Face the Nation and Evening News Sets
The challenge? To create an ultra-modern scenic design that showcased CBS on the cutting edge of news and politics reporting while being flexible enough to serve two (or more) shows with different base audiences and requiring a different look and feel.
Just a year after Jack Morton’s successful scenic design of CBS’s Face the Nation studio in Washington DC, the network contacted the team to revitalize the studio once again to make it the home for both Face the Nation and Evening News. The challenge? To create an ultra-modern scenic design that showcased CBS on the cutting edge of news and politics reporting while being flexible enough to serve two (or more) shows with different base audiences and requiring a different look and feel.
CBS’s new studio hits all the right notes by implementing 360-degree high-resolution LED walls captured by a slick architectural framework comprised of bright metal, clear glass, and color-changing light box accents. Though the shape overall is rectangular, well thought-out details like walls in different planes, corner cut-ins, and rounded corners within the layered edge-lit glass header and the central ceiling element give the studio character and a sense of place. The anchor desk is on a video platform which displays show graphics in conjunction with the panoramic video walls and several sets of roving monitors and touchscreens, giving the studio and its host an infinite variety of atmospheric and reporting options.
After the studio debuted, CBS Evening News earned the highest viewer numbers since Norah O’Donnell took the mantle and Face the Nation remained the most-viewed Sunday political program. In fact, viewership increased by more than 100,000 on the day the new set premiered. Both well-known programs are well at home with increased capabilities and a sharp look.