ITV Production staff vote to strike

Obvious question - but is there a Studio 4 and Studio 6?

As said previously there are St1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8. (anorak fact - Studio4 is still in existence - it was used for the in-vision ITV2 continuity and is now purely a voiceover booth which is used by the announcers for ITV2 and ITV3).

Why did the BBC website say that they were using BBC facilities

ITV STRIKE CANCELS THIS MORNING PROGRAMME
:: PR Newswire, London, April 07. This press release is transmitted on behalf
of Amicus.
LONDON, April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadcasting unions striking at ITV tomorrow
say they are causing maximum
disruption to the company's weekend broadcasts, starting with the
cancellation of This Morning tomorrow.
Amicus and BECTU say that their 700 members who are due to start a
36-hour strike over pay at 7 am tomorrow have received unprecedented messages
and expressions of support from freelance, non-union and journalist
colleagues and that ITV have had to turn to BBC to ensure weekend
programming.
Hit Me Baby One More Time, ITV's live nostalgia pop voting show is having
to be made at BBC Television Centre this weekend and next, instead of LWTs
South Bank studios because of Amicus and BECTU's strike action. The strikes
at London Weekend Television, Yorkshire TV, 3sixtymedia and Granada will also
disrupt ITV productions in London, Manchester and Leeds causing delays and
cancellations in the filming schedules of Emmerdale, Heartbeat and Coronation
Street.
The unions say that the strike at the LWT studios on London's South Bank
has meant that Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway programme which is
usually broadcast live will be pre-recorded today after efforts by ITV to
film the show at Pinewood studios failed. The filming of Parkinson on this
evening at LWT has also had to move to a smaller studio to accommodate the
prerecording of Ant and Dec.
The action will also impact on third-party work undertaken by ITV. The
BBC's network Sunday programme Heaven and Earth is unlikely to air this
Sunday 10 April as crews are supplied by the joint ITV/BBC resource company
3sixtymedia and in London the company's studios may lose bookings by Endemol
for its show for C5, Cosmetic Surgery Live.
In total more than 700 production, technical and support staff will be
involved.
The strike follows member's rejection of a 3.3% pay offer in a ballot
that closed two weeks ago. Members are angry that once again their pay rise
barely touches inflation after a year of record job cuts and a strong
financial performance by ITV. During the last five years ITV pay has fallen
short of average earnings by 10% and has also fallen below inflation.
BECTU members at ITV Central (Nottingham and Birmingham), ITV Anglia in
Norwich and at the company's Southern Transmission Centre in London will also
take part in a two-hour stoppage from 12 noon to 2 pm tomorrow (Friday 8
April).
Mike Smallwood, Amicus' National Officer for the broadcast industry,
said:
"Our members have received overwhelming support from colleagues
throughout the industry. This strike is going to have an impact and we hope
that this will bring the company back to the table with a sensible pay offer.
The extent of programme disruption just goes to show the vital work that our
members do and the need for their contribution to be fairly rewarded."
Sharon Elliot, BECTU Supervisory Official for Independent Broadcasting,
said:
"As the hours go by this campaign increasingly becomes action led by the
unions but supported by staff generally. We regret the impact on productions
but what this demonstrates is the range of work carried out by our members.
ITV staff deserve better recognition for the work they do through an improved
pay offer."
Both unions will be taking further action at LWT starting again at 7 am
on Friday 15th April.
The two unions have condemned boardroom pay at ITV plc where Chief
Executive Charles Allen, has received a bumper remuneration package of
GBP8.7m. ITV's Finance Director is also reported to be paid GBP1m a year.
Union picket lines will be in place at LWT's London studio, Leed's YTV
main studio on Kirkstall Road and the Emmerdale studio in Eccup and Granada
studios in Manchester from 7am on Friday 8th April.
For further information please call Catherine Bithell in the Amicus press
office on +44-(0)20-7420-8909 or +44-(0)7958-473-224 or Sharon Elliott at BECTU
on +44-(0)20-7346-0900

071458 APR 05

Here's a pic taken by a colleague last night from the observation gallery of the ITV set in a BBC studio:

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/kif_2012.jpg