BBC Manchester is the British Broadcasting Corporation regional headquarters for the North West, the largest BBC region in the UK. BBC Manchester also forms a key part of BBC North.[1]
The BBC considers the Manchester department as one of its three main bases alongside London and Bristol. BBC Manchester currently has three main studio bases totalling 12 studios, at New Broadcasting House, MediaCityUK and the Granada Studios through 3SixtyMedia but by 2013 the department will be based wholly at MediaCityUK which offers seven HD studios.
BBC Manchester struggled during the early 2000s when Granada Television reduced operations in Manchester which meant New Broadcasting House and Granada Studios were underused.[2] The BBC responded in 2004 by deciding to relocate departments from London to Manchester to boost the ailing Manchester media industry and represent the north of England more proportionally.[3]
New programmes such as Life on Mars, Dragons' Den and Waterloo Road were all commissioned soon after[3] and Manchester is now Europe's 2nd largest creative industry in Europe.[4] BBC Manchester has conceived programmes such as Top of the Pops, Songs of Praise, Mastermind, A Question of Sport, It's a Knockout, Robot Wars[5] and Red Dwarf.
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Manchester was home to the BBC's first studio outside of London in 1954[6] with the acquisition of Dickenson Road Studios in Rusholme, which was a converted church. The BBC formed BBC Manchester in the 1950s and the Manchester department bought the studios from Mancunian Films. The BBC expanded to form another production centre, BBC Piccadilly Studios in Manchester city centre in 1957. This production centre remained until 1975 when facilities moved to New Broadcasting House.[7]
The studios were famous for Top of the Pops which began filming on New Year's Day 1964 in Studio A at the Dickenson Road Studios. DJs Jimmy Savile and Alan Freeman presented the first show, which featured (in order) The Rolling Stones with "I Wanna Be Your Man", Dusty Springfield with "I Only Want to Be with You", the Dave Clark Five with "Glad All Over", The Hollies with "Stay", The Swinging Blue Jeans with "Hippy Hippy Shake" and The Beatles with "I Want to Hold Your Hand",[8] that week's number one (throughout its history, the programme always finished with the best-selling single of the week). For the first three years Savile rotated with three other presenters: Alan Freeman, Pete Murray and David Jacobs. A Mancunian model, Samantha Juste, was the regular "disc girl". Local photographer Harry Goodwin was hired to provide shots of non-appearing artists, and also to provide backdrops for the chart rundown. He would continue in the role until 1973.[9]
In 1972, local broadcaster Stuart Hall hosted It's a Knockout. Stuart Hall remarked that the programme was like "the Olympic Games with custard pies".[10] The programme was revived under BBC Manchester's ownership with viewing figures surging from 100,000 to 15 million.[11]
The early 2000's were tough for BBC Manchester and the diminishing Granada Television as a result of the ITV takeover in 2004 affected the level of programme production.[3] 3SixtyMedia Studios at Granada Studios and New Broadcasting House only had enough filming work to operate two studios, despite having five available.
The BBC reacted by giving BBC Manchester more commissioning work and Dragons' Den and Life on Mars were two successes for the BBC.
BBC Manchester is responsible for BBC North West Tonight which is broadcast from New Broadcasting House. Regional offices are located in Blackburn, Chester and Liverpool
The BBC's first Big Screen was erected in Manchester.[12] The Screen became a permanent feature of Exchange Square in 2003 after a successful trial in Manchester during key events such as the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the Golden Jubilee in 2002 and the 2002 Football World Cup.
BBC Manchester are currently transferring to MediaCityUK, but its main base has been New Broadcasting House on Oxford Road in Manchester city centre since 1975.
New Broadcasting House has one small studio and one large studio, Studio A which is equip for live programming and recording drama programmes. Studio A underwent a major £6 million expansion in 1989 which increased the studios volume by 80%.[13] Upon completion it was the largest BBC Studio outside London at 6204 ft.[13]
In 2003, as BBC Pacific Quay, The Mailbox and BBC White City were being redeveloped it was touted the New Broadcasting House site could be redeveloped but this idea was eventually shelved to create a new purpose-built television studios.[14]
Although famous for Granada Television and ITV Granada, BBC Manchester owns 20% of Granada through 3SixtyMedia. Granada Television were formerly a rival to the BBC's hegemony, but since 2000 BBC employees have produced and filmed programmes at Granada Studios.
The merger in 2000 aimed to cut costs for the BBC and Granada.[15] The merger also gave the BBC greater use of the Granada Studios which are far larger than New Broadcasting House with three large studios and a number of drama studios compared with NBH which only has two multi-use studios.
The Granada Studios are referred to neutrally as 3SixtyMedia Studios reflecting joint ITV and BBC ownership.[16]
BBC Manchester is currently in the process of transferring to MediaCityUK which is located two miles away from its current base at New Broadcasting House in Salford Quays.
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