New/Updated WMAQ Set Coming Soon

[R.R. 96]

Told Y’all a while back a new was gonna be needed lol. Currently on a temp!

[ScottSchell 370]

NBC 5 Chicago is now getting a new set or at least an update to the current set.

[WeatherandTraffic 54]

15 minutes ago, R.R. said:

Told Y’all a while back a new was gonna be needed lol. Currently on a temp!

I'm excited for a new set, it has been way overdue. The set they were just on was changed and updated so much that it looked lazy. 

 

Btw Alicia Roman is about to have her baby this month, so i'm guessing Iisha takes weekday mornings while Alicia is on maternity leave, while Pete doubles up on weekends.

[NBC 5 Chicago 196]

Very interesting. I wonder where they're at? In 2012 they still had Studio 5 so that is where they temporarily broadcasted from in 2012. 

 

I thought I saw in Kate's Facebook page that the area behind the new stand up had a new blue background behind it which it didn't have before. I'm curious if this is going to be a gut and replace or just upgrades again. If its a complete gut it seems like a waste of time to keep constantly upgrading small portions of the set each time to just completely get rid of everything. Now the most important question is.... will there be a new desk??? lol It's literally the only remaining piece from the 2012 set. 

[24994J 5621]

A new desk seems like a sure bet, though I'd love for them to add some header and footers to the video walls that aren't just a black void. The whole set could stand to have a more cohesive flow.

[newscopter7 233]

I hope they open it up again—go back to open newsroom. 

[Gavin M. 94]

They keep updating till it didn’t look good anymore.

[NBC 5 Chicago 196]

Here's a few more pics I grabbed from 4pm-5pm. I was curious how they were going to handle the toss from the 4pm to 5pm. Good old green screen. Brant I've noticed since COVID has never been in studio to do weather. He's in a different location in the building. You can see near his feet here is a grey/cream colored flooring which is not the flooring in the studio. But it also looks like it's part of the graphics since he stands on it. He's the only one that has this all the other meteorologists I've seen present in the studio. Either at the green screens or the "new" corner monitor. 

[24994J 5621]

2 hours ago, NBC 5 Chicago said:

Brant I've noticed since COVID has never been in studio to do weather. He's in a different location in the building. You can see near his feet here is a grey/cream colored flooring which is not the flooring in the studio. But it also looks like it's part of the graphics since he stands on it. He's the only one that has this all the other meteorologists I've seen present in the studio. Either at the green screens or the "new" corner monitor. 

 

Pete was in this space at 11am today.

[Jase 1065]

On 8/8/2022 at 12:17 PM, NBC 5 Chicago said:

Very interesting. I wonder where they're at? In 2012 they still had Studio 5 so that is where they temporarily broadcasted from in 2012. 

 

I thought I saw in Kate's Facebook page that the area behind the new stand up had a new blue background behind it which it didn't have before. I'm curious if this is going to be a gut and replace or just upgrades again. 

I would imagine (or hope) it’s a complete gut. It’s long overdue and as @newscopter7 suggested, opening it up to the newsroom again wouldn’t be a bad idea. As far as where the temp set is, there is unused studio space upstairs so likely there. I believe a temporary weather center is next to the temporary set with sports coming from the control center.

 

On 8/8/2022 at 12:28 PM, 24994J said:

The whole set could stand to have a more cohesive flow.

 

Without question. Hopefully they actually do just that (a cohesive look) this time around.

[24994J 5621]

I'm not sure how significant of changes they could make in just 2 weeks, but we can certainly dream. For others here that watch more often than me, when was the last time anyone saw the newsroom? I've got my hopes and dreams of what I would do to the whole space, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Jase 1065]

8 hours ago, 24994J said:

I'm not sure how significant of changes they could make in just 2 weeks, but we can certainly dream. For others here that watch more often than me, when was the last time anyone saw the newsroom? I've got my hopes and dreams of what I would do to the whole space, but I'm not holding my breath.

It’s been a while since I last saw it, but I believe the newsroom hasn’t been updated much over the years. That said, a quick (and simple) paint job could easily breathe new life to the space.

 

As far as what they could do in 2 weeks (or longer)…who knows?? Just adding a new desk and headers and footers to the video walls would be a significant enough improvement imo.

[R.R. 96]

28 minutes ago, jase said:

It’s been a while since I last saw it, but I believe the newsroom hasn’t been updated much over the years. That said, a quick (and simple) paint job could easily breathe new life to the space.

