FEATURE HUBS
MEDIA MOVES EAST T
he success of the London 2012 Olympic Games bought East London to the atten- tion of the world. One area of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is now set to stay in the spotlight as the press and broadcast centres transform into the UK’s newest media hub, iCity. “iCity will be a hub of innovation and one of the world’s leading tech clusters,” says Gavin Poole, chief executive of iCity. “A central component of this will be London’s largest indoor studio, as well as bespoke studio space for the UK’s production compa- nies and rehearsal space for international artists and performers.” Poole described the existing buildings as some of the most digitally connected in Europe. “London 2012 has been the most broadcast event in living history and has been achieved through the vast telecom infrastruc- ture built into the broadcast centre,” he says. “These buildings are therefore perfect for broadcast production and post-production companies, as iCity will provide almost unlimited bandwidth, allowing for virtually zero latency in the delivery and receipt of data.” Of course, media hubs aren’t a new con- cept. There are already such centres in other parts of the country – for example, clustered around Pacific Quay on the River Clyde in Glasgow, or at MediaCityUK at Salford Quays. And it’s not just a British phenome- non; media hubs are global. Those in the UK seem to share a common
root in Government-backed regeneration of an area – East London for iCity, the old Manchester Docks for MediaCityUK and, for Pacific Quay, a derelict remnant of ship- building on the Clyde. Pacific Quay’s organic development into a media hub began with the establishment of Film City Glasgow in the former Govan Town Hall by Sigma Films, followed by the arrival of STV in 2006 and BBC Scotland at Pacific Quay in 2007. With the subsequent influx of other media com- panies, the whole area has now been
30 | Broadcast TECH | September/October 2012
The end of the Paralympics will mark the start a new chapter in the story of East London as the Olympic Park’s press and broadcast centre is transformed into a state-of-the-art media hub. Michael Burns reports
rebranded as part of Scottish Enterprise’s Creative Clyde venture. STV was one of the anchor tenants at
Pacific Quay, and its director of channels, Bobby Hain, describes the benefits of such proximity as “reputational”. He says: “Hubs give media companies a profile greater than adding the individual businesses together. We are on the map both locally and within the wider media landscape in a much bigger way than previously. There have also been con- nectivity and workflow benefits, such as the SPL football rights used by several broad- casters and production companies all based in and around Pacific Quay.”
Business benefits For Sarah Potter, facilities administrator at Film City, being part of a media hub brings social and business benefits, especially thanks to Creative Clyde networking events. “It’s all about people,” she says. “There’s a lot of sharing of infor- mation and the networking is absolutely brilliant. It’s changed the approach of the community; there’s now much more of a sense of ‘we’re all in this together’ and how we can help each other with projects.” BBC Scotland commercial and business development manager Alexandra Gaffney also feels it’s been a good move. “There’s been a lot more collaboration and I think it’s been good creatively,” she says. “Having com- panies close together also helps in terms of exec viewings of shows.” “Being in one location makes collaboration
share best practices, training resources and broadcasting facilities. It also allows the industry to make use of a common talent pool and a network of freelancers.” Central facilities are another key factor.
MediaCityUK’s tri-generation power plant helps minimise CO2
emissions by centralising
Proportion of the UK’s peering points within two miles of iCity
75%
heating and cooling equipment for buildings including the onsite Holiday Inn and The Studios. It features a privately managed on- site fibre network linking all buildings, designed to handle the large bandwidth demands of media businesses. “We’re blessed at MediaCityUK with a fan- tastic broadcast and media campus network,” says Ian Munford, commercial director and acting chief operating officer of The Studios. “It’s very resilient, it’s very reliable and there is lots and lots of bandwidth at very little cost. We’re able to translate that as a benefit to other tenants by being able to deliver services and applications,
which would just be too expensive if you were anywhere else in the country, given the cost of bandwidth. For example, we’re able to deliver true craft editing capabilities to all parts of the campus on a pay-per-use basis. “The softer benefits are that people can
easier,” says Wayne Borg, deputy chief execu- tive and chief operating officer of Abu Dhabi media hub twofour54 (see box, page 32). “We help our partners maximise their creative and commercial potential by hosting regular net- working events and free on-campus seminars to cross-promote partners. It allows the industry to leverage the infrastructure and
really focus on their core business,” he adds. “For example, if you’re a post house, you can focus on bringing in the best creative talent, rather than having to worry about the cost of technology, capital investment and so on.” The Pacific Quay area has no such ‘hard’ connectivity between media companies. But Alex Gaffney says the BBC and its Creative Clyde partners are exploring possibilities, particularly with the Commonwealth Games coming to the area in 2014. iCity is also planning to offer advanced
telecommunications infrastructure and band- width connectivity. Poole says: “75% of the
www.broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils
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