Scripps Sports To Launch Brand-New Studio With WNBA Pregame Show on ION

The Atlanta-based facility was ‘built with women’s sports in mind’

WNBA fans tuning in Friday night to watch the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark as part of a doubleheader on ION will also catch the unveiling of Scripps Sports’ new broadcast studio. The Atlanta-based set and studio will debut for Scripps’s WNBA studio shows, starting with State Farm WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION pregame show at 7 p.m. ET.

Owned by E. W. Scripps Co. and available over the air (among other mediums), ION is the first broadcast network to have a weekly WNBA studio show. (Scripps Sports previously shared a studio with the 24/7 national network Scripps News)

“The timing worked out really well for us to launch this sports studio coming off the women’s winning the gold medal both in basketball and in soccer,” says Quinn Pacini, VP, broadcast operations, Scripps Sports. “We believe there’s a rejuvenated fan base that’s going to be tuning in.”

The new studio, which features multiple 4K graphics monitors and a wall of four vertical monitors, will also be used for NWSL shows on Saturday evenings. An 86-in. touchscreen telestrator powered by Ross Piero sports-graphics and analysis system will be deployed for live content integrations.

Additionally, Scripps plans to incorporate four production positions, with the main sports desk as the centerpiece, an element that didn’t exist with the prior set. “This isn’t a half-baked studio,” Pacini explains. “We went all-in.”

Noting that the broadcast studio was “built with women’s sports in mind,” he adds that WNBA fans will see that Scripps Sports is “committed to the league, to women’s sports, and to doing so in the highest regard.”

Inside the studio, three free-roaming Ross CamBot pedestals can be fully controlled by a Ross hardware controller, by Ross SmartShell software, or manually. All three cameras can be controlled from any of the broadcaster’s three Atlanta control rooms, according to Pacini.

“We wanted to make our show feel as big as possible,” he adds. “Having so many different positions allows us to utilize our space in the best ways possible and tell stories on our studio show.”

Viewers will see a very polished and clean studio show with bright graphics, he says: “Our studio show is unique because we don’t focus on the Xs and Os on the court or on the pitch. We want to showcase player profiles, features about unique stories happening in the leagues. Our set gives us opportunities to have some dimension to how we present those stories.”

He notes that Scripps Sports is also “future-proofed” with the implementation of the 4K monitors in addition to the three robotic cameras. “We didn’t build this studio thinking, ‘Well, if it works, we’ll add another round of money in two years. We built the best studio that we could right now to take us as we continue to travel.”

Though declining to elaborate and provide details, Pacini teased that the broadcast division could see additional women’s sports on its airwaves in the future. When that may occur exactly remains to be seen. “I believe that our studio will not only provide a platform for [the WNBA and NWSL] but will also be something that we look to leverage more with future partners as we grow in the space of women’s sports.”

El Segundo, CA–headquartered agency Drive designed the new broadcast studio, and Hillsboro, OR–based experiential-marketing agency Pinnacle designed the new set. Pacini and Scripps Networks VP, Creative Design, Garrett Cook led the project, the latter overseeing graphics design and the style of the main sports desk.

Host Larry Smith and women’s basketball analysts Autumn Johnson and Meghan McKeown will return to the studio Friday night for the first time since the WNBA All-Star break in mid July. Scripps Sports Senior Director, Content, Nicole Denne is executive producer of the studio shows.