This week we’re marking the fifth anniversary of the opening of BBC North at MediaCityUK in Salford.
It’s a bit of an unusual birthday. Because the site is so big, lots of BBC staff arrived in various different stages. Some departments transferred very quickly, others took several months. But the summer of 2011 was the big milestone for the move. So we’ve settled for an “official birthday” date, a bit like the Queen.
The passing of every year is an opportunity to look back on what’s been achieved and to look forward and think about the future. Five years on, the depth and diversity of our work in the north is astonishing.
BBC Sport, based at Quay House in MediaCityUK, has just delivered brilliant coverage of Wimbledon and Euro 2016 and is now gearing up for the summer’s next major sporting event the Rio Olympics.
BBC Radio 5 live has been on fine form throughout the last few weeks, providing outstanding coverage of the momentous news events and the big sporting moments. As the only network news station based outside London, 5 live offered a different perspective on the EU Referendum campaign and result. They have broadcast live from Middlesbrough, Wigan, Hartlepool and Leeds, giving listeners a sense of what the country is really feeling.
Lovely romantic comedy Boy Meets Girl is back on BBC Two. Set in Newcastle, it’s the first comedy to feature a transgender actor in a lead role. Right On The Money, a consumer affairs programme made by the Salford-based team behind Rip Off Britain, has been broadcasting all this week on BBC One.
Currently we have a production team in Cheshire filming The Worst Witch for CBBC. BBC colleagues in Yorkshire have been busy all week covering the Great Yorkshire Show. And we’ve announced today that new BBC One talent show Let It Shine, featuring Frodsham’s Gary Barlow, will be filming at MediaCityUK in the autumn. The public will be able to watch the audition stages being recorded in Salford.
So there’s a great deal of BBC activity taking place right across the north.
Last week, the BBC made a series of management changes, designed to make us simpler and save money, which can be invested into programmes and services. It means the teams at BBC North will now report into different directors and form part of different divisions. But none of this changes anything on the ground where it is very much business as usual.
And we’re in the business of making great content. From Match of the Day to Dragons’ Den to Blue Peter to the BBC Sport App, we’re busier than ever.
There is huge potential for creative and digital growth in the north, building on the already thriving creative sector in the region. The BBC wants to help drive this growth.
Our Annual Report, published this week, showed for the first time in three years BBC spend in the regions went down last year. That mainly reflects fluctuations in production activity and can be attributed to 2015 being a quieter year for BBC Sport.
So I want to be clear, the BBC is just as committed to the north as we were five years ago. I’ll leave you with some facts to mark our birthday.
Five Facts About BBC North
1. There are 3,000 BBC staff based at BBC North in Salford.
2. The BBC has made more than 525 TV productions in the north since 2011.
3. 13,000 hours of network radio content is made in the region every year.
4. Around 35,000 hours of output a year comes from Salford across TV, Radio and the Red Button - reaching 100m people.
5. We have 650 digital staff on site in Salford – powering the BBC iPlayer and working on six of the BBC’s biggest digital products.
Five Things To Look Forward To
1. The Gift of Hearing – an inspiring documentary for BBC Two about Gateshead woman Jo Milne who travels to Bangladesh to hand out hearing aids to disadvantaged children.
2. The Furchester Hotel - Sesame Street legend Big Bird joins Elmo, Cookie Monster and the rest of the gang in a new series of the CBeebies hit.
3. Our Girl/In The Dark/To Walk Invisible – Three original British dramas made in the north – all expected to air later this year.
4. 5 live line-up - There’ll be some new, and some less new, voices on 5 live this autumn. Prestwich’s Emma Barnett and Nihal Arthanayake join the daytime schedule while 5 live legends Jane Garvey and Peter Allen are reunited for a new Sunday evening show.
5. Hull: UK City of Culture 2017 – Spencer Tunick’s Sea of Hull has whetted everyone’s appetite for the East Yorkshire city’s big year. The BBC will be playing a big part.
And finally
We’re lucky to have a world-class symphony orchestra based in Salford with us. The BBC Philharmonic recorded its own special birthday tribute to BBC North.
Enjoy:
Here's to the next five years
Alice Webb is Director BBC Children's and BBC North.
