Weeters

Probably for the same reason restaurants and casinos don't have clocks: so you can't see how late it is.

7 minutes ago, TheRolyPoly said:

Can someone remind me what the old studio looked like? I know he didn't say the current KCBS/KCAL set, which is also in use at KCNC and WBBM, correct?

The old version of the O&O set, like KOVR and WCBS have.

Broadcast graphic design has trended alongside popular web app/mobile phone UI for a while now, and that's also stagnated quite a bit from where it was 15 or so years ago. Remember how news graphics always had to be "shiny" when that was the Apple iOS look? That slowly died off as Apple and Google shifted away from that design language. The Apple design language itself has become a broadcast graphics package.

The corporate design world has a lot of weird stuff going on right now, the kind of abstract 3D ribbon-y stuff and flowing photorealistic materials is popular, along with funky fonts (more the design in the article than what it's talking about), but I'm not sure how any of that actually translates into the apps that these companies using them make, let alone local news.

There is a lot of reasons why news graphics have trended this way, and I think we're more or less stuck here for the time being. Money and talent are two major factors at the local level. You can't have the talent without money, and you don't make money if your expensive talented designers are constantly making news graphics, so templates it is! Go find an agency to develops a template-driven "design system," then keep it for a long time because it was expensive, and nobody's doing anything wildly different anyways.

TL;DR: The era of "unique" broadcast design died when motion graphics stopped being almost exclusively broadcast-related. It shouldn't be surprising this happened as video ads on the internet became commonplace.

21 hours ago, carolinanews4 said:

 

There's definitely intriguing logic here. However, my guess is that TODAY will stay put at 10 Rockefeller Plaza. With ABC moving GMA downtown and CBS returning to that old milk factory in Hell's Kitchen (not that they have ever leveraged their Times Square location), it could be a bit of an advantage for NBC to keep 1A operating, especially with the ability to continue outdoor concerts. 

The streetside studio was an interesting concept when NBC brought it back in 1994. But, it's no longer 1994.

It says a lot that everyone else has abandoned/is abandoning their streetside studio concept. It doesn't magically make the show better, or increase ratings. It has become a magnet for weirdos and people with an axe to grind, and that can be seen by how the area outside 1A's home base has been filled with a bunch of giant planter boxes over the last decade. The only way you can end up on TV now (and that seems to be a lot fewer people clamoring for that than before) is by being in the area that their security and/or the NYPD can shoo you away from the window.

Look at the stark difference between this pic from a 1999 wild feed and nearly the same anchor position from this morning, and another similar one from this past week. You can't even see across the street anymore. Are they in New York City? Can't tell, it's entirely obscured by plants (and not even an actual plant in half of the second image, it's a screen showing a plant). The shots have all been adjusted too, go back and look at late 90's/early 2000's clips and match them up with the modern look... New York City is hidden from view. So, I ask, what is the point? 

Honestly, it would not surprise me in the least if this hypothetical new 3A set ended up being for Nightly, NBC News Now, and Today.

Not only is a bunch of studio space and newsroom space about to open up, but technical spaces as well. It would not shock me at all if NBC chose to consolidate everything inside 30 Rock. The streetside studio thing has to be becoming more trouble than it's worth, and they're about to have at least two full control rooms open up.

4 hours ago, Yayan4155 said:

If they want a new studio, Studio 3K may be perfect permanent place for Tom to anchoring Nightly News, It is currently vacant since WNBC moved to newly-renovated and half-sized 3B (together with WNJU) in 2023.

 

Studio 3K is a very large studio, and much larger than Studio 1A that Nightly currently use. Assuming that NBCU think that the new studio (even new graphics) for Tom is necessary, they could renovate that recently-vacant studio to make it more "European-feel".

That WNBC set was the one in 6B before Fallon took it over. 3K is something like 3/4 to 2/3 the size of 6B.

There's going to be a glut of extra space on the 3rd floor once MSNBC moves out. I'd suspect they'll refresh/replace the set in 3A once that happens and hand it over to Nightly.

Hello, everyone. I have an update regarding LocalNewsTalk and our partner Discord server The NewsCenter.

On Monday, The NewsCenter announced that it will be merging with the Broadcast Plaza Discord server. Emma's announcement to The NewsCenter follows.

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3 hours ago, GodfreyGR said:

Every step and element of a set- from the first design meeting through the final light being plugged in is about money. Larger owners, like Nexstar for example, can get away with the same "set in a box" being mass produced which allows for some of the little design touches to become attainable in the budget. A much smaller company like Cowles, the owner of KHQ, has to pick and choose with the budget they likely have. They chose tech and an overall set that they likely hope will last as long as the old set did for them.

This. It's also not wildly technically complex. It's a bunch of big TVs, and that's perhaps one area where everything is not truly "more expensive"... Both consumer and commercial displays have come way down in price. A 75' Samsung 4K UHD HDR smart TV is slightly cheaper than it's commercial counterpart. The fabrication of the set probably cost much more than those displays did total.

