Broadcast
Large-scale live and as-live non-sport productions are no longer the preserve of London, with Manchester, Birmingham and Belfast all vying for business.
When ITV contemplated resurrecting long-dormant Saturday afternoon magazine show World Of Sport, there was never a doubt that its home would be Manchester.
“World Of Sport was always a very northern programme [though hosted from LWT’s South Bank studios], so it made sense to take it back there,” says Tom McLennan, creative director of ITV Studios Entertainment and the show’s executive producer.The two-hour World Of Sport Wrestling pilot was shot ‘as live’ in Dock 10’s HQ1 in front of a 700- strong audience. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” says McLennan, who accommodated overspill by setting up monitors for a few hundred to watch outside the studio at MediaCityUK. “The atmosphere at this taping was electric.”
Dock 10 is not only the region’s dominant facility, it is arguably England’s largest, claims head of studios Andy Waters.
“With the contraction of TVC, we are the biggest outside or inside the M25,” he says. Dock 10 provides live presentation for CBBC year-round from HQ5, with Blue Peter and Match Of The Day other regular live residents. Campus-wide connectivity to studio galleries brings outdoor spaces like the Piazza into play (last used for Sports Relief Battle of the 5-A-Sides in March).
Plus, new BBC talent show Let It Shine has its knockout stages recorded at Dock 10, before the live finals shift to Elstree. “We are really busy here and I’m sure it’s no coincidence that there’s a lack of studio space in London,” says Waters.
Demand is only going one way and, as with high-end drama, there is not sufficient purpose-built capacity to fulfil it anywhere in the UK. “Studios are jam-packed in Manchester so we’re constantly looking at other opportunities,” says McLennan.
One venue is Manchester Central Convention Complex, which hosted Potato’s ITV physical gameshow Ninja Warrior in February.
McLennan is also eyeing the former Granada HQ at Quay Street. Owned by property developer Allied London, the original studios, including the 7,922 sq ft Studio 12, are still in place and used for a variety of events.
“We nearly put World Of Sport there because of lack of space at Dock 10,” reveals McLennan. “There’s still a large grid to do massive shows, although we’d have to use an OB.”
Another option is revisiting ITV’s history with Liverpool. This Morning returned to the Albert Dock in 2013 for a 25th anniversary special and McLennan would “love to do a live show in Liverpool.”
Even though The Space Project was built with drama in mind, the five studios incorporate ‘cat flaps’ for scanners to plug into. “We believe producers are seeking spaces that help improve the overall creativity of the content outside the traditional studio box, allowing them to look beyond the shiny-floor studio,” says Woodward.
“We’re seeing quite a lot of live or ‘as live’ enquiries – I can only assume because London is so full,” says site director Fiona Francombe. “It’s opening another avenue of business for us.”
Producers looking to tap regional spend could nip over the M25 to Pinewood. BBC1 Christmas special Peter Pan Goes Wrong recently used the facilities, which include three fully equipped TV studios (largest 9,000 sq ft) and an extensive backlot.
There’s nothing stopping a TV production booking into one of Pinewood’s larger sound stages either – except for serial Hollywood productions like Star Wars.
“The entire site has 10GE fibre, so you can record from anywhere using the studio galleries or an OB van, live stream or route to our post facilities for quick-turnaround edits,” says head of TV Sarah McGettigan.
“We have seen a rise in shows that want to record ‘as live’. We have a huge database of crew and suppliers based outside the M25 to help producers meet that aspect of regional spend.”
Wales has a number of largescale venues suitable for holding major broadcast events, including Cardiff ’s Wales Millennium Centre, which has the largest stage outside London and hosts auditions for shows such as Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor.
Last year’s Sports Personality of the Year at Belfast’s SSE Arena was the largest live event yet hosted in Northern Ireland. NI Screen is encouraging more work by incentivising factual and entertainment shows with up to 16% of local spend.
It is promoting the new 120,000 sq ft studio at Belfast Harbour Front and notes that Game Of Thrones is likely to depart from the Titanic Studios by April 2018 following final season production, releasing two 21,000 sq ft stages.
“You have to remember that all across the UK, every week, live sports and music events are recorded and transmitted,” says NI Screen head of production Andrew Reid. “The infrastructure exists everywhere if people choose to look for it.”
Indeed, connectivity provider SIS Live has linked more than 100 venues with fibre lines. Where locations are more inaccessible, or in limited use, it can service a TX with satellite trucks. For example, W’s Celebrity Haunted Hotel Live broadcast from Kent village Pluckley for five days over Halloween.
The main 8,500 sq ft Studio A is the largest dedicated TV space in Scotland. “The space we’re calling out for is for drama and film rather than live TV,” says BBC Scotland commercial manager Alexandra Gaffney.
Large-scale televised events are catered for at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro, host of last month’s MOBOs. The annual awards tends to shift location, having been broadcast from Leeds’ First Direct Arena and Liverpool’s Echo Arena in recent years.
NEC manages a number of venues including the Barclaycard Arena, home to Gladiators in the 1990s, and the Genting Arena, annual site of Horse of the Year Show and Crufts, as well this year’s Sports Personality Of The Year.
Plans to expand the complex, which are set to be published this month, could include the construction of a bespoke TV studio.
“We have a masterplan developed with the city of Birmingham to extend the site, and the potential for film and TV studios is high on the list,” reveals Phil Mead, managing director of NEC Arenas. “People are looking for a more permanent TV offer and there is already harmony between live events and the broadcast business. When The X Factor or Strictly begin their TV run, the live tour dates are already planned, and they include the NEC.”
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