News music

News music features the rhythm of a teletype machine or Morse code, together with two of the loudest instrumental groups in the Western orchestra: brass and percussion.

During the 20th century, teletypes and Morse code are major methods being used to transmit news and information, especially in newsrooms before computers and telephones become widespread.

The Tar Sequence, an orchestral cue from the movie Cool Hand Luke by Lalo Schifrin, is one of them having a second life as a news theme completely eclipsing its original purpose.

For Cool Hand Luke: The Tar Sequence, what makes it a fitting music cue for newscasts (in particular television news) is a staccato rhythm resembling the teletype.

Lalo Schifrin, who has roots in Western classical music, jazz and pop, made Cool Hand Luke: The Tar Sequence the most recognizable news theme in the world.

During the pre-CHL era, news music had neutral orchestral music, specifically fanfares and marches.

In addition, the teletype and Morse code were simple news sounders with no music to play in.

Marches/fanfares, plus the teletype and Morse code, lacked the dynamic music energy and emotional resonance of a full orchestral theme in television news during the pre-CHL era.

Cool Hand Luke: The Tar Sequence mixes the teletype sounder with cinematic orchestral, jazz and pop elements to pioneer the modern and urgent news music sound.

In order to make its sound fitting for newscasts, Al Primo selected and edited Cool Hand Luke: The Tar Sequence as the theme tune for Eyewitness News, removing its non-news elements.

The elements in CHL are adopted and adapted in modern news themes.

Many television stations in the United States and the world have either used Cool Hand Luke: The Tar Sequence or made their own news music packages mirroring its modern cinematic sound.

Having been an iconic and famous news cue, CHL bridged the gap between the teletype sounder and a cinematic orchestral feel à la Aaron Copland with jazz and pop influences.

Plus, Cool Hand Luke: The Tar Sequence is more famous as a news theme than the film.

In the mid-1980's, Frank Gari updated Cool Hand Luke: The Tar Sequence into News Series 2000.

Whereas previous news music packages created by Frank Gari featured vocal-driven campaigns, News Series 2000 broke from tradition with its continuously instrumental style.

News Series 2000 updated this CHL motif made by Lalo Schifrin with contemporary orchestration and solidified Lalo Schifrin's CHL motif as a news music package.

The 1990's version of the NS2000 package by Frank Gari was News Series 2000 Plus.

Eyewitness News, which Frank Gari made after Lalo Schifrin raised the royalties, is also iconic.

For the WABC-TV version of Eyewitness News Series 1, Frank Gari created a news package without a teletype sound.

KABC-TV's Eyewitness News Series 1 version by Frank Gari featured a teletype sound based on CHL.

Besides News Series 2000, News Series 2000 Plus and Eyewitness News, all derived from Cool Hand Luke: The Tar Sequence, Frank Gari also made other instrumental news music packages.

The Great News Package, which Frank Gari had commissioned for WXIA, has a similar style to News Series 2000.

Advantage, a news music package specially commissioned for WFSB by Frank Gari and introduced in 1989, has a distinctive and upbeat style.

Both The Great News Package and Advantage have also earned a presence outside the United States.

In the UK, The Great News Package was used by Sky News as its first news music package from its February 1989 launch until September 1993 rebrand.

Meanwhile, in the Arab world, Advantage was used by MBC as its first news music package upon its launch spurred by CNN's Gulf War coverage, and again since its fifteenth year.

For MBC, Advantage, a theme that Frank Gari had commissioned in the US, introduced Western-like news themes in the Arab world and broke from tradition.

The instrumental Aujourd'hui C'est Toi version, a cue from the 1966 French drama movie A Man and a Woman by Francis Lai, is also one of them having a second life as a news theme.

In the UK, the BBC's Panorama, which is the longest-running television current affairs program in the world, uses an adaptation of Francis Lai's Aujourd'hui C'est Toi as its theme tune.

For Francis Lai's Aujourd'hui C'est Toi piece, what makes it a fitting one for both television news and current affairs is its timpani drums, its strings and its French flavour.

The use of timpani drums in Francis Lai's Aujourd'hui C'est Toi piece can convey drama, urgency and importance, all being suited qualities for a news and current affairs program.

Strings in Francis Lai's Aujourd'hui C'est Toi piece convey gravity and significance.

Move Closer to Your World is an iconic and famous television news music package that is based on a jingle and still used by WPVI-TV and WNEP-TV.

Before MCTYW, The Action News Theme was the first theme used for the Action News format.

Tom Sellers, who was a student of Temple University, which likewise has his fellow classmates and students Daryl Hall and John Oates (Hall and Oates), wrote The Action News Theme.

Al Ham, who was a session musician in pop music, wrote Move Closer to Your World.

Similarly, both Tom Sellers' The Action News Theme and Al Ham's Move Closer to Your World are centered around a trumpet lead and a timpani-driven finish; they also play in the same key.

Plus, both The Action News Theme and Move Closer to Your World have a soul-pop sound.

The first station to use Move Closer to Your World is WNAC-TV, which is one of the first television stations in the United States to use a jingle-based news music package as well.

For years, WPVI-TV and WNEP-TV, both of which are ABC stations in Pennsylvania, have used Move Closer to Your World, doubling as the only US stations to use this music package.

WPXI, though not an ABC station, is another Pennsylvania station using Move Closer to Your World.

Outside Pennsylvania, WKBW-TV (a former sister station of WPVI-TV) notably used Move Closer to Your World.

Staying in New York, WPIX used Move Closer to Your World and the Action News title, both coming from WPVI-TV.

Classical Gas by Mason Williams is one of the pop music tunes also being used through newscasts.

For Classical Gas, what makes it a fitting music piece for newscasts, in particular television news, is a distinctive and unique classical and pop combination, its driving rhythm and its upbeat feel.

Like Move Closer to Your World, Classical Gas has a pop-oriented sound used for newscasts.

Good Evening Mr. & Mrs. America and All the Ships, performed by Tom Scott & the L.A. Express, is a music cue fittingly being used for news, which pays tribute to Walter Winchell.

What makes the music tribute to Walter Winchell called Good Evening Mr. & Mrs. America and All the Ships by Tom Scott and the L.A. Express a fitting news cue is that it has a teletype melody.

The Awakening, composed for the KPM label by Johnny Pearson, is a stock music cue notably used for News at Ten (ITV) and, since the mid-1990's, other ITN newscasts.

By employing a brass and string section, snare drums and orchestral percussion, Johnny Pearson's The Awakening piece, made for KPM, creates a powerful and serious mood for newscasts.

Famously, the Big Ben chimes is heard to punctuate the headlines for News at Ten (ITV) and others.

Non-Stop, composed by John Malcolm, is a stock music cue used for news.

Initially made as a piano piece as a teenager, John Malcolm's Non-Stop composition was accepted by Francis, Day and Hunter and made in an orchestral arrangement by Ivor Slaney.

With Ivor Slaney's orchestral arrangement being conducted by Georges Devereaux, and performed by L'Orchestre Devereaux, John Malcolm's Non-Stop was by ITN from the 1950's to the 1980's.

Belgium and Switzerland are nations where John Malcolm's Non-Stop cue was reportedly recorded.

John Malcolm's Non-Stop piece, notably used by ITN, has its fast-paced, cheery and upbeat sound that provides a stylistic contrast to the somber, formal tone of the BBC's news music sound.

From its 1950's debut to the 1960's, Non-Stop was the standard theme for all ITN newscasts.

