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Sport Relief - Battle of the Five-a-Sides

2016-03-02T13:15:00+00:00

At 9.15am on Thursday morning (tomorrow) we kick off a five-a-side match which will finish at 6.15pm on Saturday evening in aid of Sport Relief. It’s 57 hours of football in total which is the equivalent of a 38-game Premier League season played back to back. That’s one continuous game for 57 hours on a specially constructed pitch with seating and lights and all that, on the piazza outside MediaCityUK in Salford.

We are going to have teams rolling on and off every half an hour, but the matches are going to be played constantly for the 57 hours, playing through the night then through the day and back through the night again.

Working on this project for Sport Relief is very different from my day job which is producing Mastermind. We have 96 people take part on Mastermind over a year, which feels like a lot, but this is over 1800 players in total over the 57 hours. So it’s five-a-side and three subs per team every half an hour and just finding those players has been a huge task over the last five or six weeks. That was when I came on board. At that point the pitch was all sorted, it was going to be filmed, that was all sorted, but the nuts and bolts of who was going to play and how it was going to work is the thing that I’ve been doing with the team for the last few weeks.

We’ve got a real mixture of people taking part– there’ll be some celebrities playing, there’ll be some familiar �� faces and some familiar �� voices - whose faces people maybe don’t know but they definitely know their voices - playing. There are also local community groups who are supported by Sport Relief and the Premier League, and also lots of teams who have come via Manchester county’s FA who’ve been very helpful, as well as some internal �� teams, and lots of members of the public. I think about 24 hours out of 57 were put open for members of the public to sign up and play and we’ve had hundreds and hundreds of people who wanted to get involved.

As for the games themselves, they’re not competitive in the normal way, because it’s going to be more of a cumulative total by the end of the match – so it shouldn’t be 114 blood-and-guts half-hour death matches; hopefully it’ll be more fun for the people playing than that! We’ve tried to make it as open ability and open age as possible so that anybody can play at any time. Where we’ve got school kids coming they’re playing other school kids and we’ve roughly broken up the age groups 16-35 and 35 and over to try and make it fair, but totally mixed ability and mixed gender across the board.

There are a lot of spreadsheets involved in organising an event like this - a chap on our team, Nick is coordinating all of it. Some people who have signed up as teams from the public which is brilliant because you’ve got the eight names there and away you go, the more complicated ones are where you’ve got eight individuals who we have to slot together and put into place. And some of the games are through the night and it’s quite a big ask to expect people to sign up for that.

What was interesting is when we put some of the �� teams together: so Radio 5 live came along and said they wanted a team and they submitted who they were going to be, and we paired them up against Question of Sport and the 5 live team contained at least two ‘ringers’ – ex-professional players. This news then prompted the Question of Sport team to scrabble around frantically to try and find some ringers of their own to even it up! So some people want to do well in their little bit, which is fine, but ultimately it’s a cumulative total that we will have for the end of the show.

Through the FA some of the teams that are coming along have got different abilities, and they’ve been helping us to pair those teams up for us because we didn’t want it to just be all full ability teams playing – we are trying to make it as inclusive as possible. And it isn’t just a Manchester event either, people are coming from quite far afield, I know there’s certainly one team that’s been set up by Sport Relief that are coming down from Newcastle for it, some coming up from Stoke and places like that. The first game pairing involves a team that Sport Relief have set up and that’s really important because that’s the whole point of doing this, to raise money for Sport Relief so they in turn can continue supporting these organisations .

From what I can gather from the people we have met with who run the MediaCityUK site, although it is licensed to have things through the night this is the first time it’s been done. So it’s a first for a lot of people all the way from me, I’ve never put on an event before, certainly not an event that’s 57 hours with 1800 people playing, all the way through to Salford City Council environmental health team who haven’t had an event here that runs for 24 hours. There’s so many bits to it – if it was just, “let’s go and play five-a-side in a sports centre” it would be quite straight forward – even finding enough players for 57 hours would be quite straightforward, but we are outside, we are exposed to the elements. I was writing a risk assessment on Friday and started looking through some of the documentation that had been sent through talking about which wind speed we would have to come off at, you don’t have to worry about that on Mastermind.

I’ve been producing Mastermind for four seasons - this is my fifth season getting underway now, and I know that job quite well. But with this it’s completely different: the firefighting side of it is really fun – where someone comes up and says: “This is a problem – what are we going to do?” And in the space of an hour you’ve got to come up with a solution because we haven’t got the time to spend days and days pondering. You just go with your gut instinct, and hope that’s the right decision, and if it isn’t you look at it again and come up with another plan. There are going to be things that will happen that we’ve got no idea what they are yet, and no idea how we’ll cope with them. But those things we can predict we’ve done everything we can. When I was an Assistant Producer or a Researcher I liked to feel I had checked every last detail and that I was happy that everything had been as organised as well as it could be, so then if something did go wrong I could think: “It’s alright I know everything else will run smoothly so I’ll just concentrate on putting this right…” I haven’t got that sense with this really – there are so many bits of it that could do wrong: there’s snow forecast for Friday – that will throw a massive spanner in the works. At some point in the 57 hours we are going to have to make a decision I’d imagine as to whether the pitch safe to play in the rain or the snow or whatever – wind restrictions we have to think about. People live around MediaCityUK – will be overlooking the pitch so we have to swap to a soft ball when it goes dark – you know there are all these different things that could crop up that we might have to think about and there is that slight trepidation that I don’t know what those things are.

