TalkTV has recently relocated its entire production capacity to owner News UK's newly expanded studios in London Bridge. The channel's creative head, Erron Gordon, tells David Davies about evolving show formats and his desire to move away from virtual studio sets
By David Davies
Published: April 27, 2023
TalkTV has recently relocated its entire production capacity to owner News UK's newly expanded studios in London Bridge. The channel's creative head, Erron Gordon, tells David Davies about evolving show formats and his desire to move away from virtual studio sets
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
A little over 12 months ago, TalkTV announced that it was to begin broadcasting on both linear TV and streaming services from April 25, 2022. While some studio production was to take place from owner News UK's facility in London Bridge, the fledgling news and current affairs service would also be using studio space in Ealing for several flagship shows, including Piers Morgan Uncensored.
But now, thanks to a fresh studio expansion at the London Bridge site, TalkTV is basing all of its production out of the same central location. Referring to the Ealing space - which had been rented from Timeline Television - News UK executive creative director and head of studio output Erron Gordon says: Predominantly, we had been using [virtual studio sets] for two out of our four main primetime shows. It worked very well for us, but as part of the move into the HQ at London Bridge we wanted to build out, lose the virtual element, and create a hard set.
For despite the ubiquity of virtualisation in news these days, it's apparent that Gordon is no great fan. I don't like virtual studio sets myself, he confirms. As someone who has been working mainly in news and current affairs throughout my career, I think that real sets are better for the audience [and the subject matter].
TalkTV new studios at London Bridge (All images courtesy Darren Fletcher) He also wanted a more intimate feel for Morgan's show, in particular, in correspondence with its growing emphasis on one-to-one interviews. The studio in Ealing was very nice and beautifully designed, says Gordon. But it was a big space, and with the show format developing in a different direction I felt that [a smaller space in the News Building] would do a lot better for us.
All the shows look very different' Whilst a virtual approach has been sidelined, Gordon indicates that each show has been endowed with its own distinctive look thanks to the imaginative use of furnishing as well as LED screen technology and lighting.
All the shows look very different, he says. For example they all have different screen content and lighting. It's certainly the same channel and brand, but every show has its own sub-brand within that to identify its part of the content.
TalkTV is now primarily making use of two studios in the London Bridge building. One has a sofa and a much softer environment in general, and is used for output including Vanessa Feltz's drive-time programme and 9pm discussion show The Talk. The other studio incorporates a desk-based design and is deployed for shows presented by Morgan, Jeremy Kyle and Tom Newton Dunn.
For the development of the new facilities, Gordon worked in close collaboration with head of broadcast technology Nick Prater. The set design was put out to tender and ultimately awarded to Jack Morton Worldwide, a broadcast design services company that has created sets and scenic environments for many prominent news, sports and entertainment brands.
They are a really good agency, with a tremendous amount of experience, and in fact [executive design director/SVP] Andre Durette had designed the GMB [Good Morning Britain] set for me back in 2018, says Gordon.
On the lighting side, the TalkTV team enlisted the services of three leading companies: JLLighting for a variety of TV lighting solutions; DigiSet, which looked after all of the decorative lighting; and B360, which provided lighting design and project partnership. It was a really good collaboration and relationship with all of the third-party companies, says Gordon.
He also highlights the use of both automated and non-automated cameras in a period when the former are becoming more commonplace in news and current affairs. One of the big changes we made from Ealing to London Bridge is that we still have some manned cameras and some robotic ones, says Gordon. So we use the Shotoku robotic camera system in the studios here, mixed in with a jib, Steadicam and so on.
Production-wise, TalkTV's operations are based around the Avid iNEWS newsroom system and ChryonHego's Vidigo News, whose single operator control and template-based workflows support the creation of cost-efficient content. For graphics, a partnership with MOOV involves extensive use of ChyronHego's Prime platforms to run lower thirds and banners.
Producing more hours of output' Invited to consider how the production workflow of the channel might evolve in the future, Gordon indicates that it could involve some level of automation; to my mind, that is the way that we are going to be able to produce more hours of television output. We still want to ring-fence a threshold of quality around shows like Piers Morgan Uncensored, which is a big flagship for us and recently hit 1 million subscribers on YouTube. That's not to say that automation isn't quality, but it [does mean a] different result.
Erron Gordon There will also continue to be an important element of content-sharing within the News Building - for example with visual radio - as traditional demarcations between TV and radio production become more blurred. We do have a hybrid output [and a] multi-platform product that works on the radio as well as o
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
18/08/2026
SMT will provide race technology for FOX Sports' coverage of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on August 23, when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES races ...
18/08/2026
The live, YouTube-native roundtables combine fan voices, credentialed reporters,...
18/08/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/08/2026
The industry legend sounds off on replacing the Heat's iconic Medusa score...
18/08/2026
William F. Rasmussen, the sports fan-turned broadcaster and entrepreneur whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network, ESPN, changed forever the ...
18/08/2026
DAZN Group has completed its acquisition of ViewLift, a provider of streaming and digital solutions for sports content owners. The acquisition was first announc...
18/08/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has added SI TV, Sports Illustrated's 24/7 streaming channel, as a broadcast partner for the remain...
18/08/2026
The Esports Foundation has announced that the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC), originally scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, will be postponed to Novemb...
18/08/2026
Diversified has announced a new Global Managed Services Practice, consolidating the company's managed services capabilities into one organization. Rob Mello...
18/08/2026
Appear has completed a proof of concept with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP), demonstrating multi-camera remote live production over bonded 5G cellular an...
TalkTV has recently relocated its entire production capacity to owner News UK's newly expanded studios in London Bridge. The channel's creative head, Erron Gordon, tells David Davies about evolving show formats and his desire to move away from virtual studio sets
