RTS NI committee member and UTV head of news and programmes Terry Brennan and UTV operations manager Alan Mackey guided the 25 visitors around the 11,000 sq ft premises.

UTV has moved to a one-studio operation at City Quays 2 from three studios at its previous base at Havelock House, which it left at the end of June – yet the broadcaster can make the same number of in-house productions.

The new high-definition (HD) studio is used for regional news programme, UTV Life, as well as news bulletins, weather forecasts and politics shows. 

City Quays 2 has five edit booths, which use Avid editing technology equipped with Boris effects, and two voice-over booths for on-screen journalists, who are both self-shooting and self-editing.

In the gallery, UTV uses the LiveU live video acquisition system, which offers plug and play, end-to-end video streaming to allow HD broadcasts to be brought in from almost anywhere.

The studio uses HD cameras on refurbished pedestals brought over from Havelock House, while the lighting grid uses LED (light-emitting diode) lighting under DMX (digital multiplex) control, allowing full control of light output.

Archive material, including programmes on Betamax tapes, stretching back more than 30 years, has been stored and categorised in the new complex.