Having earned a reputation for innovation across more than 70 years in the business, the company is diversifying the offering at its Gray’s Inn Rd London HQ
ITN has been producing content for more than 70 years, famous for a number of firsts across its world-class newsrooms.
As well as producing commissioned content, including award-winning documentaries and podcasts for major broadcasters and streamers, the company also boasts industry leading production facilities at its central Lonndon HQ on Gray’s Inn Road.
Started in 2013 as an internal facility initially, ITN Post began serving external clients in 2018.
ITN’s willingness to embrace new technologies, people and working methods has helped to keep it at the cutting edge of the UK broadcasting. This is particularly evident at ITN Post, with this year seeing even further investment in its facilities.
Alongside the 30 remote suites with HDR capabilities, which are scalable to demand, there are three dubbing theatres, which include two Dolby 5.1 suites with V/O booths, as well as an Atmos certified 7.1.4 studio. The facility has significant on prem storage and a direct connection to an AWS data centre, enabling seamless expansion into the cloud.
Alongside its London presence, this capability has been further strengthened in recent years with ITN’s facility in Leeds.
In addition to the traditional studios used to produce 14 hours of live TV a day for ITV, Channel 5 and Channel 4, there is a podcast studio with three cameras and a mini-gallery, and plans to create a green screen studio for video-based podcasts.
For director of post-production, Ed Bengoa, the facility: “Provides all the services that our clients need and expect, from digital teams, to HETV multi episodic productions.”
The building’s infrastructure and direct connectivity also means ITN can offer a pre-transmission and live playout service, which has seen growing success. Have I Got News For You, The Graham Norton Show, and The Claudia Winkleman Show are among the productions to have come to ITN for this after completing post elsewhere.
Sam Hardy, head of post operations and responsible for overseeing the day to day running of the facility, explains: “Since opening our doors to external clients in 2018, we’ve proudly welcomed some of the industry’s biggest productions.
“It’s a testament to the trust our clients place in us and the reach of our connectivity from Gray’s Inn Road. As we continue to grow, we’re excited to build on this momentum by diversifying our offering and expanding what we bring to the market.”
This year has also seen further investment in a new playout gallery for live content, supporting the fast-turnaround programming for which ITN is known.
Close integration between production and post enabled the team to deliver last year’s programme on the LA wildfires, Inferno: LA On Fire, moving from commission on a Thursday to live playout from Gray’s Inn Road on Channel 4 by Sunday.
A similar workflow was used for Goalhanger’s The Rest Is Politics election specials, taking the programmes from edit to live transmission in the same day, also for Channel 4.
ITN has also had to move beyond its traditional TV heartland into new sectors. Podcasts have enjoyed rapid growth in ITN’s studios, including the BBC’s Life Without, hosted by Alan Davies, and Beyond Suspicion for Audible, which is mixed in Atmos.
A new business development manager has also been recently appointed to boost external growth across all areas, including playout services.
This expansion is in part being made possible by ITN Post’s close ties to production colleagues. The facility has been able to grow organically as production counterparts have expanded their reach into new genres, allowing it to develop its offering to meet changing needs, and then sell these services externally.
These links allow for bespoke production and broadcast innovations. Recently ITN broke new ground with its use of AI to anonymise contributors in The Investigation Of Lucy Letby.
With AI, cloud and more, the aim is a more integrated approach from ITN that can offer even more to clients in post-production, production and beyond.
It’s just the latest step in ITN’s journey. A journey that has seen it lead the way in innovation throughout its 70+ year history.
And there’s certainly more to come, as Ed Bengoa confirms: “It’s an exciting time for ITN Post. As we expand into vodcasts, live playouts, HETV and AI-driven workflows, we’re building on the trust our clients have placed in us, and are looking to grow our offering even further in the future.”
