The BBC Television Centre at White City in West London is the headquarters of BBC Television. Officially opened on 29 June 1960, it is one of the most readily recognisable facilities of its type having appeared as the backdrop for many BBC programmes. It remains one of the largest such facilities in the world and is the second oldest operating television studio in the United Kingdom after Granada Studios, where the BBC's main commercial rival, Granada Television was based for many decades. On 16 July 2012 it was announced that the complex had been sold to property developers Stanhope PLC for a total price of the order of £200m.
Most of the corporation's national TV and radio news output comes from Television Centre with most of the pre-recorded television output coming from the nearby Broadcast Centre at 201 Wood Lane care of Red Bee Media. Live television events from studios and routing of national and international sporting events still happen within Television Centre before being passed onto the Broadcast Centre for transmission.
On 21 September 2010, the BBC's Director of Vision, Jana Bennett, announced that the BBC will cease broadcasting from Television Centre in 2013. On 13 June 2011 the BBC announced that Television Centre was on the market, and that it was 'inviting bid proposals from people looking for a conventional, freehold property or those interested in a joint venture', suggesting that it may yet remain connected to the Corporation. The radio and television news departments will move to Broadcasting House just north of Oxford Circus in central London, the traditional home of BBC Radio, as part of an ongoing reorganisation of the BBC's facilities.
A sharp rise in local property values, sparked by the arrival of the nearby Westfield shopping centre, placed the building under threat, although parts of it are now a Grade II listed building and thus protected from demolition. Making the protection announcement in July 2009, the Labour Government's architecture minister Barbara Follett noted that it was where Doctor Who, Fawlty Towers and Blue Peter first came to life: "It has been a torture chamber for politicians, and an endless source of first-class entertainment for the nation—sometimes both at the same time."
The building is 4 miles (6.4 km) west of central London. The nearest Underground stations are White City and Wood Lane. The building lies in the parish of St Michael and St George, White City.
Read more about BBC Television Centre: History, Future Relocation, Major Events
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