Contrary to what you might have heard in the media recently, BBC Television Centre was not a ‘dinosaur in a digital age’ The eight main studios were anything but ‘past their sell by date’. In fact they were incredibly busy working HD Studios making shows not just for the BBC but also for ITV, Channel 4 and Sky. This is particularly true of the last two years.
Six of the eight studios had been fully upgraded to make shows in HD and Studio 6 (TC6) was the first studio in the country to be 3-D ready. They were also pioneering in the development of 5.1 sound. The studios were not only prepared for the technological advances ahead they were pre-empting them.
What you might find surprising is that despite the fanfares of the building closing last month, planning permission for the redevelopment of the site hasn’t been submitted – let alone granted. The building will in fact lay empty for the next two years. That said, in the proposed plans by developers Stanhope, five of the eight studios at Television Centre will be demolished. Destroyed. Irreversible. No going back.
These are five studios that are housing some of the country’s favourite TV shows. All of the shows you see above were made at Television Centre in the last 12 months. Current hit shows. Ask anyone working in the TV industry and they will tell you that these are amongst the finest studios in the country. Purpose built with a unique design which has facilitated making years of TV classics.
TO DESTROY THESE FIVE STUDIOS WOULD BE A MASSIVE MISTAKE
BUT IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN HELP!
This has nothing to do with the BBC as such and certainly nothing to do with the Licence Fee. No-one is asking for the BBC to have the studios back as part of the public service operation funded through the licence fee.
The campaign is not objecting to the redevelopment of the site and is not proposing the BBC take on anything more than they want to. But the studios are state-of-the art, full HD and in some cases 3D capable. They are extremely well designed with great access and audience handling, and have great facilities (all this paid for by licence fee payers over many years incidentally).
There is nothing sentimental about this. Studio space in London is now severely restricted and that puts the prices up. You pay for the programmes by the way, even the commercial ones.
The BBC owns the Freehold to TVC. It has spent a reported £800m moving up to Salford, recovering just £200m from the sale of TVC (that’s your money incidentally). But quite apart from the stupidity of the deal, the loss of the studio capacity in London would be both a tragedy and a travesty. It would only take either a commercial arm of the BBC or an independent company to take on the space and run it commercially.
THE BUSINESS IS THERE, THE FACILITIES EXIST
WE MUST SAVE THE SUDIOS
Lorrie Carse-wilen
·
It would be criminal to let these studios go to waste. They must be saved.