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 ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
15/07/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is a big deal for DAZN, which has distribution rights in three markets: Italy, Spain, and Japan. Each requires a different editorial app...
15/07/2026
As sports-media organizations manage rapidly growing content libraries and incre...
15/07/2026
HBS director of digital Johannes Franken talks SVG Europe through the operation built to serve FIFA World Cup 2026 rights holders remotely from Stratford, east ...
15/07/2026
IBC has unveiled the conference program for IBC2026, with this year's event ...
15/07/2026
Software-defined wideband RF platform supports 96-kHz monitoring, streamlined fr...
15/07/2026
New AI-powered module enables broadcasters and content owners to extract dialogu...
15/07/2026
Weeklong gathering at EBU headquarters will test new IPMX capabilities and expand certified product ecosystem...
15/07/2026
Force Tech has announced the appointment of Bryan Adams, CTS, as Vice President of Integration. Adams will oversee AV and broadcast integration project delivery...
15/07/2026
USA Sports has announced an exclusive English-language agreement with the Bundes...
15/07/2026
ITV Sport's FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage has been produced from one of the m...
15/07/2026
Program will provide professional camera kits, training, and technical support to participating local newsrooms...
15/07/2026
San Francisco church becomes first U.S. deployment of the 2 M/E production switcher...
15/07/2026
Former ESPN and NFL Network executive to advise startup league on media, distribution, technology, and fan engagement...
15/07/2026
The Houston-based RSN is the live-game home of the Astros and Rockets...
15/07/2026
Launched alongside new FreqSoft installer
Designed to bridge the gap between hardware and software, Freqport's FreqInOut FO1 unit provides a simple way ...
15/07/2026
Save up to 55% on software until 23 July 2026
Expressive E have just launched their Summer Offer sale, with discounts of up to 55% now applied across their ...
15/07/2026
Real-time stem-separation tool updated
zplane have recently released a new and improved version of their real-time stem-separation plug-in which they say ma...
15/07/2026
A new benchmark in bass enhancement
Described as a new benchmark in bass enhancement , Baby Audio's latest release has been designed to augment the lo...
15/07/2026
DMC Production's AR 1 and AR 2 units reverse the conventional OB workflow, keeping all production-critical processing at the venue while operators work remo...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
GigaCloud, a leading Ukrainian cloud service provider, and Cubbit, the first geo-distributed cloud storage enabler, today announced a new Business Alliance Part...
15/07/2026
SMPTE, the global society for media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has announced the launch of the SMPTE 110th Anniversary Campaign, a fundraising...
15/07/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, unveils the new StudioComm Model 762 Stereo Level Control, ...
15/07/2026
COW Jobs: Producer, Virtual Events - Hybrid, Full Time, Salaried
Brie Clayton July 15, 2026
0 Comments
Producer, Virtual Events (Hybrid | Full-time | ...
15/07/2026
Brazilian media organization builds nationwide CDN with Broadpeak's high-performance software for low-latency streaming and new content distribution service...
15/07/2026
DHD announces a new utility designed to increase the efficiency of its audio mixing systems during initial installation and subsequent configuration.
Anyone w...
15/07/2026
BCNEXXT Brings Next-Generation Vipe to IBC2026, Breaking the 1:1 Channel-to-Server Ratio New innovations liberate broadcasters from legacy playout infrastructur...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Wednesday 15 July 2026
Screeners and press pack now available: Gomorrah: The Or...
15/07/2026
Trinity's Treasures features Ruth Negga, Eleanor McEvoy, and David Norris, a...
15/07/2026
Join geographer Dr Susan Hegarty, Engineer Tim Joyce and Architect Orla Murphy a...
15/07/2026
Home to leading manufacturers, robotics pioneers, infrastructure builders and gaming, of course, Japan is one of the world's centers of AI - building across...
14/07/2026
South end zone videoboard, cloud-based control system will be ready for 2026 football season...
14/07/2026
Redesigned website, enhanced mobile app unify content, ticketing, and personalized fan engagement...
14/07/2026
Agreement spans sponsorship sales, digital monetization, radio production, and new practice facility naming rights...
14/07/2026
Independent league adds 14 regional sports network affiliates, growing distribut...
14/07/2026
New strategy aims to unify competitions, content, fan engagement, and commercial...
14/07/2026
ESPN and Disney+ become exclusive home of PFL events in key international MMA market...
14/07/2026
Gill will oversee engineering, technology, and sports operations across the company's 64 local television stations...
14/07/2026
Submitted by North American Broadcasters Association (NABA)
As broadcasters con...
14/07/2026
Modernized mobile unit combines HOME Apps, mc 56 console, and IP infrastructure ...
14/07/2026
Every match of the 32-team tournament will air across ION and Scripps Sports platforms in English and Spanish...
14/07/2026
FloHockey to stream every game of the annual international tournament under four...
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. 
