When they remodeled the AOC they shrunk the briefing counter area by about 40%.
The reason they gave is that we were all going to start briefing using our IPads and flying paperless. The area to the west of the briefing counters was set up in little sitting areas so we could sit down to brief.
That area was never meant to be some sort of open-air TV lounge. I can't believe it took this long to remove the TV's. Nothing political about it. The blaring noise of the TV is distracting to crews briefing complex flights in the middle of the night.