MTV is back on course to open its£1m-plus studio in Leicester Square after assuring Westminster City Council that the pull
MTV is back on course to open its £1m-plus studio in Leicester Square after assuring Westminster City Council that the pull

of popstars would not cause overcrowding, writes Rick Dacey.

MTV successfully appealed against council worries that music fans would block the area and now has approval to record one of its flagship shows in the Leicester Square facility from July. TRL, Total Request Live, is currently produced at MTV Studios, Camden but has been moved to the cosmopolitan hotspot to create a better production ambience. The show will be filmed using the glass front of the building as both a backdrop and window onto the square.

The council was known to be after a tenant that would add atmosphere to Leicester Square but not with the associated trouble that the previous tenant, the nightclub Home, had brought. "We were after the vibrancy of somewhere like Leicester Square and the council was after a tenant like MTV, it was a win-win situation," said Mark Allen, managing director, MTV broadcast services.

The 1,600sq ft studio is on the first floor with the associated gallery, production offices and green rooms on the second floor. The studio has been acoustically glazed and can hold an audience of 80.

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