In the late-1960's, Johnny Pearson's more dramatic The Awakening cue meant that Non-Stop by John Malcolm was limited to shorter and weekend newscasts for ITN.

However, the Falklands War led to John Malcolm's Non-Stop being unused as a main ITN theme.

Removing Non-Stop, in the wake of the Falklands War, meant that all ITN news themes have a more serious tone.

Fast Action, composed for De Wolfe, is a stock music cue being used for news.

What makes Fast Action, composed for De Wolfe, a fitting cue for newscasts is its dynamic and urgent sound being punctuated by brass and strings, plus rock-style drums.

Barry Stoller (Hugh Cortley) and Harold Geller (Muso Silvio) wrote Fast Action for De Wolfe.

Prestige Theme 1, written for KPM by Keith Mansfield, is a stock music cue being used for news.

What makes Keith Mansfield's Prestige Theme 1 piece, made for KPM, a fitting one for news is that it features a teletype melody.

Score Productions, based in New York and founded by Bob Israel, has been responsible for the music packages being made for both ABC News and ABC Sports under Roone Arledge.

Edd Kalehoff, who is a freelancer at Score Productions, is the go-to man for ABC music.

VideoHelper, a music company co-led by former ABC News promo producer Stewart Winter, likewise creates music for ABC News.

Joseph Saba, who was a major label artist, usually works with Stewart Winter at VideoHelper.

DreamArtists Studios, founded by Matthew Kajcienski, is also responsible for the ABC News music.

From its July 10, 1978 debut to March 1980, World News Tonight had a teletype theme tune, made for ABC News by Score Productions, innovative for Moog synthesizers on network television.

Later, an orchestral incarnation of the Moog-based teletype theme tune, made for ABC News by Score Productions, was used for World News Tonight until 1990.

A remixed incarnation of the orchestral version of the Moog-based teletype theme tune, made for ABC News by Score Productions, was used from 1990 to 1996.

Edd Kalehoff created his own World News Tonight theme tune in 1996, and revived the 1978 theme in January 1998, at the turn of the 21st century until the early-2010's and in 2020 in three remixes.

The 4-note fanfare, created for World News Tonight by Score Productions, has been rearranged and reintroduced, becoming a sonic signature for ABC News.

VideoHelper and DreamArtists Music also created other themes for ABC News.

Score Productions also did music for the Satellite News Channel, which ABC co-owned.

The Mission is an orchestral suite, composed by world-famous Hollywood film music composer John Williams as a television news music package for NBC News.

Having consisted of four movements, The Mission altered this news music sound by moving from the conventional fanfare-based themes towards a symphonic and nuanced approach.

CBS News, in response to the popularity of The Mission (used for NBC News), commissioned a more modern and orchestral theme by John Trivers, Elizabeth Meyers and Alan Pasqua.

Recorded with a full orchestra at a 20th Century-Fox soundstage, the modern-sounding theme by John Trivers, Elizabeth Meyers and Alan Pasqua has put music on the map of the CBS Evening News.

During the periods in which Douglas Edwards, Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather were the anchors of the CBS Evening News, no music was heard in its opening and ending sequences.

In fact, the sound heard on the CBS Evening News in its opening and ending sequences, during the eras when Douglas Edwards and Walter Cronkite ruled the airwaves, was the teletype.

Walter Levinsky (Score Productions) created a teletype-like cue being used for the bumpers of the CBS Evening News (and its long ending credit sequences) during the 1980's.

The theme that John Trivers, Elizabeth Meyers and Alan Pasqua composed for the CBS Evening News featured an Americana sound à la Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man.

Rick Patterson, Ron Walz and Neal Fox created the second actual orchestral theme of the CBS Evening News, incorporating the signature melody by John Trivers, Elizabeth Meyers and Alan Pasqua.

Plus, this CBS Evening News music package by Patterson, Walz and Fox Music Productions featured a section featuring a teletype melody, which is used for the opening headlines.

From 1989 to 1997, Edd Kalehoff's CBS News Special Report theme, which incorporated the signature CBS Evening News theme by John Trivers, Elizabeth Meyers and Alan Pasqua, was used.

James Horner, who, like John Williams, was a famous film composer, did the music for Katie Couric's debut on the CBS Evening News, in collaboration with Joel Beckerman.

Like The Mission (by John Williams for NBC), James Horner's music for the CBS Evening News was orchestral.

Industrial Power, written for Bruton by Johnny Pearson, is a stock music cue being used for news.

Similar to Keith Mansfield's Prestige Theme 1 piece for KPM, what makes Johnny Pearson's Industrial Power piece, made for Bruton, a fitting one for news is that it uses a teletype melody.

Talking Heads and Time Factor, both of which were composed for the De Wolfe label in 1989 by John Mealing, are some stock music cues notably used for news.

Fool's Overture by Supertramp is one of the pop music tunes also being used through current affairs programs.

CTV's W5 notably used a synth-heavy instrumental portion of Fool's Overture by Supertramp.

Dancing in the Stars by Mannheim Steamroller is likewise a pop music piece also being used through newscasts.

What makes Mannheim Steamroller's Dancing in the Stars a fitting music cue for television news is a combination of pop and orchestral elements.

The Fuzz, a music cue from the 1960's film The Happening by Frank De Vol, is a cue used specifically through newscasts.

Known for its surf-rock sound, The Happening: The Fuzz is notably a news theme in Latin America.

Xcept One by Michael Hoenig was used by RCTI for its newscasts from 1990 to 2005.

For RCTI, the Xcept One piece by Michael Hoenig uses a modern cinematic sound, which provides a stylistic contrast to the more somber, formal tone of the news music sound that TVRI used.

In 1993, as RCTI began official national broadcasts, Michael Hoenig's Xcept One was rearranged.

RCTI's morning news used its version of the Michael Hoenig cue Xcept One, with a similar style to its original; its afternoon,flagship and late-night news has a faster pace.

The title track from The Electric Horseman, an orchestral music cue by Dave Grusin, is used through newscasts and current affairs programs worldwide.

Mixing orchestral elements with disco, the title track from The Electric Horseman has a dramatic and sweeping sound.

The trend of having music being sourced from films as news themes was Al Primo's innovation, which effectively took news music to a cinematic level.

Many modern news music packages incorporate music techniques frequently utilized in film scores to enhance the emotional impact and storytelling of the news.

Gari Communications, as well as a Nashville jingle company (with its area code) and Stephen Arnold Music, famously used a synth timpani sound in the 1990's.

Plus, Gari (along with a Nashville jingle company with its area code and Stephen Arnold Music) used samplers/synths, like those from E-mu, Roland and Kurzweil, to make orchestral news themes.

Samplers/synths give composers like Frank Gari, Randy Wachtler and Stephen Arnold a chance to mix traditional orchestral elements with modern electronic precision to create sonic news brands.

Frank Gari mixes live orchestral recordings with synthetic layers as a news music pioneer.

Randy Wachtler revolutionized news music by combining traditional brass and strings with rhythmic electronic pulsing and percussion 

Stock music, also known as production music or library music, is recorded music licensed for use in various media forms, including (but not limited to) film, television and radio.

The main engines of the global stock music market are the United Kingdom and the United States.

Britain has endured significant influence for stock music, with the US as a dominant force.

Ever since the late-1920's advent of talkies, many stock music labels have used recorded music from different eras and genres.

For the corporate/industrial genre, especially in news and current affairs, stock music incorporates the sounds of technology like the teletype or Morse code.

