[Medianext.MX]

More Gray affiliates are joining the new set extravaganza: WCSC in Charleston is set to debut a new set in just a few weeks' time. It is going reportedly to be a new standardized set design for their middle and small-market stations, dumping the existing FX Group designs. Although, in the recent examples of remodels for WTOK, WDAM, WLOX and WHSV, they have been certainly upgrades for these markets, the overall designs are looking quite dated for 2023.

It is also being told the new set will see the debut of the new standardized Gray graphics package. According to TVNewsTalk sources, the new designs are being made by Matt Quinn, who is now Gray's senior designer, leading a new graphics hub based out of WANF in Atlanta, and would be based on the current Atlanta News First designs, with elements of the Meredith and WOIO packages (WOIO itself will reportedly adopt the new graphics in March).

An update on this: the new look and set debuts Monday. Additionally, TVNewsTalk insiders have confirmed the new standardized Gray graphics package is an adaptation of Atlanta News First's graphics. The fact it is such and Matt Quinn's involvement in the new design will be certainly a big upgrade compared to the existing designs made by WNDU and KOLN/KGIN staff. Additionally, the package will allow to have Gray a network-style presentation on its stations compared to Sinclair's standardized graphics and the Rey Rodriguez/Linear Drift packages used by Nexstar stations, even in their smaller markets, according to the TVNT insiders.

Given this is a complete package redesign, with a major overhaul on all the components (straps, full-screen graphics, sports, weather...), there will be a complete graphics workflow change for the stations. Gray stations already using Vizrt for graphics, as well as the former Meredith stations, would start getting the new package by next summer; the legacy Raycom/Quincy stations still working on old workflows (Raycom used Chyron CG, whilst Quincy used Avid Maestro) will also be migrated to it once graphics hardware is upgraded over time to Vizrt.