Does...Not...Compute.
You'd have thought with the closure of TVC and Riverside, and LTS pretty much at studio capacity all the time, and with two guaranteed Syco bookings per year and with one of them charging studio rent for the Xfactor standing set for 10+ weeks, and (looking at tv ticket websites) a fairly healthy turnover of recordings in between, business would be good for Fountain....
..obviously not by the look of things.
Interesting. Wonder if this will be another nail in X Factor's coffin?
Suggestion is that Fountain will stay open until at least X Factor 2016 has happened. But possibly not longer. Effectively the announcement suggests that Fountain can carry on by leasing back the site and operating as a studio but with 6 months notice to quit once the new owners are ready to develop? (So they get an income on their land investment in the interim.)
Does...Not...Compute.
You'd have thought with the closure of TVC and Riverside, and LTS pretty much at studio capacity all the time, and with two guaranteed Syco bookings per year and with one of them charging studio rent for the Xfactor standing set for 10+ weeks, and (looking at tv ticket websites) a fairly healthy turnover of recordings in between, business would be good for Fountain....
..obviously not by the look of things.
I think it's less a case of Fountain being in trouble, more a case that any company with land assets in and around London is going to find it difficult to justify operating a studio when they can make a LOT more money by selling the land for development. It's an inevitable result of London property prices being ridiculously high. It's not just people not being able to afford to buy houses, London studios appear to no longer be financially viable.
It sounded as if Fountain's parent company are using the sale to defray some debts elsewhere, as well as reward shareholders?
Quote:
""The sale of the land and buildings at Fountain announced earlier today will realise substantial value for shareholders, the full value of which will be reported in the coming year, and will significantly reduce our net Group debt down to very modest levels"
Does...Not...Compute.
You'd have thought with the closure of TVC and Riverside, and LTS pretty much at studio capacity all the time, and with two guaranteed Syco bookings per year and with one of them charging studio rent for the Xfactor standing set for 10+ weeks, and (looking at tv ticket websites) a fairly healthy turnover of recordings in between, business would be good for Fountain....
..obviously not by the look of things.
I think it's less a case of Fountain being in trouble, more a case that any company with land assets in and around London is going to find it difficult to justify operating a studio when they can make a LOT more money by selling the land for development. It's an inevitable result of London property prices being ridiculously high. It's not just people not being able to afford to buy houses, London studios appear to no longer be financially viable.
It sounded as if Fountain's parent company are using the sale to defray some debts elsewhere, as well as reward shareholders?
Quote:
""The sale of the land and buildings at Fountain announced earlier today will realise substantial value for shareholders, the full value of which will be reported in the coming year, and will significantly reduce our net Group debt down to very modest levels"
Exactly, I'm sure it would have taken a long time for Fountain to make £16million profit. It's actually loss making at the moment. It's a huge studio but it's just one studio (two with the dividing wall).
There's not much of the historic studios left, and they're wise to get out while they've still got one more year of X Factor guaranteed, but still sad to see another studio close all the same.
Absolutely, the problem is the mass of redevelopment around the Wembley area and the sky-rocketing London property prices. Studios aren't cost-effective businesses in London.
As a resident member of staff at Fountain I can honestly say that we're all gutted, but nobody is surprised by this having happened. Whataday is right to say that making a £16 million profit would have been next to impossible as TV is expensive to make and therefore requires constant investment.
The truly sad thing is that it's another TV studio gone, and with it a massive amount of culture and history.
Guess there is no incentive either for local councils to protect them considering the council tax rates from any development will presumably significantly outweigh any business rates paid.
Does...Not...Compute.
You'd have thought with the closure of TVC and Riverside, and LTS pretty much at studio capacity all the time, and with two guaranteed Syco bookings per year and with one of them charging studio rent for the Xfactor standing set for 10+ weeks, and (looking at tv ticket websites) a fairly healthy turnover of recordings in between, business would be good for Fountain....
..obviously not by the look of things.
I expect ITV are regretting the closure of most of their regional studios, as some of these would probably be more cost effective now than the London studios, and with the recent closures of other studios in and around London, I'm sure there would be demand for them now.