PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
WGN America’s News Nation Goes Live Soon!
Chicago Scenic looks with pride to the launch of News Nation, the new Prime-Time national newscast from WGN America, which debuts on September 1, 2020.
We collaborated with the design powerhouse, Clickspring, on the fabrication and installation of the News Nation newsroom and studio sets at WGNA's Chicago headquarters. Showman Fabricators also collaborated on the project, which was a fast one: just 14 weeks from start to finish, give or take.
News Nation is a three-hour nightly newscast that will air on WGN America—Nexstar Media Group’s wholly owned cable network that reaches 75 million television households across the U.S. News Nation will also deliver news 24-hours a day online through a new app called NewsNationNow.
The design of the News Nation broadcast studio features large-scale scenic elements that allow for camera angles and great backdrops—with state-of-the-art broadcast technology incorporated throughout.
“The project is beautiful and the combination of newsroom and studio elements will give News Nation a dramatic look,” said Doug Pokorny, Senior Project Manager at Chicago Scenic. “This project involved unique, twin challenges: close coordination with partners on a tight timeline and installation while dealing with all the COVID-19 restrictions to guard against exposure to the coronavirus,” Pokorny added.
The coordination challenges on this project—and how the various parties met them – are perhaps the most interesting aspects of the WGNA project to a fabricator’s eye.
“We had an unusual level of coordination here— between Chicago Scenic and Showman,” said Pokorny. “Think about it: The spectacular end result is one cohesive unit built by two companies—us in Chicago and Showman on the East Coast. Yet, with the final product, you can’t tell where one started and one ended—and that’s two companies, two different fabrication techniques – and yet the pieces come together brilliantly, all the finishes and paints match perfectly. And the client is thrilled!”
Visit our website to learn more about design-build projects for tv and film here.