 

As far as what they could do in 2 weeks.. who knows?? Just adding a new desk and headers and footers to the video walls would be a significant enough improvement imo.

Last I recalled, I think there’s a few cubicles where the old NBC 5 desk once stood when I got a tour of the station a few years back.

[24994J 5621]

I've envisioned a not-on-steroids newsplex-inspired concept, where the main video wall behind the anchors was moved to the back of the newsroom, and would serve as the backdrop to a raised/elevated desk that would sit closer to the middle of the newsroom, sitting higher so as to look over workspaces, giving a clear sightline to said back wall. Stand-up areas/additional displays on the sides could remain.

 

But anyway.

[Spring Rubber 714]

Did we receive confirmation that they're only on the temp set for two weeks? From reading Patrick Fazio's post above, I see that Kate Chappell is anchoring with him for two weeks, but I don't see anything about the temp set before for two weeks.

[NBC 5 Chicago 196]

For those wondering about the newsroom.. it has not changed since the last time the columns were painted blue and the peacock logos were added. Kye does traffic from the newsroom now. Alicia's last day was today before maternity leave and I saw this photo on Patrick Fazio's Facebook. I'm curious where they are broadcasting from. There looks to be a monitor to the right and seems to be a little more to it than the shots we've seen. Back in 2012 they were in studio 5 for a good couple of months before going back to the tower. If this is only going to be 2 weeks they cant be doing a full gut. I would imagine it would be some updates and new desk (hopefully). 

[Jase 1065]

9 hours ago, Spring Rubber said:

Did we receive confirmation that they're only on the temp set for two weeks? From reading Patrick Fazio's post above, I see that Kate Chappell is anchoring with him for two weeks, but I don't see anything about the temp set before for two weeks.

No it hasn’t been confirmed. I agree that Fazio’s post seems to reference Chappell anchoring with him (for 2 weeks) not how long construction of the new set is going to take. 
 

Given that they’re not actually in the space/on set;  (i.e.. a temporary setup off to the side) that would ‘suggest’ whatever work is being done is more expansive than changing the desk.

 

 

[NBC 5 Chicago 196]

Some updated pics of the temp set. Instead of green screen when tossing from the 4pm to the 5pm today, they used a stand up area that looks like it is to the left side of the desk. I'm not certain but it looks like the desk is peaking out by Kate near the bug. I posted the other pictures of the morning team in the Chicago thread but this temp set up seems to be a little more elaborate which is nice to see. 

[24994J 5621]

Stefan posted a nice video of the temp set. I don't love the muddy blue skyline backdrop, but it's bad that this looks more fleshed-out than what they just vacated.

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChBg3RrjyQ1/

[24994J 5621]

Moderator note:

The whole conversation above might feel a little disjointed, but I moved all the temp/new set posts from the main station thread to this one. All discussion can continue here.

[R.R. 96]

The backdrop doesn’t really look bad though in my honest opinion.

[Weeters 1969]

Is that standup area to the left... from something? It looks like it's an old set piece repurposed into the temp set. The fake bezels around the monitors just look old. TVs haven't looked like that in 10 years.

[24994J 5621]

12 minutes ago, Weeters said:

Is that standup area to the left... from something? It looks like it's an old set piece repurposed into the temp set. The fake bezels around the monitors just look old. TVs haven't looked like that in 10 years.

 

That was my first thought, too, but nothing comes to mind, at least not in that specific arrangement of the screens on the frosted glass.

[dabnis74 52]

I feel like their set is in a cramped small area, the studios where Jerry Springer and Jenny Jones would be a nice space to built a larger set.

[Weeters 1969]

The production studios in the building are way too large for a news operation. Studio A is 10,000+ square feet, which is absolutely massive. It's roughly the same size as a couple of the stages at Universal in Hollywood. Look at the Instagram link above, I believe they are currently in Studio A based on how much space you can see behind the set.

 

Studio B is 4,000 square feet, which could be made manageable by splitting it in two like NBC is doing in NY with 3B right now, but it's currently listed as rented, and then you lose that space for smaller shows that might not need 10,000 sq. ft.

 

They're probably going to be stuck in that corner of the newsroom until NBC shells out some serious cash on finding new studio space in the building, or completely gut the newsroom and turn it into a studio, moving the newsroom elsewhere.