Except neither of those companies had 'new' facilities.
Thames was formed by a merger of ABC and Rediffusion and retained ABC's facilities at Teddington and Rediffusion's central London facility.
Rediffusion's Wembley complex was sold to LWT - which was required by the ITA as a term of the franchise award.
As someone else has pointed out, ATV at Elstree was already equipping itself for colour so as to produce series in colour for sale to the American market.
LWT never bought the Rediffusion Wembley complex, they rented it as it was always their intention to build a new studio complex in central London.
With thanks to Martin Kempton's excellent web site the chronology of BBC studios going into colour:
TC1 1968
TC3 1969
TC4 1970
TC5 1973
TC6 1967
TC7 1968
TC8 1967 (TC2 was never colourised)
Pres A 1968
Pres B 1966
Television Theatre 1969
Lime Grove D and E 1970
Pebble Mill A 1971
Manchester Oxford Road A 1976
Surely TC2 was colourised later though unless the BBC junked it?
Apparently its part of the 3 studios that are being kept for when some of tv centre reopens though? It will be fully HD I presume then not black and white!
Surely TC2 was colourised later though unless the BBC junked it? !
Yes ... Arround 1980 .... One if the first studios refurbishment where the work was done by contractors in this...
Link for the vision , Neve I think for audio..
While SCPD did the Comms system and the overall project management.
TC2 opened in 1960 and was closed in 1969. It was then re-equipped and re-opened in 1981 with colour cameras, finally closing in 2013.Entirely my fault for not reading the web site properly. It's a rather strange choice to retain as one of the three original studios due to re-open in 2017 as it is only 2,400 sq ft. TC1 and 3 will also be retained.
TC2 opened in 1960 and was closed in 1969. It was then re-equipped and re-opened in 1981 with colour cameras, finally closing in 2013.Entirely my fault for not reading the web site properly. It's a rather strange choice to retain as one of the three original studios due to re-open in 2017 as it is only 2,400 sq ft. TC1 and 3 will also be retained.
No, but it is physically between TC1 and TC3, so makes sense, as the refurb will have all three studios in one physical lump on the site
No, but it is physically between TC1 and TC3, so makes sense, as the refurb will have all three studios in one physical lump on the site
Its a shame TC 4 couldn't be kept then but I guess being the other side of the wedge it was a hard choice.
They could have kept the wedge as well though and used it as another studio.
Its strange to think that the BBC will be using OB units when using TV centre studios in future now!
Its a shame TC 4 couldn't be kept then but I guess being the other side of the wedge it was a hard choice.
They could have kept the wedge as well though and used it as another studio.
Its strange to think that the BBC will be using OB units when using TV centre studios in future now!
From 1967 they used colour OB units on a drive-in basis at Riverside and some of the regional studios like Dickenson Road and Bristol Studio A so nothing new there !
I thought BBC Worldwide were taking over Stage 8, the old News Centre
The ex News centre is stage 6 BBC worldwide are due in there in a few months time .
TC8 is part of Stage 4 which was mostly TV News from Alexandra Palce .
Stage 5 was post production.
Yes ... Arround 1980 .... One if the first studios refurbishment where the work was done by contractors in this...
Link for the vision , Neve I think for audio..
While SCPD did the Comms system and the overall project management.
Yup, equipped with Link 125 cameras (pictures just as horrible as Marconi Mk9s, IIRC).
The ex News centre is stage 6 BBC worldwide are due in there in a few months time .
TC8 is part of Stage 4 which was mostly TV News from Alexandra Palce .
Stage 5 was post production.
I meant stage 6, having one of those days,stage 6 was all radio and TV News apart from World Service, radio moved at great expense from central London and then all moved again to what is now New BH.
