ITV abandons the South Bank

Yes, BBC Studioworks is a separate commercial subsidiary of the BBC. BBC Studios deals with all other commercial lines of the BBC.


I wonder how long the deal was signed for back in April 2018, the sub-letting agreement for TC2 and TC3. If it was for five years, then the deal struck will not be changed, if it was a yearly contract, then BBC Studioworks could up their price, I doubt it though, as I feel ITV knew they did not want to move back, and reached a good deal for a five year term. It will be 2023 when BBC Studioworks will try to up their prices.

So does an increasing amount of TV anyway, which has a lot to do with why so many studios have been disposed of.

Plot twist: ITV may own BBC Studioworks by then.

Absolutely, the use of traditional TV studios has been in decline for years. Its partially the love to filmic techniques and partially the ability to record video on location. You see very few cookery programmes filmed in studios these days for example

Watching the Unlocking Havelock documentary as I read the news. What a day for itv. End of Havelock house and the Southbank today. Seems appropriate to close the book on both today.

Former CEO Adam Crozier's update on London South Bank plans in 2017:

"As you know, our goal has been to bring our London colleagues together under one roof for the first time and it’s taken some time for us to carefully consider all of our options to make this happen. We have looked at a large number of potential sites, from Chiswick Park to Stratford and many in between, and what this search confirmed is our strong belief that our historic location on the South Bank is the best place in London for ITV.....Planning a terrific new London home for everyone, that we can all be proud of, is definitely the right thing for the long term future of ITV and the people who work here."

What a difference a year and new CEO makes.

Won't be long til everyone's shipped out to Salford and Stratford.

The original lease taken out by LWT was for 100 years.

Stratford is mentioned up there, and there was a piece in Broadcast the other week which said that BT have recently revamped their studios to make them much more conventional studios and they're hoping to pick up a lot more business from other channels, they can now accommodate large studio audiences and proper sets. Of course, ITV Sport are already based there now.

Funny to think earlier in this thread there were arguments as to whether ITV would be likely to have its current logo on the new South Bank building as shown in the artist’s impression.

Turns out it was the building part we wouldn’t ever see.

On a side note about studios, I see Riverside TV have abandoned the opening of their Studio 1, which was supposed to be in "late 2018", and now it just says opening in 2019.

That gives you "hope" for studio space in central London doesn't it? I wonder what is delaying the opening of this much needed studio?

Do you know that there is actually a shortfall of studio space? Are there productions that can't get space?

ITV relying on the BBC to provide studios for their national daytime shows does suggest a lack of studio space. Sorry for being flippant. Yes, there is. It is not just the lack of space, many productions want to be located in London, but are now having to move out to Elstree, Pinewood, Maidstone etc.


Have I Got News For You enjoyed being in The London Studios, their location was perfect for audiences and guests, but now they are 15 miles away in Stage 8 at Elstree. Nice stage, good size, but not in central London, and harder for audiences to get to, to see the shows being recorded.

It is not just about studio shortfall, it is about location too. Also, there are still shows which required a studio audience, and work well at key London studios, which are now gone.