A look at FOX 11's High Definition studio

ASHWAUBENON - We are pleased to bring you FOX 11 News in High Definition. It marks a historic day for our company.

WLUK-TV FOX 11 Vice President and General Manager Jay Zollar shares some thoughts on the occasion.

“This is an exciting day here at FOX 11. For over a year now we have been planning and building out for presenting news and weather in High Definition. Our goal has been to have a visually appealing newscast but also to construct a studio that provides for lots of flexibility and supports our commitment to providing the best local content, balanced news and severe weather coverage. I hope you agree that we have accomplished this goal. Thank you,” said Zollar.

Rachel Manek and Pete Petoniak of Good Day Wisconsin are also excited about the unveiling of our new FOX 11 News HD set.

“The on-air countdown to HD began last week. And now we can show you what we've been working on for months. Our new set spans an entire studio,” said Manek.

And while the wooden columns, new lights and colorful backdrops are visually appealing… there is a purpose to this creativity.

"The FOX 11 Severe Weather Center allows us the ability to track storms and present this life saving information in a more efficient and understandable manner,” said FOX 11's Director of Meteorology Pete Petoniak. “The large monitors are not just a backdrop. We can program them with our weather cameras from across the viewing area, or the FOX11 Doppler Radar, or video images of severe weather.”

Did you miss the Severe Weather Index at the top of our newscast? No worries… Just look for the color of the weather set lights to learn the FOX 11 Severe Weather Index. Green means a low risk for severe weather, yellow moderate and red is high.

“No matter the day or time, the Severe Weather Center is where we will be able to bring you the information you rely on to keep your family safe from threatening weather,” said Pete Petoniak.

“The new set helps us maintain our commitment to Balanced News Coverage. The centerpiece is a 2 by 2 array of monitors,” said Rachel Manek. “Four 55 inch monitors stitched together as the backdrop to the set.”

It can also provide a glimpse of say our HD Lambeau Cam with an incoming storm.

And while the backdrop and lighting is colorful, it's also flexible allowing the presentation of news, sports and weather from the main anchor desk.

Flanking each side of the set are two 55 inch monitors that allow our reporters to present perspective to their stories.

The design offers us another location for presenting balanced news coverage, election coverage and our many sports programs: Locker Room Live, GameTime and Training Camp.

This set is even flexible enough for production of our weekly public affairs program, CW 14 Focus, on our sister station.

And we are excited to use another new element of our HD set which is funky enough for the bands and performers that appear on Good Day Wisconsin. It will also be home to serious discussions for our special news programs, talk shows, interviews and debates.

So while we hope you enjoy the visual appeal of our new set, please remember it's really designed to bring you the best in Balanced News and Severe Weather Coverage.

A lot of hard work went into the transition to High Definition. Click here to view a photo gallery of the progress.