Media in Manchester has been an integral part of Manchester's culture and economy for many generations and has been described as the only other British city to rival to London in terms of television broadcasting.[2][3][4] Today, Manchester is the second largest centre of the creative and digital industries in Europe.[5][6][7]
Most notable television exports include the longest running serial soap drama in the world in Coronation Street and the longest running documentary series in 7 Up!. A wide array of award-winning British television programmes have originated from, and often been set in Manchester, such as Coronation Street, A Question of Sport, Dragons' Den, The Royle Family, University Challenge, Mastermind, Songs of Praise, Top of the Pops, It's a Knockout, World in Action, Seven Up!, Jewel in the Crown, Brideshead Revisited, Stars in Their Eyes, The Krypton Factor, Red Dwarf, Life on Mars, Cold Feet, Cracker and The Street. In the BFI TV list of greatest British television programmes decided by industry professionals in 2000, nine television programmes which were devised and produced in Manchester made the top 50.
Manchester was given the nickname 'Granadaland', as many of the city's successful programmes were produced by Granada Television and its influential chairman Sidney Bernstein actively encouraged this nickname to promote Manchester and the North West. The company was based at Granada Studios in Manchester and was considered one of the best commercial television companies in the world by the Financial Times and The Independent. Granada had its own entertainment complex showcasing its television exports to the public. Eventually Granada took over eleven other franchisees through a series of hostile bids to form ITV in 2004,[10] and consequently a more unified ITV corporate brand appeared.
The new MediaCityUK in Salford forms part of the major decentralisation of the BBC. The corporation opted to move to MediaCityUK in 2004 as a replacement for its ageing Mancunian studios at New Broadcasting House and Granada Studios - the latter being partly owned by both ITV and the BBC through 3SixtyMedia. At the same time, BBC Television Centre was also coming to the end of its lifespan, so the BBC decided to split departments between existing facilities in London and Greater Manchester. The BBC currently has a major broadcast division business operating here under the BBC North Group it comprises the departments BBC Breakfast, BBC Sport, BBC Children's, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Learning, BBC Research & Development and BBC Philharmonic presently broadcasting and producing.[11][12][13] ITV also has a major division of its business based here ITV Studios which is responsible for all UK and international production.
The Guardian newspaper was founded in Manchester as the Manchester Guardian and the city's regional newspaper, the Manchester Evening News is the second most popular regional newspaper in the UK after the Evening Standard.
- ^ "Europe's largest, digital, tech and creative hub: MediaCity" (PDF). MediaCityUK.
- ^ Hall, William (16 June 2010). "Television and radio: Picture remains bright as BBC gears up for move". Financial Times. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
Manchester is home to far and away the biggest broadcasting cluster outside London.
- ^ "Manchester on TV: Ghosts of Winter Hill". BBC News. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
Manchester's contribution to television's cultural history is considerable: from Coronation Street to Shameless, no city outside London has seen itself on screen as much as Manchester.
- ^ "Speech given to Royal Society for Arts (RSA), Manchester University". 9 March 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
What both Granada and the BBC found in Manchester and the North-West was extraordinary creative talent: in writers probably most of all – I don't think any other part of the UK has produced so many distinctive, memorable writers for broadcasting ... And from Z-Cars to Jewel In The Crown, World In Action to Brass Tacks and File On 4, Granada and the BBC and Manchester delivered some of the best programmes ever made.
- ^ "Talent pool". MediaCityUK. Archived from the original on 25 September 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
- ^ "PR Insight: Manchester and the Broadcast Media Landscape". Broadcast Revolution. 19 April 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
- ^ "Creative and Media". www.investinmanchester.com. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
- ^ "Granada TV sign could end up in a museum". How-do.co.uk. 5 October 2010. Archived from the original on 8 October 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
- ^ Holmwood, Leigh (28 May 2009). "Granada name to disappear from ITV businesses". Guardian.co.uk. London. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
- ^ "ITV shares on London stock market". News.bbc.co.uk. 2 February 2004. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ Midgley, Neil (16 December 2010). "BBC TV channels could move to Salford". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
- ^ "BBC1 'could join the move to Salford within four years', says BBC executive Richard Deverell". Manchester Evening News. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ^ Conlan, Tara (10 May 2011). "BBC could move another channel to Salford". London: Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 17 June 2011.