Lenton Lane Studios
| King's Meadow Campus | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Former names | Lenton Lane Studios, East Midlands Television Centre, Carlton Studios |
| General information | |
| Address | Lenton Lane, Nottingham, NG7 2NR |
| Country | England |
| Construction started | 1981 |
| Completed | September 1983 |
| Inaugurated | March 1984 |
| Renovated | 2005 |
| Owner | University of Nottingham |
King's Meadow Campus is a university campus, that is part of the University of Nottingham, and is located in Nottingham. From 1983 until 2005, the complex was an ITV studio complex called East Midlands Television Centre and later Carlton Studios.
As part of the agreement of the 1982 franchise being awarded to the broadcaster, Associated Television (ATV) agreed to restructure itself as Central Independent Television and provide separate television studios and news programme for the East Midlands region, a 17-acre site was brought in March 1981. While the complex was under construction, a temporary studio was used in Giltbrook although this was never used because of industrial action at the time. The cost of the build (called the East Midland Television Centre) was £21 million. The foundation stone was laid by Lord Thomson, the chair of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), on 23 February 1982.
Central Independent Television began operation in the complex in September 1983, but was officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip in March 1984. It was designed to be spacious and provide the facility to extend if so required - and also provide adequate floor-space for the major production work that was once carried out at Elstree Centre, as well as provide additional small presentation studios, plus a new permanent base for Central News East.
Originally there were three studios. The first one to be completed was first used on 4 November 1983. The other two were completed by 1 January 1984, just over two months before the official opening by Prince Philip, Duke Of Edinburgh on 2 March 1984. Although the site covered 17 acres, the actual studio buildings only covered five acres. At its peak, the studio employed 600 staff.
It was decided to maintain continuity with its operations in Birmingham, (Studio 1-4 were in Broad Street) which resulted in the Nottingham Studios being numbered 5-10.
Studios Seven and Eight were used for programmes such as Family Fortunes, The Price Is Right, Blockbusters and Shine On Harvey Moon. Family Fortunes was the first programme to be made there, on 4 November 1983.
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