Talk:BBC Television Centre
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Is it closed for not?[[edit source]]
Although the Centre was supposed to close on 31 March 2013 I've since heard that it's still being used for offices, including by the BBC. Can someone confirm if in fact the centre is actually closed, or if it's simply no longer used for production? 68.146.70.124talk to me 14:38, January 12, 2014 (UTC)
- Thanks for your question. It's helped improved the article. If you're not British, the original state of the article might have been confusing for you. To non-Britons, "the BBC" means sorta anything that has the letters BBC in front of it. To Britons, however, there is a clearer distinction between the non-profit British Broadcasting Corporation and "BBC <whatever>", profit-making derivatives of the BBC.
- Television Centre was owned and operated by the BBC. Not BBC Worldwide. Not BBC Post. But the BBC. In other words, it was a publicly held building, as surely as Westminster Palace or many buildings in Whitehall or on Downing Street. What happened is that the government of the United Kingdom divested itself of that property, and moved its production facilities to BBC Broadcasting House. And they're not coming back to the site, nor will the site officially retain the name "BBC Television Centre".. So it's wholly accurate to say, as was widely reported last year, "Television Centre is closed". Search Google with that exact phrase, and you'll find a ton of reputable sources confirming that.
- The reason that you're seeing some reports of "the BBC renting space at the old Television Centre" is that, not to put too fine a point on it, you're probably not reading the reports carefully enough. It's "BBC Worldwide" or "BBC Post Production" or "BBC Studios" that are going to be tenants in the newly refurbished buildings. These aren't the BBC. These are separately-chartered businesses who are effectively licensing the name of the BBC, and thus giving a part of their revenue stream back to the non-profit corporation.
