North impact could be dramatic

In the last couple of weeks I have been reminded that above all the noise that has surrounded the BBC’s ambition to establish a new creative hub in the North of England, there is genuine and constructive interest about what is happening at MediaCityUK.

At the Institute of Directors in London we discussed our move to the north with companies that are facing similar change and upheaval. And last week I talked to the creative community as part of BBC Bristol’s Digital Week. At both events I was struck by a keen interest in what we had achieved as well as a common interest in sharing knowledge and experience.

The cornerstone of our own ambition in the North will always be making great content for our audience combined with fuelling the creative industries of the region.

As well as helping to deliver the BBC’s greatest summer of sport last year, the North of England has recently been the inspiration for some of the BBC’s most successful and acclaimed programmes and ideas - particularly in the fiction genre.

Take the success of locally-made dramas like Kay Mellor's Yorkshire-based The Syndicate about lucky and not-so-lucky lottery winners; the searing intensity of Sheffield-based Prisoners’ Wives; the feel-good romance of Last Tango In Halifax, the Victorian sensibility of The Paradise from the north east or that other Newcastle-produced hit series The Dumping Ground. They drew their inspiration from their Northern roots and will all return later this year. And BBC Three’s imminent drama In The Flesh fuses the popular zombie genre with the humanity of its realistic everyday Northern setting. Prepare to be spine-tingled.

Beyond television, we also continue to develop our digital credentials. BBC Sport’s new app – building on the incredible success of the Olympic Games app - has already been downloaded over eight hundred thousand times since it was launched in January. It has just gone international too.

But as I told the audience in Bristol last week, we are part of a much bigger story of creative renewal and pioneering innovation. As I described it in Bristol, MediaCityUK is a ‘huge intervention in the media space’ -much bigger than just the BBC.

ITV will complete the first phase of their move into MediaCity UK by the end of March, whilst the build of Corrie next door is continuing apace. The commercial studios just hosted The Voice auditions made by major indie Wall to Wall and many smaller and medium sized businesses - from production companies, animators and designers to accountancy and legal firms – are arriving at MediaCityUK, attracted by the potential opportunities.

With our partners and colleagues we want to create an alternate centre of creative gravity. Distinctive not competitive.

We are co-creating opportunities for both the national and international creative industry. One of our earliest initiatives, the Digital Fiction Factory with Liverpool-based Conker Media isn’t only working with BBC partners to develop digital content for the future. It is now at the centre of a partnership with Channel 4 and Creative England and a network of Northern-based digital companies. Later this month BBC Worldwide Showcase will return to Liverpool, exhibiting nearly 3,000 hours of viewable television content for the global market and bringing with it 700 international buyers - a boost to the regional economy.

The initial upheaval is indeed beginning to reap a financial and creative dividend. Our own increased investment is impacting directly here, according to an independent report. We aim to re-invigorate traditional genres and develop new formats working together. Over time we can also make a difference in terms of employment and training.

So as we approach our second anniversary, BBC North alongside our fellow tenants has simply become part of a bustling canal-side creative community.

Peter Salmon is Director of BBC North

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