They also have like, a whopping total of 20 lighting fixtures, which is why it's lit so flat, and why it look underwhelming. Again, this is a trend, because good lights are still expensive (The new WABC set is lit with a lot of Skypanel S30s and S60s (linking the new version because the old version is on clearance sale), with the money WABC spent on just lighting their set, they could have probably bought the KHQ set 10 times over.) and KHQ doesn't have the money to do that. They seem to have dumped their conventional lighting fixtures (non-LED and non-Fluorescent) visible in that last broadcast from the old set, because those are also expensive to operate.

Yeah, it doesn't look as good as it could if they had a massive big-market budget. But this isn't a big market, it's Spokane, and it's still a nice modern look.

This is a fine set for Spokane and market 73.

Folks, I think we need to collectively come to the terms with the fact that the money is gone, everything is more expensive, and design trends are different than they were 20 years ago.

If you're wondering the "why" for this project... Mainly why it took this long... The exact thing I expected they were waiting for happened. Early last year, plans were released for a major redevelopment of the area surrounding the current building. Of course, they were released before the move was announced, and the current building is notched out of the development, but that means their property suddenly became a lot more valuable.

WFAA will likely be next, the city of Dallas just bought the old Dallas Morning News building (after the proposed redevelopment fell apart) to secure more land for a $3.7 billion redevelopment of the convention center, which is heavily focused on redeveloping the exact area that WFAA occupies.

10 hours ago, atlnewsfan03 said:

I also wonder if ABC has made any kind of offer to buy the South Florida station.

So, I actually think there might be something here. Maybe. It's a hunch. Maybe I'm wrong! But, allow me to speculate for a moment.

WSVN is in a very unique situation right now. They have plans to build a brand new facility, and their current owners are developing the real estate for both the current facility and the future one. They own the land at both sites, in fact, the future facility is on empty land they've held for years, and the current facility is on land they want to develop into expensive condos. The condo development wouldn't be planned if they didn't think it would make money, and it will probably make enough to pay for the new WSVN facility several times over. This whole new facility project has always had the underlying motive of Sunbeam wanting the station off the current land because they see the value in it, and they have a lot of empty land in Miramar that they can plop it on, to get it out of the way.

The common saying is "Disney doesn't buy stations", but there should be an asterisk there. Disney doesn't buy stations because Bob Iger is convinced most are overpriced.

Sunbeam has a very interesting position here. Their primary business is, at this point, property development. Building a building just to lease it out is what they do. It seems to me, like they could be in a position to sell WSVN at a "discount", with the remainder being more or less made up via a long-term lease on the new facility. This would be a huge win for Sunbeam. They can develop land that has sat idle for years, and have it immediately start making money, from a tenant that you really wouldn't have to worry about going bankrupt. They'd still make money off the station for years to come, and best of all, it'd be a predictable amount.

It is notable that, despite the project being announced some time ago, the parcel the new facility will sit on was untouched as late as October of last year, over a year after it was announced and approved by the city. What's the delay? 

The fact we're hearing about this now means there's probably been talks about this for months. I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that Sunbeam put the brakes on the project in order to provide the ability to any possible future owner (I think FOX is also in play here) to make changes before the construction begins.

I'm not sure we're done hearing about this "deal"... I don't think Disney would settle for a .2, if there weren't other things in the works. I've been saying since the new facility was announced that this seems ripe for them to sell the station and make money off the lease, and this seems to be the perfect opportunity to do so.

The whole point of streaming/digital outlets is to reach people who are not watching traditional, OTA TV.

19 minutes ago, Jase said:

I mentioned this downsizing last April. That said, there were plans ‘unofficially’ announced early last year that NBC was planning to create a massive combined newsroom (and possibly studios) upstairs for both WMAQ (NBC 5) and WSNS (T44). 
 

However, this was before they announced they were downsizing. But based on this new information (and if I'm understanding the listing correctly), it looks like they will be moving upstairs (likely the same floor as the NBC News Midwest bureau and master control). And if I remember correctly, that’s on the second floor. It’s been a while since I’ve visited the NBC Tower…

I skimmed the thread too fast!  There wasn't any discussion so I suppose it was still overlooked... That said I've updated the post.

It sure does seem like that. I believe the big studios where Springer and them taped were also on the second floor? The third floor listing shows that part of the building as "Open to Below".

An update to the previous report that NBC was downsizing their space in NBC Tower...

Not sure when it went up, but the landlord for NBC Tower has begun to advertise what seem to be the spaces WMAQ will be leaving. Curiously, is the Loopnet listing description for Suite 100.

Quote

Available Jan 2026. Former studio/newsroom space with double height space. Ground floor access, with ability to connect directly to floors 3, or 5 through dedicate entrance and elevator.

Additionally, space on the third floor and fifth floor is being advertised. A number of building permits were issued last summer/fall for the 2nd-4th floors as well.

Universal has ceased advertising the production studios within the tower. I'm pretty certain it is, but Is someone more familiar with WMAQ's space able to explain if the space being advertised is the current newsroom? 

