Closure of BBC Television Centre?

Nice idea, although It's not so much the kit inside which is out of date, the main problem is it's design and size. It's not the most flexible of buildings. The main reason why the presentation department needed a new building was that the small area it was crammed into couldn't expand easily when new channels started (without knocking down walls causing disruption).

It is too big too, there are lots of offices tucked away in odd bits around the edges.

They should go for a BH style refurb, but at the same time jettison the bits off the perimeter - the East Tower, phone exchange, design building, canteen, the periphery and just stick with the main building. The land round the edges are adjacent to residential areas so could be sold for housing. They could close a studio or 2 down and turn the main block into a production village, not just for BBC production teams.

Getting rid of TVC would leave a big hole in production - there are still lots of programmes made in its studios and even more in it's post production areas. But then again the beeb does have excess capacity at Elstree

I'm not saying that space wasn't a factor in its move out to the Broadcast Centre, though I would contend that it's planned sell-off (though of course denied at the time) was the main reason. It was a move which separated it from the BBC physically.

Yes, the sell off was almost definately planned from the start, but the 'expansion' argument was what sold the original 'Broadcast Centres Project' to the staff. in or out of the BBC they couldn't have stayed where they were for much longer

Have to say i did see this one coming. When it was announced that News was moving back to BH i did think what on earth will they fill all that office space with. In some respect it makes a lot of sense to phase out TVC. As has been said studio's are getting used less as lots more on location shooting takes place these days or programmes simply build mini production facilities or operate out of trucks. At the same time i can see why it would be a shame to loose it. It is afterall a very well known building worldwide and has produced millions of hours of programming. let's just see what happens.

I've been wondering this for some time, but when the multitude of new news studios come online at BH, what's going to happen to SCAR?

Presumably there's nowhere in the vicinity of BH where the satellite compound currently at the back of TVC could be sited, and presumably it isn't there just to serve news but all BBC Resources' clients (resources have their own separate MCR, or is it virtually the same thing?).

So will it all stay where it is and they pay for circuits to link back to BH, and how many might they need? (As everything so close to BT tower I assume the cost isn't *that* bad).

Thanks in advance for indulging me...

i agree
there is definately something special about TVC
it is iconic
it was in Live and Kicking for crying out loud!
there will always be a demand for tv studios, and yes they could do with a refurb, and IMO they should just do this rather than close such a fine building

Very true actually - add The Wright Stuff, Something For The Weekend, and I suppose even Big Brother to that list. Interesting that there should be a trend for moving live shows out of the traditional studio setting.

One question hasn't been answered - what will happen to the Blue Peter garden!?

I guess also the rise in the number of independent productions the BBC must commission is also a factor - some companies have their own studios or arrangements with other studios.

I would have thought there would still be some sort of demand for BBC Television Centre, it's not exactly the Nottingham studios

Can anyone imagine a Children in Need night not coming from BBC TV Centre, and not featuring the frontage of the concrete donut as a backdrop to various productions

Im not actually bothered, as long as I get to watch programs but maybe they should sell studio space to Channel 4/five so that they don't have to rent them. That way they get to keep hold of studios they want, and can keep the iconic doughnut

They can't do this the just can't. I can see it being sold off and then demolished to have a shopping centre!!

It just doesn't bare thinking about!!

There is a real big argument in favour of the move of BBC Sport and Fiver Live to Salford. Apart from the big premiership London teams, what other sports are actually televised from London. In the North, of which Salford location is literally 5 minutes away from the main Motorway network you have more major football teams all within 2 hours drive e.g. Man U, Man C, Liverpool, Everton, Bolton, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Birmingham etc.... There is also the big pulling power of both Rugby League and Rugby Union. There are, of course, the 4 major (and soon to be 5) cricket grounds within 2 hours drive again. Manchester has a real diverse mixture of sports and its surrounding areas.

London, may be well respected for Sport and may have Wembley and the Olympic Games (that's if the infrastructure is in place going on how Wembley has been continuously delayed etc... and the loss of the major athletics tournament a few years ago because they couldn't build the stadium in time) but its is far richer in the North and Salford/Manchesteris in a very central location (Motorway networks etc...)

Does it really matter about radio stations, rememebr for quite a few years at least 2 of the Radio 1 programmes actually came from Manchester. But again as sport has a richer mix in the north why not base it there.

With children's programmes I am not actualy bothered where that comes from as it really has no identity as to where it comes from, except for Blue Peter and its garden. To be honest, why couldn't Children's department either move to Birmingham, Nottingham or even Leeds