Fountain auction brings worldwide interest
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The sale, organised by auctioneers Charterfields on behalf of Fountain Television, attracted worldwide interest with more than 450 bidders registering from as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, USA, Italy and the Netherlands as well as the UK.
Among the range of sound, lighting and camera equipment, the Calrec Apollo 72 fader digital audio console item led to the highest winning bid in excess of £85,000.
Fountain Studios closed in December and is described as ‘the birthplace of TV talent shows’ after being home to some of the UK’s most popular programmes since the launch of ITV in 1955. They include TV classics such as On The Buses, Upstairs Downstairs and Opportunity Knocks to modern family favourites such as Britain’s Got Talent, Pop Idol, The Cube, The Voice, All Star Mr & Mrs and The Last Leg.
Ian Maycock, director of Charterfields, said, “We had more than 100 bidders attend the two viewing days as this was seen as a unique opportunity to acquire the highest specification technical equipment. There was also strong interest in the catering equipment and furniture from the numerous hospitality rooms which brought to a close the long and illustrious location in British television history.”
The only remaining items are a number of bottles of champagne and wine signed by among others Simon Cowell, Ant & Dec, Louis Walsh, Tom Jones, Sharon Osbourne, Tony Bennett & Pink. These will be sold by Charterfields via an online auction during April.
(Jim Evans)
