London Live

They do indeed. The sets smack of someone in their late 40s trying desperately to appeal to people in their 20s/30s. Brick effect was used widely in the US/Canada 15 years ago. It's incredibly dated now, unless it's executed properly. What works in a coffee shop doesn't necessarily work on TV! As has been stated throughout this thread, there is a complete lack of depth, texture and variety in the London Live sets. The defence has always been that they have been trying to do things differently but I simply don't accept that as a valid excuse. I think they should create a vibrant set right in the heart of their newsroom and create interesting lighting effects and depth. Nothing would say London more than a vibrant, busy, buzzing studio.

Exactly, Its not like they dont already have a lively buzzing newsroom right next door.

How about a view of the Thames with St Pauls, Tower Bridge, The Shard, The Gherkin etc. ? I think that would say London a lot more than a busy newsroom backdrop that could be anywhere in the world... How would I know that the newsroom wasn't a busy newsroom in Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Newcastle etc.?

LNN's London Tonight from TLS's Studio (7 I think) had the best real London backdrop for a local news programme in the capital.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbtpA3rlORE

Although Daybreak failed to work in the studio, LNN were forensic in their set design, allowing them the best shot framing during the hours of darkness, and made it work pretty well. They had a lit St Pauls in their main MCU/MS and enough street lights and lights on bridges (and few reflections) so that it looked beautiful at night. Youtube clips don't reflect how good it looked on-screen.

Well since they are associated with 2 major newspapers I would have thought they could have done something similar to what the Denver Post just did in the middle of their newsroom.
http://i0.wp.com/www.newscaststudio.com/wp-content/gallery/denver-post/c671874a9d887bf1e99da8be848f0895.jpeg
I think its a simple design and they made it feel "local" by using stone and timber which makes sense because of Denver's location at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. They also included those elements on the columns and the back wall.
http://i2.wp.com/www.newscaststudio.com/wp-content/gallery/denver-post/55c6309675e26a2c2a80b01f2a0162f2.jpeg

That newsroom looks almost exactly like Network Rail's Manchester office, even down to the vertical plasmas stuck on pillars. All it needs is a load more people and a more vibrant colour scheme and it'd be spot on.

Which sounds more interesting than what some of these channels are putting on air. SheffieldLive, Im looking at you.

The point is that it could be anywhere in the world. It doesn't say Denver, same as a office doesn't say London (or Sheffield). A newsroom background works when you want to say "look, we pay people to watch what's going on in the city", but doesn't when you want to say "look, we're here in the heart of the city with you".

That example you posted also includes one of my favourite regional news themes.

I loved the early iterations of London Today/Tonight. Totally OTT - but they made no apologies for it. Great music, and a very good set for its time with a killer view. St Pauls in your main presenter shot? You don't get much better than that.

Well anything is better than whats on screen now.

I'm not sure... London Live could yet end up with the Sheffield Live dodgy clip art!

Err - no there are far worse options.