Plus, the corporate/industrial genre in stock music uses a modern and cinematic orchestral feel, which combines grand orchestral arrangements with industrial and corporate settings in a modern age.

In compact discs, stock music albums provide many advantages, including improved audio quality and durability, compared to previous formats, like vinyl, LPs and magnetic tapes.

Plus, stock music pieces are edited to fit broadcast needs.

Labels in the stock music scene provide various versions of tracks (e.g. 60-second, 30-second, stingers, instrumentals) to help editors integrate the music into their projects efficiently.

Common edits in stock music include trimming, looping, reorchestration and fade-ins/fade-outs.

NFL Films is the film and television production company of the National Football League.

Initially known as Blair Motion Pictures, NFL Films has revolutionized the sports filming world.

Ed Sabol and his son Steve Sabol are the NFL Films figureheads, both of whom make this company a success story.

John Facenda is the first narrator for NFL Films until his 1984 death.

Sam Spence is the primary music composer for NFL Films from 1966 to 1990, having crafted his epic Hollywood-like music scores.

Together, Ed Sabol, Steve Sabol, John Facenda and Sam Spence create the NFL Films hallmarks.

Munich, Germany is the adopted base for Sam Spence and his music work with NFL Films.

Just before NFL Films, marching band music was often featured in many sports films, but under Sam Spence's influence, NFL Films uses cinematic Hollywood-like orchestral music in them.

In his NFL Films music work, Sam Spence's influence derives from many world-famous Hollywood music composers, like Miklos Rozsa and Dimitri Tiomkin.

Having been the music director for NFL Films from the late-1960's to 1984, Phillip Spieller selected music for (and mixed) many sports films during his career.

Phillip Spieller made up a process in which he blended music cues composed by NFL Films' in-house composers, like Sam Spence, with prerecorded tracks from stock music labels.

Due to Phillip Spieller's process, NFL Films uses its cinematic Hollywood-like orchestral sound.

Noted NFL Films innovations include slow-motion shots, edited montages, close-ups and game sound synchronization, plus many others, all set to dramatic orchestral music.

Ferdinand J. Smith composed the orchestral cue for the HBO in Space sequence, inspired by the film scores from Hollywood's Golden Age.

The HBO in Space cue, written by Ferdinand J. Smith, was recorded with a full orchestra, giving it a powerful and cinematic quality, which was unusual at the time for cable television.

Doing the work for the orchestral HBO in Space cue was Score Productions.

In addition, Ferdinand J. Smith composed the Star Tunnel cue for ABC's movie presentations in 1981.

MusicEc (or Musicec.com) is a royalty-free stock music label in mainland China using Western-level production styles and techniques (specifically-American-like) as its main focus.

Chinese composers who are trained in contemporary international styles would produce music for the MusicEc label, which is a source for modern cinematic, electronic and corporate tracks.

Andy Mark had been a co-founder of the PMA since its inception in 1997; his legacy has persisted and grown through the eponymous awards: the Mark Awards.

Some other PMA founders, besides Andy Mark, include Michael Dowdle, Dain Blair, Randy Wachtler, Ron Mendelsohn, Norman Chesky, Joseph Saba and Ivy Tombak.

WNEW-TV launched the first regular primetime newscast in New York City called The Ten O'Clock News in the late-1960's.

For years, The Ten O'Clock News on WNEW-TV has begun with an iconic and famous public service announcement: "It's 10 pm. Do you know where your children are?"

John Corporon and Ted Kavanau shaped The Ten O'Clock News on WNEW-TV.

Under Ted Kavanau, WNEW-TV made a fast-paced style for The Ten O'Clock News, often featuring tabloid focus and quick reports from field teams.

Bill Jorgensen was the first main anchor for The Ten O'Clock News on WNEW-TV.

During its first 12 years, Bill Jorgensen ended The Ten O'Clock News on WNEW-TV with the catchy sign-off: "I'm Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your time this time, until next time."

Earlier on, in 1966, WNEW-TV's sister station WTTG started the first 10 p.m. newscast on a non-Big Three station in the United States.

Launching the 10 p.m. news model on a non-Big Three television station in the United States through WTTG was Ed Turner, who also worked at KWTV (where he grew up with 10 p.m. newscasts).

Before the WTTG/WNEW-TV 10 p.m. news model, America's non-Big Three/indie television stations focused on general entertainment, like network reruns, films, etc.

This successful WTTG/WNEW-TV 10 p.m. news model proved that America's non-Big Three stations could produce/sustain newscasts.

Whilst WTTG started the first 10 p.m. news in the United States in 1966 under Ed Turner, WNEW-TV successfully adopted and refined its formula due to Ted Kavanau's work.

Bill "Troll" Tullis was the music director for Turner Broadcasting System, bur also one of the longtime voices for SuperStation WTBS, CNN and CNN Headline News until 2002.

Having been the music director for Turner Broadcasting System, Bill "Troll" Tullis was responsible for many of its unique and innovative music, notably for TBS, CNN and CNN Headline News.

Just before moving to television, Bill "Troll" Tullis worked in radio, having served as the first program director for WVVS-FM.

As the student-run radio station of Valdosta State College, WVVS-FM introduced heavy rock and prog rock bands to regional audiences under Bill "Troll" Tullis.

Leaving Turner in 2002, Bill "Troll" Tullis founded All TV Music.

John Young, Don Harrison and James Earl Jones, besides Bill "Troll" Tullis, are some other longtime voices for Turner Broadcasting System, the latter for CNN.

The iconic and famous phrase delivered by James Earl Jones is "This...is CNN."

During the 1980's, CNN used stock music cues from many labels, including De Wolfe, KPM, Bruton, Sonoton, Killer Tracks, FirstCom, MusicHouse, Atmosphere, Match, Parry, Omni, etc.

Plus, during the 1980's, CNN contracted Score Productions to create custom music for its station IDs.

In 1990, its 10th year, CNN again contracted Score Productions to create custom music.

For Score Productions, it also made music for CNN Headline News since its merger with the Satellite News Channel, partly-run by ABC News, the latter for which it also did music.

Incidentally, Score Productions created the music for ABC News, including World News Tonight, the Satellite News Channel, CNN and CNN Headline News.

Herb Avery, a jazz musician based in Atlanta, has made orchestral and jazz-inspired cues on both the domestic and worldwide feeds of CNN, plus Headline News, during the 1990's and beyond.

The cues being created for CNN by Score Productions and Herb Avery are also used in the Turner Broadcast Music Library by Sound Ideas.

Sound Ideas also formerly distributed De Wolfe Music and Beatbox Music in Canada.

During the Cold War, television news themes in the Eastern Bloc used a neutral orchestral sound.

Plus, weather forecasts in the Eastern Bloc used a Western sound during the Cold War.

After the Cold War, news music in the Eastern Bloc used a more modern uniform sound influenced by Western-style (Western European and American) music principles.

This change in news music in the Eastern Bloc to Western-style is in the wake of Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika policies, the 1989 revolutions and the collapse of the USSR.

Influences for the Western-like news music sound in the Eastern Bloc during the post-Cold War period come from the BBC and CNN.

Meanwhile, in both mainland China and Vietnam, many news music themes utilize a modern Western sound, whereas some others sound traditional.

Some Chinese composers also do television news music in a modern Western sound.

Newsrooms, as regular studio backdrops, convey urgency, immediacy, authenticity and transparency.

