We facilitate Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women from our Television Centre facility.
In January 2018 a joint project between us and ITV Studios Daytime commenced in earnest to deliver the technical fit-out and building works required to accommodate Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women at Television Centre.
From 16 April 2018, all four shows began broadcasting from Television Centre. Good Morning Britain and This Morning share Studio TC3, with their sets sitting back-to-back across the 8,000 sq. ft. studio floor. Lorraine and Loose Women both reside in the adjacent 3,430 sq. ft. Studio TC2, with a daily turnaround between the sets after Lorraine goes off-air.
Lorraine broadcasting live from Studio TC2
“We produce 6.5 hours of live content every weekday so a seamless transition to our new home at Television Centre was essential. We are delighted to have jointly achieved this with BBC Studioworks and look forward to continuing our trusted relationship over the coming years”
Emma Gormley, Managing Director, ITV Studios Daytime
The turnaround is achieved in approximately 45 minutes by the scenic and technical teams. Not an easy feat considering there are 51 set pieces including 13 LED screens and monitors. To aid the process, the studios benefit from a touch screen system, meaning all hoisting operations can be controlled and managed safely and efficiently from the studio floor.
In addition to scenic operations, our electrical and engineering teams support the four shows to ensure seamless production every weekday morning.
As part of welcoming ITV Studios Daytime to Television Centre, we undertook internal reconfiguration work within our ancillary areas to create a production zone for each of the four shows, ensuring each programme has its own dedicated and branded area. Each zone houses dressing rooms, wardrobe, make-up, technical and other support facilities.
We also kitted out five onsite edit suites to support the shows, and worked in partnership with ITV Studios Daytime’s technical team to modify the existing studio galleries to tailor them to the needs of Daytime broadcasting.
Studio TC2 during a live broadcast of Loose Women
Within the sound galleries, an IP-based radio mic and IEM system have been implemented for each studio with full coverage to all other shooting areas used by ITV Studios Daytime. The comms system has also been expanded with extra panels installed in the production galleries and offices. This links to the comms system at WestWorks, 0.4 miles down the road from Television Centre, where ITV Studios Daytime’s main office is situated.
The team also makes extensive use of our Bolero DECT wireless system offering seamless connectivity across the whole Television Centre site.
Looking down from the grid during the first episode of This Morning in Studio TC3
The ETC Cobalt lighting desks had additional fader wings installed and the software adapted to run the large number of lighting channels required to operate two shows from one gallery, with new LED-based lighting rigs introduced into studios TC2 and TC3.
The router infrastructure was also expanded to accommodate the large number of incoming lines and additional sources that shows like Good Morning Britain and This Morning require.
Good Morning Britain’s new set in Studio TC3
To aid outdoor filming, we installed wall boxes across the wider Television Centre site – including one in the garden at the front of the building, one in the iconic central Helios concourse and one on a raised balcony overlooking the London skyline. Since going live in April 2018, the shows have been regularly using these outside spaces for entertainment segments and trails to introduce guests.
In October 2018, ITV announced it will be selling its former HQ on the South Bank and will continue broadcasting live from Television Centre for the foreseeable future.
