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WXIA - The Move Is Done

jal41

jal41

WXIA just did their final newscast from 1611 West Peachtree Street, ending 57 years standing behind the shadows of WSB-TV.

Apparently, parts of the original WLTV/8 studios are still standing on that property, with additions being built around it.

They will be at their One Monroe Place studios tomorrow (7/27/08) for their Sunday morning newscast at 7:30.
 
They were in their new studios at 6 PM this evening. There was no bug or weather graphics (Paul Ossmann filled time by placing a thermometer on the newly paved asphalt in their parking lot).

They should have all of their systems up and running by tonight or tomorrow AM.
 
jal41 said:
WXIA just did their final newscast from 1611 West Peachtree Street, ending 57 years standing behind the shadows of WSB-TV.

Apparently, parts of the original WLTV/8 studios are still standing on that property, with additions being built around it.

They will be at their One Monroe Place studios tomorrow (7/27/08) for their Sunday morning newscast at 7:30.
Click to expand...

How does the new facility compare with the old? The old was renovated just 12 years ago, which doesn't seem like a long time to me.
 
At 10pm the weather looked the same to me but Paul did not join them at the desk. I guess he is at the old facility so he is further from the desk than the weather department was yesterday.
 
Rick Rose 2.0 said:
At 10pm the weather looked the same to me but Paul did not join them at the desk. I guess he is at the old facility so he is further from the desk than the weather department was yesterday.
Click to expand...

He was at the new studio doing weather outside at 6 PM with no graphics. At 10, he was on the chroma key with graphics. The lighting looked different.

He was at the new studio. They just don't have everything plugged in yet. This afternoon, they still were lacking their 11 Alive HD bug, and I have not seen the doppler radar yet. Give them some time to get everything in order.
 
I hate to be a debbie downer, but the new-look newsroom is a real snore. The two-shots look ridiculous with all the ceiling lights, the 11Alive Information Center banner in the very back of the newsroom is too small and cannot be read, and the newsroom is devoid of any color. I knew that the set itself would not change drastically since it's so new, but I was hoping the new newsroom would be more visually attractive. Maybe they will replace the view into the boring newsroom with a pretty duratran or tv monitors(?) Maybe things look better in HDTV, but on my SDTV it doesn't look so hot.

Sorry for the rant... ::)
 
vpgrar said:
Does anyone know what prompted the move?
What is going to happen with the old building?
Click to expand...

When Gannett acquired the assets of WATL (including the land the building the WATL studio was in), Gannett management decided since the land was bigger at the WATL site, to go ahead and move WXIA to the WATL site. The old WXIA studios have always been stuck on that small piece of land behind WSB (the reason...when WSB moved to Channel 2 in the early 50's, it was easier for the replacement station on Channel 8 to use the transmission facilities WSB built).

The old building has been sold to a real estate firm. It will be used for offices, but I don't know if they will use the existing building or tear it down and build a new traditional office building (Given how weird that building is, I suspect the latter).

About the new news studio and "information center"...I read a blog where someone says "the brightness is an extreme distraction and also makes it seem like WXIA-TV is reporting from inside a Staples store".

http://www.newscaststudio.com/blog/2008/07/27/atlantas-11alive-transitions-to-new-facilty/

He also quotes this diddy:
"Over the years, there have been stories of fights, shouting matches, people falling and even errant janitors walking through the newsroom while a newscast was on air."

Given how clear the view is into the newsroom, it could make for some interesting things. Regardless, I do see some modifications to either the set or the newsroom shortly.
 
Well I'm glad I'm not the only one who picked up on these deficiencies with the set. I'm going to go a step further and say that the aesthetic of the newsroom is just plain bad. Assuming they didn't, the should have hired PDG to design their new newsroom in addition to the set. It looks like they just plopped the set in front of an office and hoped for the best. Again - duratrans can work wonders...

I'm done now. :)
 
FYI, the worst working newsroom set ever was that of WRBL-TV in Columbus from around 2000-2003. They took their old desk and put it right into the small, office-like newsroom. They painted the walls and doors in the background light blue, added a couple brown columns and took out the drop ceiling. Behind the anchors, you could see two doors, and there was one desk where either one or two people were working. You could see a cubicle or two behind the sports anchor.

Not too long after they started, the desk behind the anchor desk disappeared. Then they covered up the door that was in the center. Then they finally they built some walls and moved in the old CBS eye artwork from their 1996 set next door.

They put in a new standard Media General set a couple of years ago with a duratrans of a fake control room.

I agree that new 11 Alive newsroom looks like a boring office and is a distraction.
 
That newsroom is a terrible distraction. Almost to the point where I just cant watch their news any longer. On last nights 6PM newscast, Ted Hall was talking and then Fred Kalil was walking around behind him in the newsroom. I found myself watching Fred walk around and not paying attention to what Ted was saying.

Something needs to be done NOW!
 
I saw the newscast this morning before reading this post and though the same things about the newsroom. Those lights are highly distracting. The news room to looks so distant. Bad idea. They should change that now. Cover up the window.
 
So I've noticed they have blurred the glass between the studio and the information center.

It's not the perfect solution, but it's much better...
 
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