They've made the mistake that virtual means they can go massive.
ITV News best virtual set is by far the current version, this because I think its on a much smaller compact scale. It looks more real because of it. The underground car park look before it wasn't great.
I don't mind the skyline backdrop. Beyond that... ughh. But then I'm not surprised. The aesthetic quality of news sets in Australia is generally low. The best ones tend to be very simple designs, only because they're harder to stuff up (although some still manage).
To be fair though, I've definitely seen far worse virtual sets. German news broadcasting has a lot to answer for!
I don't think it's that bad, it ain't great. My goodness, the ITV News virtual set from 2009-2013 was far worse than this. And we've had worse real sets than that virtual set as well, such as Five News from 2003-2005.
I also don't think it's that bad especially for their first virtual set. As has been mentioned itv have only really got it right with this one (and the original theatre of news, but that was not a fully virtual set).
I liked the five news 2003 real set especially compared to the current virtual one.
As virtual sets go we've seen better but as Aussie sets go at least they're getting into the 21st century, although doesn't help at all that it's all in SD thanks to stupid Aussie laws making them practically the only country in the world where the main channels are not available in HD. Even North Korea has ditched SD completely when they went digital.
All the North Korean channels are still in SD quality, actually. Anyway, I agree that it's one awful virtual set.
They announced last month that they'll be broadcasting in HD, according to this article:
Lateline is back with a new look, sound and edgier, Newsnight-ish format after a near death experience during the ABC's review of news programming in response to Government budget cuts.
I like the refreshed Lateline title theme, although I think the visuals are rather uninspired. As for the set -- well, it's better than most Australian TV efforts, but still leaves a lot to be desired.