The team at TINKER TAYLOR have been busy making cool C4 idents with the logo embedded in 'our backyard' - Digbeth. We would LOVE Channel 4 to come to Brum, it would bring opportunity to many talented creative people and brilliant production companies, who have been pretty much abandoned by the major broadcasters since way back when.
Yes, I am one of those former BBC stalwarts who rues the day Pebble Mill closed - a place where many happy memories and brilliant live studio shows were made. Who remembers Pebble Mill at One? The Clothes Show? It was Top Gears first home. But anyway, I digress.
There are many sound reasons why C4 should come to Brum. Here are 3 from Graeme Brown of Birmingham Live.
1. BBC 3 is on the way - and If Channel 4 has an ideal bedfellow, it's BBC 3. Both are targeting viewers in their teens and twenties and both have a remit to be edgy and innovative.
2. The cost of space in Brum is less than a third of our nation’s capital. Rents in London can push up to £90 per square foot – you’d get a nice chunk of Digbeth for about £20.
The city also has a strong record in attracting talent out of London – more twentysomethings leave the capital for Birmingham than any other city.
3. Birmingham is the youngest city in Europe. Close to 45 percent of it’s 1.2 million population is under-25. In short, the city is where Channel 4’s audience lives.
Channel 4 also has to appeal to the tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society – big tick for Birmingham again! In excess of 40 percent of the city are non-white and 108 languages are spoken here!
The argument that Channel 4 has to remain in London “because that is where the industry is” is the sort of self-fulfilling prophecy which holds the sector back. The truth is that Channel 4 doesn’t produce itself, it outsources it. There is no compelling reason why that can’t happen in Birmingham!
So come on #Channel4 - what are you waiting 4?
Channel 4 has shortlisted cities including Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool and Leeds to compete to become the home of the broadcaster’s new second “national” headquarters. The broadcaster, which will announce the winning city on 1 October, is also setting up smaller “creative hubs” in two additional locations ahead of shifting 300 staff and hundreds of millions of pounds of TV programming spend out of London. Channel 4 has shortlisted seven cities and regions to bid for the national HQ or a creative hub, and a further six only eligible for a creative hub, with bosses planning a fact-finding tour next month.