Today Show set might get extreme makeover

I think that some set designer at NBC has been watching too much BBC. The new set is very like those seen on BBC news interview programs. 
While I sort of like the starkness and clean lines of the new set, it is entirely wrong for "Today." I don't think that a morning show as fluffy as this should be in such an antiseptic environment. Add to that the strange low-res pixelated screen behind the news desk and the gawd-awful and distracting graphics that are CONSTANTLY on the screen, and you have a mish-mash that is truly annoying.
Why the consensus in television that tickers and captions must be displayed at all times? When they started to do this, complaints came in about screen burn-in, so the designers began incorporating animated elements to avoid static graphics... but the animation we see on Today isn't making it less likely to burn in, rather it's just making our eyes very, very tired first thing in the morning.

That was my first impression, too: it looks like a hospital waiting room. Even more annoying: if they won't dump that Today Show bug in the lower right hand corner (I guess bugs are here to stay), could they at least get rid of the animation? It's completely distracting. And now, back on to more important matters in life...