Channel 4 News ‘should be broadcast from Brum’ Campaigning body says city is ideal venue for flagship show
CHANNEL 4 News should be presented from Birmingham, ensuring one of television’s flagship national news shows is produced outside London.
That’s according to the Campaign for Regional Broadcasting Midlands, which is backing calls to bring Channel 4 to the West Midlands.
It suggested that the show could be broadcast from Centenary Square, in Birmingham city centre.
Channel 4 News, presented by veteran journalist Jon Snow and colleagues, is one of the major evening news shows, broadcast at 7pm. Others include the BBC One’s News at Six and the ITV Evening News at 6.30pm.
But despite serving the whole country, all the shows are currently made in London.
In a proposal sent to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the campaign said: “We believe the flagship daily Channel 4 News should be presented from Birmingham.
“This would help to provide a news service with a strong regional viewpoint and perspective. A location such as Centenary Square in Birmingham city centre would be ideal.”
And it said that a major morning news shows had already been moved out of London successfully.
“The BBC has successfully proved that moving a news programme out of the Capital to a regional city is perfectly possible: BBC Breakfast has been broadcast from Salford since 2012 and gains the highest ratings of any breakfast TV programme, by far.”
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has launched a consultation asking whether Channel 4 should move from its current headquarters in Westminster.
And the Campaign for Regional Broadcasting Midlands, which promotes the Midlands as a place to create and make television, radio and film, has submitted a response to the consultation, saying that the West Midlands’ central location, strong transport links and diverse population make it the ideal home for the broadcaster.
It comes after West Midlands mayor Andy Street and local councils, including Birmingham, Solihull, Wolverhampton Dudley, Walsall, Sandwell and Coventry, launched an official bid to move Channel 4 to the region.
They say the West Midlands is the ideal location for the business, which employs 800 people and currently has its headquarters in London.
And they predict the move will grow the economy by £5 billion, with £2.3 billion between 2021 and 2030 coming as a direct result of Channel 4’s move and £2.7 billion coming from the boost it would give to local creative businesses.
A location such as Centenary Square in Birmingham would be ideal Campaign for Regional Broadcasting Midlands