Media in Manchester - Radio

Radio

See also: List of national radio programmes made in Manchester

A number of regional and national radio stations broadcast from Manchester:

• BBC Radio 5 Live – National
• BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra – National
• BBC Radio Manchester – Manchester area
• XFM Manchester – Regional
• Capital Manchester – Manchester area
• Key 103 – Manchester area
• Piccadilly Magic 1152 – Manchester area

Manchester was an important location for early radio broadcasts in Britain, the first of which were made by the Marconi Company when it began experimental transmissions of a station that was known as 2ZY on 17 May 1922. The British Broadcasting Company was granted a licence for AM radio broadcasts in October of the same year and inaugurated a station called 2LO in London on 14 November 1922, followed the next day by 2ZY, the BBC's official Manchester station. 2ZY made regular transmissions from the Metropolitan-Vickers factory in Trafford Park on 800 kHz (375 metres) Medium Wave).

In July 1925 the BBC opened a much higher powered transmitter at Daventry, Northamptonshire, which broadcast on 187.5 kHz (1562 metres) Long wave and was receivable across most of Britain. The station was called 5XX and it conducted its first experimental stereo broadcast from a concert in Manchester. The 5XX Long Wave transmitter beamed the right channel and all the local BBC Medium Wave transmitters broadcast the left channel. The BBC opened a central Control Room on Piccadilly in Manchester in 1929 from where many network radio programmes were made or transmitted and several technical innovations were installed – including volume metres, the precursor of the PPM. Radio plays and concerts were staged in an old converted repertory theatre hall in Hulme which was renamed 'The Radio Playhouse'. The 2ZY Orchestra created in 1922 went on to play a pivotal role in the establishment of the Northern Wireless Orchestra (and later the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra).

Programme content made in Manchester included radio features on subjects like Cotton and Coal. One example, Joan Littlewood and Olive Shapley's The Classic Soil (1939), on the Manchester poor, was inspired by Fredrick Engels assertion that the city was "the classic soil . . . where capitalism flourished". Many well-known networked radio comedies and concerts as well as Woman's Hour were produced in Manchester. It was not until the late 1960s that true local radio services began across Britain and BBC Radio Manchester was first launched in 1970 on 95.3 MHz VHF. The Medium Wave frequency of 1458 kHz (206 metres) was opened later. Independent Commercial radio began in Britain in 1973 so on 2 April the following year Piccadilly Radio was launched in Manchester on 1146 kHz (261 metres) medium wave and 97.0 MHz vhf (the frequency was changed in 1986).

The BBC's original radio studios became cramped and outdated so all operations were moved to a large new purpose built studio complex on Oxford Road which was named New Broadcasting House (known as NBH) which were in use for both TV and radio production by the spring of 1976 (the old studios on Piccadilly were finally closed in 1981). The number of hours of productions made in Manchester then increased until at its peak in the 1990s around 20% of the output on the newly opened BBC Radio 5 Live in 1994. Around 10% of BBC Radio 4 programming and a daily afternoon show on BBC Radio 1 (Mark & Lard) were all being made in and broadcast from Manchester.

The commercial station Piccadilly Radio was re-branded in 1988 when the services were split in two: AM became Piccadilly Gold and FM was named Key103. A number of new local commercial services were licensed by the Radio Authority in the late 1980s and 1990s. This proliferation has meant that the radio market in Manchester now has the highest number of local radio stations outside London including BBC Radio Manchester, Key 103, 102 Capital FM, Piccadilly Magic 1152, 105.4 Century FM, 100.4 Smooth FM, Rock Radio, Capital Gold 1458, 96.2 The Revolution and Xfm BBC Radio Manchester returned to its original title in 2006 after becoming BBC GMR in 1988.

Throughout the last 40 years Manchester has also heard many pirate, student, temporary (Restricted Service Licence) and unofficial radio stations. Student radio stations include Fuse FM at the University of Manchester and MMU Radio at the Manchester Metropolitan University. A community radio network is coordinated by Radio Regen, with stations covering the South Manchester communities of Ardwick, Longsight and Levenshulme (All FM 96.9) and Wythenshawe (Wythenshawe FM 97.2Mhz).

One of the earliest pirate stations, started in 1979 on 94.6 MHz FM, was called Andromeda which broadcast to the entire conurbation from various locations on the hills around Tameside. Defunct (official) radio stations include Sunset 102 (which became Kiss 102, now Galaxy Manchester), and KFM (which became Signal Cheshire, now Imagine FM). These stations, as well as many 1990s pirates, played a significant role in the city's House music culture, also known as the Madchester scene, which was based around clubs like The Haçienda (which had its own shows on Sunset and on Kiss 102). Some of the best known voices on UK radio began their careers in (or featured regularly on) radio made in Manchester including: radio producer and author Karl Pilkington, of The Ricky Gervais Show; Allan Beswick, Andy Crane, Terry Christian, David Dunne, Nemone, Andy Kershaw, Andy Peebles, Brian Redhead, James Stannage, Mike Sweeny, Julian Worricker.