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ITV abandons the South Bank

(February 2017)

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GO
gottago
Been forwarded a staff email:
Quote:
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.

As a result, we have decided to seek planning permission to redevelop our current site and build a new modern London home, with fantastic office space and facilities for our ITV Studios Daytime shows.

In order to do this, we will need to move out of our Southbank building to two interim sites nearby, which we expect to start from early 2018. We’ll have additional office space in our current Gray’s Inn Road base as well as new offices a short walk around the corner from there, at Waterhouse Square in Holborn. We will be making sure that these new bases, which will be our home for the next few years, will be refreshed and refurbished in a modern and exciting way so that everyone has a great new working environment.

These interim offices won’t include studios, so we’re looking for alternative London facilities to house our ITV Studios Daytime shows and colleagues while our site on the South Bank is being developed – those plans are well advanced and we are currently in active negotiations.

We’ve given very careful consideration to what our plans mean for The London Studios (TLS), which would require significant investment to replicate within our proposed South Bank redevelopment. Looking ahead, we believe that this investment would not be core to the strategic priorities of the ITV Studios business and so we’re proposing to close TLS and use studio capacity in the external market to meet our future business needs. We’re speaking to colleagues in TLS today, and will soon go into a period of consultation on the proposal.
Last edited by gottago on 13 October 2018 9:28am - 4 times in total
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YO
yogibarney
I doubt it will happen but could this mean that Good Morning Britain ends up being at ITN during this redevelopment period?
CO
commseng
I'm just trying to decode that - when they move out for the building work there will be no studios, that I understand, but when they return, what will be left?

How many studios are used for ITV Daytime?
I assume that is nothing like what they currently have available in South Bank?
That would be a major loss of studio capacity in London - and a lot of staff being made redundant.
GO
gottago
^ I expect they'll keep/build 3 studios for the standing sets that are GMB, This Morning and then a third to alternate between Loose Women, Lorraine and Peston given that they're all year-round shows (Peston aside) meaning it would make sense to keep production on site. Otherwise they're closing the TLS business and its other (3) studios which could be hired out by external companies.

Another real loss for London studios and a particularly sad and significant one.
IS
Inspector Sands
Problem is the 'external market' has been relying on the 3 studios at TLS as others have closed. Although by 2018 there will be 3 open at TVC and 3 at Riverside


The fact that the studios will disappear makes me wonder what the scale of the redevelopment will be? No sign of a planning application yet
NE
neonemesis
So is TLS considered a different facility to where GMB / This Morning etc are currently produced?
IS
Inspector Sands
So is TLS considered a different facility to where GMB / This Morning etc are currently produced?

TLS is the company that hires out the hireable studios and facilities there
http://www.londonstudios.co.uk
CO
commseng
It follows what has happened across the whole industry, and it must be an awful day for everyone who works there.
My sympathies to all affected.

With the recent closure of Fountain, Teddington, and TVC (although 3 studios will reopen) and now this, there is little left of what we had 10 years ago.
The ITV Daytime studio requirements must be small compared to the large entertainment programmes that have been made there over the years.
GE
thegeek Founding member
The building was always designed so that the office tower and studio block could be operated separately - however, the main studios and scene docks don't really seem suitable for use as anything other than studios. Do they intend to turn them into offices with no natural light?
GE
thegeek Founding member
There's also an article in the Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/01/22/itv-move-staff-new-office-ahead-refit-south-bank-home/
IS
Inspector Sands
The building was always designed so that the office tower and studio block could be operated separately - however, the main studios and scene docks don't really seem suitable for use as anything other than studios. Do they intend to turn them into offices with no natural light?

I suppose that's what the redevelopment is. If you look down the road there's the old IPC tower which was taken back to its frame and reclad/expanded and the low level buildings round the bottom were totally rebuilt.


I'd imagine something similar with ITV - the base and the odd mash mash of buildings to the side totally rebuilt and the tower modernised.

Although the studios and the TV technology inside is modern and up to date, whenever I've been in the building its seemed quite dated and in need of something. Not keeping the big studios though is a mistake I think. Especially as they've spent the last few years making it more visible on their programmes (as LWT used to in the 70s and 80s). It won't be as iconic when there's not hundreds of audience members coming in every night and Anthony and Dec aren't abseiling down it
Last edited by Inspector Sands on 21 February 2017 12:16pm
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NG
noggin Founding member
So is TLS considered a different facility to where GMB / This Morning etc are currently produced?


Yes and No.

Both operations are 'run' by TLS - but the reality is that the ITV Daytime studios are set-standing most of the time so can only be marketed for a few external clients.

The bulk of what is referred to as TLS - and the bit that is closing - are the studios that are not permanently bought out and have regular set-strike shows - like Norton, Last Leg etc.

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