylized news gathering shots.

The “X” is used to highlight that station’s investigative reporting as part of its “In-Depth. Investigative.” tagline while the inner face of the circular lowercase “a” showcases weather.

The promo ends with the viewport zooming out from the final part of the letter “n,” which has the NBC peacock tucked into it, and rising above to view the logo, inside the 3D space, from above before it becomes elegantly set against a black background with the tagline below. 

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