MSG Network began broadcasting from their redesigned studio on Oct. 8.
NEW YORK—MSG Network, the TV home for the New York Knicks and New York Rangers (and several other New York sports franchises), launched a newly redesigned studio on Oct. 8, marking a new era for the nation’s oldest regional sports network.
“It was time for a new design,” said Jeff Filippi, senior vice president and executive producer for the network. “Everything in the studio is brand new.” For the past half-decade, the network operated two studios—one for the Knicks and one for the Rangers; the new studio was designed to consolidate coverage on one set, with expanded space for additional standups and a larger curved desk to accommodate up to four personalities.
The first thing sports fans will notice in the new 1,386 square-foot Visa MSG studio is the increased emphasis on graphics, in particular, a massive, nearly 94-square-foot video wall consisting of 15 (5x3) 46-inch HD monitors (fed by a Vista Spyder video processor) that will help the network expand and improve the visual presentation. A new vertical 60-inch touchscreen monitor placed in another part of the studio for standups, will also enhance how MSG personalities convey the excitement and drama of the nearly 700 live NBA, NHL, MLS, WNBA, and college football and basketball games the network reports on every year.
In the previous setup, “we had one large monitor but we’ve never had anything like this,” Filippi said. “This will give it a whole different look and feel.”
The new studio will be home to Knicks pre- and postgame shows as well as halftime; Rangers pre- and post-game and intermissions, as well as the network’s Hockey Night Live weekly hockey roundup show. According to MSG, the network—along with MSG+, home of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders—broadcasts more live hockey than any other U.S. network.
The new studio is being launched a year after Madison Square Garden underwent a $1 billion renovation and the redesign reflects the arena’s new look, according to Filippi. “Part of the goal was to try to incorporate elements from the transformation of the garden into the design,” he said.
The Systems Group of Hoboken, N.J., served as the SI on the project.
