The Maidstone Studios
Encyclopedia
The Maidstone Studios, formerly called TVS Television Centre is a television studio complex with radio studio facilities based at Vinters Park in Maidstone
, Kent
UK
. It is home to a varied selection of independent British television programming including quiz shows such as Catchphrase
and popular children's shows such as CITV
's Art Attack
.
in 1979, and purchased the following year, for a proposed new studio facility should they win the Independent Broadcasting Authority
contract for the South and South-east of England in 1981. However, following the loss of their franchise, they sold the site to the successful applicant Television South
(TVS) at a premium. In fact it was part of the agreement between TVS and the IBA
that TVS must provide a studio facility for the South East region if TVS were to win the contract (although Maidstone was not specified by the IBA). The complex first opened in late 1982 and provided significant output for the company alongside long-standing facilities in Southampton (which they also purchased from Southern).
The site was used frequently for production, as a regional office and as a newsgathering hub, with the South East edition of Coast to Coast
being based here from the completion of the studio complex, having previously been located in Dover
.
, the Southampton studios
were sold to the new company but the Maidstone facility was retained, with a view to TVS becoming an independent production company. However TVS, including the Maidstone Studios, were quickly bought by International Family Entertainment Inc.
and the studios were used as an independent production facility. Meridian
continued to use a space in the building as a news gathering centre and initially to produce the south east Meridian Tonight
, until this was moved to their new base at Whiteley
in 2004. The studios were bought in 2001 by a local consortium of businesspeople who refurbished and relaunched the centre as 'The Maidstone Studios'. Until recently (2007) Radio Caroline
broadcast from the complex.
Studios 2 and 5 have room for seating, 200 and 2,400 respectively as well as room for sets. Studios 2 and 3 have large production galleries. Studios 1 and 2 can switch output from 16:9 to 4:3.
Studio 5 is a fully HD
, with laser smoothed studio floor, large HD production gallery and equipment. Studio 5 also includes large scene dock doors to allow easy access for people, scenery and vehicles.
Maidstone also had 10 edit suites, 4 dubbing suites, dressing and green rooms, production and wardrobe departments, scenery departments and transmission and playback facilities
Maidstone
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It is home to a varied selection of independent British television programming including quiz shows such as Catchphrase
Catchphrase (game show)
Catchphrase is a British game show based on a short-lived US game show of the same name. It ran on ITV in the United Kingdom between 12 January 1986 and 19 December 2002, originally hosted by Northern Irish comedian Roy Walker....
and popular children's shows such as CITV
CITV
CITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...
's Art Attack
Art Attack
Art Attack is a British children's television series revolving around art. The original series was one of ITV's longest running programmes, running from 1990 to 2007, and was presented throughout by Neil Buchanan. The brand new series launched on Disney Junior on June 6 2011 and is presented by...
.
ITV
The site was first chosen by the then incumbent South of England ITV company Southern TelevisionSouthern Television
Southern Television was the first ITV broadcasting licence holder for the south and south-east of England from 30 August 1958 until the night of 31 December 1981. The company was launched as Southern Television Limited and the title Southern Television was consistently used on-air throughout its life...
in 1979, and purchased the following year, for a proposed new studio facility should they win the Independent Broadcasting Authority
Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television - and commercial/independent radio broadcasts...
contract for the South and South-east of England in 1981. However, following the loss of their franchise, they sold the site to the successful applicant Television South
Television South
Television South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
(TVS) at a premium. In fact it was part of the agreement between TVS and the IBA
Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television - and commercial/independent radio broadcasts...
that TVS must provide a studio facility for the South East region if TVS were to win the contract (although Maidstone was not specified by the IBA). The complex first opened in late 1982 and provided significant output for the company alongside long-standing facilities in Southampton (which they also purchased from Southern).
The site was used frequently for production, as a regional office and as a newsgathering hub, with the South East edition of Coast to Coast
Coast to Coast (UK TV series)
Coast to Coast was the flagship regional news programme produced by Television South, covering the south and southeast of England with separate news services for both parts of the dual-region between January 1982 and December 1992.-Beginnings:...
being based here from the completion of the studio complex, having previously been located in Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
.
Independent Ownership
When TVS lost their ITV franchise to present licensee MeridianMeridian Broadcasting
Meridian Broadcasting is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited....
