UTV rebrand

I'd rather a decent picture quality for the first time.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one.



It's had all sorts of extensions over the years - the most obvious being the 1993 addition, far left in that picture (which bears no resemblance to the design of the main building). That add-on is where UTV Live is currently based.

It's also a dreadful rabbit warren of a place on the inside. They keep mentioning "studios", but I find it hard to believe that there will be more than one studio.

I'm sure it will be, after all why would they equip it with anything but the most up to date equipment?

The question is how long will it be the most modern

I think you're missing my point.

I'm sure the equipment will be up-to-date. My comment is more a mocking of their use of the title "Broadcasting Centre" - a rather elaborate/grand title for what will be no more than a small newsroom operation, occupying a single floor in a moderately sized office block. And the most modern in Europe no less. Please. As if they're in any way comparable to any serious broadcast operation. They're no more than a tiny, insignificant particle of dust in the context of European broadcast operations..

The fact that it's not a standalone unit doesn't really make it less of a broadcasting centre than as part of a larger complex. It's not just a studio, not just a newsroom, so what else can it really be called?

Although I think every TV centre that's ever been built in the UK has been described as the most modern in Europe at the time of opening.

The size of operation that I imagine UTV must be nowadays, are they even occupying anything more than the aforementioned "add on" bit of the building?

It shall be interesting to see what happens to the on screen personalities as many are shared with U105. For instance Frankie Mitchell doing his phone in show and the weather on UTV. Maybe Julian will take over the weather?! well I can dream.

Poor Havelock House. Compared to the BBC studios in Belfast it was always second fiddle. Their largest studio opened in 1993 - Studio 1 only measures 2,500 Sq Ft. Apparently this was the largest amount of space they could find in the extension of 1992/93. Before that they had a general purpose studio of around 1,600 Sq Ft along with smaller continuity studios.

To be brutally honest, leaving those studios behind will be no trouble for UTV. I wonder if they want to compete with the BBC, who struck gold with their purchase of Blackstaff House in the late 1980s and converting that into the excellent Studio A, 6,000 Sq Ft of studio space and used by not only local BBC shows like Nolan Live, but also for some networked shows too. I doubt they will compete, but maybe they could build a larger studio than 2,500 Sq Ft and have some audience based shows back on UTV again.

I remember the old Kelly talk show live on Friday nights after News at Ten. Crammed into the old 1,600 sq Ft studio from 1989-1993, then into the "more spacious" new studio as it was called by Gerry Kelly in the autumn of 1993.

I don't see a problem with the name, it's a centre and they broadcast from it. I've known smaller operations with similar names

Probably just a personal interpretation thing. Broadcast Centre, to me, suggests something of scale - probably because of similarly named operations, which are more considerable in size. Where UTV is concerned, I'd say more Broadcast Hut than Broadcast Centre..

Yes, I liken this to ITV Wales, who were rattling around Culverhouse Cross for years. They're a far more professional, modern outfit in their new Cardiff Bay base, and the money saved has actually led to improved quality in my opinion, including the establishment of Shiver Cymru for factual programming.