The project, a comprehensive overhaul of TNN’s broadcast operations, was spearheaded by integrator Qvest. The redesign embraces a distinctive visual identity that mirrors TNN’s brand. The new space comprises a newsroom, office areas and three studios spanning a total area of 15,500 square feet, supporting around 250 employees.

Clickspring Design led the architectural master plan and interior design, along with creating the new studios for TNN. mo2 design contributing the lighting design for the new spaces.

The relocation was executed in two phases, starting with master planning and concept design, followed by detailed design development and specifications. Qvest notes Feng Shui principles were integrated to enhance the flow and balance within the workplace.

Advanced broadcasting technology was a key focus, with Qvest conducting a thorough review to select the best equipment and solutions.

“The new facilities have significantly enhanced our team’s productivity and broadcasting capabilities, providing a state-of-the-art environment that fosters creativity and collaboration. Working with Qvest and their partners was a seamless experience. Their expertise and innovative approach were instrumental in realizing our vision. The integration of such advanced technology solutions has elevated our broadcasting standards and confirms our ambition as leading news agency in Thailand and even far beyond,” said Ongard Prapakamol of Thai News Network. 

TNN, a 24-hour news channel, is a division of Thai News Network Co., Ltd., part of the Charoen Pokphand Group and Telenor. It covers local and global news, business, environmental and sustainability issues, sports, technology, innovation, and health and food topics.

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The renovation includes a new set design and advanced broadcast equipment in an effort to modernize the channel’s news delivery.

The channel’s main studio now features a design centered around a stylized globe, intended to reflect Al-Ghad TV’s international focus. This comes alongside new sets that accommodate various programming formats, equipped with Sony cameras and LED display walls from LianTronics, some of which can track to create various configurations on-air.

The studio’s new lighting operates on an IP-based system using the ArtNet protocol, allowing for dynamic lighting changes.

Al-Ghad TV has also integrated a suite of contemporary broadcast tools, including AVID’s iNews NRCS, Media Central Cloud UX Production Asset Management system, and Vizrt’s Viz 5 graphics engine, which supports augmented and virtual reality graphics. The audio network is upgraded to an all-IP system using Dante, managed by Solid State Logic’s equipment, and includes Sennheiser’s microphones and monitoring systems.

This project also entailed expanding the studio space to over 8,000 square feet spread across three floors, featuring additional control rooms, editing suites, and creative workstations. The upgraded facilities aim to support the work of over 130 journalists.

Since launching in 2012, Al-Ghad TV has established 34 news bureaus globally and is known for providing news coverage that steers clear of regional and sectarian conflicts, promoting tolerance and providing alternative perspectives in a polarized media landscape.

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The broadcast debuted Monday, Sept. 25, 2023, 

Anchored by former Fox Business host Connell McShane, the new two-hour block features a mix of handheld and more traditional camera work that leverages the space’s multiple video walls and working newsroom space.

McShane uses the same NYC studio that Nexstar debuted in April 2023 for “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.” 

The space, designed by Nexstar Design, features a large open space with movable anchor desk in the middle and a large span of LED along one wall. Additional, narrower LED segments are placed around the space, which is also ringed by an enclosed control room and editorial workstations and LED ribbon above, creating using 66 Neoti UHD 600mm × 337.5mm tiles.

This includes 23 along the south header, which stretches over part of the newsroom, and 15 on the west elevation. An additional 10 tiles form the ribbon that tucks behind the north video wall, while 18 are installed in the space above the control room view.

“Vargas” has mainly utilized the north video wall and control room backgrounds, but McShane’s broadcast showcases more of the newsroom.

For example, McShane ventures into the newsroom itself, walking toward the handheld camera as he talks. Seven Neoti tiles on each column showcase the show branding, while other segments are done from a flashcam-like position that showcases a row of desks and the primary anchor desk and video wall in the distance.

Other segments move into the studio area proper where the camera follows McShane around the space to reveal graphics and live shots of guests and field reporters on the video walls, including the north video wall created using 200 Neoti tiles that measures 200 feet wide by 10 feet high.

Meanwhile, 50 panels come together to form the five-foot-wide west video wall array, which can be tracked, and the east wall has been created using 30 tiles and comes in at three feet wide.

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It’s also not uncommon for parked robotic cameras to show up behind McShane.

McShane also takes a seat at the anchor desk for some segments, including using it as an in-studio interview location.

The video wall graphics behind McShane make use of the white, interlocking block pattern used elsewhere on NewsNation that is also a visual nod to the network’s bracketed logotype.

NewsNation can add in video and graphical feeds as needed, which are displayed inside a simulated glass frame being held by virtual brackets and tension wire.

Except for the live video feeds, OTS shots with a rotation of imagery and occasional “video on video” style shots to showcase field footage, the LED walls typically only feature generic looks with network branding, a move that likely minimizes the amount of design work that’s required to produce a show.

