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WISH-TV unveils new $1.5 million set

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Welcome to our new home. The new WISH-TV set has all the bells and whistles.

“I came in here when they were doing bits and pieces of it and I was like, ‘wow, this thing really pops,’” meteorologist Randy Ollis said

The 3,100 square foot studio is equipped with 12 color-changing LED walls, making the new set the largest and most technologically driven set in the market.

“When I first got into broadcasting, we used to have the magic marker and we would draw and it would drip while we were on the air, and then we got high-tech and we went to the magnetic and they would fall off the map,” Ollis added

The new set was designed with the viewer in mind. Scott Hainey is the Director of Creative Services at WISH-TV and the mastermind behind our new set. 

“We do nearly 70 hours of news a week, more than any other local TV station so we had different needs than we had from our other set, so we really looked at those in the design of this set,” Hainey said. “I think technology is the big thing, we utilize technology in this set to give us the functionality and flexibility to do what we do with nearly 70 hours of local news a week.”

The set has 14,000 individual LED lights and 17 rows of LED color-changing light strips.

“Lighting, for people at home who may not know this, is everything, especially for those of us whose mugs are on the camera everyday,” anchor Brooke Martin said. “It makes a big difference.I think that’s one of the things we’re most excited about.”

Viewers will also see new graphics and new music in every newscast. 

“A lot of people think, ‘new set, who cares’ but it does make a difference,” said anchor Mike Barz. “We’re in the TV business. We show pictures, we show video, that’s so important for you at home.” 

The $1.5 million set has been years in the making. 

“Our parent company Nexstar came in and bought the stations a year and a half ago,” said WISH-TV General Manager Randy Ingram. “[Nexstar] brought me up here at the same time and we got together and talked about what the station needs and the first thing we looked at was a new set. The set had been here for about 15 years.”

It took months to build, then weeks to tweak and days of rehearsal.

“Everything we do is for the viewer, this set is for the viewer,” Martin said. “It’s going to allow us to tell stories in a more efficient, effective and aesthetically-pleasing way and we think they’re going to love it even more than we do.”