Plus, regularly-used newsroom studio set backdrops could provide a busy and fast-paced working news environment, where news is breaking and being processed, with off-camera staff seen inside.

Multi-monitor control rooms, which are regularly used as news studio backdrops, convey technological sophistication and a sense of constant monitoring and control over information flow.

For years, many television stations have used traditional, enclosed and isolated news studio sets with backdrops that typically include world maps, skylines or news/station logos.

These traditional and isolated news sets create a sense of formality and authority.

Switching to both the newsroom and multi-monitor backdrops from isolated news studio sets provide urgency, immediacy, transparency and a behind-the-scenes feel.

Blending the newsroom and multi-monitor backdrops is something to do in an equally-dynamic way.

For Dave Garroway, his own television programs, notably Garroway at Large, Today and Wide Wide World, have developed many innovations that reshaped television.

The Merchandise Mart and the RCA Exhibition Hall are building relics.

Chicago's wholesome goods industry is the primary focus of the Merchandise Mart, whereas RCA's technology is the primary focus of the RCA Exhibition Hall, based in New York.

With television gaining early popularity, both the Merchandise Mart and the RCA Exhibition Hall also became testing grounds for Dave Garroway's innovations that abandoned television's rigid past.

Dave Garroway's relaxed style, which had its roots in radio, was adapted for television.

Plus, the first studio for Today (NBC) from the RCA Exhibition Hall served as an influence on modern broadcast design, like the newsroom and the windowed concept in downtown cores.

In its initial years, the windowed concept included in the first ever studio for Today (NBC) under Dave Garroway was the fishbowl.

Just before its expansion to a half-hour in the mid-1960's, both Douglas Edwards and Walter Cronkite delivered the news on CBS Television, using an isolated and enclosed soundstage.

However, the expansion to a half-hour for CBS' flagship television newscast came in the mid-1960's.

This half-hour expansion of the flagship televison newscast on CBS in the mid-1960's resulted in the change of its name to the CBS Evening News.

During the Walter Cronkite era, the studio set used by the CBS Evening News featured a desk that was being made in the form of a fishbowl, plus the newsroom and a world map.

WBBM-TV pioneered the concept to present the news regularly from the newsroom in 1973.

McClurg Court, a rink, became a television studio in the mid-1950's, but also a testing ground for the regular newsroom-as-set trend that WBBM-TV had pioneered in 1973 until the early-1990's.

Fred Harpman designed the NewsCentre for NBC in the form of a space-age control room, specifically the bridge of the USS Enterprise, which is used in Star Trek, in 1974.

Banks of monitors that were visible behind the anchors for the NewsCentre, designed for NBC by Fred Harpman, create a sense of being in the middle of a working, technological hub.

As one of the designs by Fred Harpman, NBC's NewsCentre, made à la space-age control room, used a more open, high-tech and futuristic look and was made to have a working newsroom feel.

NBC's NewsCentre, which Fred Harpman designed, revolutionized television news set design, moving away from traditional, isolated and enclosed news sets with the anchor desk behind the curtain.

For Fred Harpman, his NewsCentre for NBC paralleled the open area used in the first studio for Today (NBC) under Dave Garroway.

Dave Garroway was a radio disc jockey and television personality in Chicago, where he pioneered the Chicago Style for his Garroway at Large program, brought to New York through Today (NBC).

Also in Chicago, WBBM-TV pioneered the regular newsroom-as-set trend, based on the working area being used in the first studio for Today (NBC) under Dave Garroway, in 1973.

Studio 6B at 30 Rockefeller Plaza was a testing ground for Fred Harpman's NewsCentre for NBC.

In 1974, Studio 6B at 30 Rock was used for WNBC-TV's NewsCentre 4, but also for the national NBC News broadcasts during the height of the Watergate scandal.

Ever since its 1974 inception, elements of the NewsCentre, designed for NBC by Fred Harpman, have usually been used in the US, but also around the world.

Global, which began its operations in January 1974 as a regional network, with CIII-TV as its flagship station, broke from tradition by using the newsroom-as-set trend, the first of its kind in Canada.

Upon its launch in January 1974, Global used a news studio using elements of the Walter Cronkite-era studio set of the CBS Evening News, including a fishbowl-like desk and a world map backdrop.

81 Barber Greene Road, a factory, became a television studio in 1974, but also a testing ground for the newsroom studio combo for Global, which lasted until 1998.

Also in Canada, BCTV (CHAN-TV) used the newsroom-as-set trend being synonymous with the Tony Parsons era from 1975 to October 4, 2010.

Enterprise Street, which is located in the Lake City Industrial Park, housed a purpose-built building for BCTV, and served as a testing ground for its own innovative newsroom-as-set trend.

Some of the local television stations based in North America often converted existing studio spaces into testing grounds for newsroom-as-set trends, but BCTV built one from scratch.

BCTV's Enterprise Street studios, built from scratch in 1961 and officially opened in 1962, also built its newsroom-as-set trend from scratch in 1975, 13 years after its official 1962 move.

Whereas stations with converted studios as testing grounds for newsroom-as-set trends represented the past, like WBBM-TV and Global (CIII-TV), BCTV's purpose-built one represented the future.

Early adopters of this newsroom-as-set trend, like WBBM-TV and Global (CIII-TV), usually retrofitted older studio spaces.

Those conversions by WBBM-TV and Global (CIII-TV) required squeezing newsrooms into spaces not designed originally for cameras, leading to cramped, noisy or compromise-filled enviroments.

CBS was a model for the newsroom-as-set ttrend by both WBBM-TV and Global (CIII-TV), the latter using the set derivative of the CBS Evening News fishbowl that Walter Cronkite used. 

Purpose-built adopters of the newsroom-as-set trend, such as BCTV, allowed designers to integrate the studio and newsroom from the ground up.

BCTV's specially-made newsroom-as-set trend offered better and more open-concept visuals, improved lighting, superior acoustics and a smoother flow between on-air personnel and journalists.

The newsroom-as-set trend, specially-designed for BCTV (CHAN-TV), made the news studio look less conventional and more like a high-functioning, authentic and professional newsroom.

Cameron Bell, who was formerly the news director for BCTV, was the genius behind the creation of its purpose-built newsroom-as-set trend being synonymous with the Tony Parsons era.

Ray Peters led BCTV through Cameron Bell's creation of its newsroom-as-set trend being synonymous with the Tony Parsons era.

Having been a purpose-built concept, this BCTV newsroom-as-set trend being synonymous with Tony Parsons was unique, as it mixed the newsroom backdrop with multi-monitor control rooms.

For BCTV's purpose-built newsroom set, it felt like a room with desks, but also the nerve centre of the entire British Columbia, indeed BC's command centre.

During the Expo 86 world's fair, BCTV operated a broadcast pavilion.

As the fishbowl version of its own newsroom set, the BCTV pavilion at Expo 86 allowed the public to watch a live newsroom and control room in action through glass.

BCTV's pavilion at Expo 86 further emphasized this newsroom-as-set trend.

For the first years when Tony Parsons was its main news anchor, BCTV used an isolated and enclosed studio set with a blue backdrop, but most of this was concentrated on the newsroom-as-set trend.

In the early-1990's, the BCTV newsroom-as-set trend that Cameron Bell masterminded was rebuilt by moving the news desk out of the studio, but it kept the newsroom as its main backdrop.

Since its longstanding owner WIC was purchased by Canwest Global, BCTV (CHAN-TV) remade this newsroom-as-set trend twice, firstly in September 2001.