In some ways, it appears “Now” is attempting to replicate the floating camera and video wall-heavy look used at CNN for its special event coverage and “CNN NewsCentral,” but it has, so far, lacked the large collections of stills, video and text headlines used at CNN and shows using a similar production approach. 

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Opened in 2018, the location serves as the primary home of “Get Up,” “First Take” and “Around the Horn.” “NBA Countdown” and even “NFL Countdown” have originated from the facility with a temporary rooftop studio created for coverage in 2020.

The broadcast facility is inside the Pier 17 development at South Street Seaport, which includes a large rooftop lawn for events, concerts and large format activations. This unique home has provided space for special events ESPN has broadcast from the city – but it also means the area is less than ideal for day-to-day activities.

Pier 17 was initially designed with upwards of 150,000 square feet of office space available, with ESPN occupying 19,000 square feet including two studios, a small control room and ancillary production space. 

The location, however, has had trouble with traditional office clients and has largely transitioned into a venue for events with additional restaurants and public-oriented spaces. 

ESPN joins Nike, who shuttered its design studio at Pier 17 in recent years. 

The network is planning to relocate New York City operations to Hudson Square as part of a new development that will house the headquarters of The Walt Disney Company, ESPN’s parent company. 

The Hudson Square development, which covers nearly an entire city block, will eventually become the home of ABC News and WABC along with daytime programming including “The View” and “Live With Kelly and Mark.”

Set Design

ESPN NYC Studio 1

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Set Design

First Take

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In Los Angeles, ESPN is reportedly looking to cease daily studio operations, likely as a cost-saving measure. Impacted workers would likely relocate to Bristol, the network’s home, or transition to remote. 

The Los Angeles Production Center includes 72,000 square feet of space and two studios, part of the L.A. Live complex in downtown Los Angeles across from the Crypto.com Arena.

Currently, late editions of “SportsCenter” and select NBA programming originate from Los Angeles.

These moves follow the closure of ESPN’s Las Vegas studio inside the Linq Hotel + Experience in 2023, following the network’s deal with PENN Entertainment to launch ESPN Bet.  

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified one of the shows scheduled to move to the new Disney building. The show is “Live with Kelly and Mark” and has been corrected above.

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The station has been based at 2824 Palm Beach Blvd. in Ft. Myers, Florida, since 1954. That building, branded as “Broadcast Center,” sits closer to the heart of the city, but is also situated close to the Caloosahatchee River and a small inlet, both of which contributed to extensive flooding of the station in 2014 during Hurricane Ivan.

The station, which is owned by the family-run Fort Myers Broadcasting Company, has agreed to pay $18.5 million for the new facility. 

The new space has 57,260 square feet and a 5.6 acre parking lot and was previously a Comcast Xfinity service and dispatch center, though it did not contain any broadcast production facilities.

The station also considered another property but settled on the 12641 Corporate Lakes Drive spot because it has a higher ceiling height and more parking.

It also sits southeast of the city center and well away from any major body of water, which should reduce the likelihood of flooding.

WINK is planning to complete the move to the new facility within a year. Images shown on the station’s newscasts showed a building outfitted with an open office concept that could be ideal for a variety of TV station operations, including a newsroom.

The station will have to build out a new studio and associated support facilities, however. 

The new building will serve as the corporate headquarters for Fort Myers Broadcasting Company, Sun Broadcasting Company and Gulf Shore Life Media.

Sun Broadcasting runs three stations through SSAs with their owners: CW affiliate WXCW, low-power Univision station WUVF-LD low-power Azteca América affiliate WANA-LD.

WINK itself also carries Antenna TV and MyNetwork TV programming plus a handful of audio-only radio feeds on its subchannels.

No plans were announced to move the station’s transmitter or radar tower near Babcock Ranch, Florida.

Flooding triggered by severe weather is a common headache for TV stations across the country, though shifts in broadcast facility design and placement are changing that.

It had been common for TV stations to occupy buildings close to heart of the cities they serve, which also put many of them in prime flooding zones thanks to the nearby bodies of water that originally attracted settlers to a region.

There has been an increasing trend of stations leaving city centers for space on the outskirts of town or even suburban cities. Other stations owners, wanting to stay closer to the city core, have opted to move into the upper floors of buildings.

Industrial and office complex park-like settings such as the one WINK bought are attractive prospects for stations because they tend to have a large, open spaces that can either be built-out or modified to meet the needs of broadcast stations fairly easily.

Single-floor facilities are often more attractive because they tend to have higher ceiling heights, giving stations more flexibility for building out studios and running cabling. 

Other stations have opted to renovate former commercial properties that once housed mid-size tenants in shopping centers, again thanks to the open space and high ceilings.

It’s also been a common trend in the industry to build new broadcast facilities from the ground up, often in office park-like settings. 

