Birmingham NBC debuts set with local textures and a unique anchor desk

Hearst Television’s NBC affiliate in Birmingham, WVTM 13, has debuted a new set design that honors the industrial spirit of the region.

From Devlin Design Group, the design includes multiple presentation venues intermixed with textures inspired from the surrounding area.

“There is no greater inspiration than the world around us. A design that reflected the local area was at the top of the list for the group at WVTM. Team DDG was able to tap into the iconic landmarks surrounding Birmingham and create a scenic storytelling environment that directly relates to the Birmingham audience in a memorable way,” said Kartik Dakshinamoorthy, VP Scenic Design at Devlin Design Group.

Devlin notes colorful rust accents on the floating soffit panels and the riveted rust elements on the set come from the iconic Sloss Furnaces, which was an iron-producing blast furnace that is now a national historic landmark and community space.

One of the unique elements of the design is the anvil-shaped anchor desk which honors the Vulcan statue that overlooks the city. This statue of the Roman god Vulcan, known as the god of fire and forge, reflects on the region’s iron and steel roots and is built from iron-ore.

Along with tieing into the community’s roots, coincidentally, the station’s studios and transmitter are located right next to the statue atop Red Mountain.

Set Design

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WVTM

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Backing the desk is a nine monitor array of 55-inch monitors mounted vertically, while the set’s multipurpose area includes a six monitor vertical array and a docking riser for interviews.

The set’s corrugated soffit texture reflects modern Birmingham, inspired by the Regions Field minor league baseball park and wrapping the space.

The weather and traffic area includes a 3×3 array of 55-inch monitors and two 82-inch monitors along with a workspace stocked with additional technology.

Primeview provided the set’s technology and integration.