The BBC has put up a sale notice on the studio behind EastEnders as the broadcaster battles sliding license fee income.
The corporation plans to offload BBC Studios Elstree and lease the space to a new owner, allowing British feature films to continue filming at the site.
As well as hosting EastEnders, the studio has been used for BBC events such as Children in Need broadcasts and its UK election coverage. Elstree is worth around £70m.
Commercial estate agents Lambert Smith Hampton have been hired to find potential suitors, according to an advert seen by The Telegraph, describing it as a “unique opportunity to acquire an iconic piece of production history and write the next chapter”.
The broadcaster is open to exploring “a number of potential disposal structures,” the listing says.
The sale is part of efforts by Tim Davie, the director-general of the BBC, to boost the organisation’s commercial returns amid the continued erosion of its £3.2bn annual license income.
The efforts helped the broadcaster’s commercial arm, BBC Studios, make a record profit of £226m last year. However, he has faced internal resistance to some of his plans.
A move to capitalize on the podcast boom by marketing Radio 4 programs to overseas listeners has been met with a backlash from some BBC staff, who believe it could jeopardize the public service values of the organization
The decision to offload Elstree comes as the TV and film production industry faces a severe shortage of studio space driven by insatiable demand for content from US streaming companies.
Last year, Netflix announced a long-term lease with Longcross Studios, the Surrey production facility behind James Bond’s Skyfall and Star Wars.
Netflix already has exclusive access to most of the Shepperton studios in west London, while Disney leases most of the Pinewood studios in Buckinghamshire.
BBC executives are understood to see the sale of the studio as an opportunity to reduce their operating costs and reduce their carbon footprint.
A BBC spokesman said: “As part of our ongoing review of the BBC’s portfolio of properties, we are exploring the sale of Elstree and the lease of part of it for the continued production of EastEnders.
“There are long-term commitments to the continued use of Elstree, for the parties who support EastEnders.”