Whooooo!! Suddenly ITV has £5m to spend on high definition facilities for "safeguarding the future of Emmerdale". I'm beginning to think Michael Grade just personally didn't like Heartbeat.

Here's the article:
http://u.tv/News/ITV-Studios-to-put-...8-953f2e43b216

Oh that is very irritating particularly because HD isn't something they need to jump into just yet. Studios are starting to experiment with it but the facilities needed cost money and it costs more for running production costs too. Plus, most of the population won't be able to achieve the benefit. A lot of people are still switching over to digital as it is let alone going for HD.

Besides Emmerdale I'll try not to be rude

That's insane, they should be spending their money on decent quality programmes (i.e. Heartbeat) not on the quality they're broadcast in! I'd rather watch heartbeat on a fuzzy analogue picture than emmerdale in HD

From Yorkshire Post, 8 Dec. 2009

Quote:

“ It's lights, camera, auction as YTV goes under the hammer Published Date: 08 December 2009 By Jack Blanchard IT has been the proud home of Yorkshire Television for more than 40 years, the building where much-loved shows such as Countdown and Heartbeat were crafted before finding their way onto small screens across the country. Now television fans are being given the rare opportunity to pick up their own unique souvenir from ITV Yorkshire's landmark Kirkstall Road studios, as more than £100,000-worth of old studio equipment goes under the hammer. TV cameras, studio monitors and old broadcast microphones are among the vast assortment of items being offered this week as the cost-cutting media giant clears aging equipment ahead of the Leeds studio's partial closure and an accompanying £5m revamp. The 639-lot auction catalogue is littered with unusual mementos of Yorkshire's small-screen heritage, given a certain poignancy by ITV's controversial decisions earlier this year to move production of the iconic quiz show Countdown across to Manchester after more than 4,000 episodes and to mothball hugely popular dramas such as Heartbeat and A Touch of Frost in a bid to save money. While props and set features themselves are not being put up for sale, Yorkshire Television fans can pick up real TV rarities such as an original set of red "on-air" studio lights – going for £45. There are two stage pianos up for sale, with bidding starting at around at £250, and even the old studio clock up for sale. The auction is being held online, operating in a similar way to eBay's online sales, with auctioneering firm Go-Dove having opened the bidding on its website last week. Hopeful buyers have until 6.30am on Thursday to make their bids. The sale is in part the consequence of an announcement earlier this year by ITV that around 180 jobs would go in Leeds as part of its nationwide drive to find hundreds of millions of pounds in efficiency savings. Production of all Yorkshire-produced shows other than soap opera Emmerdale and news show Calendar were either to be suspended indefinitely or moved out of the region, with the Kirkstall Road studios expected to be all but closed down. But last week ITV unexpectedly announced that despite the scaling-down of its Yorkshire operations, the main Kirkstall Road building would now be revamped to accommodate a new Emmerdale production centre and studio. The upgrade will include top-of-the-range high-definition (HD) facilities, rendering much of the studio's old equipment somewhat obsolete. An ITV spokesman said: "ITV Studios announced last week a major £5m investment in the Kirkstall Road studios in Leeds. This investment includes upgrading and refurbishing the original building to accommodate the Emmerdale production centre in a modern, purpose-built HD facility. "As part of this upgrade process, ITV is selling some of its older obsolete technical equipment, in order to make space for the latest high definition and digital production facilities." Some of the lots up for sale in this week's auction look like relics of a quickly-fading analogue era. Old VHS players are listed for just £5, while reel-to-reel players and "hand-operated film re-winders" offer a glimpse back into a slightly more distant past. Other items are more cutting-edge, however – a Neve standard recording console is currently going for £6,600, while several digital audio mixers and an HD video editing system are all up for grabs priced at least £3,000 a piece. There are also a number of real collectors' items available, such as a £75 fridge designed specifically for long-term film storage. But bargain-hunters will not be disappointed either – CD players, computers and recording equipment are all available at knock-down prices, as are the inevitable array of television sets and monitors. A 28in Sony television was listed at just £20 last night. Perhaps most important for many of the bidders will be the certainty that every item comes guaranteed with a distinct Yorkshire heritage that the average high street purchase is most unlikely to be able to match. ”

Quote:

“ Besides Emmerdale I'll try not to be rude ”

Spy_Master, i could not have put it better myself!!