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Oldest sets still in use?


AJClementeFan69

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Okay...we have oldest graphics/music still in use...how about sets?

 

I guess this is up for debate with refreshes and stuff...I guess I'll say to qualify it can still have had duratran refreshes/additions here and there but still has to be fundamentally the same (i.e. same desk/etc.)

 

Does WJZ count? The desk has changed but I feel like the overall set hasn't changed enough since 1998. Would think that has to be one of the oldest.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=8Ngumw2qCfI;t=56

 

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KGW's set is definitely up there. Not sure when it debuted, but I think it was sometime in the early 2000s. Sure, they updated it last year with some big video walls and better lighting, but the desks and overall flavor are the same.

 

KOVR's set is pretty old too. I think the desk, backdrops, plasmas, and RP wall are all about ten years old, but the newsroom surrounding it looks the same as it did during the Sinclair days.

 

Of the big markets, WJZ probably does take the cake for the oldest, but there are probably plenty of dinosaurs in the small markets out there too. KMTR's set easily has to be of the same vintage with no updates.

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For a major market, WGN stands out with their set that's a dozen years old. Unlike others on this list, it has gone without any noticeable updates, save for a few monitor carts getting replaced and a large, round standalone screen getting removed many years ago.

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I'd bet WISN has to be up there. It got a paste-on refresh in 2011, but the majority of the set dates back to at least 2001. (2001 was the earliest video I could find that clearly showed the set, and they were still on a newsroom set in 1999.)

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I'd bet WISN has to be up there. It got a paste-on refresh in 2011, but the majority of the set dates back to at least 2001. (2001 was the earliest video I could find that clearly showed the set, and they were still on a newsroom set in 1999.)

same for WAPT... Their weather center and newsdesk is new, but the rest of the set is the original from 2001-2002.

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WREG's newsroom set has been in continual use for about 20 years now. It did undergo an extensive remodel back in 2011 (keeping most of the bones in place) and most recently underwent a series of updates over the last few months that included switching out the duratrans with new ones to match their current on-air look, enlarging the existing news desk (which is only five years old), and adding a new stand up area.

 

WMC-TV's current set, meanwhile, is right at the decade mark in terms of age, and there appears to be no indication of them receiving a new one in the near term (they only change sets at least once every 9-10 years).

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same for WAPT... Their weather center and newsdesk is new, but the rest of the set is the original from 2001-2002.

 

Hearst seems good for treating their well performing stations well but if not don't expect much - look at how many aren't HD. That being said they're apparently good to work for, are good at rolling out graphics/Weather ability across their portfolio.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaeKFiiNCYw

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Okay...we have oldest graphics/music still in use...how about sets?

 

I guess this is up for debate with refreshes and stuff...I guess I'll say to qualify it can still have had duratran refreshes/additions here and there but still has to be fundamentally the same (i.e. same desk/etc.)

 

Does WJZ count? The desk has changed but I feel like the overall set hasn't changed enough since 1998. Would think that has to be one of the oldest.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=8Ngumw2qCfI;t=56

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure WJZ's set is so old that you'd find dead rodents buried in the walls of it.

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KTBC has a habit of updating one area at a time, so it's hard to say exactly what counts as a new set. Their last update of the Good Day Austin couch area removed a set of stairs and covered over a brick wall that had been included in the set in one form or another since 1996, but the main desk area and weather center are from 2005.

 

KVUE has been on their set since 2001, with a refresh that included a new desk and a new weather center some time around 2008.

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I'd bet WISN has to be up there. It got a paste-on refresh in 2011, but the majority of the set dates back to at least 2001. (2001 was the earliest video I could find that clearly showed the set, and they were still on a newsroom set in 1999.)

same for WAPT... Their weather center and newsdesk is new, but the rest of the set is the original from 2001-2002.

 

Ditto with WMUR. I don't think their set is as old as WISN or WAPT, but it's pretty close. They also got a refresh in 2011 when they went HD and a smaller refresh in 2014 with the new graphics and logo.

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WJW's is about to hit the decade mark. They tend to keep sets for around 11 years or so as evidenced by their prior set (1996-2007) and the one before (1985-1996).

Rumblings are that they are due for a major overhaul, but I'll believe it when I see it.

 

Who did WJZ's set? It looks very much like the 1996-era WJW set (and one that would appear 2 years later on WEWS).

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[QUOTE="tyrannical bastard, post: 172114, member: 201"]WJW's is about to hit the decade mark. They tend to keep sets for around 11 years or so as evidenced by their prior set (1996-2007) and the one before (1985-1996). Rumblings are that they are due for a major overhaul, but I'll believe it when I see it. Who did WJZ's set? It looks very much like the 1996-era WJW set (and one that would appear 2 years later on WEWS).[/QUOTE] According to @Charles it was done by a firm called pencilogic. [quote name='Charles']I believe it was a firm called pencilogic. They designed KMGH's 1998 set, which was pretty similar to WJZ's set, just with a mountain lodge feel: [IMG]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5587/14510483890_2739a7d0c9_o.jpg[/IMG] If my memory is correct, pencilogic was based in Denver, as they did a lot of Denver sets — KWGN's 2000 multiset, KCNC's faux-control room mountain set, and the mini weather, news, and tech sets in KUSA's newsroom. A mirror of [URL='http://www.culturalfarming.com/pencilogic/clients.html']their old website here[/URL] has a client list which shows, among others, WJZ, WBZ, WBBM, and KPIX. I'm pretty sure WCCO's late 90s/early 2000s set was a Devlin creation, though seeing that pencilogic and Devlin were based in the same state, and many pencilogic clients went on to beome Devlin clients, there's probably some sort of connection there.[/QUOTE]
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The first generation of Sinclair sets are coming up on 9 years. WBFF, WLOS, WSYX/WTTE and WEAR.

I wonder how long Sinclair will take to upgrade them?

Before these sets, I never expected them to invest in their stations AT ALL.

They kept sets that were ancient when they bought their respective stations and did little.

I believe WEAR's base set dated all the way back to when they moved into their new building.....IN 1994!

WCHS's lasted all the way until 2012 and likely debuted in the mid to late 1990s.

We'll see how much mileage these sets will get....they could have a few more years left on them.

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KXLY has had the same set for at least a dozen years. KREM updated theirs a few months ago, but it doesn't look much different.

 

So here's another one...

 

KXLY's sister station in Madison (WISC) has had its set for even longer it seems...the top screenshot is from 2003....the second from December. I would guess they got it when they started using News One...which would be 2001.

 

Looks like they haven't done much to it in the past ~15 years other than get rid of the weird Jeopardy-looking things behind the desk and update/add monitors.

 

I will say newsroom sets tend to age better than a set like WJZ has but still....

1196157862_ScreenShot2017-01-24at7_07_22PM.thumb.png.78be6e192c570010e3c4051952f33fab.png

1807416076_ScreenShot2017-01-24at7_09_54PM.png.aaa55b9042554e8d3dc7439e06b54a1a.png

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