Re: WBBM-TV gets big set upgrade

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: Wow - this actually reads more like a Rob Feder column than the Phil Rosenthal I'm used to. : : : Channel 2 news set gets a big upgrade : : : : : WBBM-Ch. 2 used to look like it was doing its newscasts from a well-lit closet. Puppet shows have had bigger, more impressive sets. The Channel 2 news team crammed in around a desk that appeared to be the size of a coffee table. : : That era of intimacy officially ended this week, as the beleaguered CBS-owned station finally abandoned its decrepit barn on McClurg Court for state-of-the-art digs across from Daley Plaza. In its effort to stand apart from the crowd, Channel 2 has added a street-level news studio�just like ABC-owned WLS-Ch. 7 and NBC-owned WMAQ-Ch. 5. : : But what no doubt seems like a reasonably sized space to passersby on the corner of Dearborn and Washington Streets comes across on-camera as roughly the size of an airplane hangar. : : It's the McMansion of news sets. : : It is no longer enough for WBBM anchors Rob Johnson and Anne State to "toss" to sportscaster Ryan Baker and weathercaster Steve Baskerville. Nothing less than a full-out heave will do. : : For all a viewer would know, poor Baker and Baskerville are working from the 773 area code, while Johnson and State work in the 312, or the "heart of Chicago," a slogan the station already has worn out through clumsy repetition that threatens to make it the "headache of Chicago" before too long. : : A bank of monitors�TV shorthand for "if something happens, we probably won't miss it"�could be effective, but only if the screens show live news events as they occur. Anything less, and the "The Situation Room"-effect more closely resembles situation comedy. The daytime beauty shots during the 10 p.m. newscast Monday were a dead give-away. : : Maybe it's simply that in the rush to get into the new facility there hasn't been time for Channel 2 crews to figure out how to choreograph their newscasts. Shots seem framed to showcase the size and breadth of the new studio in high-definition, recalling the way actions and gestures were wildly exaggerated in cheesy, old 3-D movies to spotlight the illusion of depth. : : Real depth comes from content, not all the bells, whistles and monitors around it. : : Channel 2 on Monday picked up its second national Emmy in recent years. Its coverage of last year's Blue Line emergency was honored by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for Outstanding Regional News Story�Spot News despite the claustrophobic set at WBBM's old headquarters. : : A good set enhances the content. When the scenery is louder than the headlines, it becomes the news, which is not becoming at all. : : : : (rosenthal/trib)

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