CNN Studio 19Z

• Set Design Clickspring Design
• Lighting Design The Lighting Design Group
• Fabrication Showman Fabricators
• Display Technology Planar

CNN’s Studio 19Z currently serves as the home of “CNN Tonight,” “Erin Burnett OutFront” and “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”

The studio, on the 19th floor of the network’s 30 Hudson Yards broadcast facility, debuted on May 13, 2019, with “Erin Burnett OutFront” and “CNN Tonight.”

Clickspring Design notes besides the CNN-red accent stripes, the design features a limited material palette of white, brushed metal, and black with LED content and lighting cues defining the character of the space. This mutability paired with three unique anchor desks affords each show a distinct look while occupying the same studio.

The double-height space most notably boasts a low-profile bent-steel staircase which leads to a mezzanine level occupied by producer workstations. This architectural feature defines the primary shot axis for “CNN Tonight,” which completes its look by saturating the set with rich primetime blues and interspersing a skyline with Don Lemon’s iconic evening highrise show graphics.

“Fareed Zakaria GPS,” by contrast, is brightly lit, accenting the set’s crisp whites, and shoots along an alternate axis. Part of the seamless under-balcony LED array tracks into separate displays to reinforce Zakaria’s corner, and his circular anchor platform (as opposed to Lemon’s rectilinear) completes the transformation.

Finally, “Erin Burnett OutFront” employs a shot axis focusing on the set’s largest LED expanse and situates the host within a panoramic NYC backdrop. Burnett’s platform seems to extend from the lower stair landings, and the minimal structure of her desk relates to the vistawall framing beyond.

Photos courtesy of Clickspring Design / Niel Galen.