With thanks to Martin Kempton's excellent web site the chronology of BBC studios going into colour:
TC1 1968
TC3 1969
TC4 1970
TC5 1973
TC6 1967
TC7 1968
TC8 1967 (TC2 was never colourised)
Pres A 1968
Pres B 1966
Television Theatre 1969
Lime Grove D and E 1970
Pebble Mill A 1971
Manchester Oxford Road A 1976
Can remember moving to the BBC East Anglia region in 1974 and Look East was still in black and white and didn't go colour until sometime in 1975. When Nationwide had reports from the Leeds studio i'm sure it was still in black and white in 1974 (same with Plymouth too I think) and so I assume Look North was in b/w in 1974 despite colour coming to the region on BBC1 in 1969.
It would be interesting to know the roll out of colour to the BBC regional news studios and how much it lagged behind the opening of the wider colour service on BBC1 (and their ITV regional equivalents going colour!). I can remember feeling really short changed that Look East was still b/w in 1975!
Can remember moving to the BBC East Anglia region in 1974 and Look East was still in black and white and didn't go colour until sometime in 1975. When Nationwide had reports from the Leeds studio i'm sure it was still in black and white in 1974 (same with Plymouth too I think) and so I assume Look North was in b/w in 1974 despite colour coming to the region on BBC1 in 1969.
It would be interesting to know the roll out of colour to the BBC regional news studios and how much it lagged behind the opening of the wider colour service on BBC1 (and their ITV regional equivalents going colour!). I can remember feeling really short changed that Look East was still b/w in 1975!
I think it was easier to set the whole country up to actually transmit in colour just like today where we all get a national BBC 1HD.
The problem arises in doing all the local studios as they take time to refurbish, so its easier to get the network in colour and pass-through local opts in black and white.
These days we have a different issue on top to jump to HD regional feeds as, unlike colour sitting on a black and white signal HD doesn't sit on an SD signal it needs greater bandwidth.
At least during the change to colour it was all sitting on a 625/50 signal, that was the same for local opts, even though the local opts may not have have the colour carrier present.
Belfast was the first BBC regional studio to be colourised because national news wanted colour coverage of ''The Troubles'' which were beginning around 1969 so colour film processing, telecine and cameras were installed.
Leeds had a colour camera from about 1972 for inserts into national news and Nationwide and moved to a new, fully colourised studio in 1974.
I believe BBC Bangor was the last outpost to be colourised.
Programmes were made at Dickenson Road in Manchester, Studio A in Bristol and Broadway in Cardiff using colour OBs on a drive-in basis.
I heard that and noted it was wrong. Colour started on BBC2 on July 1,1967 with the televising of Wimbledon.It was the first regular colour TV channel in Europe.BBC1 and ITV went into colour in November 1969.
Actually, that's a clear example of the BBC not knowing its own history.
Everyone accepts 1/7/67 (BBC2) and 15/11/69 (BBC1 and ITV) as the correct date.
Colour tests on what became BBC1 started as early as 1956, so they can't mean test transmissions either.
Nit picking but the channel only became BBC1 with the advent of the second BBC channel in 1964, before that it was simply known as BBC Television.
To think a researcher on TOS worked all day on when colour started and got it wrong - they should have come on to DS:D
Nit picking but the channel only became BBC1 with the advent of the second BBC channel in 1964, before that it was simply known as BBC Television.
To think a researcher on TOS worked all day on when colour started and got it wrong - they should have come on to DS:D
The Daily Mirror reported in 1940 that John Logie Baird demonstrated the transmission colour via television at his home on a 2ft by 2½ft screen, said to be the largest in the world. The colour television was said to cost £200 with a radiogram all-wave wireless receiver.
A colour television 5" by 4" would cost £30.
Most striking was said to be a picture of a red haired girl, redheads had previously been rejected for technical reasons.
Comments
1960s I meant to type, not 1980s ! Doh !
LWT never bought the Rediffusion Wembley complex, they rented it as it was always their intention to build a new studio complex in central London.
Surely TC2 was colourised later though unless the BBC junked it?