While there are advantages to a purpose-built facility, new construction can also take more time. Real estate trends since the COVID-19 pandemic have also seen more commercial office space become available, which could make retrofitting space more appealing to stations.

Modern TV broadcast facilities typically require at least some open-concept space with relatively high ceiling space for a studio. Open plans also work well for newsrooms and workspaces for advertising, marketing and other departments. 

Due to the amount of technical infrastructure, TV facilities can also benefit from higher ceiling heights so raised flooring or ceiling tracks can be installed to handle the miles of cables often required to deliver signals from various equipment around the building.

Parking for employee and fleet vehicles can also be a concern, as well as space for installing backup generators that can supply the building with electricity in the event of power failures.

Broadcast facilities also often come with a heavy amount of security requirements, including gated parking lots and secure entries. As media outlets, TV stations can attract unwanted attention from trouble-makers and also need to be able to defend high-profile talent and the millions of dollars worth of equipment inside the building — not to mention protecting the integrity of the public broadcast signals it is outputting. 

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After broadcasting for nearly two decades from their iconic broadcast facility at Martin Place in Sydney’s Central Business District, the 7 News Sydney team successfully moved to a new, state-of-the-art studio in South Eveleigh in late June 2023.

Set Design

Seven News Sydney

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This initial relocation represents the first phase in Seven Network’s plan to centralize its on-air operations in the region.

With the 7 News team now operational in their new setting, the national shows produced out of Sydney, including “Sunrise,” “Weekend Sunrise” and “The Morning Show,” are next in line for the move, which is scheduled to be completed in late July 2023.

Martin Place first went online for Seven in 2004 and provided a streetside studio for the morning news broadcasts with the evening newscasts coming from a smaller set inside the studio. The move will bring Seven’s entire Sydney operation under one roof for the first time in 40 years, according to a statement from Seven West Media’s James Warburton, with the broadcaster spanning seven floors.

The move, according to Warburton, is not just about more space but also improved functionality and fostering better cooperation and communication among teams. The new facility aims to provide this by locating all of the editorial teams newsroom operations on a shared floor of the South Eveleigh facility.

At the local level, 7 News Sydney went live from its new home at South Eveleigh on June 26, 2023.

The set, from Mark Dyson of Pitch Design, includes over 430 square feet of LED video walls including a primary arcing display that wraps the set and a mobile vertical display for bump shots and top-of-the-hour teases. Overall, the studio reflects the bold angles and bright palette from the broadcaster’s current motion graphics package, which debuted in 2022.

The set is shared between the Sydney news programming and national news bulletins including “The Latest” and “7 Morning News.”

The new studio is purpose-built for broadcast and is roughly five times the size of the old Martin Place studio, which had an awkward layout as it was in a former retail location.

Multiple programs will originate from the studio with each having a dedicated set, unlike the previous location which required constant moving of set pieces due to limited studio floor space. The facility also includes two production control rooms.

Studio technology includes Vinten robotic camera pedestals and camera heads, CueScript prompters and Sony cameras, with a full lighting package from ARRI including ARRI Orbiter and ARRI SkyPanel LEDs.

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The new facility features the latest in IP and cloud-based technology, along with advanced newsroom tools for the station. NBCUniversal Local notes the new facility is the most technologically advanced in the El Paso DMA.

“As home to the newest state-of-the-art facility within the NBCUniversal Local footprint, we are proud for our employees to work from this incredible space to create and deliver the first-class local news programming that our community deserves,” said Andrew Deschapelles, president and general manager, KTDO. “I could not be more proud of our team for their commitment and for raising the bar for local broadcast technology here in El Paso, and across the country.” 

The facility also includes a new 360-degree set from John Casey for the station’s Noticias Telemundo 48 newscasts. The set includes a variety of video walls with a dedicated desk for both weather and sports coverage.

Technology-wise, the studio includes Sony cameras mounted on Ross Video Furio robotic heads with Autoscript prompters atop Vinten Osprey Plus camera supports. 

In addition to the enhanced studio features, KTDO has deployed advanced newsroom tools to optimize efficiencies in news gathering, production, and publishing across different platforms. The open layout of the newsroom with dedicated desk “pods” for the news team aims to promote collaboration and foster information exchange.

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Channel 4 notes this addition affirms its commitment to geographic diversity in its coverage.

“It will bring more authentic regional voices to our news coverage, deliver more opportunities to people in the region and help ensure we continue to provide the best news coverage for our audiences,” said Louisa Compton of Channel 4 News.

“ITN’s newsrooms are committed to reflecting the experience of people across the UK and our investment in Channel 4 News’ Leeds operation and the content teams based there will significantly deepen our roots in communities across the north of England and enrich our coverage for viewers right across the nation,” said Rachel Corp, CEO, ITN.

