Broadcasting House, Salford Quays & TVC

..or, better, at right angles - so both would have a view of the newsroom, but not of each other.

(In BBC Scotland's old newsroom, the down-the-line camera was at the opposite end of the room to the bulletin studio, and if both were in use at once, the light from one was seen quite brightly on the other. Tony Currie once mentioned on here that to get around the problem, they had to key in a little black rectangle to cover it up.)

Dan Walker has tweeted some pictures from a MOTD rehearsal in Salford that took place tonight. Same set as Football Focus but with more of a reddish colour scheme.

http://lockerz.com/s/149407729

http://lockerz.com/s/149390599

Don't be too disheartened it's the same set, if anybody's been to Quay House, you'll see from the Reception Area and from the balconies inside theres a huge BBC Sport set being build in the atriam for BBC Sport which can only be compared to the likes of Sky News and Al Jazeera (on maybe a slightly smaller scale ) It's right in the centre of the office. No where near complete yet, but I think we'll be seeing it on air next year.

This is an interesting piece that BBC Points West featured:

"Seventy years ago, as the Blitz began in London, the BBC set up an emergency studio deep inside the Clifton Rocks Railway.

Had Broadcasting House been hit by a bomb, the Bristol studio would have been the only way to keep the Home Service on air."

http://bbc.in/v88Hbj

The Clifton Rocks Railway has featured a few times over the years on Points West. It's a fascinating site and anyone driving into Bristol via the Portway will have driven past the lower station which still has "Clifton Rocks Railway" carved onto it's fascia.
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTwYoNIUWwMYMj-ZDuSsu6jJ3wX_aE5pKqWcuLmL6Vf0tZpFsPuQQ

It closed as a railway in the 1930s and BOAC and the BBC took up residence and built offices, several studios, control rooms and transmitter rooms. According to this page http://www.cliftonrocksrailway.org.uk/history_06.htm there were 80 land lines connecting these studios to other BBC stations and were configured in a way that meant a single bomb couldn't sever all connectivity to the station.

The studios were never used on-air apparently, with programme production remaining at Whiteladies Road throughout the war, but the Comms centre in the tunnels was manned 24/7. The BBC finally moved out in March 1960.

It remains a white elephant, never particularly successful as a railway and disused since the late 50s. Every so often a group announces plans to reopen it as a visitor attraction but the safety considerations mean that visits even to the extreme ends of the tunnels are out of the question. Occasionally people from SubBrit get access and there are some fascinating photos on the net of what's left in this most peculiar of railways!
http://www.cliftonrocksrailway.org.uk/Research%20Study%20Group%20Sites_files/clifton_rocks_railway%25202.jpg

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-15486969

As has been mentioned over in the Sport thread, it's hoped that the first MOTD in Salford will be next Saturday.

I went past BH the other night, and there are some interesting things to be seen from the street.

I think someone posted a shot of this in another thread (but I can't find it now) - it's a big ring of LED screens above the newsroom.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6107/6291366226_4443f8b4d1_z.jpg

There's also this rather interesting thing in the corner where the Weather Centre's going:
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6034/6291370518_0e6c2ffe57_z.jpg

I wouldn't be surprised if different weather symbols lit up depending on the forecast. (It was a bit of a rainy night on Thursday)

Having seen what's planned for the news sets at BH, and without giving too much away... it feels rather influenced by Aljazeera English/Sky News, quite a big circular theme going on, with various presentation points. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Although it's not a complete 'fresh start', its very much an evolution of the current style, but don't panic... it is different!

![/quote]

These are actually the frontage for tea/coffee kitchens. There are at least two on each floor

Good to see the old BBC weather symbols live on and look like they will for the forseeable future.

They also live on through the upcoming re-launch of the BBC Weather site: beta.bbc.co.uk/weather/

I am a huge fan of the symbols and hope one day they may come back to the TV output.