Based in Tallahassee, Fla., Black News Channel (BNC) is available on Spectrum, Xfinity X-1 and Dish Network, and is expected to reach more than 100 million homes in the near future with additional distribution partners.

Designed by Devlin Design Group in Scottsdale, Ariz., the main set is about 2,000 square feet with a lighting grid outfitted with almost 70 Brightline lights. The centerpiece of the set is a news desk bookended with vertical LED screens.

Two large LED video walls are located on either side of the news desk, along with a small interview set to one side. RGB lighting elements, which required extensive DMX programming, are positioned across the set, so the look of the newscast can be changed instantly.

Kenny Elcock, director of engineering and operations for BNC, said the concept behind the set was to “create a cultural experience for our viewers and still maintain a network quality.”

As a startup news organization offering specific content, BNC needed a set that would allow multiple shot setups within a relatively small space. According to Elcock, response to the set has been “overwhelmingly favorable.”

Lighting designer Bill Holshevnikoff developed the lighting for the news set as well as the channel’s green screen virtual studio, a separate space equipped with about 20 L1.2 and L1.4 fixtures. As in many of today’s news sets, the RGB lighting elements – including hanging set pieces, walkways and video wall backlights – created some talent lighting challenges.

“They wanted a very colorful, RGB-driven set,” said Holshevnikoff. “When that happens, you’ve got to keep all your lighting for talent off the RGB elements or the color won’t pop. You really have to work hard to control that spill light. Brightline has great control options on their fixtures, so you can make sure you’re not spilling light on the RGB elements and spoiling the color.”

Another challenge BNC faced was providing consistent lighting for the variety of skin tones of the on-screen talent. “Lighting people of color is a challenge,” Elcock noted, “but because we chose right, we’ve been able to overcome all those challenges. Brightline was a perfect fit.”

For general task lighting in the newsroom, BNC is using Flex-T LED lights that are pendant mounted from the ceiling via custom brackets. The low-voltage Flex-T fixtures are controlled via DMX through wall stations.