London Weekend Television - Studios

Studios

LWT's first studio base were the Wembley studios, former home of Associated-Rediffusion, the previous London Weekday franchise holder. These studios were not LWT's first choice, as they preferred the Teddington studios, home of ABC, but Thames Television had taken control of these through ABC themselves. The Wembley studios themselves were problamatic to begin with to LWT; the studios would need costly conversions to colour in the next few years, the workforce was slightly larger than LWT had wanted but had to employ all of the staff, and the workers who had previously worked Weekdays under Rediffusion were now working Weekends under LWT, and so wanted extra pay to cover the inconvenience.

LWT only had to use Wembley for four years, as their new purpose built studios were opened in 1972. The new studios were distinctive for the large tower block that formed part of the complex. This block, called Kent House, housed a number of studios in addition to those on ground level around the building. The complex was originally called the South Bank Television Centre, but was renamed the London Television Centre in 1992. The studios have also been known as The London Studios since the early 1990s as part of the trading name of LWT's studio operations, and the studio complex was officially rebranded to that name in previous years. The studios now form the centre of ITV plc's studio operations and are the chief production centre.