NWA_TV_guy 141 Posted November 11, 2022 Share Posted November 11, 2022 Gray’s WTOK in Meridian, MS is utilizing their newsroom for newscasts while a new set is installed in their studio. The set has been in use for 20-years. The debut of their new set will be in early 2023. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1749 Posted November 11, 2022 Share Posted November 11, 2022 So after exactly one year after a graphics changes & technology upgrades and whatnot, now they're going to install a new studio set? All of that should've been taken care off last year. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATLNewsExpert 177 Posted November 11, 2022 Share Posted November 11, 2022 Their set honestly hasn't aged THAT badly as say some sets that have been around for shorter periods of time. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrschimpf 1512 Posted November 11, 2022 Share Posted November 11, 2022 I assume it was overall station budget limitations that nixed a set upgrade during the tech upgrade. Plus both on-air and off-air staff learning new systems is a 'chicken with head cut-off' situation that would be a disaster to occur at the same time. It wasn't optimum but it probably worked out better this way (though uggh I still hate the WBAY logo copy they ended up with). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 2925 Posted November 11, 2022 Share Posted November 11, 2022 Attached is a current picture of the existing set from Meterologist Deitra McKenzie's facebook profile: Basically, it looks like the original set that Benedek put in (like WTVY also used to have before they switched to the standard-issue Gil Jimenez Gray set) with some refacing. I remember when they went HD about a decade ago, they had the big studio-like cameras (which were actually hand-me-downs from WNDU...probably from their ND ownership days). As you can see, they are now the tiny PTZ ones that are commonplace with automation systems. At least they're not hanging from the ceiling! Given the cost of such upgrades, it makes sense for a station in a place like Meridian to space these out. Viewers aren't going to notice the automation (if it works like it's supposed to!) so that can be hidden in another year. And with Gray's graphic package rollouts, we all know how that is. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWA_TV_guy 141 Posted December 1, 2022 Author Share Posted December 1, 2022 Progress photos as seen on Facebook: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 2925 Posted December 2, 2022 Share Posted December 2, 2022 I see Meridian is getting a new GRAY-Hound station 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWA_TV_guy 141 Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 WTOK’s new set debuts during the evening newscasts today (01/18), as announced during their Midday newscast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 2925 Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 Here's the story from WTOK about their new set. It cost around $400K, with half of that invested into the technology side of things. https://www.wtok.com/2023/01/18/wtok-news-11-debuts-new-set/ It's better than I expected. Not quite as good as WLOX's new digs, but much better than the bus-station look I was expecting.. (it's there to a degree, but it's more set-like) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hill 36 Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 (edited) The new logo for WTOK-TV 11's "WTOK NEWS 11" has a strong resemblance to fellow Gray-owned ABC affiliate WBAY-TV 2's "ACTION 2 NEWS" logo... Edited January 20 by Justin Hill 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ActionNewsAficianado 1 Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 Another victim of the Gray staple, a sea of hanging monitors. I always get so disoriented looking at a setup like that. Is that really more cost-effective than actual teleprompter hoods for the cameras? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRolyPoly 1800 Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 6 hours ago, Justin Hill said: The new logo for WTOK-TV 11's "WTOK 11 NEWS" has a strong resemblance to fellow Gray-owned ABC affiliate WBAY-TV 2's "ACTION 2 NEWS" logo... They go by WTOK News 11. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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