Hearst Television’s, ABC affiliate, KETV, purchased Omaha’s historic Burlington Station to house its growing multimedia broadcast operations. The over a century old 48,000 square foot train station once was the hub for moving people across the country. Now it is a high tech information hub for a dynamic news operation, anchored by a Devlin Design Group news set.
Hearst and Team DDG were ‘all aboard’ and created a scenic storytelling environment to honor the history of Omaha as well as offer the latest in technology and increased production values.
“Our new set has the flexibility and depth, allowing us to move and enhance the way we tell stories. An added benefit that we did not expect was that the combination of the designs layout, the scale of the sets architecture, and the creative integration of the technology by DDG and Hearst engineers have created a very intimate feeling on the set. This helps to keep the focus on our talent, and gives them a very user friendly storytelling environment.” —Ariel Roblin, KETV President & General Manager.
That flexibility includes a complement of stages with impressive technology. There is a large storytelling wall with nine 55” monitors. There are three 65” video kiosks for a variety of talent positions. The weather center features a large 90” monitor.
The set’s background includes a textured brick wall, towering columns to mimic the building’s limestone exterior, all incorporated with RGB LED backlit walls for show specific color changes. The set is ringed with a soffit inspired by the train station platform. Floor graphics emulate train tracks.
“Restoring such a magnificent building is an effective way to contribute to the local community and connect with viewers. We began the design process with a review of the original building. We brought touches of the historic architecture into the design to blend with new technology.” —Kartik Dakshinamoorthy, Scenic Design Director, Devlin Design Group.
For more information, contact Diane Fiolek. 248.875.9565. difi@ddgtvstaging.wpengine.com