Building a Broadcast Studio: Lessons from a World-Feed Football Set, and How Prosales Builds Studios in South Africa
Building a broadcast studio is not about buying a few lights and cameras. It is about designing a space that performs under pressure, on air, every day. When ITV Sport lit its world-feed studio for the 2026 football tournament, a rooftop set in New York running almost entirely on LED, it showed exactly what a modern broadcast-grade studio now looks like. Prosales designs, supplies, installs and supports studios to that same standard across South Africa, for broadcasters, houses of worship and corporate and content teams.
The ITV build, documented in Aputure's case study, is a useful blueprint for what it takes. Here is what it teaches, and how we apply it locally.
At a glance
- What "broadcast-grade" means: reliability that cannot fail on air, weather and IP-rated fixtures, an LED-first rig, and consistent, accurate colour.
- The reference: ITV Sport's rooftop New York studio, lit almost entirely with Aputure LED.
- The gear class: Aputure NOVA II panels, STORM and LS monolights and INFINIBAR practicals, all supplied by Prosales.
- What Prosales does: design, supply, install and support broadcast-grade studios in South Africa.
What makes a studio "broadcast-grade"?
A studio that goes to air is judged on reliability and consistency first, and on individual products second. These are the principles the ITV build highlights, and the ones we design around.
Reliability that cannot fail on air
On a live broadcast there is no second take. ITV's lighting director put the stakes simply: "If our lights fail, 15 million people see it." For a rooftop open to sun, wind and rain, that meant weather and IP-rated fixtures and heavy pre-testing. In any studio it means specifying kit for uptime and backing it with local support, not just picking the brightest option.
An LED-first rig
Modern studios run almost entirely on LED, for the efficiency, low heat, colour control and dimming that broadcast needs. ITV used around 25 Aputure NOVA II panels as the backbone of its ambient and talent light. An all-LED approach also makes a studio quieter, cooler and cheaper to run.
Soft, controllable talent light
Presenters need a soft wrap of light strong enough to compete with ambient or daylight, that can be dimmed right down while holding its colour. That depends on high colour accuracy (CRI and TLCI of 95 or higher) and fixtures that behave consistently across the whole rig.
Even green-screen and virtual-set blending
Keying and virtual sets are now standard. That calls for flat, even fill on the cyc with no shadows, and practical light sources, such as INFINIBAR pixel bars, placed in shot to blend the physical set with the virtual environment so the two read as one space.
Control and flexibility
A studio rig has to be managed quickly and often from one place, by app, DMX or wireless mesh, with modifiers that swap without refocusing and fixtures that can play several roles as the production changes. That flexibility is what keeps a studio working as its needs evolve.
The gear behind a broadcast-grade studio
The fixtures ITV relied on are the same class of kit Prosales supplies and installs in South Africa:
- Aputure NOVA II panels: RGBWW soft panels for ambient, talent wrap and green-screen fill, the backbone of a studio rig.
- Aputure STORM and LS monolights: high-output point sources for keys and backup studios. See the Aputure range.
- INFINIBAR pixel bars: practicals and set integration for blending real and virtual sets. Browse amaran and Aputure lighting.
- Grip, truss and rigging: safe, flexible mounting with Avenger grip and Panther Specter modular truss.
- The full on-air chain: cameras, switchers, audio and CueScript prompting to complete the studio.
A broadcast-grade studio at a glance
| Element | Why it matters | Supplied by Prosales |
|---|---|---|
| Reliable, IP-rated lighting | Broadcast-critical uptime | Aputure NOVA II, STORM, LS |
| Full-colour LED | Colour accuracy, flexibility, effects | amaran and Aputure RGBWW |
| Practicals and set integration | Blend real and virtual sets | INFINIBAR pixel bars |
| Grip, truss and mounting | Safe, flexible rigging | Avenger, Panther Specter |
| Cameras, audio, prompting | A complete on-air chain | Sony, Canon, Blackmagic, CueScript |
| Design, install and support | A studio that works from day one | Prosales turnkey service |
Building studios in South Africa with Prosales
Prosales designs, supplies, installs and supports broadcast-grade studios across South Africa. Whether it is a broadcast or sports set, a house of worship, a corporate or podcast studio, or a content space, we spec the lighting, cameras, audio, prompting and rigging, install it, and support it locally with genuine stock and warranty. From brief to broadcast. See our studio builds or talk to our team about your studio.
Frequently asked questions
Planning a studio? Prosales designs, supplies, installs and supports broadcast-grade studios across South Africa. Talk to our team, from brief to broadcast. Reference build: Aputure, lighting ITV Sport's broadcast.