While WBBM-TV and Global (CIII-TV) pioneered newsroom-as-set trends in both the US and Canada from converted spaces, BCTV (CHAN-TV) perfected it with its purpose-built one.

Before Roone Arledge turned around the ailing ABC News, both NBC and CBS have maintained more traditional formats in their news presentation, while not entirely plain.

Under Roone Arledge, ABC News put newsroom-as-set trends on the network news map.

During its first 30 years/3 decades, Cable News Network (CNN) had used the newsroom as its primary studio backdrop from its two primary headquarters in Atlanta.

Just before CNN's June 1980 debut, co-founders Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld were trying to find a model for the newsroom-as-set trend.

BCTV (CHAN-TV), which used its newsroom-as-set trend at its purpose-built studios during the Tony Parsons era, was the closest model to the vision of CNN's Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld.

Cameron Bell, supported by Ray Peters, masterminded the creation of the newsroom-as-set trend being purpose-built for BCTV during the Tony Parsons era, which was the basis for CNN's.

Using the Tony Parsons-era BCTV (CHAN-TV) newsroom-as-set trend for CNN, Turner Broadcasting System took over a country club at Techwood Drive in Atlanta called the Progressive Club.

Established in 1913, the Progressive Club is a red brick structure with white columns; its ballroom was renovated to become the first set for CNN, doubling as television's first newsroom to go 24 hours.

Carl "Bunky" Helfrich, who was one of the friends of Ted Turner, adapted many of the elements being used in the Tony Parsons-era BCTV (CHAN-TV) newsroom-as-set trend for CNN.

The Three Musketeers, a group of broadcast technicians coming to SuperStation WTBS from the other Atlanta television stations, were named after the French adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas

For the Three Musketeers group working at SuperStation WTBS, Gene Wright, Jack Ormand and Jack Verner served as their members.

Whilst the Three Musketeers from WTBS built the technical infrastructure for the newsroom-as-set for CNN, Carl "Bunky" Helfrich adapted BCTV's elements under Reese Schonfeld's direction.

Playfully referred to as Kosher Kolumns or the "news kibbutz," the Progressive Club was CNN's first headquarters.

By 1985, years after its June 1, 1980 launch, CNN had outgrown its original Techwood Drive hub, and Ted Turner acquired the Omni International complex in downtown Atlanta from Tom Cousins.

With Ted Turner acquiring this Omni complex, CNN incorporated its BCTV-inspired newsroom-as-set aesthetic on a larger scale.

Seven years after its June 1, 1980 launch, CNN officially completed its relocation to the former Omni complex, which became known as CNN Centre.

Mirroring his earlier feat of turning the Atlanta country club into the BCTV-inspired newsroom-as-set trend for CNN, Carl "Bunky" Helfrich turned the former Omni complex into CNN Centre.

By turning the Omni complex into CNN Centre, Ted Turner revived Atlanta's ailing downtown core.

In 1993, the colours of some of the elements being used in CNN's newsroom set based on BCTV were changed from red to blue.

Just 11 years after its official move to the former Omni complex, CNN renovated its own set in October 1998, still incorporating its BCTV-inspired newsroom-as-set trend.

Rene Lagler supervised the scenic design for this renovated CNN newsroom-as-set trend, whilst Robert Dickinson did its lighting construction.

This October 1998 renovation of CNN's BCTV-inspired newsroom set design was the final pre-digital revolution of its aesthetic before LED-heavy studios came along in May 2010.

For Linden Soles, he bridged the gap between the two channels that shared the same newsroom-as-set trends: BCTV (under Tony Parsons) and CNN (under Tom Johnson).

Studio 7, introduced in May 2010, marked the end of CNN's long-standing signature newsroom-as-set aesthetic.

This setup for CNN's Studio 7 in Atlanta influenced its Washington studio in the early-2010's.

Clickspring Design designed Studio 7 for CNN.

By 2014, as production shifted to New York and Washington, CNN's real Studio 7 was dormant, and it utilized virtual backdrops before abandoning the use for daytime programs.

Jeff Zucker masterminded the brief reinstatement of the newsroom-as-set trends for CNN before Chris Licht removed them permanently.

During the early-to-mid-2020's, both CNN and HLN moved away from CNN Centre and went back to their origins at Techwood Drive.

In June 2025, The Source with Kaitlan Collins moved to Washington D.C. with the newsroom-as-set trend, reinstating CNN's iconic aesthetic.

From its launch in the early-1980's (which came 19 months after the original CNN started), to February 2005, CNN Headline News used a multi-monitor control room-like set.

In 1993, CNN Headline News introduced its constant SportsTicker, and 6 years later, in the late-1990's, CNN Headline News introduced a newsroom-as-set trend to facilitate four watches.

On August 6, 2001, a revamp for CNN Headline News came with an internet-inspired presentation.

Similarly, both BCTV (CHAN-TV) and CNN made obsolete their iconic and famous newsroom-as-set trends in 2010 after the late-2009 departures of both Tony Parsons and Lou Dobbs.

Lou Dobbs left CNN in November 2009, and Tony Parsons later left BCTV (CHAN-TV) in December 2009.

For CNN, its newsroom-as-set trend at its two main Atlanta hubs, inspired by BCTV (CHAN-TV), has become the DNA for 24-hour global television news channels since its 1980 inception.

Roone Arledge and Reese Schonfeld served as masterminds in bringing newsroom-as-set trends to the world through ABC News and CNN.

Studio 33 at the CBS Broadcast Centre served as a testing ground for the Walter Cronkite-era studio set being used for the CBS Evening News until 1986, when it moved 14 studio numbers up.

The Graybar Building, adjoining Grand Central, was the testing ground for the CBS Evening News, the first half-hour evening newscast on network television.

In 1981, after Dan Rather took over the anchor position, the studio set used by Walter Cronkite for the CBS Evening News at Studio 33 was revamped with a world map backdrop.

After moving 14 studios up from 33 in August 1986, the CBS Evening News set was revamped with a world map backdrop recoloured and a deeper blue background.

For the 1990 midterm elections, the CBS Evening News introduced the newsroom-as-set trend, which became permanent during the Gulf War and was revamped in 1996 by BDI.

Plus, the BDI-designed newsroom-as-set trend for the CBS Evening News was similar to CNN.

In South Florida, WSVN has two news studio sets, both built a few months before its 1989 switch: one with a control room backdrop, the other featuring the newsroom.

Not long after, WSVN began building the Newsplex project, bringing two of its 1989 sets together.

Using the CNN-style newsroom-as-set trend, based on BCTV, the WSVN Newsplex is one of the most influential news sets in the world.

Sister station WHDH began using the WSVN format in 1993.

Upon its relocation to 299, CityPulse changed its format to a desk-less open working newsroom.

This desk-less CityPulse newsroom was based on the open-plan area for Today (NBC) from the RCA Exhibition Hall, in turn, the basis for CHUM-City's entire 299 Queen Street West headquarters.

By late-March 1993, when the new Canadian Broadcasting Centre became fully operational, the CBC started using a newsroom-as-set trend for its English-language television assets.

Radio-Canada, the CBC's French-language answer, has used the newsroom trend since the noughties.

However, this newsroom-as-set trend was not new for Radio-Canada, as it was already being used from the mid-1980's to 1989, and in the mid-1990's until 1997.

In Quebec, TVA used a newsroom-as-set trend at Studio N, based on CNN, from the late-1980's to the early-2010's, when it was replaced by an isolated studio designed by AKA Creative Group.

