From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Havelock House in Belfast, headquarters of UTV Media

Havelock House, located on the Ormeau Road in Belfast, is the current headquarters of UTV Media plc (formerly UTV plc). The building is home to the company's television and local radio services UTV and U105, and Internet service provider, UTV Internet. It has been home to Ulster Television since the station went on air in 1959.

Before the building was converted into a television studio complex, Havelock House was the former site of a clothing warehouse. Initially, the building contained one studio. A second studio was opened in the building in 1964.

Construction of an extension to Havelock House began in 1992 in preparation for the station's new franchise period and its upcoming rebranding. The extension was opened on 4th June 1993, the day the station rebranded itself from Ulster Television to UTV, and the official opening of the extension was performed by former UTV newsreader, Gloria Hunniford.

For many years, Ulster Television's studio base at Havelock House was also used by television film crews around the world to process and edit film footage of the Troubles. ITN reporters were also regularly seen reporting on the rooftop of Havelock House, including former UTV reporter John Irvine.

A CSO studio

The local news programme UTV Live is broadcast from the building's Studio 1, and the current UTV series L8 and Live and Gerry Meets are filmed in Studio 2 at Havelock House. Occasional editions of UTV's current affairs series, Insight, are also filmed at Havelock House, usually in the form of studio debates.

Havelock House also houses a smaller studio with a chroma key background, where UTV News bulletins, and in-vision continuity announcements, are transmitted from. This studio, which forms part of UTV's Central Technical Area, has been in use since 2002, when it replaced "Studio 3", another studio where in-vision continuity announcements and shorter news bulletins were broadcast from. The location of the old Central Technical Area and "Studio 3" in Havelock House were completely renovated in January 2003 and converted into office space for UTV Internet who moved from a leased office site in Bruce Street in March 2003.

Among other series recorded in the studios at Havelock House include Kelly, School Around the Corner, McKeever and All Mixed Up.

The postal address of Havelock House is UTV, Havelock House, Ormeau Road, Belfast, BT7 1EB.

• Images of Havelock House - UTV Today

This is a Belfast related stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.