On 3/4/2025 at 11:38 AM, nathannah said:

Now wondering if "What's Brewing WI" even gets to the air; you know WTMJ wants it for the ad revenue, but is it even enough to sustain basic production and staff costs?

It probably will. It's mostly just all the Morning Blend people, and they'd still be in the building at that time anyways. Same goes for staffing. They had a 3PM news before because the PM production crew is already in the building by that point (and god forbid they have any time during their workday where they're not producing live television). It's a sunk cost on the production side, in the studio at least. The added costs to produce What's Brewing Wisconsin will probably be another producer and the additional host, and maybe paying for part of a photographer's day.

The real question is whether or not "Morning Blend but in the afternoon" is a viable product. Morning Blend prints money, but I'm not sure if you can have lightning strike twice four hours later. 

Similar to the WABC set, it might be best to hold judgement until we see it with the lights on!!!

15 minutes ago, freelanceproducer said:

This is one of their studios in DC - N4. They have three main studios in their Capitol Hill - one for MTP, one primarily used by MSNBC, and this one. It’s by far the smallest of the three.

N4 was also partially recycled from a set that existed before the fire.

2 hours ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

Looks like they migrated from a rear projection display to a seamless video wall. 

Most of the current set is video wall, including the main background. 

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45 minutes ago, NowBergen said:

  One question is the sports banner on the left and weather on the right- are they part of the set design all the time, seems it limits some shots during news segments.

Those are part of the LED wall.

36 minutes ago, alaskanews said:

 

NYC studios are often constrained by space (especially height.) It's only been in the last decade with slimmer LED lights and video arrays that you could make smaller spaces feel grand and not cramped. KTLA vs WPIX - same set style but one is on a Hollywood sound stage and one is in an office tower in Manhattan.

Something I realized reading this is that this is really kind of the first complete building in NYC built for television (at this scale at least.) ABC's current facility is a mishmash of buildings, including one over 100 years old and formerly used as a horse riding facility (similar to WBBM's old facility.) NBC is in old radio studios, CBS is in an old dairy, WNYW is in an old opera house. WPIX is in an office tower. ABC had no real constraints designing the studio spaces here. This is about as good as it can get in NYC.

The website and live stream has been shut down, with the website displaying the following message:

Quote

NEWSnet and SportsNews Highlights are off the air and operations have been suspended. Check back here for updates.

The WGTA one is still on the station's schedule, unless someone else is producing it now.

2 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

At one time, NewsNet was providing weather for both the Marks stations in Alpena and Marquette, and also sports for Marquette as well. 

Did they still have any arrangements with other broadcasters like Coastal Television to provide "local" news or have all of those arrangements expired?

The Coastal Alaska agreement seems to have ended some time in 2023. They were also producing "Georgia News at Nine" on WGTA and I'd be curious to know what happened there last night.

A TwitterX post from a former freelancer has some ideas about why this happened.

Quote

My freelance job shut down and laid everyone off without warning. Maybe hiring dudes from newspaper companies and zero idea of how to do TV to run broadcast stations wasn’t the best idea???

The "OG" WMNN stream is currently stuck on a loop of a few seconds of a sports report (something something HLS) with a 9:22AM CT/10:22 ET/etc. timestamp. 

Also, Remington Hernandez has also confirmed the closure on his Instagram.

I've said quite a bit about NewsNet/MI News 26 over the years... It's unfortunate it ended this way. I thought the original MI News 26 idea was decent, I just don't think Cadillac had enough going on to really necessitate it. I had a bad feeling about the change to NewsNet and thought it was unfortunate so many resources got dumped into it vs. the localized version. I don't remember seeing much localized content on the other "O&O" stations, which was a little sad to see. I think they lost their way with the national concept, and it unfortunately caused the whole thing to crash down. Like the launch of the SportsNews Highlights channel just made zero sense to me. They seemed to be going after a market that no longer exists. All of their content was available from 1000 different sources, why would I bother with finding their channel on some odd low-power station that I probably can't even receive anyways?

Hopefully, there's a chance for Eric Wotila to reclaim the Cadillac stations and pick up at least some of the pieces, and get some of those who lost their jobs today back to work.

Sean O'Flaherty, WTMJ (and Scripps') longest-tenured employee, passed away on Friday, at the age of 74. He had been with the station for 53 years, holding the position of Newsroom Operations Manager for the last several decades. 

https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/longtime-tmj4-news-employee-sean-oflaherty-dies-at-74

Sean had started out as a reporter at the station, some of his packages are available online on UW Milwaukee's digital archives of WTMJ's film collection. One package that's not on there is coverage of a failed hot air balloon race in 1975, the crew of which coincidentally included the balloon pilot from WITI's "Look up to TV6" promo from a few years prior.

A sad loss not only for WTMJ, but the entire Milwaukee market. Sean also moonlit (literally) as the station's weekend overnight photographer, and was well known at the other stations in town, even by those who never worked at WTMJ.