[Mike]

So only the background video can change - the grates aren't visible in the image I posted, but they're faux structural/industrial grating that bookend the screens - I assume to make it a little bit less 'fake'?

So anything in the background can change. In theory anything can be put there, as long as the correct templates are used. The wipe that goes between background images can be set so it appears above or below the 'panels'. The most obvious use is the when the date is taken away at the top of the broadcast:

up.metropol247.co.uk 

That isn't to say they can't display just anything there, there are standardised backgrounds used for politics productions, the regional news, CIN that can be selected - I'm giving it a few years before one region gets bored and goes rogue and we end up with a complete mess on the screens... My gut is telling me it'll be Look Leeds, probably with a squashed down version of studio B as their backdrop, but everything written in a blend of reith, gill and helvetica.

EDIT: As far as the new gallery solutions go - and I stress I am not an insider, but do have a few friends who work at different regional sites - I've been told that everything gets replaced. Some regions are still running Aston CGs from the late 80s, there are new vision mixers, new graphics engines and a new type of automation built around the MOS protocol which comes with the Ross setup. Everything gets ripped out, but the way they're having to do it is construct a new gallery temporarily somewhere else, then relocate it once the old setup has been removed. Long term they reckon that they can produce a regional news programme with 2 or 3 people for the main evening edition. Interestingly the sites with old school presentation galleries are keeping them, but they're likely to be just one screen and one panel driving the main gear (shotbox).

Slowly aging Thomson 1707s are being replaced with Sony cameras (on the same peds), bit by bit some parts are changing.