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
Yes I remember that was the word that was going around at the back end of last year and quite a lot of management politics finished the Mill as a production centre. The English regional empire is a funny animal and needs to be kept under control - thats was/is the thinking.
Why didn't the BBC just buy the former Central building on Broad Street? Moving there would have also fulfilled the BBC's current mandate to move to buildings 'closer to viewers'. Pebble Mill was wastefully large, but buying the Broad Street studios would have allowed them to have everything under one roof, with enough space for Doctors and other occasional productions too.
Why didn't the BBC just buy the former Central building on Broad Street? Moving there would have also fulfilled the BBC's current mandate to move to buildings 'closer to viewers'. Pebble Mill was wastefully large, but buying the Broad Street studios would have allowed them to have everything under one roof, with enough space for Doctors and other occasional productions too.
Its a question which we would all like the answer to.
The BBC senior management have a unswerving determination to spread the BBC's presence across the country particularly in the north, where, it is seen as remote and unconnected with its audience. Focus groups have said that the BBC has a southern bias. That commitment is in the charter renewal document, Building Public Value document and Response to the Green Paper and I can't see how they will get out of it.
For some reason, someone (and this is the BBC so its unlikely you will never find out exactly who) decided that Birmingham was not far enough North and Manchester was plumped for for regional production. As Hymagumba says they 'forgot' about the drama production - either deliberately or incompetantly. At the same time they did a deal with Kingston Communications in Hull to use their KIT network to do a lot of experimental local TV stuff - hence Queenies Court in Hull. (Greg Dyke was a colleague of the the then CEO of Kingston.)
What state Centrals premises are in may have to do with the reason they did not consider them - but its more likely to do with leases signed with the owners of the shopping centres they seem to be obesssed with moving to. The only certainty is that there is not enough room at the Shoebox for everyone - unless they sack a few more - something Mr Thompson has assured Ariel readers today not going to happen. He wants a Big BBC - funny way of going about it!
Why didn't the BBC just buy the former Central building on Broad Street? Moving there would have also fulfilled the BBC's current mandate to move to buildings 'closer to viewers'. Pebble Mill was wastefully large, but buying the Broad Street studios would have allowed them to have everything under one roof, with enough space for Doctors and other occasional productions too.
Its a question which we would all like the answer to.
The BBC senior management have a unswerving determination to spread the BBC's presence across the country particularly in the north, where, it is seen as remote and unconnected with its audience. Focus groups have said that the BBC has a southern bias. That commitment is in the charter renewal document, Building Public Value document and Response to the Green Paper and I can't see how they will get out of it.
For some reason, someone (and this is the BBC so its unlikely you will never find out exactly who) decided that Birmingham was not far enough North and Manchester was plumped for for regional production. As Hymagumba says they 'forgot' about the drama production - either deliberately or incompetantly. At the same time they did a deal with Kingston Communications in Hull to use their KIT network to do a lot of experimental local TV stuff - hence Queenies Court in Hull. (Greg Dyke was a colleague of the the then CEO of Kingston.)
What state Centrals premises are in may have to do with the reason they did not consider them - but its more likely to do with leases signed with the owners of the shopping centres they seem to be obesssed with moving to. The only certainty is that there is not enough room at the Shoebox for everyone - unless they sack a few more - something Mr Thompson has assured Ariel readers today not going to happen. He wants a Big BBC - funny way of going about it!
i hear whispers of expansion within the mailbox. if true it'd obviously only accommodate more office space - but it still highlights how badly thought out the mailbox move was.
Why didn't the BBC just buy the former Central building on Broad Street? Moving there would have also fulfilled the BBC's current mandate to move to buildings 'closer to viewers'. Pebble Mill was wastefully large, but buying the Broad Street studios would have allowed them to have everything under one roof, with enough space for Doctors and other occasional productions too.
The former Central buildings are part of a multi-million pound city centre redevelopment site so would have been far too expensive to buy and refurbish for 21st Century studio space - see Arena Central
The expensive city centre rents may be ok for offices and the relatively small radio and Midlands Today studios, but would be too expensive per square foot for a large studio space. Mailbox considered the BBC a prestigious tenant that would draw attention to the building and people to the designer shops/bars/restaurants etc. so who know what deal was done on the rents for the building - most of the profit made in the Mailbox development was made from the 3 layers of penthouses they built on top of the original structure.
The BBC were looking for cheaper, out-of-centre sites for the "drama village" studios a long time before the move, and several sites were considered but found to be unsuitable for various reasons.
Perhaps they could take more space in the proposed "Cube" extension to Mailbox? See - The Cube
I honestly don't buy that it blew down in the wind, it's been missing for well over a year.
The chevron flag outside has been replaced by the ITV Yorkshire logo and as the chevron is now knowhere to be seen on screen, my belief is that it has been removed, probably forever.
I honestly don't buy that it blew down in the wind, it's been missing for well over a year.
The chevron flag outside has been replaced by the ITV Yorkshire logo and as the chevron is now knowhere to be seen on screen, my belief is that it has been removed, probably forever.
At least they haven't painted the bricks yellow & Blue... Yet!