‘Stars of Team USA’ leverages flexible Studio 1A

NBC News Now is producing a series of athlete-centric specials focusing on the “stars” of the 2022 Winter Olympics from Studio 1A, also the home of “Today” and “NBC Nightly News.”

Hosted by Savannah Sellers, the shows makes use of the multiple video walls in the space to showcase the show’s title, “Stars of Team USA,” and photo collages featuring diamond shaped frames of athlete photos, among other designs.

The show also uses one of the studio’s wild vertical video panels for a second graphic, which typically complements the one shown on the largest in the space, a curved 40-foot array installed in the back corner of the studio.

Like “Nightly,” the show places an empty curved anchor desk in the center of the video wall that’s visible in wide shots in the area. 

In addition, the multisegment motorized panels in front of the windows in the so called “production area” are also used, also in a similar fashion to both “Nightly” and “Today.”

Also like the two other programs, “Stars of Team USA” uses a variety of handheld and “floating” camera shots.

The “Today” home base in the windowed corner of the space is not used.

“Stars of Team USA” uses white and blue-toned graphics similar to the rest of the NBC Olympics look, with an emphasis on angled elements, which coordinates well when it uses select segments from the “Today” team, which also has an angular look for its graphics.

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“Today” has originated from Studio 1A since 1994. “Nightly” moved in back in 2021, making it the first time both of the network’s signature shows originated from a shared space in a permanent basis (“Nightly” used the space briefly in 2001 after the anthrax letter attacks when its studio and offices were being decontaminated).

NBC and partner Clickspring Design updated the studio in September 2021 to include curved glossy white surrounds, an art deco style “screen” behind the production area video panels and new anchor desks.

That design was built on the 2020 addition of an additional freestanding flat video wall that covered the Orange Room, the show’s old social media hub.