BBC North West - Studios

Studios

See also: New Broadcasting House and MediaCityUK

From 1929 until 1981, many of the BBC's Manchester operations were based at Broadcasting House in the Piccadilly Gardens area of Manchester City Centre. The building had been leased to the Corporation from a bank on the ground floor and became the central control room for regional and network radio production from the city.

In 1954, a former Methodist church on Dickenson Road in Rusholme became the BBC's first Manchester television studio, having been brought from Mancunian Films, who had converted the building. The Dickenson Road facilities became the main home of the city's network production base where early editions of long-running series including Top Of The Pops and A Question of Sport were produced. The BBC's Northern outside broadcast units were located at another former church in Longsight. Meanwhile, regional television news and presentation began at Broadcasting House in Piccadilly in September 1957.

By 1967, planning had begun on creating a new broadcasting centre which would house radio and television on both network & regional levels as well as rehearsal space (Studio 7) for the BBC's Northern Symphony Orchestra (later to become the BBC Philharmonic). New Broadcasting House on Oxford Road began operations in July 1975 when network television production was transferred from the Dickenson Road studio into the much larger Studio A. Studio B, which would be used for regional TV news (Look North West, North West Tonight) was opened in May 1981, allowing the BBC to vacate its studios at Piccadilly after 52 years.

Regular production in Studio A continued until 2000, when it was mothballed. Meanwhile, the BBC launched a joint facilities venture with Granada Television, called 3SixtyMedia, which saw both broadcasters pool their studio resources at both Oxford Road and Granada's Quay Street complex. As a result, Studio A was re-opened in 2005 as a four-waller, primarily for drama productions including Life on Mars.

BBC North West moved into new studios at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays during Autumn 2011. The new development houses all departments previously based at New Broadcasting House alongside BBC Children's, BBC Sport, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Breakfast, BBC Learning and BBC Future Media departments and services, creating the biggest broadcast operation outside London. As part of the move, New Broadcasting House was sold off to Reality Estates Ltd for £10 million in April 2011.

In addition to their headquarters, BBC North West has local radio stations and news bureaux located in Liverpool and Blackburn and a district office in Chester.