Steffen Seibert was still a presenter at ZDF when the news moved from the Mainz broadcaster to the virtual studio. That was just over a dozen years ago – a good time for a re-launch, which was already pointed out in the past few months when ZDF expanded its online news presence. On Monday, July 19, the TV newscast will have a new look. The first broadcast in the new build will be the “heute” version at 7 p.m. on launch day, ZDF has now confirmed.
It is noticeable that the table has been significantly reduced: instead of slightly bloated furniture, it now moves a walnut letter table, which comes in a curved L-shape and was built in Saxony. With guests and experts invited into the studio, a conversation could take place around the corner in the future, allowing for more natural lines of sight, it is said. Note: the studio has also shrunk in size – its 300 sq m area is only half of the previous space. After the broadcast starts, the old, unused area will be renewed.
Visually, the programs will also get close to each other: 7 p.m.- “heute”, “heute-journal”, “heute journal update”, but also “heute” programs during the day as well as weather and “logo” rely on blue as a determining factor – The later the program is run, the darker the tone. Meanwhile, the globe used in the background uses font hatching, which aims to describe the newscast as a modern graphic element. Also new: at 7 PM “Today” a digital clock will announce the start of broadcasting. The opening and music were also revised, and its core theme was retained. According to ZDF, the sound should become “more modern and distinct”.
In the modern studio, fewer headlights are used. 70 energy-saving LED panel lights were used, which not only ensures a lower temperature, but also generates light that makes the moderators’ faces look more “natural,” ZDF explains. Meanwhile, ZDF is relying on technology from Great Britain for its new camera robot. It runs on rails, so it’s not fixed in one place, but it still has a swivel range. This means that “more movement and more settings” is possible, as they say.
The main staple and branding element of the new design on air is, as the announcer explains, the so-called “keyline”. It is intended to serve as a “visual metaphor for the essence of the news”. The dynamic main line is always in motion and is intended to support and present information at different levels. At the same time, it should form the basis for a new system of pictograms.
“more compact and focused”
© ZDF / Markus HintzenBettina Skitter
Peter Fry, editor-in-chief of ZDF says: “With the re-launch, we are enhancing the explanatory efficiency of our news programming and making our brokers more focused. The new framework in which we deliver our news is attractive, contemporary and backed by information: it’s always about the content, what matters is the exact facts researched. Seriously.” Bettina Skiddin, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of ZDF and Head of ZDF’s Chief Editorial Office adds to the latest: “With the redesign, we are completing an update project that will work with the relaunch of the ZDFheute online news service that began at the beginning of 2020.” at Studio N The new, we want to be ‘more compact and focused’ in the future.
Virtual callout rooms should continue to exist. “Photo information has become more and more important in recent years and also plays a bigger role in the new studio,” says Schausten. “Explaining complex facts succinctly and to some extent with pictures and graphics is already a recipe for the success of our news programs and will be used even more in the future. The following rule still applies: there is no false false reality, but rather visual support for the interpretation offered.”
