Over the years, the boundless room inside the RCA Exhibition Hall, the first Today (NBC) studio, has become working television newsrooms/bullpens, although not as immersive as its original space.
Newsrooms/bullpens are often placed directly behind the television news desk instead.
NBC pioneered the newsroom/bullpen as a usual television studio set feature under Dave Garroway.
CBS popularized the newsroom/bullpen as a studio feature frequently being used for serious television journalism under Walter Cronkite, whether in the evening newscasts or political events.
Local CBS stations also introduced the newsroom/bullpen as a usual studio feature in 1973.
This newsroom/bullpen was adapted from Today (NBC) for CBS Television's US presidential election coverage in the early-1950's; the contest pitted Dwight D. Eisenhower against Adlai Stevenson II.
Due to its half-hour expansion in the mid-1960's, the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite started using the newsroom/bullpen, also used for election coverage since the early-1950's.
Under Walter Cronkite, the CBS Evening News used a studio set being created by Hugh Raisky, which included the newsroom, from Studio 33 at West 57th in New York until August 1986.
In addition to Studio 33, housing the CBS Evening News, Hugh Raisky also designed a set for election coverage, also with the newsroom, from Studio 41 at the same West 57th location.
Studio 41 was the nerve centre for CBS News' US presidential election coverage until the late-1980's.
Just before West 57th, the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite briefly emanated from the Graybar Building on its 29th floor, which also had the newsroom/bullpen, due to its half-hour expansion.
During this brief Graybar period, the studio set of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite used a chalkboard.
Plus, the 29th floor of the Graybar Building, which briefly housed the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, was used when John F. Kennedy's death was announced.
81 days prior to his death, John F. Kennedy was ironically interviewed by Walter Cronkite for the first half-hour edition of the CBS Evening News.
With its relocation from Graybar to West 57th, the chalkboard being utilized in the CBS Evening News studio set was replaced by a modern wall lined with teletypes.
Norelco, a brand from the Dutch-based Philips Corporation, used PC-60 cameras with the move to the CBS Broadcast Centre at West 57th.
Plus, the CBS Broadcast Centre innovated dual computer automation, control rooms featuring 2 video switchers in one console matrix and column-free architecture.
Besides Philips, the Netherlands is also a nation in Western Europe where famous musicians Meyer De Wolfe and Jan Stoeckart were born.
Horizontal Hold, which Jan Stoeckart, under the pseudonym Jack Trombey, had made for a music label founded by fellow Dutchman Meyer De Wolfe, is used for the NFL Today on CBS.
Super Bowl X is when Horizontal Hold was first used for CBS' NFL coverage.
The 1981 NFL season is when Horizontal Hold was remixed in a punchier iteration, and again in Super Bowl XVIII in January 1984.
Whereas NBC pioneered the newsroom/bullpen element in the form of a street-level location, CBS also pioneered this trend, but permanently with a windowless studio twist.
In addition to the national CBS News broadcasts, Hugh Raisky also incorporated the newsroom/bullpen element, but on a local/regional basis, in 1973, with WBBM-TV as the first.
Search/Probe (1972-1973) uses the Probe Control Centre, a high-tech, NASA-like nerve centre.
The Probe Control Centre, which Fred Harpman made for Search/Probe (1972-1973) on NBC, was the direct inspiration for his studio set design for this network called the NewsCentre.
Fred Harpman's NewsCentre design is also based upon his nerve centre design being used in the 1966 science fiction adventure film Fantastic Voyage, for which he is assistant art director.
CMDF's nerve centre uses its high-tech and futuristic feel for Fantastic Voyage (1966).
Rooted in Hollywood's science fiction genre, Fred Harpman's high-tech and cinematic NewsCentre set design was a radical departure from the austere news set designs.
Plus, Fred Harpman's high-tech and cinematic NewsCentre studio design mirrored the boundless room inside the RCA Exhibition Hall for Today (NBC) under Dave Garroway.
WNBC-TV is the first station to use Fred Harpman's high-tech and cinematic NewsCentre design.
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 when the Watergate scandal reached its climax.
Using architectural geometry, angled desks and glass partitions, Fred Harpman's NewsCentre set design contrasts with traditional ones whose framing was flat, shallow and two-dimensional.
Besides, the NewsCentre design by Fred Harpman features NASA-like banks of active video feeds/data monitors.
In addition, mezzanine/stairs also add to Fred Harpman's NewsCentre design.
