WAVY refines Nexstar set design to make it its own, updates graphics

WAVY, Nexstar Media Group’s NBC affiliate serving Hampton Roads and Norfolk, Virginia, debuted a new set and graphics on Aug. 15, 2023, that moves it closer in line with sister stations while maintaining familiarity. 

Conceptually, the new set carries through a prominent element on the station’s old home — a vertical video display placed in the center of home base.

As with many of its set projects, Nexstar’s in-house team handled set design, continuing the evolution of a core concept that often features strong horizontals and verticals, various shades of matte gray and backlit surfaces combined with numerous video displays.

Digital Video Group provided AV integration for WAVY with display technology from Philips with processing from TVOne and NovaStar.

The vertical video panel behind the anchor desk, an element that has also been used at other Nexstar stations, continues to be a key way for the station to display its branding prominently, whether it be the familiar stylized “10” with wave iconography or “Fox 43” logo of sister station WVBT.

Like before, home base is flanked by video panel arrays that can be leveraged as digital windows displaying cityscape imagery, created by Philips 75″ displays.

WAVY notably did not use a common element on other Nexstar sets — shooting home base directly into a 90-degree corner created with set walls and video tech. The circular anchor desk has been replaced with a wider, more rectangular model fronted with two low-profile video panels. 

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Set Design

WAVY

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The weather center has flipped sides and now sits camera left of home base and features a 7×12 feet freestanding Philips 1.5mm pixel pitch LED wall inside a dark gray frame structure. Behind this is a backlit city map. 

The set continues to wrap around the studio, leading to a standing weather presentation desk that faces the main anchor desk and is tucked into a corner featuring an additional vertical video stack as well as three additional wall-mounted screens in two sizes.

On the opposite side of the studio, the space freed up by moving weather is now home to a 6×3 low-profile video wall created from Philips 49-inch panels installed in two segments separated by a brief change in direction.

This wall notably includes architectural panels with an organic wavy texture — one of the only parts of the new space to depart from the other blocky, rectangular motif found on many Nexstar sets and a more subtle interpretation of the station’s call letters and branding, which has the calls pronounced as the word “wavy.” 

Finally, a triptych of 86-inch video panels mounted on front of a horizontal array of a gray grill and backlit wall segment inside of solid textured gray and wood tone completes the look, with the panels able to rotate depending on the story or usage. 

In addition to the new set, WAVY also debuted new graphics on Aug. 15.

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These graphics were created entirely in-house at the station — as opposed to being the work of the Nexstar design hub.

While the updated look still contains glassy 3D elements, many have been toned down. Some interpretations include a more outlined or embossed look.

The new design continues to use circular concentric ring elements but explores different angles and uses of this idea. Meanwhile, the update brings in a series of angled vertical 3D elements, often arranged in column-like clusters. 

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When viewed literally, the straight elements, combined with the continued use of circles, can be seen as an interpretation of the “1” and “0” in the station logo and a nod to incorporate the more angular look of the new set.

Lower thirds have been retooled in the much flatter look favored by Nexstar, with most typography switched over to Gotham.

Motion Graphics

WAVY

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WAVY continues to use “Newswire” from 615 Music, which has been used since 1995.