BBC Radio Manchester

BBC Radio Manchester

BBC Radio Manchester is the BBC’s local radio station serving Greater Manchester.

It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays.

According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 254,000 listeners and a 3.7% share as of December 2021.

 

BBC Radio Manchester launched at 6 am on 10 September 1970 as the first local radio station in the city of Manchester. Initially broadcasting from studios at 33 Piccadilly overlooking 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 95.1 VHF (FM); the frequency of 206 metres (1457 kHz), on the AM / medium wave band was added approximately 2 years after the station first went on air. 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 pm. 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 pm to midnight which often repeated interviews from “Midway through the Day”. By the 1980s the late evening programming had ended, apart from on Sundays when local programming continued to be broadcast until midnight.

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