Fresno ABC debuts set with panoramic LED displays

Fresno’s ABC 30 Action News, KFSN, has debuted a set from Devlin Design Group featuring sweeping LED video walls mixed with pops of blue and white. 

Part of ABC Owned Television Stations, KFSN began work on the new Studio B in January, including updates to the lighting grid with gear from Brightlines and new studio flooring for the Ross Video CamBots.

“I’ve never seen anything like this studio throughout the entirety of central California,” noted Mike Carr, general manager of ABC 30 in a release. 

The set design is built around a gentle curve inside Studio B, with four LED walls strategically positioned on the curve to allow for toss shots and anchor interaction. The primary anchor area includes a 20-foot video wall with an arcing header piece. 

“I think the big thing that we’re going to be able to do, just from one standpoint is looking at all of the monitors. You’re going to be able to see the images, the people, the stories that we tell, are going to be that much bigger, that much brighter and that much better.”

Devlin Design Group notes the overall look is “future forward,” modern but not trendy, to give the station a set that works today and in the future.

“The challenge for the design at KFSN was to create a functional, flexible and beautiful environment that aligned with the agricultural heart of the area,” said Kartik Dakshinamoorthy of Devlin Design Group. “The modern feel of the brand had to be expressed in each of the storytelling performance areas. Our collaboration with the team at KFSN resulted in a scenic storytelling environment that aligns itself with the local audience.” 

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Devlin notes the texture on the set are intentionally organic in nature and were inspired by the area’s agricultural heritage, with Fresno being part of the San Joaquin Valley. For example, a color changing woven pattern behind the displays can evoke tilled soil.

The set’s anchor desk, fronted by a curved LED display, is designed to be used seated or standing.

Opaque acrylic panels break up the background, adding further depth. 

The weather area includes a large desk with a LED display behind. A secondary display to the right of the weather area is designed to be used instead of a green screen and can also be used with the anchor desk. 

While ABC has a group graphics package in the works, ABC 30 kept its existing on-air look with the set debut. 

Project Credits

Set Design – Devlin Design Group

Fabrication – Unit 11

Lighting Design – Bill Holshevnikoff

Lighting Fixtures – Brightline

Set Technology – GrantAV

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