The Millbank Studios'

I don't really know much about the Millbank studios and think they are a really interesting place though. A hub where all three major news channels and shows broadcast from (that's I believe Sky, the BBC, and ITV). I also know from here that a few BBC political shows come from here and that even the ITV Weather comes from here. The only thing I really know for sure myself about Millbank, and I only learnt this from going to Sky News, is that shows such as Sky News Tonight, Entertainment Week, and all Sky News specialist correspondents are based here.

I feel I don't know much about this building and its work, and I hope many feel the same as me. So I hope this is a new area where all Millbank knowledge can be gathered. It would also be great to collect any pictures of studios, presenters, reporters, and maps of Millbank too.

I hope others find this area of the forum as useful as I am going to!

Maps? You don't realise that would be an enormous security risk?! And also that you can find pictures of on-air people who work there by - y'know - Googling them?!

If you have a specific question, there may be some of us here who are able to answer them, but you've started the thread by stating all of what you already know, while at the same time claiming not to know very much, which doesn't really give the discussion anywhere to go, at least in my opinion.

Well sorry.

Nice try, Al-Qaeda.

Yes. This was only supposed to be a forum so we could all share different knowledge about the Millbank studios. Unfortunately Skygeek seems to think this isn't a very good idea.

Saying random facts while contradicting yourself about how much you do or don't know isn't discussion, though, it's just you saying stuff. And I maintain my stance that the request for maps (while I'm sure it's not sinister) is still OTT. How would you like it if you worked in something other than broadcasting and someone requested maps of YOUR office?


Look, it seems to me you have a genuine interest in what some of us do for a living, and that's fantastic. But only yesterday, I overheard a conversation with somebody (an off-air member of staff) who'd invited someone in for a tour, and all that person wanted to do (literally the first thing when they got through the door) was meet the presenters and talk about how to become a presenter soon, all while not having left school yet,, to the point where the off-air member-of-staff thought them incredibly rude, because their guest was only wanting to talk about what they saw as the glamorous side of things while completely ignoring the fact that this member of staff had given up their time to bring them in and try and give them a holistic picture.

I appreciate that TVF is a pres forum for discussing pres matters, but if you want to know more about the inner workings of broadcast news operations, you need to take a keen interest in the journalism first and foremost - and frankly, requests for maps of buildings and e-mails sent asking when the next rebrand is going to happen isn't going to get your foot in the door - in fact, quite the opposite.

I'm sorry if this seems harsh, but if you want to find out more about how everything works and expect people in the business to give you that information - and maybe even their personal time - then you really will need to reassess how you approach them.

All that said, I wish you luck.

What is your role at Sky?

When I meant maps I was meaning more general maps, and not of every desk!

And I still think I know very little about Millbank and hope that here people like yourself can put all your knowledge in.

Thanks.

I produce the catch-up service (including "The Vault", which I'm sure a news junkie like you will love), sometimes give voice to the late weather forecasts and have even been known to appear on-screen to analyse stories relating to disability, as I'm a wheelchair user.

That said... you've still missed my point about maps. It's still security-sensitive information and no-one with any sense would give it out. The best way to find out that information is to do the spadework - by which I don't mean e-mailing or tweeting anyone who you know works in the building.

I mean asking for a tryout on hospital radio or writing for your community newspaper so that 6-12 months down the line, you can find a friendly producer or reporter that you know works in the building and write to them (only one at a time per channel) and say: "Here's a sample of my work - I'm going to be in London on Date X - could I maybe drop in for a coffee to find out more about what you do?" Then, you get to find out about the inner workings yourself and people will actively want to help you, provided you ask the right sort of questions.

Stephen, just read what Skygeek is saying, and move on... you're going to get nowhere.

Sky geek, your being extremely unfair to the new forumer. In fact a lot of what you've written is irrelevant and not addressing his focal point. You purposely chose to pick one minor point he made about providing maps and criticise his whole post as a result. Maps are not necessary for this thread, but the rest of his post is relevant. In fact, you are the one being hypocritical Sky Geek. The fact that your organisation offers guided tours demonstrates that people have an interest in newsrooms and what we don't see on air. Moreover, in Millbank your organisation broadcast from different areas of the newsroom to give viewers insight into its inner workings. With that in mind your criticism is too harsh with the new member creating an interesting and informative discussion forum. I look forward to learning more about Millbank's operations in the coming posts.

The organisation doesn't offer guided tours - individuals do - at personal invitation.


How was the initial post interesting or informative? It didn't say anything we (as people who are either in or follow the industry closely) don't already know, and bluntly, as someone who's worked in two different newsrooms in that building, there's very little to add, which is why I thought it redundant.

I've offered constructive advice that I hope will be taken on-board, but whatever potential audience it may have has every right to ignore it, albeit at their potential detriment.

Thank you everybody who has replied to this forum.

Could we maybe start again, as all the purpose of this area of the forum is to gather and picture or facts people know about the Millbank Studios.