Operating from a temporary setup since early 2022, the transition to a permanent hub in Leeds city center represents a significant increase in Channel 4 News’ regional presence. Backed by a larger newsroom team and new broadcast studio space with windows overlooking the city, the expansion gives Channel 4 the latest in broadcast tools and a home for its FactCheck data journalism unit.

A remote production for Channel 4

A standout feature of the new Leeds studio is its incorporation of actual windows into the set, mixed with large LED display technology. This design choice necessitated ND window treatments to reduce glare with a series of vertical LED displays also helping block some potential sunlight. 

Simon Jago and the Jago Design team worked with Channel 4 on the new studio design, having also designed Channel 4’s London studio.

Broadcasts from Leeds and London are managed out of PCR 6 at the ITV Network Centre, with Vizrt’s Viz Multiplay utilized remotely to control the studio displays from London with tight integration in Vizrt’s automation platform.

To achieve connectivity between Leeds and the existing London facility, Channel 4 News is using Riedel’s Bolero for talkback, Ross Video’s Ultrix routing platform, and EVS’s Cerebrum for remote control routing.

The Channel 4 team, along with vendor ES Broadcast, has also made efforts to integrate cloud infrastructure for contingency planning. In the event of an issue, broadcasts from the Leeds studio can be produced via Grass Valley’s GV Ampp platform with TinkerList handling the rundown and script. 

The temporary studio and select broadcast technology will continue to see usage through a donation to the University of Leeds School of Media and Communication.

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The move, triggered by a significant renovation of the historic studio complex by Hackman Capital Partners, will see the game show transition to Haven Studios in nearby Glendale, where Fremantle, the producer of “The Price Is Right,” holds a long-term investment.

Hackman Capital Partners purchased the complex from CBS Corporation in 2019 for $750 million and is set to embark on a substantial $1.25 billion renovation, which includes raising the number of stages from eight to at least 15. The former CBS Studio Center, now known as Radford Studio Center, is also undergoing a major renovation by Hackman.

“The Price Is Right” has shared Studio 33 with HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

The stage was the former home of “The Carol Burnett Show,” “Match Game,” “The $25,000 Pyramid,” “Hollywood Squares,” “Card Sharks” and even “Wheel of Fortune.” 

Studio 33 is also named in honor of Bob Barker, the former host and EP of “Price is Right.”

Other programs, such as “American Idol,” “Dancing with the Stars” and “The Young and Restless,” will also be forced to relocate. James Corden’s “The Late Late Show” was also housed at Television City before winding down its run this spring.  

Hackman’s planned renovation of Television City aims to preserve elements of its history while propelling it into the future. The four original stages built by CBS at the campus’ launch in 1952 and other historical design elements crafted by Los Angeles architect William Pereira are set to stay intact.

“Let’s Make a Deal,” which currently tapes in Sylmar, California, will also relocate to Haven Studios. 

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The network, now part of Paramount Global following the merger of CBS Corporation and Viacom in 2019, is expected to issue a request for proposals (RFP) that will encompass two primary elements: the sale of its 600,000-square-foot broadcast center and the procurement of a new Manhattan-based site for its operations.

Located between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, the CBS Broadcast Center has been a hub for the network since the 1950s.

Before its acquisition by CBS in 1952, the main building housed a dairy depot for Sheffield Farms which opened in June 1938. 

According to New York Post reporting, the ideal outcome for CBS would involve finding a single landlord to purchase the 57th Street property and provide an alternative location to meet the network’s production needs. 

The current CBS Broadcast Center is a massive amount of space and no longer aligns with the network’s current production needs, especially given the movement of shows to other facilities. “CBS Evening News” now broadcasts from a studio in Washington, D.C., while the network’s flagship morning program comes from Times Square. The Broadcast Center also includes many production support spaces, such as a scenic fabrication shop and vast storage areas, that have been made redundant as productions have been relocated and roles outsourced.

This would not be the first time the network has considered selling its real estate assets. Prior to the Viacom merger — and even following — CBS has explored sales to raise capital, with the 2019 effort resulting in the sale of its Black Rock office on 52nd Street instead of the broadcast center.

Paramount Global also sold its 38-acre CBS Studio Center property in Studio City, California, in 2021.

Despite the network’s potential reduction in its physical footprint due to the relocation of several entertainment shows, the CBS Broadcast Center continues to serve as a hub for many of its operations. CBS News maintains its newsroom there and it is the production site for the network’s streaming news service and home to CBS Sports. Syndicated shows like “The Drew Barrymore Show” and HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” also film at the facility.

Disney ABC is also planning to move its New York City operations in the coming years, relocating to the West Village. 

While a new location for CBS in NYC is unclear, a proposal has been presented to convert Pier 94 into a 230,000 square foot television production facility under a joint agreement between the city, Vornado, Hudson Pacific Properties and Blackstone. 

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