Get a Closer Look at NBCUniversal News Group’s ‘Immersive’ Studio

With Election Night rapidly approaching, TVNewser is here to provide virtual visits to some of the network studios you’ll be watching on Nov. 5. Check out behind the scenes photos and expert commentary from the designers who brought the new and improved sets to life.

Marc Greenstein, NBCU News Group senior vice president creative production and operations
Alex Bassett, NBCU News Group senior director, production technology

How did you re-envision the set from past years?

Greenstein: The NBC News and NBC News Now set was completely reimagined for the 2024 election. We transformed a small, enclosed studio with low ceilings into an open space that merged with the newsroom to create a collaborative storytelling space. The editorial mission was to allow for quick and natural engagement with the journalists seated in the newsroom within a moment’s notice, which also required upgraded display and lighting technologies throughout the newsroom.

The desire to create an immersive environment led to the implementation of mixed reality technology with a focus on data. Using NBC News Headquarters—30 Rockefeller Plaza—as the backdrop, this technology allows us to virtually extend the physical studio to create not only a dynamic sense of place but also a canvas for data storytelling. 

Additionally, we implemented a new Big Board application to allow NBCU News Group anchors and correspondents across six networks to analyze, filter, and compare data in real-time, enabling them to explain the state of the race more clearly.

Despite all the new technology used for our election coverage, we still rely on an off-the-shelf GoPro to create the fan-favorite Kornacki Cam.

What’s a set detail that viewers at home might not notice, but will be a key part of Election Night?

Bassett: The backbone of the hybrid virtual sets is driven by our homegrown custom control web application: ‘Sync.’ The concept of this application was to allow better storytelling across all NBCU News Group properties. In the case of set integration for elections, it allowed the implementation of fast and precise real time data across our virtual graphics and video walls. The flexibility of creating this application from scratch allows our design teams to use the best graphics engine for the most immersive viewer experience while our operations team workflow remains the same. 

The application allows us to build hybrid automation into the control system to allow contextual lighting changes based on graphic content in addition to seamless integration into traditional control room workflow, providing frame accurate transitions into and out of different segments. 

This flexibility has allowed us to scale and support six networks worldwide with a seamless user experience for both viewers and our operations teams.