, the Southampton studios
Television Centre, Southampton
Television Centre, Southampton, also known as The Southern Television Centre, The Southampton Television Centre and unofficially as The Northam Studios and locally as The Dream Factory...
were sold to the new company but the Maidstone facility was retained, with a view to TVS becoming an independent production company. However TVS, including the Maidstone Studios, were quickly bought by International Family Entertainment Inc.
International Family Entertainment Inc.
ABC Family Worldwide Inc. is a producer and distributor of family entertainment and information programming worldwide. The company is owned by The Walt Disney Company and was founded in 1990 by Pat Robertson as International Family Entertainment Inc....
and the studios were used as an independent production facility. Meridian
Meridian Broadcasting
Meridian Broadcasting is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited....
continued to use a space in the building as a news gathering centre and initially to produce the south east Meridian Tonight
Meridian Tonight
Meridian Tonight is a regional television news and current affairs programme, produced by ITV Meridian , serving the South and South East of England , and usually broadcast at 6pm and 10.30pm every weeknight. Other bulletins are branded as Meridian News...
, until this was moved to their new base at Whiteley
Whiteley
Whiteley is a community in the county of Hampshire, England, near Fareham. The development straddles the boundary between two council districts: the Borough of Fareham to the south and east, and the city of Winchester to the north and west.-Location:...
in 2004. The studios were bought in 2001 by a local consortium of businesspeople who refurbished and relaunched the centre as 'The Maidstone Studios'. Until recently (2007) Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...
broadcast from the complex.
Studio Facilities
- Studio 1 - 2,000 square feet - small/medium size sets
- Studio 2 - 6,000 square feet - medium/large size sets
- Studio 3 - 500 square feet - small sets/presenting
- Studio 4 - 250 square feet - interviewing/blue screen/continuity
- Studio 5 - 12,000 square feet - large/huge sets
Studios 2 and 5 have room for seating, 200 and 2,400 respectively as well as room for sets. Studios 2 and 3 have large production galleries. Studios 1 and 2 can switch output from 16:9 to 4:3.
Studio 5 is a fully HD
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
, with laser smoothed studio floor, large HD production gallery and equipment. Studio 5 also includes large scene dock doors to allow easy access for people, scenery and vehicles.
Maidstone also had 10 edit suites, 4 dubbing suites, dressing and green rooms, production and wardrobe departments, scenery departments and transmission and playback facilities
Productions
- Art AttackArt AttackArt Attack is a British children's television series revolving around art. The original series was one of ITV's longest running programmes, running from 1990 to 2007, and was presented throughout by Neil Buchanan. The brand new series launched on Disney Junior on June 6 2011 and is presented by...
- TVSTelevision SouthTelevision South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
- later Media MerchantsThe Media MerchantsThe Media Merchants Television Company Ltd. was an independent television production company specialising in children's programmes, run by Neil Buchanan and Tim Edmunds.-History:...
for Scottish TelevisionScottish TelevisionScottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
and for ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK... - Prove It!Prove It!Prove It! is an educational children's TV series presented by Joe Challands and Jamie Rickers. It is an entertainment programme focusing on the illustration of scientific facts, while raising the question of whether a certain claim can be empirically verified. The programme can usually be seen on...
- SMG ProductionsSMG ProductionsSTV Productions is the television production arm of the STV Group plc, and incorporates Ginger Productions. Headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, and with an office in London, England, the company's output includes drama, factual, entertainment and children's programming for broadcast on television...
/GeronimoTV for CITVCITVCITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00... - Finders Keepers - TVSTelevision SouthTelevision South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
later Scottish TelevisionScottish TelevisionScottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
for ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK... - What's Up Doc? - TVSTelevision SouthTelevision South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
later Scottish TelevisionScottish TelevisionScottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
for ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK... - It's A Mystery - Media MerchantsThe Media MerchantsThe Media Merchants Television Company Ltd. was an independent television production company specialising in children's programmes, run by Neil Buchanan and Tim Edmunds.-History:...
for MeridianMeridian BroadcastingMeridian Broadcasting is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited....
and ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK... - WOW!WOW! (TV series)WOW! was a children's entertainment magazine programme, broadcast in 1996 on the UK's ITV television network . It aired for 16 weeks from 31 August to 14 December 1996, preceded by the Summer 1996 run of Scratchy & Co...
