GMTV of the 1993-2003

I'm not sure what you're referring to, those three companies shared the same transmission suite (Lnn).

Gmtv had their own dedicated production facilities, nothing was shared with lwt other than that they used the same transmission facilities -Lnn, but that was a separate capitalised company in itself, albeit the only shareholders were Carlton and Lwt.

How come a blue background appears behind the clock during the VT at 06:15?

I defer to your superior knowledge oh the matter, (although I say problem/you say challenge...). It was my understanding that there were problems with the space before the set was even able to be installed, such as leaks and dry rot which needed to be treated. In addition to the chimney for the now infamous fireplace which Greg Dyke later scrapped.



I'm not talking about GMTV specifically in that context - I'm saying what made sense in terms of Breakfast/London Weekend.

But GMTV had SEPARATE facilities, which is different to having their own. They didn't own the studios in the way that TV-am did.

Your last point is largely true. As you might expect GMTV subsequently had a big say in what equipment was purchased and hired to them although some large purchases were bought by them directly as were the news automation systems. The original plan was for tls to charge GMTV for transmission facilities in a new state of the art tx facility, same for Carlton, but Carlton would have none of it and so Lnn was set up.

I briefly entered the GMTV studio in the yr 2000, I do recall a large cable duct across floor at the studio entrance, because that part of the building had a solid (rather than 'computer') floor ? Nothing that unusual, I've encountered similar worldwide !

And then got rid of it after only 3 months anyway.

Well, pardon me all over the place, but I still think this story has got a bit exaggerated in the telling, because I don't know why they would have wanted to drop her when she was very famous and popular and, while it was still a rather shaky operation, about the only person on there people actually knew and liked.



It did come from the old World of Sport studio, and a friend of mine told me that someone he knew visited the studios not long before GMTV began and the World of Sport set was apparently still standing exactly as it had been left in 1985, even Dickie's chair was as if he'd just got out of it.

Not sure I buy that. Pre GMTV, Studio 5 was used to produce programmes for BSB, apparently

http://www.tvstudiohistory.co.uk/studio%20history.htm#tls

Given that it was originally intended as a rehearsal room, surely if it was empty they would have struck the set so that the space could be used for rehearsal?

I'm pretty sure it had been used for Saint and Greavsie from 1985-1992? Perhaps that's where the confusion lies between that and WoS.

And probably lots of ad hoc and major event ITV Sport studio pres ?

You're correct. After wos finished part of the set was left in situ (camera left - the sort of faux control rooms). I suspect there were left there simply for cost saving reasons. But all that went when the studio was converted to component to produce a weekday programme for bsb. Certainly all the wos set had all gone long long before GMTV. At one point, where Dickie's chair and camera were, there was a pretty big portacabin sort of 'building', don't know what it was used for but there were a couple of working teletype/fax machines in there. It was never used as a rehearsal room from first to last as the wos set was permanent.