CNN Studio Tour

Atlanta, GA – My sister and I were sorely disappointed this morning to find an unknown anchor sitting in for T.J. Holmes during our much anticipated CNN Studio Tour. Despite the extreme earliness and weekendness of T.J.’s appearances on CNN Newsroom, we purchased tickets for the 9:20am tour just so we could see him in action. This meant waking up really freaking early on a Sunday morning, putting on make-up and everything, and driving an hour just to be there on time. And where was T.J.? Nowhere to be found. Well, except in a poster plastered on the wall between the 4th and 5th stops on the tour. It is a cute poster.

Despite my disappointment, I still highly recommend the CNN Studio Tour to locals and tourists alike. This was my second time on the tour and I feel like I learned a lot of new things. Although maybe that’s just because my first tour was 7 years ago and things have changed a bit since then, and also I have a terrible memory.

On the tour, we were given a behind-the-scenes look at how the on-air broadcast is produced. We got to listen to the technical directors as they cued cameras and footage, we saw how teleprompters and green screens work (although CNN now uses plasma screens for their weather coverage) and we got to take a cute picture sitting at a mock CNN newsdesk. The best part of the tour, though, is definitely seeing the live broadcast as it’s being taped, and watching all those writers, editors and producers at work.

Some interesting facts I learned this time (and maybe last time, too, I’m not sure) are that there are no people standing behind the cameras – the cameras, which cost around $30,000 each, are actually joystick-controlled from another room. Also, the anchors don’t actually do any writing – the stories are written and edited for them. The anchors just deliver. Wow that sounds easy. Well, maybe not for Robin Meade, who has to be at the studio by 3am for her 6am show. Finally, CNN’s source for user-generated news, iReport.com, generates about 15,000 leads per month. Each lead is reviewed within 24 hours and either verified and turned into a story, or (most likely) discarded. Anyone can submit a story on iReport.com, and the site, which was launched earlier this year, will soon be it’s own entity separate from CNN.com.

The tour concludes at The Turner Store. It’s a huge room that’s filled to the brim with overpriced merchandise, of which I bought 65 dollars worth. We also took pictures with cardboard cutouts of Larry King (who tapes in L.A.), and Anderson Cooper (who tapes in New York, and who is my sister’s favorite). I not-so-secretly wished both of these cardboard cut-outs were T.J. Holmes. And also, real.

I left the gift shop with my two mugs, hat and a t-shirt, screaming, Teeee Jaaaay, Teee Jaaaay….to no avail. Oh well, maybe next time.

For more information:
CNN Studio Tour
Buy Tickets Online at Museumtix.com
Directions and Parking Information for CNN Center

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