JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — First Coast News, the legacy NBC and ABC duopoly in Jacksonville launched its modern and innovative set designed by Florida-based Z Space Creative during the Thursday evening newscast.
Key to the 1,250 square foot design are clean soft pine lines and white brick. President and General Manager Tim Thomas said when he came to the station 18-months ago he knew he wanted to make an impact here with a new set that spoke to the audiences of First Coast News. He wants to do viewers justice by telling their stories in a comfortable, intentional way.
"Z-Space’s new First Coast News set provides additional ways to tell the community's stories while we continue daily to be the trusted news source on the First Coast," Thomas said.
The First Coast News On Your Side leadership team met several times as a group brainstorming the ‘look’ and ‘feel’ of the set even before the group started interviewing potential designer candidates. Together, the collaboration was in unison of the need for a grand space to tell stories with a modern and thoughtful approach.
“I’m ecstatic my design was selected to reinvigorate the way news is told on the stations of First Coast News,” said Z Space Creative Owner and Designer Anthony Ferguson. “I’ve worked on more than 300 sets for more than 24 years and this one is truly exceptional.”
First Coast News studio reveal
What lends this set design to be so unique, Ferguson said, is the ‘use of space' in studio and how it will differentiate First Coast News from other set designs in the Jacksonville market. The Most Accurate Weather Team in the market now produces forecasts in 525 square feet of new space.
"The biggest differentiator is the fact that there is so much studio space," Ferguson added. "The station wanted to make the most of its space to help news tell stories bigger and to give viewers an even bigger perspective of their local weather.”
The First Coast News On Your Side set design began with an interior temporary set build in its newsroom in late February. This included a weather center and quad box for news reports and sports reports. Next came the demolition of its old set in late April. The Z Space Creative team went to work hiring local flooring and lighting experts to install by May. The First Coast News On Your Side engineering team provided the labor for most of the finishing work on walls, installing monitors and more.
“The dedicated and relentless work of the First Coast News engineering team removed years of cabling to make way for the incredible set we have today,” said Technology and Operations Director Jose Pumarejo. “The team put in countless hours tearing down several smaller sets to bring this set to reality.”
The new set includes more than 50 new LED studio lights and two 165-inch diagonal LED video walls. The design took 6 months from concept to final approval and the installation was complete in 8 weeks.