CBS Philly debuts set with scenic elements inspired by network branding

KYW, the CBS-owned station in Philadelphia, debuted a new set Monday, July 18, 2022, that incorporates references to network-wide design elements while giving the station a technological boost. 

From Devlin Design Group, the new set was erected in the station’s primary studio, with newscasts originating from the newsroom while work was completed. 

The heart of the new set is a curved anchor desk with a circular center portion fronted by an LED ribbon and backed up against a curved LED video wall.

The set’s main LED display from Grant AV and powered by Chyron.

Behind this, a large structural element with printed backlit fabric creates the look of faux exposed wood with a backlit lightbox to the left. This central set piece includes a curved side that blends well with both the current graphics package used across the CBS-owned stations and elements from the “deconstructed eye” framework that’s expected to be more widely rolled out across the group’s stations in the fall of 2022.

That look is expected to be largely based on the design used for various CBS productions, promos and its CBS News Streaming Network, with some early design hints possibly appearing on the new “Now” newscasts.

Above this area, three drum lighting fixtures with dark metal accent frames are installed high in the grid. 

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Camera left of the primary anchor area are walls with textured, monochromatic backlit graphics and fronted with a trio of vertically mounted video panels inside an open structure featuring wood toned columns and an internally lit curved header. 

These panels can track from side to side, with options to use them in multiple configurations.

Far camera left of this area is a touchscreen standup position backed with layers of two varieties of frosted panels in front of a backlit wall of the faux wood texture. The panel is framed with a thick frosted frame and supported by a wood-toned stand. 

View on Giphy

Camera right of the anchor area, the transition to weather is made via a backlit graphic wall with branding that stretches almost from the floor to the edge of the balcony above. 

Behind this is a wide presentation desk backed with a vertical structural element featuring the faux wood and curved lightbox element with a large LED display installed in front of it for displaying maps and other graphics.

A vertical backlit graphic column is just to the right of the weather area with low resolution LED starting behind this element and curving behind a multipurpose area featuring a large LED wall.

The weather and multipurpose area of KYW’s new set.

This area, which is capped with an oval valence with bold blue sides and diffuser underneath, is designed to sit above a riser with sofa seating area that can be moved out of the way to use the space for weather, standups or an alternate anchor area.

The entire space has also been upgraded with a new floor with a lighter wood tone than the ones used elsewhere, including select columns and headers.

KYW debuted the new set during its noon newscast on July 18 with what sources tell NewscastStudio are placeholder graphics inspired by the forthcoming new group graphics package. However, these may be modified slightly once that design is finalized. 

Fabrication for the new set was handled by Scenic Solutions with LED display technology from GrantAV and lighting design from Dan McKenrick. 

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In addition to the new set, KYW also switched to the “Next Weather” branding that sister stations WFOR in Miami, WBZ in Boston and WCCO in the Twin Cities have been using since earlier this year.

“Next Weather” is a shared branding concept that can be used in select markets where the “First Alert” moniker isn’t available because it’s in use by another station. In Philadelphia, NBC’s WCAU uses the “First Alert” name for its weather forecasts. 

KYW recently saw a management shakeup, with CBS nabbing a former exec from WCAU to lead its Philly newsroom.