Newsroom-as-set trends

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.

Dave Garroway, who used to be a radio disc jockey on WMAQ-AM in Chicago, moved to the nascent television industry with his eponymous program called Garroway at Large in 1949.

Garroway at Large notably revolutionized television presentation under Dave Garroway.

Saturday is the usual day on which Garroway at Large, which Dave Garroway hosted, was seen on the NBC television network (and later, on Sundays and Fridays).

When regular commercial television operations began in New York, many programs have incorporated theatrical proscenium concepts, separating the stage from the audience area.

After WWII, some programs came from Chicago, where Dave Garroway was a DJ on WMAQ-AM.

For his own Garroway at Large television program, Dave Garroway defied television's early theatrical conventions for a more casual approach in which the reality of the studio was acknowledged.

Using one camera, Dave Garroway walked around large studios and simple abstract sets as he directly talked to guests and television viewers for Garroway at Large.

Having originated from Chicago, Dave Garroway's eponymous Garroway at Large television program pioneered an informal presentation style, which was at odds with New York-centric programs.

The Chicago Style (used in Dave Garroway's eponymous Garroway at Large program) was developed further through his other innovative program called Today (NBC).

During its initial years, Today (NBC) emanated from the RCA Exhibition Hall.

In the first studio used for Today (NBC) from the RCA Exhibition Hall was an ultramodern open-plan working area with teletypes, wall clocks and workstations all visible (and audible) on the air.

The official name of this working area included in this first studio ever used for Today (NBC) from the RCA Exhibition Hall was the World Communications Centre.

Many people all around the United States described this open-plan working area in the first studio ever utilized for Today (NBC) from the RCA Exhibition Hall as television's command centre.

Plus, this open-plan working area in the first studio ever used for NBC's Today program from the RCA Exhibition Hall was described by Dave Garroway as "the nerve centre of the world."

For the open newsroom included in the first ever studio being utilized for Today (NBC) from the RCA Exhibition Hall, it bridged the gap between backstage and on-stage.

Based at Rockefeller Plaza and West 49th Street in New York's Midtown Manhattan portion, the RCA Exhibition Hall was down the block from the current studio used for Today (NBC).

Over the years, this working area in the first studio for NBC's Today program emanating from the RCA Exhibition Hall has become working newsrooms, though not as immersive as its original space.

Instead, working television newsrooms are usually placed directly behind the news anchor desk, with a physical or a imaginary divider between the studio and newsroom area.

Layouts for working television newsrooms include glass separating them from the broadcast area.

However, designs placing news anchors in the middle of the newsroom have been used by numerous programs over the years - in varying degrees.

In addition, numerous other news studios include smaller, scaled down work areas seen on camera.

TV stations also feature camera positions placed inside newsrooms named flash cams; they are used for live reports/updates, as well as prerecorded teases and promos.

Newsrooms are used by television stations as temporary news sets, because enclosed and isolated news studios are being renovated or updated with a new set or equipment.

A similar idea is also often used for working weather centres in modern television studio sets.

When NBC's Today program started in the 1950's, weather centres did not utilize chroma key, since it requires, by definition, colour cameras.

Upon its debut in early-1950's, NBC's Today program utilized panels, with printed maps, handwritten notations and movable cutout pieces to symbolize weather conditions.

On many local news studio sets, the weather team works in the studio from built-in workstations and video panels, while usually starting/ending their weather reports from in front of a working area.

Many weather centres use a desk or pod allowing weather forecasters to appear on screen, facing the camera, while also viewing computer monitors and manipulating graphics/maps in realtime.

Street-level and windowed studios, meanwhile, are still used from now on.

Technically, all Big Three networks have their morning newscasts from street-level studio sets.

Local US television stations also have street-level and windowed studios, though they often serve as secondary sets or double as a satellite operation for the station's main newsroom.

In many ways, however, street-side studios are public showcases for local television stations.

Many of these street-level and windowed studios feature sets, built inside of a traditional windowless studio and having looked much indifferent for all intents and purposes.

Besides, modern and efficient news tickers seen on television were not launched until 1993, nor fully popularized until September 2001.

The news ticker being used when Today (NBC) began was an actual piece of paper with typewritten headlines superimposed on the lower third of the screen.

For Dave Garroway, his television programs, including Garroway at Large and Today, have developed many innovations that reshaped television.

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

Plus, the first studio ever built for Today (NBC) from the RCA Exhibition Hall had influenced modern broadcast design, like the newsroom and the windowed concept in downtown cores.

WBBM-TV pioneered the concept of delivering the newscasts from the newsroom on a regular basis in early-1973.

KCBS-TV followed WBBM-TV's example in 1973.

Starting in 1973, both WBBM-TV and KCBS-TV used the newsroom-as-set trends, the earlier lasting longer than KCBS-TV.

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.