For BCTV, its newsroom-as-set trend became so successful that other television stations across British Columbia began using this format.

CHEK-TV, a sister station to BCTV (CHAN-TV), used the newsroom-as-set trend from 1984 to 1997.

780 Kings Road was a testing ground for CHEK-TV's newsroom-as-set trend from 1984 to 1997.

However, the CHEK-TV newsroom-as-set trend from 1984 to 1997 never reached the similar theatrical scale to BCTV's at Enterprise Street, which is located in the Lake City Industrial Park.

For example, CIVT, CKVU and CIVI are independent-style television stations in British Columbia that used the edgy, flashy and youth-oriented CityPulse newsroom-as-set trend.

Monika Deol, who hosted music-themed programs on CityTV/MuchMusic, was also a news anchor for both CIVT and CKVU, bridging the two stations that shared the same CityPulse trend.

Initially, the New VI (CIVI) used the CityPulse format until Hudson Mack from CHEK-TV came.

Under Hudson Mack, the New VI (CIVI) abandoned the informal CityPulse style and made changes to attract a broader audience, like adding a news anchor desk and a more traditional approach.

Since his arrival, Hudson Mack has revived the credibility and reputation of the New VI (CIVI).

CBUT has also used the newsroom-as-set trend since 2009.

However, the newsroom-as-set trend being used by BCTV (CHAN-TV) from 1975 to 2010 is the gold standard for television news in British Columbia.

Meanwhile, by completing of the March 2013 move of its news operations from Television Centre to Broadcasting House, the BBC began using a newsroom-as-set trend.

However, this newsroom-as-set trend was not new for the BBC's news operation, since it was already being used from the late-1980's until 1993 physically for the Nine O'Clock News.

Some of the complaints for the BBC's late-1980s attempt to do the newsroom-as-set trend for the Nine O'Clock News include flashing computer screens, walking news staff and ringing telephones.

Virtually, the newsroom backdrop was used for the domestic BBC News programs for four years since 1972, and again from the late-1990's to 2013.

During its initial years, ITN was based at Television House at Kingsway in London, which also housed Associated-Rediffusion's administrative headquarters and transmission facilities.

In 1969, ITN relocated to its new headquarters at 48 Wells Street in London's West End.

As for Associated-Rediffusion's successor Thames, it moved to its purpose-built studios and offices at Euston Road.

Upon its move to its new hub at 200 Grays Inn Road designed by Norman Foster, ITN used a working newsroom for its newscasts on ITV until the mid-1990's.

Whereas some news programs from ITN emanated from 200 Grays Inn Road, others like News at Ten (ITV) still emanated from ITN House, based at 48 Wells Street, for a period after its move.

Sky News had used the newsroom-as-set trend from its February 1989 debut to the late-2010's.

John O'Loan masterminded this newsroom-as-set trend for Sky News upon its 1989 launch.

In contrast to the complaints that the BBC had in using the newsroom-as-set trend for the Nine O'Clock News, John O'Loan's Sky News set was slicker, more professional and more polished.

Plus, Sky News used the American-style happy talk format.

October 24, 2005 was when the Sky News Centre, a newsroom-as-set trend that was designed by Jack Morton Worldwide and built by the Janson Design Group and PDG, was introduced.

The newsroom-as-trend for Sky News upon its 1989 launch was influenced by global broadcasters like CNN.

For Australia's three commercial television services, their news operations have enclosed and isolated studio sets comprising of a world map backdrop with a blue hue until the late-1990's.

In late-1985, National Nine News in Melbourne/Victoria broke from tradition with the newsroom-as-set trend, the first of its kind in Australia.

Similar to the newsroom-as-set trend that ABC World News Tonight used during its initial years in New York as its main hub, this trend for National Nine News in Melbourne/Victoria lasted until 1993.

National Nine News in Brisbane/Queensland also began using the newsroom set in the late-1980's.

In 1996, a revamped studio set for National Nine News in Brisbane/Queensland was first used, being similar to the Dan Rather-era CBS Evening News studio designed by BDI, also since 1996.

With the relocation to its new headquarters in Pyrmont in 1997, Ten News in Sydney/New South Wales began using the newsroom-as-set trend.

However, the newsroom-as-set trend was not new for Ten News in Sydney/New South Wales, as it was already being used in the late-1980's as the last one from North Ryde.

During Brisbane's World Expo, Ten News in Brisbane/Queensland used the newsroom-as-set trend.

From the mid-noughties to the mid-2020's, Seven News in Sydney/New South Wales used a street-side studio at Martin Place, based on Studio 1A in Rockefeller Plaza used by Today (NBC).

Televisa began using the newsroom-as-set trend designed by BDI in the mid-noughties.

Based on CNN (and in turn, BCTV), Televisa's own newsroom-as-set trend was part of the newly-built expansion of its Chapultepec headquarters.

However, the newsroom-as-set trend was not new for Televisa, as it was already used shortly after the April 1997 death of Emilio Azcarraga Milmo until 1998 for 24 Horas with Jacobo Zabludovsky.

Plus, Televisa's local stations, like XEWT and XHBC, use the newsroom-as-set trend.

Rival TV Azteca used the newsroom-as-set trend for some Hechos editions from the late-1990's to the noughties.

ECO, which is television's first all-news service in both Latin America and the Hispanic world, used a multi-monitor control room set similar to CNN Headline News.

During the Carlos Menem presidency, newsroom-as-set trends were introduced to Argentina in a more modern and professional manner.

For example, Telenoche (Canal 13), from 1990 to the mid-2010's, used a set featuring a multi-monitor control room as its main backdrop, designed to have a working newsroom feel.

From 1990 to 2002, 24 Horas (TVN) utilized a small newsroom-as-set trend.

Teletrece (UCTV) used the newsroom-as-set trend from the 1990's to the noughties.

However, the newsroom-as-set trend was not new for Teletrece (UCTV), as it was already used for its secondary editions (afternoons/late-nights) during the 1980's.

QAP broke from tradition by using a newsroom-as-set trend, the first of its kind in Colombia.

Based on one for CNN (and in turn, BCTV), the newsroom-as-set trend for QAP conveyed urgency and transparency that other newscasts in Colombia have not.

Since QAP, this newsroom-as-set trend has been used by Colombia's private television services, such as RCN, Caracol and CityTV, the latter being based on the original Toronto version.

From the early-1990's to 2017, Uruguay's Canal 4 used the newsroom-as-set trend called the Centro Monte Carlo de Noticias, translated into English as the Monte Carlo News Centre.

The Centro Monte Carlo De Noticias was based on one for CNN, and in turn, BCTV.

Also in Uruguay, Teledoce utilized newsroom-as-set trends, including the one being based upon CNN International from the late-1990's to the mid-2010's.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese-language answer to Mexico's Televisa, run by Silvio Santos, pioneered the working newsroom-as-set trend through its newscast by Boris Casoy in the late-1980's.

For the newsroom studio set used by the Portuguese-language answer to Televisa, which Silvio Santos owned, it was based on ABC News' Washington hub, with the Walter Cronkite-era news desk.

Earlier on, a national television channel, owned by Jewish businessman Adolpho Bloch, pioneered the physical news studio set featuring a multi-monitor control room as its main backdrop.

The multi-monitor control room set used for Adolpho Bloch's television network was the first in Latin America's largest nation to have a working newsroom feel, made à la CNN.

Oscar Niemayer's modern structure served as the testing ground for the working newsroom feel (which Adolpho Bloch's own television network pioneered).

