The 400 million pounds move north of five BBC departments and 1,500 staff is due to start in 2010 with the creation of a media zone in either Manchester or Salford Quays. Salford’s plans for Media City UK were revealed earlier this week, whilst images for the Manchester site have been released today.
Both locations are within five miles of each other, and both offer the BBC a very attractive package. MediaCity:UK is surrounded by water. At its heart is a triangle of iconic buildings, The Lowry, Imperial War Museum and a new media complex, home to the BBC. MediaZone Manchester propose a model of a modern city centre district, a tooled up barrio for business. There?ll be coffee shops, restaurants, stores, hotels and apartments alongside the studios and technical facilities, the Media Enterprise Centre and the Open Centre.
The plan for Salford Quays, already home to radio stations Century FM, Capital Gold, Xfm, DNN and Smooth FM. See more by clicking mediacityuk.co.uk.
What the new Media Zone in Manchester City Centre could look like. The City is home to many media companies including various radio and TV stations. See more by clicking mzmanchester.com.
As you can see from each of the proposals websites, both bids are very impressive but only one will win. That is, if the BBC actually agree to move north at all. BBC governors meet on June 15th to consider both bids, but the final go-ahead depends on a satisfactory licence fee deal from the government. An announcement on that is due later next month.