The company, which provides weather data, forecasts, graphics and production services to newspapers, radio stations and televisions across the country, debuted the new look at the NAB convention in Las Vegas.

The new logo features the words “AccuWeather” in a simple typeface next to a sun icon. The new look also includes a bright shade of orange, which ties in to the sunny and warm feel of the sunshine imagery.

AccuWeather has already rolled out the new logo on its website, though the site itself is still wrapped in a blue design. It will be interesting to see if a redesign is coming that replaces the blue with orange.

Previously, AccuWeather used an italicized rendition of the company’s name with rays cutting through the word “weather” as well as a treatment that not only added “.com” to the logo, but encapsulated it in blue petal.

In the lower third banner shown above, CNN identified Beckham as “just helped France win championship.” Wait. What?

We’re pretty sure that even people who are pretty darn clueless about sports could probably identify Beckham as being British. Heck, it’s pretty much common knowledge he’s married to “Posh Spice” Victoria Adams. Plus, the fact that Britons and the French don’t exactly mesh that well…

But it gets worse…

Later in the same broadcast, that same banner proclaimed that Beckham played for “England, America and France.” Again, not true. Beckham has only ever played for Britain. He’s played IN America and France, sure, but has also played in dozens of other locales as well.

Here’s your Friday laugh. This video, posted on YouTube late last year, parodies the constant badgering of local TV news to interact via social media and mobile devices.

H/T TVSpy

The month also saw CNN’s second highest video streaming numbers, with over 162.5 mm streaming starts.

These record numbers come as the events in Boston unfolded and CNN saw a boost both online and on-air.

Highlights include:

Throughout the week of the Boston manhunt, CNN.com was the most trafficked news and information site online, topping Yahoo! News with an all-time high of 536 million page views:

• CNN.com (536 million)
• Yahoo! News by 8% (496 million)
• HuffingtonPost.com by 22% (441 million)
• FoxNews.com by 42% (377 million)
• NBCNews.com by 94% (276 million)
• NYTimes.com by 201% (178 million)

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for week ending 04/21/13

With 75 million unique visitors in April, CNN Digital closed the gap with Yahoo!-ABC News Network to only 15% (89 million) – the narrowest margin ever. While CNN grew its audience 31% over last year, Yahoo!-ABC was flat.
For the month, CNN Digital held a top spot in unique users, topping:

Earning 2.3 billion page views for the month, CNN Digital held a strong lead over the competition and placed behind only the Yahoo-ABC rollup (2.9 billion), beating:

• CNN Digital Network (2.3 billion)
• HPMG News by 45% (1.6 billion)
• Fox News Digital Network by 103% (1.1 billion)
• NBC News Digital by 124% (1 billion)
• CBS News by 202% (764 million)
• New York Times Digital by 205% (758 million)
• USAToday Sites by 292% (589 million)

*Source: comScore Media Metrix, April 2013

#1 in Mobile News

As the number one mobile news source for six years running, CNN Digital continued to outperform the competition in March (most recent available data), boasting a record 26 million users:

• CNN Digital Network (26 million)
• Yahoo!-ABC News Network by 34% (20 million)
• FoxNews Digital Network by 42% (19 million)
• Google News by 168% (10 million)
• New York Times Digital by 243% (8 million)
• MSNBC News by 257% (7 million)

*Source: Nielsen Mobile MediaView

#1 on Social Media

CNN received nearly a quarter million social media mentions on April 19th – the highest level of any day to date, beating out the 2012 Presidential Election which had 210k social mentions.

CNN remained #1 in social mentions for the month, topping all TV and digital competitors. With more than 11 million fans of its branded Facebook pages and 37 million Twitter followers, CNN is the most-followed news network on social media platforms.

ESPN has posted an animated video rendering of the new “SportsCenter” set to be built in “Digital Center II,” the new facility the network is constructing on its Bristol, Conn. campus.

