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Fountain Studios To Close

Home of X Factor may soon be no more (January 2016)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
TR
TROGGLES
bluecortina posted:
noggin posted:
deejay posted:
Thames' studio complexes were for News (Euston) and Productions (Teddington) though weren't they? Not unusual to have separate centres for news and everything else.


Yes - having a news base in Teddington would have been a bit of a non-starter, and building a large studio centre in the centre of town equally not a great idea (though LWT did it!)

I think Euston did a bit more than just News - but it was all 'small studio' stuff - and they had issues with pillars (which were structural and kept the building up) that caused problems in the studios (you never really want pillars in the middle of the studio floor...)



...or in the middle of st8 at tls, but there you go if needs must!


Have a look around the Studios at Salford - brand new and full of very basic and irritating design faults.
ST
Stedixon
Markymark posted:
Did Tyne Tees have a Middlesbrough facility ? (before the split news operation on Bilsdale )

HTV also had a small studio production facility in Mold during the 70s/80s (very NE corner of Wales)

Anglia broke the mould in 1988 by splitting their region for news, but presenting both progs from Norwich


Tyne Tees Middlesbrough facilities were a small news studio and journalist base.
HC
Hatton Cross
TROGGLES posted:


Have a look around the Studios at Salford - brand new and full of very basic and irritating design faults.

Apart from having the gallery two floors above the studio in HQ1 leading to a long decent down (and back up again) the metal staircase onto the studio floor, what else is wrong? Lighting grids, scenery delivery , that sort of thing?
NG
noggin Founding member
Hatton Cross posted:
TROGGLES posted:


Have a look around the Studios at Salford - brand new and full of very basic and irritating design faults.

Apart from having the gallery two floors above the studio in HQ1 leading to a long decent down (and back up again) the metal staircase onto the studio floor, what else is wrong? Lighting grids, scenery delivery , that sort of thing?


Original gallery design was far from great - though this has been improved in some I believe.
TR
TROGGLES
Considering the place was purpose built there are quite a few stupid design errors. If you are in the gallery and you want the loo in a rush... forget it. Getting scenery in can be fun there are some funny angles to negotiate and finding somewhere to store it is an extra headache which could have been dealt with in the design stage. Trouble is the place is built and there is very little wiggle room (or money) to make changes.

Does anyone know that Peel actually make any money from the studio business?
IT
IndigoTucker
It's really bizarre that a studio centre built after just over a decade of TV experience (Television Centre) was revered as the best in the country, has been demolished, and MediaCity, which should have built on 70 years of knowledge is so bizarrely constructed with essential features missing,
DO
dosxuk
IndigoTucker posted:
It's really bizarre that a studio centre built after just over a decade of TV experience (Television Centre) was revered as the best in the country, has been demolished, and MediaCity, which should have built on 70 years of knowledge is so bizarrely constructed with essential features missing,


No different to any type of building really. It's not unusual for a cold war between the architects and the users of the building to break out during the planning / build of new buildings these days.

118 days later

DS
Didely Squit!
Hi everyone, I don't know if anybody will be interested in this, but my colleague is putting together a blog about the final year at Fountain Studios. Please take a look and follow if you're interested at:

www.studiomancan.com

I am also putting together on-camera interviews with those who have had a connection with the site since the opening of ITV back in 1955. These will be posted on our YouTube channel in the coming months. Again, please watch out for them if they're of interest to you.

14 days later

GE
thegeek Founding member
Fountain got a "thanks for hosting us for the past 10 years" at the end of the Britain's Got Talent final tonight. I wonder where they'll be heading next year?
TL
TalentLover1987
They'll be relocating to my house*.



*I may be joking here. Razz
BR
Brekkie
I guess Elstree Studios would be the best bet, though with the live shows being stripped across the week they could book out a bigger non-studio venue for the period.
WH
Whataday Founding member
I'd say Elstree's the best option, but TC1 will be back in operation by then so who knows.

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