Noel Edmonds, the king of light entertainment TV in the 1980s, is planning to launch a nationwide network of "mini-studios" designed to allow broadcasters to put viewers on screen without the cost of studio interviews, writes Sam Espensen
Edmonds says they will be "high quality, low cost and publicly accessible" and could be used by shows such as Richard and Judy so, instead of having telephone callers, you can actually see viewers.
The broadcaster has ambitions that stretch beyond the UK. He plans to have around 200 mini-studios in key UK sites, such as hotels, libraries, airports and business centres by the end of the year. Edmonds has plans for 2,000 sites worldwide by 2006.
The idea, called face2face, was originally launched for reluctant business travellers wanting to make use of video conferencing facilities but Edmonds believes it has wider broadcasting potential.
"The broadcast industry has been trying to close studios and facilities," Edmonds told Broadcast. "Yet all broadcasters need to be on the spot.
"The term videophone is now in the broadcasting language, and I think video studio will also soon be established."
He said both the BBC and ITC had accepted the pictures were of broadcast quality.
No comments yet