The video appears on ESPN’s “FrontRow” YouTube channel, which is part of its behind the scenes blog by the same name. The new video animation was shown as part of the network’s upfront presentation in New York City.

The new facility will add 200,000 square feet of space and become the new home of the network’s flagship “SportsCenter.”

The animations illustrate a wraparound set that includes multiple venues and is stocked with video display panels.

The square layout uses each of the four walls as a distinct venue, and also makes use of the corners with angled walls boasting graphical elements and video displays. At the point where these walls meet the floor, markings on the floor cross the studio floor to intersect in an “X” in the middle of the set floor.

Included in the design is a main anchor desk situated in front of a large open area that appears like it could be used as a newsroom. A floating platform in front of vertical flat panels fills out one wall and topped with a prominent show logo, while an interview set is in the area opposite of home base. The final wall is a standup area with towering video panels mounted on columns.

Behind the main anchor desk, in the center of the large open area, is a enclosed box fronted with the “SC” icon. Behind this a horizontal banner allows for additional branding options. This banner is mounted on the front of a balcony that has stairs leading up to it on either side of the set.

Off to one side of the enclosed area is an additional anchor desk.

Assuming this animation is at least somewhat representative of the finishes on the set, it appears ESPN is moving away from the brightly colored designs used on the most recent iterations of the “SportsCenter” set, in favor of a more neutral color palette, relying instead on video walls and splashes of red to give the set visual interest.

One tieback to the existing set is the use of horizontal bands, though they have been toned done significantly from the bold pink and blues used today.

As we reported previously, Connecticut has become a popular place for television production facilities, lured there by tax credits being offered by the state government. NBC Sports is in the middle of moving to Stamford, Conn.

“’All About Early’ was a hit right out of the gate, but by continuing to innovate, we saw we could give our customers even more,” said Stephen Arnold of Stephen Arnold Music. “Now ‘All About Early’ represents an unprecedented package of in-show and promo elements that are sonically integrated, built out of a proven hit song that’s custom-made for the morning.”

The expanded “All About Early” music package includes opens, weather, traffic, breaking news elements and mix outs in various lengths.

The centerpiece of the package is the hummable sonic brand that features vocal talent against a soulful rock backdrop that drives the morning-themed visual montage that depict a typical day getting off to an ideal start.

Male and female vocals are available for the new “Modern Motown” version of the popular “All About Early” theme, and the song’s signature hook can be heard in different forms for each show element. For example, car horns ring out the five-note sonic brand for “traffic,” while an attention-getting guitar strike plays out the same cue for “breaking news.”

The original “All About Early” campaign is currently in over 30 markets, exclusively.

For the show, a circle desk is used, creating a more intimate feel. The desk brings Schultz closer to the guests with top notch lighting design.

Have a look:

Uploaded via TelevisionGFX on YouTube.

It’s time for your Friday laugh. Greg Dutra, a meteorologist at KWQC-TV in Davenport, Iowa, managed to crack himself up on air after making a joke referencing a commercial that had just aired.

Have a watch.

DDG’s creative works on the WTMJ-TV News set and WTMJ’s The Morning Blend Show have each been selected as finalists. The PromaxBDALocal Awards celebrate excellence, creativity and innovation in local television promotion, marketing and design.

“The entire team at DDG is very proud to be nominated for the creative work we did for WTMJ and The Morning Blend. It’s always nice to be recognized by your industry peers in addition to having a very happy client,” said Dan Devlin, creative director at Devlin Design Group.

“Devlin’s design gives us the technology and the tools to tell great stories. They’ve created a set that looks high-tech and inviting all at the same time” said Bill Berra, VP of news at Journal Broadcast Group.

Video and images of the WTMJ News set can be seen here. Video and images of The Morning Blend set can be seen here. Winners will be announced during the PromaxBDA Station Summit at the Planet Hollywood Hotel in Las Vegas, June 25th -28th.