The arrival of this website is timely as it acknowledges the growing importance of the media industry to the North West.
As we prepare for the arrival of the BBC at Salford Quays, and await the launch of two new commercial talk radio franchises in Manchester and Liverpool, my thoughts go back to 1973. I was the very first employee of the first commercial radio station (Piccadilly Radio) in the North West, and only the fourth in the country.
Granada TV was enjoying some of its greatest years under the leadership of the late David Plowright. Buoyant advertising revenues meant that there were plenty of jobs at Quay Street.
The powerful television unions, like the Association of Cinematograph and Television Technicians, under the leadership of the tenacious Alan Sapper, ensured that no film or news crew emerged from Granada’s headquarters in Quay Street without a good supply of “sparks”, soundmen and chargehands.
The BBC was still spread across various properties in Manchester. Look North, with Stuart Hall, came from an office over the old Woolworths store in Piccadilly Gardens while plans advanced to build a new headquarters on Oxford Street.
Many national newspapers continued to employ dedicated teams of reporters in the region, and the Manchester Evening News came out in the afternoon with the racing results in the Stop Press.
Hot metal and film have now given way to digital technology and websites. The closed shop of television production has given way to a plethora of independent companies well represented in our region.
Enough of the past, what of the future? The media industry in the North West was, generally, in robust health before the BBC decided to move key departments to Salford Quays. But that decision gives us the opportunity to take the industry to a new level. It will create a cluster of production that will ensure that the best producers, directors and managers stay in the region to “ply their trade” (an expression normally confined to football scribes of a particular vintage).
I thought that the agonising over the BBC move was over and yet the Shadow Chancellor George Osborne told the Manchester Business School recently that the BBC was “dragging its feet” and the Conservative Party could not allow “this vital step for Manchester to slip through our fingers”.
I don’t know what has provoked Mr Osborne’s fears because Felicity Goodey, the driving force behind MediaCity is confident that the deal is done, and preparations for construction are underway.
It remains true that London based BBC executives and staff will mount a rearguard action to slow and dilute the move but that’s where Director General Mark Thompson’s commitment to the project will be put to the test.
MediaCity needs Granada to move out to the Quays too, with the Coronation Street set providing another tourist attraction close to the Imperial War Museum North. But I’m told that Manchester Council, still smarting from the Beeb’s rejection of a site in the city, is mounting a rearguard action to keep GTV in Quay Street.
Whilst there is a concentration at the moment on Manchester and the physical construction of facilities, Liverpool certainly is its equal in terms of creativity. The opportunities of Capital of Culture next year should ensure that we enhance our media reputation at both ends of the East Lancs Road.
For TV and all the other media industries in the region, the way people want to receive their programmes, and indeed participate in providing the content themselves, is changing rapidly. The challenge may be greatest for our newspapers, although you’ll never convince me of the merits of reading the news off a computer screen rather than settling into a chair with the familiar crumpled sheets!
Whatever the challenges, we have the greatest asset for a strong media industry…people. And what is more, people who are confident that the finest media production is possible without the inspiration of sitting in traffic jams on the M25 before getting to work.
Jim Hancock was political correspondent for Granada from 1987 until 1994 and from 1998 until 2006 was the BBC's Political Editor in the North West. He also presented the regional part of the successful BBC1 Sunday programme, “The Politics Show”.
He is currently an associate of Vision Communications Consultants and chairs conferences for organisations such as the NWDA, the European Parliament and The Forum of Private Business.
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