‘BBC Sportsday’ debuts new shared studio, isometric graphics overhaul

BBC Sport’s studio program “Sportsday” debuted an updated set and graphics package in late June 2023.

The British broadcaster’s sports division has its primary headquarters at MediaCityUK, a facility in Manchester that it also shares with “BBC Breakfast.”

‘BBC Breakfast’ gets rousing new studio, graphics updates

The 2023 updates included removing the existing, partially enclosed circular sport studio and replacing it with a new set designed to match the BBC News and BBC London in Studio B at Broadcasting House in London.

Both “BBC Breakfast” and BBC Sport now share the same studio, though the former uses it primarily for its sports highlights broadcast “BBC Sportsday.”

Because the studio is outfitted with numerous seamless video walls, color-changing accent lighting, backlit panels and movable set pieces, it’s easy for the space, designed by Jago Design, to take on unique looks for both of these uses.

Whereas “Breakfast” is largely red and orange, “Sportsday” combines yellow and teal accents in its broadcast design.

In general, “Sportsday” moves the large riser and curved sofa that serves as home base for “Breakfast” 180 degrees to back up against a glass wall overlooking the workspace beyond and one of the LED video towers that make up the divider that separates two spaces.

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“Sportsday” also removes the red sofa cushions in favor of gray.

In addition to moving to the new space, “Sportsday” also has a new open that combines the sports division’s trademark yellow hue with various shades of teal alongside an occasional red accent.

The concept of these graphics centers around squares and rectangles in various shades that give way to isometric scenes depicting clusters of sporting equipment and venues. 

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Another recurring theme in the graphics, which includes a lively open, is the use of three white boxes that zoom through the various scenes, illustrating the concept of movement while also being a nod to the trio of squares in the BBC logo. Much of the motion used in the open also appears inspired by the three-tiered yellow icon with sliding animation that was introduced for the division in 2021.

It’s also possible to find a red ball in several of the scenes — though it’s easy to miss and sometimes feels more like an Easter egg element that adds a bit of playfulness to the design.

So far, BBC Sport has relied more heavily on the glass wall overlooking the adjacent workspace and the curved video wall that dominates one end of the space. Both locations can be used for standup shots, and there is also the option of framing presenters against the LED video towers while seated at the sofa.

Video wall and tower graphics are typically framed with angled shapes inspired by the angles found in the isometric scenes, with teal and yellow shades prominently used and the occasional appearance of white squares. 

While some broadcasts only use the smaller towers, others use the wide curved video wall venue on one end of the studio. 

There is also the option for presenters to be seated on the sofa, with one of the video towers used as an OTS element and a view of the workspace, complete with branded monitor graphics and matching color washes on the walls, visible behind the presenter. 

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Fullscreen graphics retain the color palette and can illustrate a variety of sports. For lists such as standings, a translucent box with gradient accents is used. Gradients appear again as separator elements between various team names or similar information.

Lower third insert graphics, meanwhile, use a small, elegant box shown just above the BBC News bug and feature a white-to-yellow gradient. They notably do not fill the entire width of the screen and also don’t have a solid separator between the first and second tier, though the yellow gradient near the top serves as a visual cue that the two lines contain distinct information.

Motion Graphics

BBC Sportsday

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