Manchester's Entertainment Features department produces an eclectic mix of some of the nation's longest running and best loved studio brands such as 'Mastermind' and 'A Question of Sport' along side exciting new factual entertainment formats shows such as 'The Bank of Mum and Dad' and 'Dragons' Den'. It is also known for event TV such as the 'Top of the Pops Awards' and behind the scenes shows on BBC Three such as 'Pure 24' and 'Access All Areas'. It is also the home of authored BBC Three documentaries on subjects as diverse as the model Jordan and second had car salesmen made by award winning film maker Richard Macer. From the 'I Love the Seventies' series to the recent BBC Two hit 'Britain's Best Sitcom', it has also established a strong reputation for making clever and culturally relevant archive based programming. Interactive and web content: Manchester has a number of talented and award winning interactive teams who support the work of the local programmes sites, Entertainment and Features content as well as Religion and Ethics. Our accolades include RTS awards for craft technology and online for Entertainment and a Prix Italia for the BBC Religion.
Network News & Current Affairs is a bi-media unit and part of the News Division's Current Affairs Department. In 2003/04 it produced 50 hours of television for BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three and BBC Four, as well as 28 hours of programming for Radio 4.
News Interactive North West provides news coverage for both the 'Where I Live' and BBC News England sites for Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside.  |
BBC North West broadcasts around 300 hours of regional television programming every year and 17,500 hours of local radio programming (via its three local radio stations: BBC GMR, BBC Radio Lancashire and BBC Radio Merseyside). The region's newest services are three 'Where I Live' sites on BBCi serving Lancashire, Liverpool and Manchester. The Factual Radio unit in Manchester makes around 300 programmes a year for the BBC's network stations. Highlights include 'The Message' and weekly editions of 'Woman's Hour', 'You and Yours' and 'Front Row' and for Radio 4; investigative sports journalism for Radio Fivelive and 'Rocket Science' for 6Music hosted by Marc Riley. The BBC Radio 3 unit makes more than 200 hours of programmes a year and transmits live and specially recorded music from venues around the country which are an integral part of Radio 3's 'Performance on 3' and 'Lunchtime Concert' strands. The Radio Drama unit is an award winning team producing over 70 hours of drama a year. Recent productions range from Shakespeare to new writing from local talent, including comedy and classic serials. Radio Entertainment in Manchester is the home of much of Radio 4's quiz and comedy archive programming. Three long-running quiz series, 'Round Britain Quiz', 'Counterpoint' and 'MasterTeam' are made here. The BBC Philharmonic Formed in 1934, and celebrating its 70th birthday in 2005, the BBC Philharmonic performs regularly in Manchester's Bridgewater Hall as well as making many programmes for BBC Radio 3. BBC Religion & Ethics is a Manchester based multi-media department producing at least 112 hours of television for BBC One and BBC Two; additional programming for BBC Three and BBC Four; and over 430 hours of radio for the BBC network stations each year. BBC Open Centres were pioneered in the North West. The centres encourage local people to come and interact with the BBC and comprise IT learning centres and cyber cafés. Between them the centres in Blackburn and Liverpool welcome an average of over 5,000 people per month. BBC Buses travel around the region to offer free IT training. There are now three buses attached to Radio Lancashire, BBC GMR and Radio Merseyside. Over the course of last year more than 45,000 people used the region's three buses. The BBC Big Screen in central Manchester is a pioneering, world first experiment in public broadcasting and offers a new way to deliver quality programming and major events to audiences. Located in Manchester's Exchange Square it's the modern city's equivalent of the village green. Highlights over the summer include Music Live; a Eurovision party; Euro 2004 and Wimbledon. The Liverpool Big Screen went live in August, in time to capture the excitement of the Olympics. | 
