AP Global Media Services is working with WTS Broadcast to build a major new studio and production space in the heart of central London comprising five HD studios, two of which will be multicamera.
AP is working in partnership with the studio design and construction company WTS Broadcast, who will build and maintain the studios, whilst AP will handle all client bookings and enquiries.
The studios will overlook many of central London’s most famous and recognisable landmarks. These include Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square and the West End theatre district, the City financial district, the London Eye, The Mall and Buckingham Palace. Located in Haymarket’s New Zealand House, the studios will also be within walking distance of Leicester Square’s red-carpet events, Whitehall and 10 Downing Street.
As well as providing breathtaking views for broadcasters and production companies needing London backdrops, the studios will also provide editing facilities and high-speed fibre transmission links to the AP’s global satellite and fibre network.
Alla Salehian, director of AP Global Media Services said: “These studios represent a huge investment and vote of confidence in the industry by the AP and highlight its commitment to providing the best facilities for its clients. We believe the studios will quickly become the premier live shot facility in London. Their location and elevation above the London skyline will give clients multiple live backdrops and camera angles. There’s nothing like it and broadcasters and the viewing public will be treated to vistas of central London they have never seen before.”
The studios will be fully-operational in time for the United Kingdom general elections anticipated in early-May 2010. The facility will be able to transmit both HD and SD live video signals to newsrooms worldwide, as well as service the production requirements of clients needing both video editing facilities and immediate access to AP’s video news, entertainment and sports news content.
Salehian continued: “The UK elections are just the beginning. Our plans for broadcaster support include all major London events in the coming years – including the 2012 Olympic Games, movie premieres, cultural events, and, possibly, even a Royal wedding or two. We’re confident these studios will become the UK base for British and international broadcaster and production companies who want to produce and anchor regular strands or one-offs programmes from London. Furthermore, it’s ideal for film and entertainment companies and PR firms organising celebrity press junkets, as it’s just a stone’s throw from Leicester Square.”
