‘Nightly’ updates weekend editions to new look

“NBC Nightly News” adapted its new look for its weekend editions June 24 and 25, 2023.

The Saturday, June 24, 2023, edition of “Nightly” was anchored by normal anchor José Díaz-Balart. As is typical, it was produced in a “scaled down” format that featured a digital recreation of the “Nightly” set and graphics displayed behind Díaz-Balart. These editions are typically produced from Florida, where Díaz-Balart is based, but can also be done from studios at other NBC facilities.

The June 24 edition of the broadcast used only recreated the look of one part of Studio 1A, the one weekday anchor Lester Holt typically uses for middle blocks of the newscast.

The flat video wall set inside of a curved arch is the main focal point of this backdrop, with branded and topical imagery inspired by the weekday editions inserted into the various portions of the image of the set that would normally be LED walls or ribbons.

It appears the network modified the accent lighting in the set to white, the new color used during “Nightly,” but the previous orange-gold hue is still visible on the reflection on the floor.

When the broadcast didn’t need to showcase a graphic over Díaz-Balart’s shoulder, the shot would showcase a centered-up shot of him in front of the image of this portion of the set.

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Another shift included moving the on-camera date, which has been being shown on one of the vertical video panel carts in Studio 1A camera left of Holt’s anchor desk, on the simulated video wall behind Díaz-Balart near the top of the broadcast.

The open was updated to match the look of the weekday one, with the anchor names added to the announce. As was done previously, the weekend anchors’ names do not appear on screen, however, as Holt’s name does on weekdays.

Meanwhile, the Sunday, June 25, 2023, edition of “NBC Nightly News,” which is normally produced from Studio 1A in New York with anchor Kate Snow, originated from Studio N5 in Washington, D.C. with Hallie Jackson filling in for Snow.

As it has done previously, “Nightly” took advantage of the horsehoe-shaped seamless video wall installation in this space for the base of its graphics.

For the stop story, the video walls were filled with a rendition of the 3D “NN” background found elsewhere in the look along with a topical image and text blended in thanks to soft gradients. The broadcast continued the practice of simulating mullions in the corners of the LED array.

Additional stories were introduced from the standing position while the broadcast’s now trademark floating camera “walk and wander” and “video on video” shots were done using video tech in the D.C. studio. 

Other stories were intro’d with Jackson seated at the anchor desk and a loop of the Washington newsroom shown behind her with more traditional OTS-style graphics overlaid over the camera feed.

These featured a laser-line line box with a vertical bar of the glassy “NN” background. The actual space for the graphic and text has become slightly wider, providing a bit broader canvas for designers.

These typically included the sideways U-shaped accents around the headline text, though one featured only some thin lines with blue-violet accents.

The opening video wall shot ahead of the tease headlines featured the date in the D.C. broadcast.

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During June 24’s broadcast, the top of the broadcast also featured lower third insert banners with a red tint instead of the normal blue, presumably meant to match the red color scheme using for stories labeled “breaking news,” though this use appears to be inconsistent with other editions.