Closure of TV Centre?

From today's Guardian:-



Here's one we made earlier – now it's time to move

BBC's Television Centre faces closure after 50 years

Sale would boost finances hit by new licence fee deal



Matt Wells Media editor

For almost 50 years it has been an icon of British broadcasting, the
distinctive home of historic television shows such as Top of the Pops
and Blue Peter. But Television Centre in west London, an analogue relic
in the digital age, now faces closure as part of plans by the BBC to
sell the 13-acre site.

The news will be greeted with a mixture of delight and nostalgic dismay
by BBC staff, who have toiled for years in a 1960s building designed on
the back of an envelope long before the advent of high definition and
satellite television.

It will signal the end of an era for the UK's biggest broadcasting
centre, symbolising the shift in the balance of power from big media
companies towards independent producers.

If the sale goes ahead, it could raise millions of pounds for the BBC,
which is likely to need the cash. The government is expected to announce
a licence fee deal next week that will be much lower than the figure the
corporation wanted.

The sell-off is understood to be one of the options contained in a draft
"London property strategy" submitted by BBC managers to the board of
governors last October. The governors discussed the plan, but details
have not been published because they are commercially sensitive.

The proposals have been drawn up because many of the staff at Television
Centre are due to move out in the next few years, along with the
programmes that currently keep the site's TV studios busy.

Up to 1,800 staff working in children's programmes, sport and Radio Five
Live are due to move to Salford, Greater Man* chester, in 2009. At the
same time several thousand BBC News staff are due to move to the
refurbished and expanded Broadcasting House in central London.

Sport, children's programmes and news make up the bulk of the shows
filmed at Television Centre, and their move will make the studios mostly
redundant.

Mark Thompson, the BBC director general, conceded that it was an
"iconic" building, but said other options were also being considered as
part of plans to reduce the number of BBC sites.

The BBC said a decision would be made once the licence fee deal had been
signed and when it was clear how many staff would be moving.

One source at a commercial property firm said the land would probably be
suitable for mixed use, because a large retail development was already
being built on a nearby site at Shepherd's Bush. This could affect the
value of the site.

The centre's closure would end half a century of media history at the
location. It opened in 1960 on a site used for the Franco-British
exhibition of 1908 — all the exhibition buildings were white, and the
area has since been known as White City.

The architect, Graham Dawbarn, conceived the idea in a local pub,
according to the BBC's website. He pulled out a used envelope, sketched
the triangular site on the back of it, and drew a question mark in the
middle.

He realised that the question mark shape would be the ideal design for a
complex that required studios, offices, an area for trucks to deliver
material for sets, and a separate area where audiences could arrive.
Thus was born the distinctive circular design.

Despite its recognisability, however, the building is not particularly
popular among staff. Its rabbit-warren layout is confusing and various
refits and extensions have added to the sense of chaos. In March 2001,
the front of the building was severely damaged by a bomb attributed to
dissident Irish republicans.





The circular block is known by BBC staff as the "doughnut".

A statue in the centre, by TB Huxley-Jones, is of the Greek sun god
Helios, symbolising the light of television around the world; originally
it was a fountain, but was shut down because of complaints about noise.

The first drama made in colour at TV Centre is thought to have been
Vanity Fair, starring Susan Hampshire, in 1967. The final one was
probably House of Eliott, ending in 1993.

Television Centre has seen many demos, most memorably by lesbians
storming the Six O'Clock News studio in 1988 over Section 28 banning
promoting homosexuality. Presenter Sue Lawley imperturbably continued to
read the news while co-host Nicholas Witchell restrained one woman.

The biggest studio is TC1, 995 sq m (10,250 sq ft), used for specials,
such as Children in Need and the general election.

A Real IRA bomb concealed in a taxi blew up in front of Television
Centre in 2001. No-one was hurt, but the offices housing BBC News staff
were severely damaged.






How about moving to the unused space at Alexandra Palace or the new wing
being built next to Bush House?

Or even The London Studios (he he)

Mike

"m" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...

Wha the hell does this have to do with Broadband?

On 11 Jan 2007, "Motion" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>What the hell does this have to do with Broadband?

A good chunk of the licence fee has been earmarked for the use and
growth of digital services, including but not limited to the use
of DAB/Freeview/streaming over the internet. Broadband is very
handy (or even "essential") if you want to watch video or listen
to audio, download podcasts, and also for listen again. Selling a
building (or even being sponsored) would get my vote as a way to
limit increases in the licence fee (I'd like it scrapped, but I
doubt that will happen anytime soon!)

On Thursday, in article
<(E-Mail Removed)>
(E-Mail Removed)lid "NoNeedToKnow" wrote:

> On 11 Jan 2007, "Motion" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >What the hell does this have to do with Broadband?
>
> A good chunk of the licence fee has been earmarked for the use and
> growth of digital services, including but not limited to the use
> of DAB/Freeview/streaming over the internet. Broadband is very
> handy (or even "essential") if you want to watch video or listen
> to audio, download podcasts, and also for listen again. Selling a
> building (or even being sponsored) would get my vote as a way to
> limit increases in the licence fee (I'd like it scrapped, but I
> doubt that will happen anytime soon!)

I wouldn't encourage discussion of the topic in uk.telecom.broadband,
but I can't recard the story as worthless. Compared to some of the
nominally on-topic content, I reckon it was worth reading.

--
David G. Bell -- SF Fan, Filker, and Punslinger.

"I am Number Two," said Penfold. "You are Number Six."

Motion wrote:
> "m" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> Wha the hell does this have to do with Broadband?
>
>

Sorry motion - wrong ng.

Should have been uk.tech.broadcast where I hang out usually but
abbreviated name looks similar!

Mike