NFL Kickoff 2024: CBS Sports Overhauls Studio 43 for NFL Today'; Renames Facility in Honor of Sean McManus Revamped set offers sleek new look, increased flexibility for production team By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Friday, September 6, 2024 - 3:44 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Although most of the buzz around CBS Sports' revamped NFL Today studio show centers on the on-air talent shakeup, there's another notable overhaul that will have just as big of an impact for viewers: a soup-to-nuts redesign of the studio set at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. The newly christened Sean McManus Studio 43 - honoring the recently retired CBS Sports chairman - offers a sleek new look and increased flexibility for the production team.
Photos credit: Mary Kouw/CBS
With new additions to our talent lineup and new technology available out there, we felt it was time to redo the studio to give it a more contemporary and modern look that was also warm and inviting, says Harold Bryant, executive producer & EVP, production, CBS Sports. At the same time, we didn't want to overdo it with the amount of monitors and technology; we wanted to get a good balance between modern and classic. Our goal is to make people feel like the show is continuing to evolve while also sticking to its roots.
The new look had its soft launch last weekend with CBS Sports' College Football Today, but the real debut takes place this Sunday with the season-opening edition of the NFL Today when host James Brown and analysts Bill Cowher, Nate Burleson, JJ Watt, and new addition Matt Ryan go on air. In addition to the NFL Today, Sean McManus Studio 43 will be utilized for a variety of CBS Sports properties including March Madness and college basketball, college football, and studio shows like We Need to Talk.
It's a true renovation from top to bottom, says Tyler Hale, SVP, studio production, CBS Sports. Having this new facility, with the new bells and whistles and a totally new layout, will allow us to present some shows more dynamically and in a more contemporary style. We think it's going to be a great environment for the gang we have on the set now.
Get on Your Feet: Revised Layout Offers More Space to Move and Create The overhaul of the studio - its first in nearly a decade - was completed in just eight months. Although it occupies the same footprint inside the CBS Broadcast Center, the layout was totally rejiggered in an effort to provide the production team additional space and flexibility.
It's not a large studio space compared to a lot of other [major broadcasting facilities], says Bob Matina, director of NFL Today. So one of my objectives was to create more positions for talent to be located. We took our main desk, which has always been facing one of our four walls, moved it so that it's facing a corner. That freed up another wall for us to create a whole other talent position. We want to move around the studio as much as possible and I think we've created a design that really gives us the opportunity and flexibility to do that.
With the revised layout, Matina and his production team plan to get our talent on their feet more than ever before this season. For example, Matina says that roughly half of the Week 1 edition of NFL Today will take place away from the main desk.
One of the driving factors in this design was how to maximize the space as much as possible, says JP LoMonaco, VP, graphics & design, CBS Sports. We have a lot of premier programs that flow through here and it's only one room, so we want to get the most out of it. So versatility was really a big factor for us. We wanted to be able to move cameras and be able to present multiple settings within a single show. The idea was to give [Matina] the tools to create unique areas that could serve different types of segments.
A TechFacelift: LED Displays and Lights, Xpression Tessera Graphics, and the Move to IP Chief among the technological enhancements are an army of new LED displays throughout the studio that are driven by Ross Video's Xpression Tessera graphics system. The new displays include two Planar 1.8 TVF LED screens (1920 2340 pixels) and one Planar 1.8 TVF LED screen (2560 900), a Planar 1.9 CarbonLite Flex LED (1408 320) as the desk screen, and five 98 vertical displays (3840 2160).
In addition, the network completely revamped the lighting grid by converting all units to LED lights that can be remotely controlled from a central lighting panel. In addition to providing the production team with a more seamless workflow, the LED-based system is more energy-efficient in accordance with CBS's sustainability efforts.
While there were no major upgrades made to the Studio 43 control room, which was updated recently, VP of Studio Engineering & Technology, Greg Coppa, and his team did use the studio revamp as an opportunity to continue its evolution from SDI to IP.
We are removing SDI components wherever we can and attempting to get to a fully ST 2110 infrastructure, he says. [For example], we replace our existing color correctors with 2110 color correctors. That significantly improves the picture quality because we're not going back and forth between gateways.
