The same kind of thing happened when Fox Sports moved out of their studios at Pyrmont to North Sydney. Last time I was in the neighbourhood the old satellite dishes were still on the roof.
It was the same in Perth when Seven left Dianella. There was quite a bit of history left behind. Thankfully there was a team of original (or close to it) employees who had already setup a museum of television history and were able to get some of the old equipment for preservation (with permission). This had started before Seven even had plans to move. Unfortunately there was some equipment that was tossed in the end and they weren’t allowed to take it.
By contrast Nine held an auction for most of their equipment and furniture shortly after they left.
I’m not sure what Ten ended up doing.
The fact that most of the original television station buildings in Australia have been demolished really irritates me. I remember being angry when Seven Sydney left Epping and they pulled down the tower and then demolished the rest of the building. Since then we have seen that same scenario happen over and over again.
Demolishing these places of historical significance just to build some houses or apartments is disgusting. They should have been heritage listed and protected but sadly no one cared.
It’s a shame some memorabilia wasn’t saved from a few of those places. Obviously it’s selling the site to a developer that funds the cost of the new studio fit out and anything that’s left over after that goes to paying down company debt. It also makes you wonder how much asset sale money ‘leaks’ across to the profit and loss sheet making those TV broadcasters temporarily look more profitable than they really are?
I’m not so sure - I’ve been working with a group of people recently who manage a number of museums and collections who said that we collect too much stuff thinking its of value (historical, financial, cultural etc) or of significance when the reality is that its not. Its believed its an overcorrection from the days where much was destroyed and little attempt was made to save items.
Unfortunately we can’t keep everything and all the studio buildings take up a huge footprint.
While a lot of the technology has changed, the make up of a studio is still very similar to that of the past - we don’t really need to preserve them for the sake of history.
Heritage listing doesn’t always prevent the building from being torn down, and nine obviously wasn’t keeping the building in a good condition.
That being said, I understand that nine’s studios in Sydney and Melbourne are a little different - seeing as they were the first to broadcast… but we’ll never loose those first parts of TV history, even if the studio is gone.
… well I for one am glad that you care … and that you have offered to foot the bill for heritage listing rather than make millions of dollars selling the land for houses and apartments that someone would have been able to live in … I applaud your generosity in this matter … you ought to be congratulated …
The old MTN9/2RG studios in Griffith were burnt down last night. The building had been abandoned for the past few years. Redirecting...
I thought it was being sold a few years ago. Did no one buy it?
As far as I know they were sold and there was a plan to turn it into an educational facility of some sort but nothing eventuated, left to rot and the local Griffith vandals eventually went in and trashed the joint.
That’s a shame.
Indeed.
Dockland Studios in Melbourne is currently going through an upgrade. A new soundstage… I believe one of the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere is being built with an indoor water tank.
The new Soundstage will help free up the other smaller stages to allow for more television productions to be produced on site.
NSW has PLENTY of water at the moment that it can supply to fill the tank.
No it doesn’t - that’s OUR water. We need it for the bush!
No it is OUR water, because it hasn’t made it down there yet.
So sad to see. I didn’t realise studio 1 had a window. I assume it would have been the one from the today show set in the mid 2000s
Yes, this was the window from the Today show. It looks south past the tower toward the city. You can see in the photo below (posted back in November) that they closed it up (but obviously opened it since). It’s where the 9 logo is.
This story indicates that other Nine sites will be upgraded to digital media over IP.
Cisco says North Sydney is the first site for Nine to move to IP, and will be rolled out more broadly.
A pretty fancy broadcast facility, it is:
ABC’s Rockhampton studios. Formerly a headquarters for a gold mine company. Speaking of ABC Radio, any regional studios yet to be rebranded to the current black livery?
ABC Gippsland in Sale has. I don’t have a photo though.