The irritating thing is that there is fundamentally nothing wrong with the place. As with the BBC Television Centre, Its all down to greed. There is a huge shortage of production studio facilities in London. The BBC's studio production is making decent income. Its daft that its cheaper for ITV to have this place stood empty that making programmes.
There is a huge shortage of production studio facilities in London.
I wasn't aware there was a shortage in London, and programmes can be made elsewhere anyway.
Having TV studios in the heart of London is what attracts many productions - having studios outside of London causes problems, such as getting studio audiences out there easily.
This is why the London Studios was fantastic, right at the heart of the southbank and within access of the centre of London, especially hotels and clubs spots for celebrities appearing on shows - this is why Graham Norton, Jonathan Ross used the studios.
Productions tend to like the 6,500 to 8,000 Sq Ft studio sizes - perfect for sitcoms, talk shows, panel shows, quiz shows, game shows and big entertainment productions.
Sadly these studios in London are few and fare between in 2019.
Elstree Studios which is 15 miles outside of central London does have two 7,550 Sq Ft stages but it is not in the heart of London, but 15 miles away. Pinewood has two fantastic 8,900 Sq Ft studios, but is 20 miles from central London.
There was hope when we knew TC3 at Television Centre would be operating again, however that was taken away in April 2018 when Good Morning Britain and This Morning took up permanent residency there, and will remain there for possibly the next decade, and so that 8,000 Sq Ft studio can not be used.
Riverside Studios are said to be reopening in 2019 - however there is no sign yet of their Studio 1 opening very soon, my bet would be 2020 before that will be up and running.
15-20 miles out isn't too much of an issue and presumably significantly cheaper too.
Studio space has probably fallen in line with demand too - sitcoms filmed in front of a live studio audience are almost non-existent and outside of the reality franchises you don't see a huge amount of studio based weekend light entertainment now.
One studio accommodates three talk shows on three different channels when they're all airing in the same week, whilst game shows probably benefit from being filmed out of London. Recent studio closures haven't stopped an endless amount of panel shows being filmed too.
I don't see any issue producing Mrs Brown's Boys in Glasgow, Mastermind in Belfast, Emmerdale in Leeds (and on location) or numerous shows at Media City in Salford.
The only people who keep sounding off that there is a lack of studio space in London are members on here - until channels / production houses / producers say the same then there is no issue?
The only people who keep sounding off that there is a lack of studio space in London are members on here - until channels / production houses / producers say the same then there is no issue?
You are joking? Pretty much every Production Manager / Unit Manager / Production Exec scheduling studio shows shot in London will tell you what a pain it is.
Converted film studios, theatres, rehearsal spaces? They aren't TV studios...
The only people who keep sounding off that there is a lack of studio space in London are members on here - until channels / production houses / producers say the same then there is no issue?
You are joking? Pretty much every Production Manager / Unit Manager / Production Exec scheduling studio shows shot in London will tell you what a pain it is.
Converted film studios, theatres, rehearsal spaces? They aren't TV studios...
Do you have the list of productions that have not gone ahead because of a lack of studio space?
The only people who keep sounding off that there is a lack of studio space in London are members on here - until channels / production houses / producers say the same then there is no issue?
You are joking? Pretty much every Production Manager / Unit Manager / Production Exec scheduling studio shows shot in London will tell you what a pain it is.
Converted film studios, theatres, rehearsal spaces? They aren't TV studios...
Entitled moaning about not having your usual handy Central London studio is very different to a lack of studio space. The industry is changing they'll have to deal with it.
How many TV studios did the ITV network have at its peak? Presumably outside the multiple studios Granada, LWT and Thames had there was at least one general purpose studio capable of a mid-sized entertainment production in most regions?