Apparently its part of the 3 studios that are being kept for when some of tv centre reopens though? It will be fully HD I presume then not black and white!
Yes ... Arround 1980 .... One if the first studios refurbishment where the work was done by contractors in this...
Link for the vision , Neve I think for audio..
While SCPD did the Comms system and the overall project management.
No, but it is physically between TC1 and TC3, so makes sense, as the refurb will have all three studios in one physical lump on the site
Its a shame TC 4 couldn't be kept then but I guess being the other side of the wedge it was a hard choice.
They could have kept the wedge as well though and used it as another studio.
Its strange to think that the BBC will be using OB units when using TV centre studios in future now!
From 1967 they used colour OB units on a drive-in basis at Riverside and some of the regional studios like Dickenson Road and Bristol Studio A so nothing new there !
I thought BBC Worldwide were taking over Stage 8, the old News Centre
Stage 8 I presume is something different to TC8 which was the comedy studio?
The ex News centre is stage 6 BBC worldwide are due in there in a few months time .
TC8 is part of Stage 4 which was mostly TV News from Alexandra Palce .
Stage 5 was post production.
Yup, equipped with Link 125 cameras (pictures just as horrible as Marconi Mk9s, IIRC).
I meant stage 6, having one of those days,stage 6 was all radio and TV News apart from World Service, radio moved at great expense from central London and then all moved again to what is now New BH.
Can remember moving to the BBC East Anglia region in 1974 and Look East was still in black and white and didn't go colour until sometime in 1975. When Nationwide had reports from the Leeds studio i'm sure it was still in black and white in 1974 (same with Plymouth too I think) and so I assume Look North was in b/w in 1974 despite colour coming to the region on BBC1 in 1969.
It would be interesting to know the roll out of colour to the BBC regional news studios and how much it lagged behind the opening of the wider colour service on BBC1 (and their ITV regional equivalents going colour!). I can remember feeling really short changed that Look East was still b/w in 1975!
I think it was easier to set the whole country up to actually transmit in colour just like today where we all get a national BBC 1HD.
The problem arises in doing all the local studios as they take time to refurbish, so its easier to get the network in colour and pass-through local opts in black and white.
These days we have a different issue on top to jump to HD regional feeds as, unlike colour sitting on a black and white signal HD doesn't sit on an SD signal it needs greater bandwidth.
At least during the change to colour it was all sitting on a 625/50 signal, that was the same for local opts, even though the local opts may not have have the colour carrier present.
Leeds had a colour camera from about 1972 for inserts into national news and Nationwide and moved to a new, fully colourised studio in 1974.
I believe BBC Bangor was the last outpost to be colourised.
Programmes were made at Dickenson Road in Manchester, Studio A in Bristol and Broadway in Cardiff using colour OBs on a drive-in basis.
Apparently from its start in 1964 until 1971 Midlands Today was broadcast from a room in Birmingham Register Office:o
It must be true, they said it on The One Show last Tuesday(!)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b070j6hz (1 min in).
I heard that and noted it was wrong. Colour started on BBC2 on July 1,1967 with the televising of Wimbledon.It was the first regular colour TV channel in Europe.BBC1 and ITV went into colour in November 1969.
Actually, that's a clear example of the BBC not knowing its own history.
Everyone accepts 1/7/67 (BBC2) and 15/11/69 (BBC1 and ITV) as the correct date.
Colour tests on what became BBC1 started as early as 1956, so they can't mean test transmissions either.
Nit picking but the channel only became BBC1 with the advent of the second BBC channel in 1964, before that it was simply known as BBC Television.
To think a researcher on TOS worked all day on when colour started and got it wrong - they should have come on to DS:D
That's why I said 'What became BBC1.
Not picking holes.
A colour television 5" by 4" would cost £30.
Most striking was said to be a picture of a red haired girl, redheads had previously been rejected for technical reasons.