CBS Sports worked with Video Visions to integrate the LED display system and Time Frame Productions for the overall systems integration for backend of the new studio.
Designing for a New Generation of Fan: A New Look for a New Era In terms of the overall look of the studio, LoMonaco and his team knew they had to create a space that could serve not only the NFL but CBS's litany of other properties.
Who we are spreads out over several sort of entities so we had to take all of that into account, he says. We also were very aware that we're going to live with this for a lo
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
08/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
08/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
08/01/2026
Maxon's new release of Cinebench features performance enhancements and adds support for the latest Nvidia and AMD GPUs as well as Apple Silicon.
Maxon is t...
08/01/2026
Zixi, the industry leader in IP-based video transport and orchestration, today announced the appointment of Heather Mellish as Vice President, Global Sales.
In...
08/01/2026
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, has provided a complete update of its installation at Canal Sur in Spain. ...
08/01/2026
iWedia, a global leader in software solutions for connected TV devices, proudly announces the success of its collaboration with Panasonic on the Z95B OLED TV, o...
08/01/2026
Secuoya Chile, a leading provider of television content creation and supporting services, has invested in Ikegami UHK-X600 and UHL-X40 broadcast cameras as the ...
08/01/2026
Kiloview, a global leader in AV-over-IP solutions, will showcase its latest innovations at ISE 2026, highlighting the continued evolution of its complete, light...
08/01/2026
iWedia, a global leader in software solutions for connected TV devices, and Realtek, a leading global SoC design house, today announced the next phase of their ...
08/01/2026
CJP Broadcast has completed a new pitch-side media installation for Cinderford RFC, creating a flexible production setup that supports match coverage, coaching ...
08/01/2026
PlayBox Neo further drives momentum in Playout, Streaming, Media Management and Delivery
"With a brand new year at PlayBox Neo already off to a flying start, I...
08/01/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Presents Second Annual Commercial Dance BFA Conce...
07/01/2026
SVG Summit 2025: All General Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAYThe SVG Summit celebrated its 20th edition with a loaded agendaBy Brandon Costa, Directo...
07/01/2026
NBCU's Brings Rinkside Live' and Courtside Live' Features to Peaco...
07/01/2026
Spotify is launching a week-long celebration spotlighting creators at the center...
07/01/2026
We know people use Spotify not just to listen, but to share the songs, podcasts, and audiobooks they love with their friends and family. When we launched Messag...
07/01/2026
This week, all eyes are on the podcast industry as the Golden Globes recognizes ...
07/01/2026
Podcasts are stepping onto a new stage this week as the Golden Globes recognize the medium for the first time. To mark this milestone moment, we're hosting ...
07/01/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), in collaboration with a distributor, is commissioning new micro-budget fiction feature films and invites eligible...
07/01/2026
NASA's Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at ...
07/01/2026
For the first time ever, new C' variants allow international users to interoperate with U.S. personnel via NSA-certified cryptography....
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Abu Dhabi, UAE 7, January 2026 - Abu Dhabi Police and Space42 (ADX: SPACE42), ...
07/01/2026
Back to All News
The Trailer of Paparazzi King: The 5-Episode Docuseries Coming...
07/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Supports Warner Bros. Discovery Board's Commitment...
07/01/2026
Back to All News
What Next? Netflix Reveals Series, Films and Games Coming in 2026
Entertainment
07 January 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Download ...
07/01/2026
AI has transformed retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) operations, enhancin...
06/01/2026
Peacock Bringing Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos to Live Sports ContentPeacock is the first streamer to embrace Dolbys full suite of advanced picture/sound innovat...
06/01/2026
SVG Europe Audio: Listening to the sounds of powder and ice at Milano Cortina wi...
06/01/2026
Quintar Meta Spatial SDK Integration Promises Next-Level XR ExperiencesBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, January 6, 2026 - 9:41 am
Print This...
NFL Kickoff 2024: CBS Sports Overhauls Studio 43 for NFL Today'; Renames Facility in Honor of Sean McManus Revamped set offers sleek new look, increased flexibility for production team By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. 
