The Weather Channel Tour

This "studio of the future" was awe-inspiring. It had a lot of upgrades for the futuristic purposes of conserving energy. The studio used local materials from no further than 500 miles away. They used things like cork and bamboo wherever possible. These materials are quickly renewable materials, unlike lumber and steel. Low emitting adhesives, sealants, capreting, and paints were ued to minimize or eliminate contributions to ozone depletion and global warming. 170 sq ft was devoted to recycling glass, aluminum, paper, and cardboard. Light colored roofing materials were put in place of traditional shingles to keep studio cool naturally, all year long and reduce energy usage. A smart feature the studio used was a green screen that can swivel from one side of the studio to the other to accomodate different weather stories. This is accentuated by the amount of lights present in the studio. Each has it's own backup so it never goes dark and consumers can stay updated on weather at all times. A cozy half-circle couch is a tidy addition for meterologists to talk about the weather and help the viewer to feel as if they're there. This specific effect is made easier by the fact that the weather channel moved to all HD. They have robotically controlled cameras eliminating the use of human cameramen. Images and graphics seen on the screen are added by the production team to make your weather experience all the more exciting. This is added to the area where the weather is reported from. The reporting desk. The desk actually swivels 360 degrees. This give the set the ability to be in a stifiling 11 different configurations. The set itself also has a "scenic view" of 3 small LCD display televisions. But, on the off chance they would need a bigger view, there are at least 10 more LCD display TV's throught the studio.

This "studio of the future" was a very intimate look at how stations are changing to meet viewer concern and expectation. This new studio was very concientious of the environment. Something many builders and other corporates looking to expand are not. I enjoyed this tour very much. Did I enjoy it more than the New York Times Building? They were about even. The NYT presentation was better, but The Weather Channel had more gadgets and such to look at. Both were very informative.