Columbia Square, a radio studio, also housed the KCBS-TV newsroom studio based on WBBM-TV.

Just before its half-hour expansion, Walter Cronkite and the News used an isolated soundstage.

During the Walter Cronkite era, the CBS Evening News used the studio with a fishbowl-like desk, the newsroom and a world map.

In the late-1960's, a chroma key backdrop was added, replaced by a box over the shoulder in 1977.

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.

NBC innovated a futuristic, space-age, multi-monitor control room-like studio set for NewsCentre.

Ever since its inception in 1974, elements of the futuristic, space-age, multi-monitor control room-like studio set for NBC's NewsCentre concept have been used.

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, lasting from 1975 until September 20, 2010, nine months after his last News Hour.

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.

While some other television stations used converted studios as testing grounds for the newsroom-as-set trends, BCTV used a more innovative and purpose-built one.

For Expo 86, BCTV operated a broadcast pavilion, further emphasizing this newsroom-as-set trend.

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, CNN had used the newsroom as a studio backdrop from its two main hubs 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 backdrop being used for its first studio set.

Some of the local television stations in North America, like WBBM-TV, were early testing grounds for CNN's first studio set, doubling as its innovative 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 main inspiration for CNN's first studio set and its newsroom-as-set trend.

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 newsroom-as-set trend for CNN.

Carl "Bunky" Helfrich, a friend of Ted Turner, adapted the BCTV newsroom studio elements for CNN.

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 established at its original hub.

Not until the late-1980's did CNN officially move to the Omni complex, which became CNN Centre.

Eleven years after its official move to this former Omni complex, in October 1998, CNN renovated its studio set, but still incorporated its BCTV-inspired newsroom-as-set trend.

Rene Lagler supervised the scenic design for the renovated CNN newsroom studio, which lasted from October 1998 until May 2010, and Robert Dickinson did its lighting construction.

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.

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

The newsroom-as-set trend was pioneered by Today (NBC) under Dave Garroway (who was a former radio disc jockey in Chicago, where WBBM-TV also pioneered this trend on a regular basis).

Later, the newsroom-as-set trend was popularized, refined and cemented by ABC News (under Roone Arledge) and CNN.

In turn, the newsroom-as-set trend for CNN during its first 30 years was based on BCTV.

Before ABC News (under Roone Arledge) and CNN, network newscasts featured a solo anchor being seated at the news desk; sets were isolated, with a logo or simple backdrop behind the host.

With ABC News (under Roone Arledge) and CNN, the busy newsroom was a solver to this format.

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.

But in the mid-1990's, WSVN began building the Newsplex project, bringing two sets together.

Having taken cues from the newsroom studio used by CNN, based on BCTV, the WSVN Newsplex is characterized by its fast-paced approach, bold graphics, techno music and on-screen visuals.

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.

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

The newsroom studio is not new for BBC News, however, as it was already used from the late-1980's period 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, who arrived from Australia, built 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.

October 24, 2005 was when the Sky News Centre was unveiled, designed by Jack Morton Worldwide.

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.

The newsroom studio is not new for Ten News in Sydney/New South Wales, however, as it was already utilized 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.

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 control room set similar to CNN Headline News.

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 futuristic space-age control room-like news set, based on one for NBC's NewsCentre brand.

Adolpho Bloch's former national television service broke from tradition by using the newsroom-as-set trend, the first of its kind in this Portuguese-language nation.

Oscar Neimayer's modern structure served as the testing ground for the newsroom-as-set trend, which Adolpho Bloch's own television network used.

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

During its first 12 years, 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 the newsroom-as-set trend, the first of its kind in Colombia.

Based upon the newsroom-as-set trend for CNN, in turn, inspired by BCTV, the newsroom-as-set trend made for QAP conveyed urgency and transparency that other newscasts in Colombia have not.

Since QAP, the newsroom-as-set trend has usually been used by privately-owned television channels in Colombia, like 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 CNN, in turn, inspired by BCTV.

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

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 studios, including one designed by BDI from 1996 to the mid-noughties. 

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.

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 amd physically in 2017.

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

24 Ur (Pop TV) used a newsroom-as-set trend upon its debut in the mid-1990's, the first of its kind in a former Yugoslav nation, based on CNN, and in turn, BCTV.

Rediffusion (Hong Kong) was a pioneering broadcaster, and used a newsroom-as-set trend, styled after American networks, 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 based on CNN, and in turn, BCTV.

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 studio, which lasted during the first half of the noughties.

ITV, which was the first television service to be operated independently on the UHF band in Thailand, adopted the newsroom-as-set trend, based on CNN, in the mid-1990's.

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.

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.

During its first 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, during the 1993 events, the Ostankino Technical Centre suffered damage, which meant that Vesti on RTR/Russia-1 emanated from a makeshift studio with a plain backdrop.

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 the Ostankino Technical Centre.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.