I don't really see how it would have been appropriate for the Museum of Science and Industry to buy the Corrie site. The "television industry" really isn't the sort of industry they specialise in!
Are you sure about that. They feature most other industries and they have also held the Dr Who (New Series) exhibition there a couple of times and have had a few other TV industry related exhibited, plus don't forget Granada was one of the forefront on TV and ITV since 1955.
I don't really see how it would have been appropriate for the Museum of Science and Industry to buy the Corrie site. The "television industry" really isn't the sort of industry they specialise in!
Are you sure about that. They feature most other industries and they have also held the Dr Who (New Series) exhibition there a couple of times and have had a few other TV industry related exhibited, plus don't forget Granada was one of the forefront on TV and ITV since 1955.
I last visited MOSI in December 2011 and they even have a separate building with exhibits for broadcasting, with many old pieces of kit donated from BBC Manchester and Granada, with other bits too IIRC, granted it's no National Media Museum (Bradford) but it's worth a look around if you're visiting the MOSI.
Can't help but be disappointed that the last bastion of the old ITV regional structure has been flogged to a Swedish flat pack superstore, but I guess it was inevitable. I guess too it kind of says a lot about TV today that it seems to be made in offices rather than studios, though hopefully in the long run MediaCity will reach it's full potential - even if it does feel that ITV Granada are very much a bit part player in it rather than the driving force behind it.
Last bastion is LWT Kent house, which is still going on today.
Kent House wasn't the original home of LWT though, they were initially based at Wembley prior to Kent House opening in 1972.
Can't help but be disappointed that the last bastion of the old ITV regional structure has been flogged to a Swedish flat pack superstore, but I guess it was inevitable. I guess too it kind of says a lot about TV today that it seems to be made in offices rather than studios, though hopefully in the long run MediaCity will reach it's full potential - even if it does feel that ITV Granada are very much a bit part player in it rather than the driving force behind it.
Last bastion is LWT Kent house, which is still going on today.
Kent House wasn't the original home of LWT though, they were initially based at Wembley prior to Kent House opening in 1972.
Indeed. LWT used Rediffusion's studios before they moved into their new building, Kent House. Those studios are now run as Fountain Studios and are home to lots of Saturday night shows - so both of LWT's homes still survive. (Rediffusion's studios were available because of the franchise shake-up in '68 which saw Thames use alternative studios)
Ironically the Thames studios at Euston Road were demolished a while back, and it looks likely that their Teddington studios will go as well...
So will UTV's Havelock House be the oldest still in use studios once Granada finally closes? Havelock House have operated since 1959.
In "ITV" hands probably the answer is yes. Whether the BBC Elstree, formerly ATV Elstree, studios are older is a trickier question. ATV didn't buy them until 1962 (so they weren't "ITV" before Havelock) but they were built much earlier, and used for TV productions (though I guess on film?) before ATV occupied them apparently.
Seeing as someone suggested Kent House didn't count as it wasn't LWT's original base, I thought I'd mention the same about HTV.
I wasn't counting on any bad attitude towards such a simple comment, but it seems to be standard on this forum these days.
No bad attitude meant, just curiosity.
In the context of the original point being the original building is irrelevant, it was still a part of the old regional ITV. Most of the studio centres which have closed over the last 20 or so years weren't the original base for that region/company anyway, Central's and Meridian/TVS/Southern for example.
Incidently, one more survivor is Anglia, thought I believe they've got rid of their studios
Last edited by Inspector Sands on 28 May 2013 10:34am - 3 times in total
In the context of the original point being the original building is irrelevant, it was still a part of the old regional ITV. Most of the studio centres which have closed over the last 20 or so years weren't the original base for that region/company anyway, Central's and Meridian/TVS/Southern for example.
Southern/TVS/Meridian studios in Southampton were at Northam from the launch of Southern, though originally they used a converted cinema next door to the Northam site that they used for the bulk of the Southern/TVS era. (Cinema conversion were often quite popular as 'quick build' studios, along with theatres.)
I hadn't really looked at what ATV did in Birmingham (I knew that they had Elstree "out of region"). Interesting that they apparently shared "Alpha" studios with ABC (so Midlands weekday and weekend franchises shared studio facilities, totally unlike the Thames/LWT split in London in the 70s and 80s...) They apparently moved to Broad St in the late 60s when they needed colour facilities, and by which time (I think) the Midlands region was a single 7 day franchise (leaving just London with the weekday/weekend split)
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Incidently, one more survivor is Anglia, thought I believe they've got rid of their studios
Anglia had two studio centres until the 00s.
One is in Anglia Square off Magdalen St, which has been sold off and is now run as EPIC and has been equipped for HD production.
The other is what was the main Anglia HQ - Anglia House. AIUI this is still owned by Anglia/ITV Plc and is the home to the regional news for the East. Don't think much else is made there, but there were quite a few non-news studio spaces there. It was quite a large site.
It always surprised me that Anglia needed (or had) so many studios. They did make drama (often studio based), as well as game shows and some regional studio shows, but still...