Stations Spending On News Sets Again

After a period of deferred studio upgrades due to a sluggish economy, TV stations are once again building new HD studio sets and, in some cases, looking to incorporate multimedia elements, big visuals and improved lighting. And while LED lighting may be ready for local TV news, virtual sets are definitely not.

That’s the word from set and lighting designers who all seem to be busy, but who are having to cope with a demanding market. Stations are insisting on trimming costs — new sets range from $75,000 to $350,000 — and they want projects completed faster, in some cases in as little as a month, the designers say.

Still, there is no lack of bidders for jobs, says Erik Ulfers, a principal at Clickspring Design in New York, which designed the HD sets for CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta and NBC’s WRC Washington. “The proliferation of competition in the market is amazing.”

Broadcasters contracting for new HD sets have the advantage of learning from the stations that have gone before, says Mack McLaughlin, president of FX Group, a broadcast set and lighting firm based in Orlando.

Among the lessons: Sets should be designed for HD’s 16:9 aspect ratio, but still be able to handle shots for the 4:3 ratio for another three to five years because millions are still watching on older TV sets. And in HD, lighting matters more than ever, he says. If not done properly, it can result in flat, unimpressive on-air look.

Because many stations have reduced their staffs, designers are trying to simplify studio operations and are encouraging stations to contract for periodic checks on the lighting and camera settings.

“Stations are losing expertise,” says McLaughlin. “There are fewer people keeping an eye on the look of the sets and equipment. They are not checking their cameras for black levels and shading. When black levels get out of whack, you get this gray image that is not crisp or contrasty.”

Park Warne, president of Park Place Studio in Carnegie, Pa., agrees. “Local news doesn’t want to have to hire expensive people,” he says. “They want to bring in pushbutton technology that can be operated by just about anybody.”

At least two new concepts are emerging — one involves multimedia content and the other more captivating large-screen visuals.

For KRIS Corpus Christi, Texas, Warne’s firm has designed not a news set, but a multimedia “content center” based on the work of Jerry Gumbert, president of AR&D, the Fort Worth, Texas-based consulting firm. The center visually incorporates websites, mobile blogs, blogs and social media.

Data is displayed on the set as the station’s “content managers” receive and process it. “The set allows for the processing and distribution of new media within the work area where the anchors are sitting,” Warne said.

KRIS, owned by Cordillera Communications, plans to use the new set as a prototype for its other stations. Gumbert declined to comment.

Dan Devlin, of the Devlin Design Group, of Crested Butte, Colo., says the set he is building for WHAM Rochester, N.Y., is a retreat to solid camera angles and more dramatic imagery.

“We are now moving into a phase of less bling on the set — meaning less fine detail — to more large focal elements. We are starting to see more iconic designs that are visually stimulating,” he says.

The backdrop of WHAM’s set is a 22-foot-long projection wall. Anything from a single huge news image to a series of split screens, graphics or DVE boxes with live video can be projected on the screen.

“It’s achieved by blending three separate projectors together to create a single image,” Devlin said. “They can go from a panoramic view of the city skyline to a giant graphic. It’s limited only by their level of creativity.”

Designed by Devlin, who would not reveal the manufacturers of the equipment used for competitive reasons, the video wall is controlled by the technical director at the switcher like any other on-set monitor. For big events, like elections or other specials, the main anchor desk swings away allowing full use of the entire wall.

All agreed that the biggest area of change is in studio lighting. Some set builders employ their own lighting designers, while others favor independent lighting companies. It’s perhaps the most important part of making the set look good on the air, they say.

While most TV stations now use a combination of incandescent and fluorescent illumination, new LED technology is coming on fast. Though the fixtures cost more up front, LED lights can pay for themselves in as little as three years and last as long as 10 years without bulb changes. Over time, they save studios major operational costs.

“Everybody wants to be more energy efficient. Everybody wants lower maintenance costs,” says Steve Mulkey, owner of Redwood Media Group, a lighting and TV design studio based in Bend, Ore. “But some stations just say they don’t have the money for LED lights.”

A major user of LitePanels, an industry pioneer in white LED technology, Mulkey says he gets excellent control with the company’s one-foot-square LED panels. While a 1 kw LED fixture costs about $3,000, versus about $1,000 for a 1 kw incandescent and $2,000 for 1 kw fluorescent, he says the LED fixture is much cheaper to operate.

With a 50,000-hour bulb life, minimal current draw and heat-free operation, an LED studio uses far less electricity, results in lower air conditioning costs and allows lower studio ceilings. A new six-inch fresnel fixture from LightPanels ships in September, which Mulkey says  is ideal for HD sets. Many fresnels are on order now by his broadcast clients, he adds.

Mulkey has installed combos of LED and fluorescent fixtures at several stations and is working with a major unnamed network to switch its entire morning show to LED.

Mulkey acknowledges, there is still some aesthetic resistance to LED technology. “There are lighting people who want to use traditional light because it gives the look they are known for,” he says. “It will take a little time for this to change.”

One who thinks white LED technology is not quite here yet is McLaughlin. His company uses RGB color-changing LED lighting on sets, whose chief manufacturer is Philips Color Kinetics. But for talent, he still uses a hybrid mix of fluorescent and incandescent.

White LEDs, McLaughlin says, are not as controllable as they need to be. “Some are pretty close, but need more fine tuning. Within three years, most lighting packages will be fluorescent and LED and not as much incandescent.”

Devlin agrees. He likes fluorescent fixtures made by Brightline for use on talent. “Brightline fixtures have a high color rendering index and their photometrics are designed for the HD. They use soft lighting, but you can control where you put it. We need to sculpt the light on the talent. LED’s are not kind to faces over 35 years of age.”

However, Warne says, LED technology is quickly reaching a point where designers can work with it. “LEDs are not quite at the price point where they can end the reign of fluorescent, but they are getting there fast. In five years, I predict fluorescent and incandescent technology will be antiques.”

None of the designers are fans of virtual sets. “Virtual technology is too funky for TV news,” says Warne. “The problem … is they are by nature very hard to operate. They are fussy and expensive.”

Virtual sets are now mostly used on the network level, says McLaughlin. “When you add up the numbers to see what it takes to make virtual technology work, it’s no less expensive. People who deliver the news don’t feel comfortable in a fully green environment when nothing around them is real.”