TV Home Forum

UTV rebrand

New look to bring it in line with ITV (October 2016)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
JK
JKDerry
It's the end of an era in Havelock House. I've been inside it many times and it's huge.... it was too big for such a small station really.

I think this move will be a good thing for UTV and I actually think itv have been very good to UTV by keeping some of the local shows on air and opting out of the network.

It's really going to be as good as it gets now though. I would doubt there will be any more growth in UTV unless ofcom force itv to provide more opt outs.


I wouldn't say Havelock House is "huge". However, it certainly has a lot more space than the UTV of today needs.

Being consigned to one floor of an office block says a lot about local TV in this country. UTV's days of producing entertainment shows such as 'Kelly' - or covering major sports events - are long gone. It's basically a regional news office now.

I'll be interested to see how 'UTV Live' looks on air. It's a very small studio space.

Havelock House studios were tiny compared to the BBC. The largest studio UTV ever had was just 2,500 Sq Ft, when it opened in 1993. BBC have the luxury of their Blackstaff Studio of 6,000 Sq Ft in Great Victoria Street.
LS
Lou Scannon
The version of my own regional ITV News programme doesn't even come from within the region - unless you call the "West Country Franchise" a proper region when it was created in 2014.


Erm... it is a proper franchise. Just because the current arrangements aren't how it always was from the 1950s/60s, doesn't somehow make it "not proper".

Like all "regions", exactly what constitutes "the west country" is open to interpretation. But all/part of each county from Cornwall to Gloucestershire can legitimately be counted.

Back in 1955, they might've just as easily decided to create a Wales-only ITV licence and a "whole of the West Country" (Cornwall-Gloucestershire) one from the outset. It just so happens that's not how things were carved up originally.

Just because an arrangement isn't the original one, and/or isn't what you personally happen to have become accustomed to over a long period, does not inherently make it "not proper".

I will always be bemused by people stating such irrational perceptions.

Newer posts