Probably the best-known name is the news business, CNN has been fast to adopt new technology and put it to good use. It seems during the last election there was more use of video wall screens than any other network- they must have had 5 different anchors, each using a different wall, which display some type of cool graph, chart, or other interesting number to help illustrate whatever point it was that they were trying to get across. And this brings up a good point- that you can use these video walls to really help drive home a message. CNN is the master at this.
Fox News, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s powerful News Corp., is another very well known news network that uses a video wall display to help get a message across to anxious viewers. Seen here is their Washington studio, where they have a giant display behind the news desk, along with multiple other smaller monitors that are used to display various information. But if you check out their other studios you’ll see that they used synchronized monitors to help create a powerful display behind the anchor. Pictured here is the Fox and Friends New York studio:
You’ll notice that they’ve designed these video screens to stand upright, and display their logo when they aren’t being used to display news imagery. And here is yet another image of the Fox News Studio, where they use a powerful image cube that displays information regarding the news story that they are covering. This creates a somewhat artsy feel to the studio too, which is kind of cool. It really breaks up the monotony of the typical news story, it makes it much more entertaining to watch, which is what the modern 24 hour news station is going for, as opposed to the old school evening news. There’s definitely an entertainment fact involved in modern news broadcasts.
If you look at the image below here and think, “Wow, MSNBC is all business” then I’d have to agree with you. They use one large screen behind their anchors here to help create a depth to their stories, but it certainly lacks that artsy visually pleasing appeal that you’ve probably noticed in some of the pictures from the other 24 hours news network. Don’t worry though, I’m sure they’ve done the market research to know that this what their audience is looking for when they watch their news
programs. And if you look at this image, it almost looks like the polar opposite to what we saw above, as this is very artsy, warm and welcoming video wall that creates a lighted backdrop for the anchors, more than just displaying a story. They’ve used multiple custom monitors to create a puzzle effect, which I don’t you’re going to find on any other news network.
The CBS studio in New York reminds me much more of the traditional newsroom that we grew up seeing, with a single long desk for anchors. Immediately next to the desk you’ll notice large video screen for stories delivered with the anchor standing. This is a high impact, high-resolution screen that undoubtedly packs a punch when the anchor is delivering a news story. The fact that this is the only screen visible on set really echoes CBS’s desire to keep their set simple, minimalistic if you will.
I can remember watching ABC news with Peter Jennings when I was a kid, and he always had a wall of screens behind him. The newsroom looked big and busy. On the outside of ABC’s studio in New York, there is very much activity taking place, with a large screen and scrolling news wire.
Inside is no different either, with ABC taking the seemingly opposite approach of their CBS counterparts; they’ve used a large wall of mega-screens that sits behind the anchors. Each anchor has their own screen that seems to swallow them up whole. These screens are very powerful and add a lot to any news story, without question.
Probably one of the best-known studios in the world is 30 Rockefeller Place New York, NY- the Rainbow Room at NBC. That distinct sign outside is hard to miss and is something that Tourist in the New York area always wants to see. But the inside of the studio is common in many homes as well, as NBC is a popular news station. They’ve changed their studio many times, but all of the most recent updates include large video walls that are part of that change.
But it’s not just the major news networks that are using large video screens inside their studios. Pictured below is a CBS affiliate station in California that almost mimics their national news counterpart with a single large screen sitting directly behind the anchor as she delivers the morning news.
As you can see these types of video walls are popping up all over the place in newsrooms. Here and abroad, national and local, this has become a powerful way to add powerful imagery to the news we all watch. And it’s only going to get better, I have no doubt, because as the technology of large video walls continues to improve, so will the imagery that news networks and stations are able to use within their studios. It likely won’t be long until hologram technology has taken over and the screens transport anchors the actual scene of the news story. But until then we have high-impact and high resolution images that will help get the stories across better than any other time in history, so get enjoy it.