December 12, 1973 is when WNBC-TV announced that its own movie block called Movie 4 would be cancelled on April 26, 1974 as part of its plans for a 2-hour newscast called NewsCentre 4.
April 29, 1974 is when WNBC-TV launched NewsCentre 4.
Just before the launch of WNBC-TV's NewsCentre 4 on April 29, 1974, Chuck Scarborough arrived in New York from WNAC-TV in Boston, where he did his final newscast there on March 8, 1974.
Having been described by many as an industrial factory workshop being created for the television news scene, Fred Harpman's NewsCentre design, which NBC commissioned in 1974, has 5 areas:
- The main anchor desk: The main presentation area in which the main news anchors offer nightly and breaking news
- The weather centre: A dedicated station filled/equipped with meteorology skills, maps and radar systems for reporting on a local level
- The sports desk: A specialized area for sportscasters to offer highlights and athletic scores
- The mini-studio/interview area: A secondary (and flexible) place used for live one-on-one guest segments and specialized feature reports
- The active newsroom (Assignment Desk): An exposed backdrop with working journalists, wire machines and editors, emphasizing transparency and a flow of real-time information
Plus, Fred Harpman's NewsCentre design paralleled the borderless room being located inside the RCA Exhibition Hall for Today (NBC) under Dave Garroway.
So successful was the NewsCentre philosophy, in branding, visuals and design, which WNBC-TV had originated, that NBC's other owned-and-operated television stations began using this one.
NBC commissioned modular clones of its NewsCentre design by Fred Harpman.
In Chicago, in a poetic twist of television history, this NewsCentre traces back to Dave Garroway's old stomping grounds: the Merchandise Mart, from which Garroway at Large was presented.
WMAQ-TV used the NewsCentre as a multi-tiered and active newsroom atmosphere that proved news reporting in the Midwest in an industrial and fast-paced nature.
Besides, Fred Harpman's NewsCentre (via WMAQ-TV) was a cinematic alternative to Hugh Raisky's gritty studio with a regular newsroom backdrop (via rival WBBM-TV).
Victor Paganuzzi, in response to Fred Harpman's cinematic NewsCentre, remade Studio 41 at the CBS Broadcast Centre in New York for its election coverage from 1974 to the late-1980's.
In the pre-Watergate era, Studio 41 at the CBS Broadcast Centre, housing its election coverage, used a plain backdrop with the bullpen feature.
However, Watergate caused Studio 41 at the CBS Broadcast Centre to be recreated: by adding monitor banks and plexiglass, using the undertones of the NewsCentre (NBC) by Fred Harpman.
Physical/imaginary dividers between the television news studio and the newsroom are used, including glass/plexiglass separating them from the broadcast area.
However, studio set designs that place news anchors in the middle of the newsroom/bullpen have been utilized by numerous programs over the years - in varying degrees.
CNN used a variant of the newsroom/bullpen trend pioneered by Dave Garroway for Today (NBC) and popularized by Walter Cronkite for the national political and evening news broadcasts on CBS.
Incidentally, NBC has news anchor Mary Alice Williams and technician Jim Kitchell, both individuals being involved with CNN's June 1, 1980 launch.
Robert Wussler, Daniel Schorr, Bernard Shaw and Sam Zelman are CBS-associated legends also being involved with CNN's June 1, 1980 launch.
Whereas the Big Three networks used the newsroom/bullpen as background prop for 30 or 60 minutes every day, CNN used it around the clock.
On the other hand, numerous other news studios include smaller 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).
Street-side and windowed television studios, which Today (NBC) pioneered, are still being used.
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, although 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 street-side and windowed studios have studio sets being 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) started was an actual piece of paper with typewritten headlines superimposed on the lower third of the screen.
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 starting/ending their weather details from behind a working area.
Weather Central and ColourGraphics are innovators in televised weather graphics.
Terry Kelly, who was the chief meteorologist at WKOW from 1974 to 1985, was also the mastermind behind both Weather Central and ColourGraphics.
Just before both Weather Central and ColourGraphics, meteorologists used stickers being placed onto magnetic boards or grease pencils on plexiglass.
With both Weather Central and ColourGraphics, weather graphics on TV improved.
During Terry Kelly's 11-year tenure as its chief meteorologist, WKOW was owned by both Horizon Communications and Liberty Television.
Terry Kelly's 1985 departure from WKOW coincided with its acquisition by Tak Communications.
For Tak Communications, it was run by its namesake Sharad K. Tak.
Born in the Indian state of Rajasthan, Sharad K. Tak is based in the United States.
