BBC Radio Manchester

BBC Radio Manchester

City	Manchester
Broadcast area	Greater Manchester and East Cheshire. Broadcasts from MediaCityUK, Salford Quays, England, UK
Frequency	95.1 MHz, 104.6 MHz DAB: 11C RDS: `BBC_Manc`
First air date	10 September 1970
Format	Local news, talk and music
Language(s)	English
Audience share	3.6% (March 2011, )
Owner	BBC Local Radio, BBC North West
Webcast	WMA
Website	BBC Radio Manchester

BBC Radio Manchester is a BBC Local Radio station broadcasting to Greater Manchester and north east Cheshire in North West England. The radio station broadcasts 24 hours a day from studios at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays via a transmitter at Holme Moss, with a small repeater at Saddleworth that covers Tameside and Saddleworth. It can be heard on DAB radio and via internet streaming. It is a department of the BBC North Group division.

History

BBC Radio Manchester (1970–1988)

BBC Radio Manchester launched at 6.00am on 10 September 1970 as the first local radio station in the city of Manchester. Initially broadcasting from studios at Piccadilly Gardens in the city centre, the station's long-standing home was New Broadcasting House on Oxford Road. Radio Manchester originally broadcast only on 95.1MHz VHF/FM and later added 206AM (medium wave). The first voice on air was Alan Sykes. Other presenters included Roy Cross, Sandra Chalmers, Mike Riddoch and Alex Greenhalgh. In the mid 1970s, Radio Manchester was notable for the "Midway through the Day" programme which introduced strip programming and ran from lunchtime until 7.00pm. Presenters changed throughout the day and it was the precursor of the now common chat and music format. At the same time Radio Manchester began an evening programme from 10.00pm to midnight which often repeated interviews from "Midway through the Day".

Opt-out stations

In 1983 and 1984 the radio station ran a series of experimental community stations, each of which used the 1296 kHz AM frequency in turn. The stations were BBC Radio Bury (late 1983/early 1984), BBC Radio Oldham, BBC Radio Rochdale (eight weeks from 14 May 1984), BBC Radio Trafford (which operated from a mobile studio in a school playground) and BBC Radio Wigan (summer 1984). The stations were part-time services which opted out from the main BBC Radio Manchester service. The experiments were never repeated.

BBC GMR (1988–2006)

From October 1988 until 3 April 2006, the station was named BBC GMR (Greater Manchester) and, for a brief period in 1997, GMR Talk. BBC Greater Manchester Radio. Programmes included a phone-in with Allan Beswick (who remains at the station and had presented a variety of shows at differing times, currently presents a late night talk show which is simulcast with BBC Radio Lancashire ), late-night music and comedy show Michelle Mullane around Midnight and GMR Brass, a brass band music programme. GMR was part of the BBC Night Network.

In 1996, BBC GMR began broadcasting from a second transmitter from Saddleworth on 104.6 FM, (which had and continues to serve as a transmitter for Key 103 for over 20 years). This meant areas of the Upper Tame Valley including Saddleworth and Tameside, down to Hyde saw improved coverage, which was poor at times from Holme Moss especially indoors.

BBC Radio Manchester relaunch (2006-present)

After 18 years the station reverted to its original name, Radio Manchester. The first voice on the relaunched station was that of Tony Wilson followed by long-time local personality and breakfast presenter Terry Christian, the first song was Manchester by the Beautiful South.

At 6.00am on Saturday 8 October 2011, the station ended its transmissions from its Oxford Road studios and began broadcasting from MediaCityUK in Salford Quays. The final show from Oxford Road was presented by Darryl Morris and the first from the new studios by Andy Crane.

Programming

The majority of the station's programming is produced and broadcast from Salford Quays. During off-peak hours, BBC Radio Manchester also carries some shared programming with sister station BBC Radio Lancashire. As with all BBC Local Radio stations, it also airs the networked weekday evening shows, originating from BBC Radio Leeds and produced independently by Wire Free Productions. During the station's downtime, BBC Radio Manchester simulcasts BBC Radio 5 Live programming (Monday from 12:00am to 5:00am, Tuesday to Friday from 1:00am to 5:00am, Saturday from 1:00am to 6:00am and Sunday from 12:00am to 6:00am).

Notable presenters

Former presenters

External links

BBC Local Radio

East	BBC Essex Radio Cambridgeshire Radio Norfolk Radio Northampton Radio Suffolk Three Counties Radio

East Midlands	Radio Derby Radio Leicester Radio Nottingham

East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire	Radio Humberside Radio Lincolnshire

North West	Radio Lancashire Radio Manchester Radio Merseyside

North East and Cumbria	BBC Tees BBC Newcastle Radio Cumbria

South East	Radio Kent BBC Surrey BBC Sussex

South	Radio Berkshire Radio Oxford Radio Solent

London	Radio London

South West and the Channel Islands	Radio Cornwall Radio Devon Radio Guernsey Radio Jersey

West	Radio Bristol Radio Gloucestershire BBC Somerset BBC Wiltshire

West Midlands	BBC WM BBC Coventry & Warwickshire BBC Hereford and Worcester Radio Shropshire Radio Stoke

Yorkshire	Radio Leeds Radio Sheffield Radio York

Former stations	Dorset FM Radio Durham Southern Counties Radio Thames Valley FM

Radio stations in Greater Manchester, England

Longwave AM stations	198 (BBC Radio 4) 252 (RTÉ Radio 1)

Medium wave AM stations	909/693 (BBC Radio 5 Live) 1089/1053 (Talksport) 1152 (Key 2) 1215 (Absolute Radio) 1350 (Radio Cavell) 1377 (Asian Sound Radio) 1458 (Gold)

FM stations	88.4 (Gaydio) 89.3/89.8 (BBC Radio 2) 90.1 (Legacy FM) 91.5/91.9 (BBC Radio 3) 92.8 (Unity Radio) 93.7/94.1 (BBC Radio 4) 94.4 (Salford City Radio) 95.1/104.6 (BBC Radio Manchester) 96.2 (96.2 The Revolution) 96.5 (Bolton FM) 96.9 (ALL FM) 97.0 (Crescent Radio) 97.2 (Wythenshawe FM) 97.7 (Radio X) 98.9/99.3 (BBC Radio 1) 99.7 (Oldham Community Radio) 100.4 (Smooth Radio) 101.1 (Classic FM) 102.0 (Capital) 102.4 (Wish FM) 103.0 (Key 103) 103.6 (Tameside Radio) 104.9 (Imagine FM) 105.4 (Heart) 106.1 (XS Manchester) 106.6 (North Manchester FM) 107.4 (Tower FM) 107.8 (Pure Radio). The FM BBC Radio stations are broadcast from two transmitters, Holme Moss and Saddleworth.

DAB	Stations: Absolute Radio Absolute Radio 80s Absolute Radio 90s Asian Sound Radio BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Asian Network BBC World Service BBC Radio Manchester BFBS Radio Classic FM Capital Capital Xtra Heart North West Heat Radio Key 103 Key 2 Key 3 Kiss LBC Magic UK Planet Rock Premier Christian Radio Radio X Smooth Extra Smooth Radio North West Talksport UCB UK Christian Multiplexes: CE Manchester (local)

United Kingdom radio markets Aberdeen Glasgow London Liverpool Manchester Northern Ireland South West England West Midlands West Yorkshire Worcester See also: List of radio stations in the United Kingdom

Coordinates: 53°28′44″N 2°17′20″W / 53.479°N 2.289°W / 53.479; -2.289

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