CHANNEL 9's Richmond studios, a landmark of the TV industry, could soon be on the market. The Bendigo St site, formerly a Heinz soup factory, has been home to Nine since 1956. But a management restructure and looming sale of assets could see Nine relocating.
James Packer's selling down of his stake in Nine to just 25 per cent has given CVC Capital Partners control of the network. Nine, part of PBL Media, and CVC, believes $100 million is needed to fund an urgent technology upgrade at the network. It would be our intention to fund that by selling the land at Willoughby (Nine's base in Sydney) and Richmond (GTV), PBL Media chief executive Ian Law said.
We are actively investigating location options for the Nine Network in both Sydney and Melbourne. It's anticipated Nine will earn about $50 million if it sells the Richmond site. The Bendigo St lot has been home to some of the biggest names and shows in the history of TV.
Shows produced there include Graham Kennedy's IMT, The Don Lane Show, Hey, Hey It's Saturday, The Footy Show, Sale of the Century, Temptation, The Sullivans, The Paul Hogan Show and Stingers. Some of the most memorable moments in TV have happened in the studios, including a dog lifting its leg on a camera during IMT and Kennedy's infamous crow-call, which sounded far too much like a swear word and resulted in the variety legend's exit from late night television. The Nine switchboard also lit up the night Don Lane was offended by visiting sceptic James Randi, who verbally attacked Lane's friend, the psychic Doris Stokes.
Lane rose from the hosting chair in a huff and told Randi he could p--- off . Less than memorable moments also occurred when Molly Meldrum was the subject of a deeply offensive Toasted and Roasted special. Then there was Shane Crawford dacking Sam Newman on The Footy Show.
One of the biggest off-screen dramas at Nine occurred in 1991, when Tony Barber attempted to increase his $1 million a year salary as host of Sale of the Century. Nine baulked at the demand and Barber was out of a job. He tried to explain his exit from the show by saying he'd become tired of living in the show's velvet cage and needed a new challenge.
Nine has several options with its Richmond studios, which occupies about 25,000sq m, or 2.5ha of prime land. It could sell them outright and shift to a new site.
It is rumoured Nine is interested in Docklands office space. CHANNEL 9's Richmond studios, a landmark of the TV industry, could soon be on the market.
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