TV Home Forum

TV studio buildings.

(September 2005)

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TR
TROGGLES
StuartPlymouth posted:
BBC TV Centre posted:
Andrew posted:
StuartPlymouth posted:

It seems that the former Carlton companies have lots of money to splash about rebranding their buildings, whereas the Granada companies mostly still have the signage that has been there since they were built!
Did Westcountry's building used to be painted in Carlton red?


Ooh, that ITV building is hideous. I am surprised that there were no objections to them painting the exterior a lurid blue and yellow.

Plus I think some of the people who park there need to sharpen up on their driving skills. Poor sign! Laughing


Yes, it used to have a red/orange/yellow design with the "Carlton Star", it didn't look too bad then. When the building originally opened it had a large "W" representing the Westcountry TV logo. I had some dealings with the company that provided the exterior, and he explained that it was simply plastic cladding, which was easy and relatively cheap to remove and replace......so I expect it to be changed again in the near future.

As for objections, well, as someone else pointed out in this thread - not alot of people are going to complain in that area, since it is purely business and isn't overlooked by any residential areas AFAIK.


Interesting that Blue & Yellow are Warner Bros colours who were possible purchasers until they saw the state of the pension finances
FR
freakypunk
james2001 posted:


Just back to the whole granada thing.
I dont think ITVplc are allowed to alter the exterior of the Quay Street Property because it is a listed building
AD
Adam
freakypunk posted:
james2001 posted:


Just back to the whole granada thing.
I dont think ITVplc are allowed to alter the exterior of the Quay Street Property because it is a listed building


That thing?!
IS
Inspector Sands
TROGGLES posted:
BECTU manged to discover that the rent for Pebble Mill was a peppercorn £1000 per year & The Shoebox costs £ 2million per year, not a good deal when you are firing staff in the name of putting money into programming.


The rent (presumably ground rent on the site) might have been £1000, but IIRC they owned the building. The BBC still had to pay to maintain the building - everything from structural repairs to mowing the grass.... which would have bumped that £1000 a year up to quite a lot more.

It's like renting a flat versus owning a house - if you rent a flat then the owners shell out all the money to maintain the place , if you own it then it's your responsibility and cash. There is also the fact that a brand new building takes a lot less maintainance than an old concrete 60's one
PE
Pete Founding member
Adam posted:
That thing?!


well so is emley moor
NW
nwtv2003
The only Buildings that have been ITV-ised are ones that have been built within the last ten years, which look like offices and make no Network contribution, such as Westcountry, Meridian, Tyne Tees and Central.

Ones that are home to Network production, usually the oldest remain unchanged, as they've been there for that long with no change, such as Granada at Quay Street and Yorkshire at Kirkstall Road.

I'm not entirely certain if Granada Quay Street is a listed building, as ITV (mentioned earlier) have drawn plans to demolish it and replace with a new 'Media Hub' for Manchester, which they would plan to share with the BBC. Even though the office block is very ugly and very of that time, there would be alot of objection to pulling it down, as they were the very first purpose built TV Studios in the UK and have been home to many programmes that have influenced ITV and other channels.
PO
Pootle5
Adam posted:
freakypunk posted:
james2001 posted:


Just back to the whole granada thing.
I dont think ITVplc are allowed to alter the exterior of the Quay Street Property because it is a listed building


That thing?!


Please can someone tell me what the GRANADA font is called on their building? I've been after that 1960s style font for ages for something.
PT
Put The Telly On
At a guess - Rockwell Bold or Commons
TR
TROGGLES
Inspector Sands posted:
TROGGLES posted:
BECTU manged to discover that the rent for Pebble Mill was a peppercorn £1000 per year & The Shoebox costs £ 2million per year, not a good deal when you are firing staff in the name of putting money into programming.


The rent (presumably ground rent on the site) might have been £1000, but IIRC they owned the building. The BBC still had to pay to maintain the building - everything from structural repairs to mowing the grass.... which would have bumped that £1000 a year up to quite a lot more.

It's like renting a flat versus owning a house - if you rent a flat then the owners shell out all the money to maintain the place , if you own it then it's your responsibility and cash. There is also the fact that a brand new building takes a lot less maintainance than an old concrete 60's one

I understood that the BBC owned the Pebble Mill building but not the land. I'm still not convinced that the figures add up. They have to pay £2million P/A for the Shoebox plus the drama village set up costs and rental - which is a little more difficult to find out what the costs are. The whole idea of 'Value for money' was to put money into programming. It does not look like that is happening.
CN
CN
TROGGLES posted:
Inspector Sands posted:
TROGGLES posted:
BECTU manged to discover that the rent for Pebble Mill was a peppercorn £1000 per year & The Shoebox costs £ 2million per year, not a good deal when you are firing staff in the name of putting money into programming.


The rent (presumably ground rent on the site) might have been £1000, but IIRC they owned the building. The BBC still had to pay to maintain the building - everything from structural repairs to mowing the grass.... which would have bumped that £1000 a year up to quite a lot more.

It's like renting a flat versus owning a house - if you rent a flat then the owners shell out all the money to maintain the place , if you own it then it's your responsibility and cash. There is also the fact that a brand new building takes a lot less maintainance than an old concrete 60's one

I understood that the BBC owned the Pebble Mill building but not the land. I'm still not convinced that the figures add up. They have to pay £2million P/A for the Shoebox plus the drama village set up costs and rental - which is a little more difficult to find out what the costs are. The whole idea of 'Value for money' was to put money into programming. It does not look like that is happening.


The drama village? Is that where they now record Doctors? Does anyone know any more about how and where it is produced now Pebble Mill has gone?
TR
TROGGLES
CN posted:
TROGGLES posted:
Inspector Sands posted:
TROGGLES posted:
BECTU manged to discover that the rent for Pebble Mill was a peppercorn £1000 per year & The Shoebox costs £ 2million per year, not a good deal when you are firing staff in the name of putting money into programming.


The rent (presumably ground rent on the site) might have been £1000, but IIRC they owned the building. The BBC still had to pay to maintain the building - everything from structural repairs to mowing the grass.... which would have bumped that £1000 a year up to quite a lot more.

It's like renting a flat versus owning a house - if you rent a flat then the owners shell out all the money to maintain the place , if you own it then it's your responsibility and cash. There is also the fact that a brand new building takes a lot less maintainance than an old concrete 60's one

I understood that the BBC owned the Pebble Mill building but not the land. I'm still not convinced that the figures add up. They have to pay £2million P/A for the Shoebox plus the drama village set up costs and rental - which is a little more difficult to find out what the costs are. The whole idea of 'Value for money' was to put money into programming. It does not look like that is happening.


The drama village? Is that where they now record Doctors? Does anyone know any more about how and where it is produced now Pebble Mill has gone?

There is some information here...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2005/02/17/bbc_birmingham_drama_village_feature.shtml
Apparently its one of those 'lucky' breaks as when they decided to shut Pebble Mill they - being the London based management - forgot about the drama and when the penny dopped no one had allowed space at the Shoebox. The latter is, according to a colleague, too small. If you want a laugh have a look at the ZEN room.
Rolling Eyes
PE
Pete Founding member
if I'm not mistaken it was because they did the calculations on paper from london and therefore didn't take into consideration the (officially mothballed) studios they used for things like doctors

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