Vila Guilherme was the testing ground for the newsroom-as-set trend that Silvio Santos' own television network had pioneered.

Incidentally, the two national television networks arose from the first television network in both South America and the Potuguese-speaking world.

TROS Aktua (formerly Aktua-TV) used a newsroom-as-set trend, which was one of the first to do so in Europe, upon its debut in 1974 until 1985.

VTM used newsroom-as-set trends, including one designed by BDI from 1996 to the mid-noughties. 

Until 1984, both Tagesschau (ARD) and Heute (ZDF) held a national duopoly on the German television news landscape.

However, PKS/Sat.1 broke from tradition by using the newsroom-as-set trend made in cooperation with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).

Sat.1, which began in 1984 as the first private television station in Germany on a national basis, put the newsroom-as-set trend on the television map of the DACH region.

Zeit Im Bild (ORF) and Tagesschau (SF DRS) have both used studio sets with the open newsroom as a backdrop during the mid-1980's, the earlier starting in 1984, the latter in 1985.

Whilst Sat.1 aired short newscasts, in cooperation with the FAZ newspaper, upon its 1984 launch, RTL Plus aired 7 Vor 7, the first long-form newscast within Germany's private television sector.

ProSieben utilized the newsroom-as-set trend based on WSVN (and in turn, CNN and BCTV) for three years since 1996.

In August 1986, Aktuellt (SVT) began using the newsroom-as-set trend, the first to do so in the Nordic region (but on a temporary basis).

Nyhetshuset was a testing ground for the newsroom-as-set trend for Aktuellt (SVT).

This newsroom-as-set trend for Aktuellt (SVT) became a permanent one with the debut of ABC, which formerly used to be a regional newscast covering Stockholm and Uppsala.

For Aktuellt (SVT), the permanent newsroom-as-set trend setup lasted until September 2001.

Since its debut in September 1990, TV4 (Sweden) had used the newsroom as a studio backdrop from its two primary headquarters in Stockholm, influenced by global news like CNN and BCTV.

A property based in Storangsbotten in Stockholm became a television studio, but also served as a testing ground for the first ever newsroom studio set for TV4 from September 1990 to May 1996.

Besides, TV2 (Denmark), TV2 (Norway) and MTV3 (Finland) are the other privately-owned television channels in the Nordics that use the newsroom-as-set trends.

For TV2 (Denmark), its newsroom-as-set trend has been consistent since its late-1980's launch. 

Meanwhile, TV2 (Norway) used the newsroom-as-set trend briefly upon its launch, but was covered in 1993 and returned physically in the mid-noughties, virtually in 2013 and physically in 2017.

On the other hand, MTV3 (Finland) used the real newsroom-as-set trend from 1993 to the late-2010's.

Rediffusion (Hong Kong) was a pioneering broadcaster, and used a newsroom-as-set trend, styled after American networks (specifically ABC), the first in East Asia.

In the mid-1980's era, NHK General TV began using the newsroom-as-set trend for News Centre 9, the first of its kind in Japan, which lasted until its demise in the late-1980's.

This newsroom-as-set trend for NHK's NC9 program was styled after American networks.

During this period, Taro Kimura, born in the United States, and Midori Miyazaki, who formerly did the weather forecasts for this program, anchored NC9 from the newsroom.

Meanwhile, in 1985, All-Nippon News Network (ANN) began using the newsroom-as-set trend, which was based on one for CNN (and in turn, BCTV).

The Ark Broadcasting Centre, to which ANN moved in 1985, was the testing ground for the innovative newsroom-as-set trend within Japan's commercial television sector.

Even with its move to Roppongi Hills, ANN still used the CNN-style newsroom-as-set trend.

Whereas NHK was a pioneer in using the newsroom-as-set trend for News Centre 9, TV Asahi's News Station did the same, but within the commercial television sector.

News Station's launch stemmed from Japan Cable Television, which TV Asahi partly owned, striking a deal with CNN, back in the early-1980's.

JCTV's deal with CNN led to the latter's official introduction to Japan in 1984.

In 1998, a year after its relocation to Odaiba in March 1997, Fuji News Network (FNN) began to use a CNN-style newsroom-as-set trend, lasting until 2013.

Kenzo Tange's ultramodern building served as the testing ground for the newsroom-as-set trend, which FNN used.

Meanwhile, Nippon News Network (NNN) used the CNN-style newsroom-as-set trend, not simply for Plus 1 in its last years, but also for its Real Time program in its first years.

NHK Japan-World opened its headquarters in New York in spring 2021, utilizing the newsroom-as-set trend that Provost Design had created.

Also in the 1980's, with colour, KBS' news division began using newsroom-as-set trends.

Still in South Korea, MBC used the newsroom-as-set trend similar to the BDI-designed CBS Evening News set, which lasted during the first half of the noughties.

In the Philippines, ABS-CBN has earned its reputation for offering TV Patrol, a tabloid-like newscast revolutionizing Filipino television news.

Before TV Patrol, Filipino television news had English-language newscasts in a broadsheet format.

With TV Patrol, Filipino television news was in Tagalog in a sensationalized tabloid manner, similar to tabloid newspapers and radio news (specifically Radyo Patrol).

iTV, which was the first television service to be operated independently on the UHF band in Thailand, broke from tradition by adopting the CNN-style newsroom-as-set trend upon its 1996 launch.

Central European Media Enterprises (CME) is a media company initially using American roots.

Led by former US ambassadors Ronald Lauder and Mark Palmer, CME has been a pioneer in bringing Western-influenced (Western European and American) media principles to the Eastern Bloc.

For CME, it facilitates the Eastern Bloc's television modernization by mixing Western-style television presentation (specifically American and Hollywood) with local Eastern content.

Plus, CME exports Western management and marketing strategies to the Eastern Bloc.

Since 2020, CME has been run by the PFF Group, a multinational investment group founded by Czech businessman Petr Kellner, breaking from its American ties.

The Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC) is the first and leading private television channel in the Arabic-speaking world.

Initially based in London, MBC has been a pioneer in bringing Western-style (Western European and American) media principles to the Arab world.

MBC facilitates the modernization of television in the Arab world by mixing Western-style television presentation (specifically American and Hollywood) with local Arab content, similar to CME.

Plus, like CME, MBC exports Western management and marketing strategies to the Arab world.

Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, a Saudi businessman who was educated in the United States, launched MBC as part of his ARAvision group.

London had freedom of press and a neutral and independent territory, so it was MBC's first location.

Both CME and MBC are pioneers in bringing Western media principles to the two emerging markets in Eurasia, turning them into pluralistic, commercially-driven media economies.

Sam Barnett, who worked at MBC Group from 2002 to 2025 (14 as its CEO), also works at CME.

For Sam Barnett, he bridges both the CME and MBC companies, which, from their early period in the 1990's, facilitated television's modernization in both the Eastern Bloc and the Arab world.

During the Cold War, television in Eastern Europe was staid.

With the television channels held by CME, television in Eastern Europe was modernized by adopting newsroom-as-set trends based on CNN.

Ronald Lauder and Mark Palmer were CME's American-born co-founders who utilized Western-made broadcast technology, infrastructure and expertise previously unused in Eastern Europe.

Prior to CNN's innovative coverage of the first Gulf War, television stations across the Arab world have used isolated and enclosed news studio sets.

Spurred by CNN's coverage of the first Gulf War, private television channels in the Arab world, such as MBC, adopted newsroom-as-set trends based on CNN.

Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, a Saudi businessman educated in the United States, to begin MBC as part of his ARAvision group.

London had freedom of press and a neutral and independent territory, so it was MBC's first location.

London, which served as the primary base for MBC until 2002, was a testing ground for Western-made broadcast technology, infrastructure and expertise previously unused in the Arab world.

Dubai Media City was MBC's second base from 2002 to 2022, with Saudi Arabia as its third base.

For most of its run at Dubai Media City, MBC used the CNN-style newsroom-as-set trend.

Al-Arabiya, which is MBC's sister channel, also used the similar CNN-style newsroom-as-set trend as MBC from its launch around the Iraqi War until 2020.

Clickspring Design renovated MBC's CNN-style newsroom-as-set trend at Dubai Media City in 2017, which blended Islamic-inspired design elements with modern technology.

Meanwhile, Clickspring Design made Al-Arabiya's studio in 2020.

This newsroom-as-set trend was not new for MBC, however, as it was already being used, while at its London studios, starting in the mid-1990's.

Robert Wiener and Eason Jordan installed a link from Baghdad to CNN during the first Gulf War.

The trio that comprised Bernard Shaw, Peter Arnett and John Holliman brought CNN to unprecedented success and popularity during Operation Desert Storm, due to Robert Wiener's telephone link.

Peter Arnett was the sole CNN voice from Al-Rashid after Bernard Shaw and John Holliman left.

Beyond North America, CNN International distributed the American counterpart's coverage of the first Gulf War to many other countries around the world.

Besides, Al-Jazeera, in its original Arabic iteration, used newsroom-as-set trends for news updates; its main studio was isolated.

During the mid-2010's, Al-Jazeera's original version began using the newsroom as its main backdrop at Studio 5; Veech x Veech designed this one for Al-Jazeera's original version.

For its 25th anniversary, in 2021, Al-Jazeera's Studio 5 was renovated by Clickspring Design.

In its English-language version, Al-Jazeera has consistently used the newsroom-as-set trend from its primary Doha headquarters since its launch.

BBC Arabic Television used the newsroom-as-set trend physically from 2008 to 2013.

Sky News Arabia, like its original British version, has used the newsroom-as-set trend for most of the 2010's decade, which BDA designed.

The Abu Dhabi Media Centre at its twofour54 SEZ was the testing ground for Sky News Arabia.

Dubai Media Inc. had its own Dubai News Centre at Dubai Media City, which BDI designed.

For the Dubai News Centre at Dubai Media City, it is one of the most sophisticated newsrooms in the Middle East, based on one for CNN.

Abu Dhabi TV used a newsroom-as-set trend being designed by British-based Shaun Moore Design during the mid-noughties.

Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Future News and Murr Television (MTV) used CNN-style newsroom-as-set trends, both starting in the late-noughties.

During its initial years, Vesti on RTR/Russia-1 came from the Ostankino Technical Centre, featuring an enclosed and isolated studio set with a world map backdrop.

However, Ostankino suffered damage, which meant that Vesti (Russia-1) came from a makeshift studio with a plain backdrop, during the 1993 events.

Even after the 1993 events, and even with a new look, featuring its high-end opening sequence and its different backdrop, Vesti on RTR/Russia-1 still came from Ostankino.

Some months after the 1993 events, Vesti (Russia-1) moved from Ostankino to a different location.

At Yamskoye Pole, Vesti (Russia-1) had a newsroom-as-set trend, the first of its kind in Russia.

In joint cooperation with the Dutch, this newsroom-as-set trend for Vesti (Russia-1) demonstrated a worldwide influence on its design.

Based on one for CNN, and in turn, BCTV, this newsroom-as-set trend for Vesti (Russia-1) conveyed urgency and transparency that other newscasts in post-Soviet Russia have not.

Tele-Scena remodeled the Vesti newsroom-as-set trend in the mid-noughties.

Khreshchatyk Street, based in central Kyiv, once housed a radio and television studio during the Soviet period from the early-1950's to the early-1990's, when public television moved to the Pencil.

During its post-Soviet era, the Pencil housed public television in the Ukraine (with Khreshchatyk as its secondary hub).

March 9, 1996, which was the birthday of Taras Shevenchenko and the day after International Women's Day, was when a fire broke out at a radio and television studio at Khreshchatyk.

In late-2021, even before the break-out of the Russo-Ukrainian war in February 2022, Suspilne revived and modernized Khreshchatyk by introducing a modern newsroom-as-set trend.

This newsroom-as-set trend being developed for Suspilne at Khreshchatyk Street (influenced by global broadcasters like CNN) is called NewsHouse 2.0.

Housing the main television studio for NewsHouse 2.0 for Suspilne at Khreshchatyk is a glass cube.

Designing NewsHouse 2.0 for Suspilne at Khreshchatyk was a design team led by Slava Balbek.

With NewsHouse 2.0, Suspilne became the Ukraine's main source for accurate and unbiased news and information during the Russo-Ukrainian war.

NewsHouse 2.0, developed for Suspilne, serves as a collaboration between partners, like BBC Media Action and DW Akademie with funding from the European Union.

Having started at the dawn of the nation's post-communist and democratic era, Panorama (TVP2) had utilized the newsroom-as-set trend, the first of its kind in Poland, but via chroma key.

Not long after, Wiadomosci (TVP1) used the newsroom-as-set trend on a physical level.

Earlier on, Teleexpress used a multi-monitor control room set, emphasizing its fast-paced approach.

RCTI, as Indonesia's first private television channel, countered TVRI's state-run news formula with its dynamic, American-style news aesthetic.

Some elements shaping RCTI's American-influenced news style included a news set, which featured a multi-monitor control room backdrop, plus live reports, dynamic graphics and modern music.

Having lasted from late-August 1993 to around 2005, the RCTI news set, with a multi-monitor control room backdrop, was the first in Indonesia to have a working newsroom feel, made à la CNN.

Kebon Jeruk was a testing ground for this working newsroom feel, which RCTI had pioneered.

Initially, Seputar Indonesia used a studio set with a blue backdrop and the name, whilst Buletin Malam used a skyline backdrop via chroma key.

The late-August 1993 revamp led to the launch of the multi-monitor control room news set for RCTI.

What shaped RCTI's American-influenced approach as a counterweight to TVRI was the strategy being honed by Pete Langlois, who, for 11 years, was the news director at KCRA-TV.

SCTV, with its 2008 move to the SCTV Tower, located in the Senayan City complex, started using the newsroom-as-set trend on a larger physical level.

Plus, NET. has used the physical CNN-style newsroom-as-set trend, which BDI designed, since 2013.

Before RCTI and other private channels, TVRI had used enclosed and isolated news studio sets, with a world map backdrop as a authoritative symbol, either via chroma key or physically.

Not until the post-1998 reform period did Indonesian television, including TVRI, undertake significant restructuring towards true editorial independence.

On December 14, 2017, VTC broke from tradition by introducing a real and physical newsroom-as-set trend, which was the first of its kind in Vietnam.

Many Vietnamese television services, like VTV, have utilized traditional and enclosed news sets, either physical or virtual, for years.

This physical VTC newsroom set, inspired by global news broadcasters, like CNN and the BBC, lasted from December 2017 until the January 2025 shutdown of its digital television services.

Whether on ABC Sports, ABC News, CNN, ESPN or many other TV channels all over the world, the innovations by Roone Arledge take news and sports to a cinematic level.