- Media MerchantsThe Media MerchantsThe Media Merchants Television Company Ltd. was an independent television production company specialising in children's programmes, run by Neil Buchanan and Tim Edmunds.-History:...
for MeridianMeridian BroadcastingMeridian Broadcasting is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited....
and ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK... - The Basil Brush Show - The Foundation for BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
- Ministry of Mayhem - ITV Productions/The Foundation for ITV
- The MintThe Mint (game show)The Mint was a live, late night, interactive quiz show with celebrity guests and live studio contestants filmed in a large extravagant set designed to look like the inside of a mansion. The programme, which was dogged by criticism that its questions were ambiguous and arbitrary, aired on ITV and...
- ITV PlayITV PlayITV Play was a 24/7 participation television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. The ITV Play name continued on the ITV Network until December 2007....
, April 2006 - Cape Wrath - Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, September 2006 - Dale's Supermarket SweepDale's Supermarket SweepDale's Supermarket Sweep was a UK game show based on the American Supermarket Sweep TV show format.-1993 - 2001:The original show was recorded in the Television House in Nottingham, which was renamed the Carlton Studios in 1996...
- TalkbackTHAMESTalkbackTHAMESTalkback Thames is a British television production company, a division of FremantleMedia . It was formed by the merger of Talkback Productions and Thames Television, the former ITV network franchisee for London on weekdays between 1968 and 1992...
for ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, 2007 - Duel - for ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
- Big Weekend After Show Party - BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
, Saturday 10 May 2008 10pm till 6am, 2,500 people danced to sets from top DJs including Danny RamplingDanny RamplingDanny Rampling is a British House Music DJ and is widely credited as one of the original founders of the UK's rave/club scene. His long career began in the early 1980s playing hip-hop, soul and funk around numerous bars and clubs in London.-Ibiza:...
and Pete TongPete TongPeter "Pete" Tong is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. He is known worldwide by fans of electronic music for hosting programmes such as Essential Mix and Essential Selection on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for his record label FFRR Records, and for... - GesstimationGuesstimation (game show)Guesstimation is a BBC National Lottery game show that was broadcast on BBC One from 11 July 2009 to 29 August 2009. The programme was hosted by Nick Knowles and was based on the Dutch show Wat Schat je?.-Format:...
- InitialInitialIn a written or published work, an initial is a letter at the beginning of a work, a chapter, or a paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text. The word is derived from the Latin initialis, which means standing at the beginning...
for BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... - 1 vs. 1001 vs. 100 (UK game show)1 vs. 100, was a BBC National Lottery game show broadcast on BBC One from 30 September 2006 to 23 May 2009. The programme was originally hosted by Dermot O'Leary for the first 2 series then, Ben Shephard took over to host the show for the last 2 series....
- EndemolEndemolEndemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...
for BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... - Don't Stop BelievingDon't Stop BelievingDon't Stop Believing is a British television talent show that aired on Channel 5 in summer 2010. It was inspired by the musical comedy-drama Glee, which airs in the United States on the Fox network. The series featured live shows in which musical performance groups competed against each other, with...
- Shine TVShine TVShine TV is a New Zealand Christian television channel operated by Rhema Broadcasting Group and broadcast on Sky TV channel 111, Christchurch UHF 56, Nelson UHF 44, Telstra Clear Digital TV and Freeview Channel 25 . It includes a mixture of locally made and overseas programming.Shine TV is...
/GroupMGroupMGroupM is the world’s largest advertising media company in terms of billings. It is headquartered in New York City with over 17,000 employees and 400 global offices in 81 countries. GroupM was formed in 2003 by WPP Group to serve as the parent company of WPP's media agencies including , , , , , , ,...
for Channel 5 - Got to Dance - Sky1
- The DoorThe Door (TV series)The Door is a two-part celebrity series broadcast on the ITV Network in the United Kingdom and hosted by Chris Tarrant and Amanda Holden. Keith Duffy and Dean Gaffney made it to the final with Keith winning the show with Dean as the runner-up.-Overview:...
- for ITV1ITV1ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
Other Uses
- Until recently (2007) Radio CarolineRadio CarolineRadio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...
broadcast from the complex. - In 2010 Maidstone Studios will be used for an anti-speeding TV advert, it will air on ITV between January 15 and mid-February http://www.kentnews.co.uk/kent-news/Grieving-father-makes-anti__speeding-TV-advert-newsinkent31555.aspx?news=local.
External links
- The Maidstone Studios Website
- TV Ark's TVS Continuity Page (Contains promotion footage for Vinters Park's opening in 1982)