If you want to watch our progress it’s going to be on the �� Radio 5 live Battle of the 5-A-Sides website throughout, from kick off to final whistle, it’ll be on the Red Button quite a lot, there are going to be regular updates on �� Radio 5 Live and lots of other programmes from around the site are going to be getting involved as well, whether it’s people going on Radcliffe and Marconie to talk about it, or Blue Peter coming out of their studio to be pitch-side. Newsround and �� Breakfast who are also putting a team in but they’re going to be doing reports from pitch side. In addition, 1Xtra have a team that leave their breakfast studio on the Thursday and then drive up to Manchester to play. All these different bits of coverage are going to be going on, so even if you’re not on the Red Button or watching online it’s going to be quite hard to avoid… hopefully it’ll be everywhere.

Mark Helsby, Producer, �� Radio 5 live, Battle of the Five-a-Sides for Sport Relief

�� Radio 5 live’s Battle of the Five-a-Sides for Sport Relief takes place at MediaCity, Salford Thursday 3 March-Saturday 5th March. To donate to the Sport Relief challenge go to www.sportrelief.com/fiveaside.

You can follow all of the action on the �� Radio 5 live website www.bbc.co.uk/fiveaside and on the �� Red Button. Follow all of the day's action on Twitter at #5liveAside.

Building something special in the north of England

2015-11-02T12:00:00+00:00

The �� has been busy building something quite special in the north of England. The DIY SOS: ��s for Veterans project - the programme's biggest project in its 16 year history, watched by 10.9 million of you across both episodes - saw an entire street in Manchester transformed and homes for ex-service personnel and their families created out of empty houses, aided by our partners Manchester City Council, charity Walking with the Wounded and Haig Housing. Even Prince William and Prince Harry helped out, rebuilding a community in which the military veterans are now enjoying their new lives in their new homes.

It’s an amazing example of what the �� can do. But it’s not the only thing we’ve been building in the north lately. It’s now more than four years since the ��’s move to MediaCityUK. In that time, our north HQ, created in a corner of Salford close to the Ship Canal, has become an internationally significant media hub and a northern powerhouse.

�� North is the ��'s second biggest creative hub, the biggest news centre outside of London, home to five of the ��'s flagship digital products and a base for some of the biggest �� brands - including �� Sport, Children's, Radio 5 live and the �� Philharmonic Orchestra.

In total there are 24 �� departments represented at MediaCityUK including drama, comedy and entertainment. Match of the Day, �� Breakfast, Dragon’s Den, Songs of Praise, You & Yours, Blue Peter, Football Focus and Newsround are just some of the famous programmes made in Salford.

An independent report from KPMG, commissioned by the �� Trust, has looked at the impact of the ��’s move north. KPMG found the ��’s move to Salford: “has had a positive contribution… in terms of employment, increased skill levels and spill-over effects.”

The report found there are approximately 6,500 people employed at MediaCityUK, with 40 percent being �� employees. That means the majority don’t work for us and are instead employed by companies that have moved to the Salford site since the �� set up.

Our impact on the city is significant. The creative industries now account for five percent of total employment in Salford, up from two percent in 2010. KPMG also forecast an extra 1,700 jobs will be created in the creative industries in Salford by 2034.

The report says: “The ��’s move to Salford can be seen as what Paul Krugman describes as a 'small historical accident' which has started a path of attracting investment in creative activities.”

It compared the effects of our move to those seen in other industry hubs. “These ‘agglomeration’ and ‘network’ effects are observed in many sectors: from scientific research in Cambridge, to Formula 1 teams in the M4 corridor, to financiers in the City of London. There are signs that the ��’s relocation to Salford has triggered the beginnings of a similar network in the North West.”

As endorsements go, that’s pretty good.

The �� faces extra scrutiny at the moment as our future size, shape and scope is debated. Our recent experience in the north proves what a strong �� can build, from a media hub to homes built for heroes.

Helen Boaden, Director of �� Radio and �� England

A Blue Peter Badge opens doors

2015-09-14T14:53:00+00:00

Hello. My name is Harriet and I’m nine years old. I like ballet, swimming and, like a lot of people, my favourite TV programme is Blue Peter. I have been watching it for three years and look forward to watching it every Thursday.

My favourite moment ever on Blue Peter has to have been when Lindsey announced her challenge to perform a ballet – La Fille mal gardée – at the Royal Opera House in London. She was the flute boy.

There are many reasons why I love Blue Peter: the challenges are difficult; the presenters are funny and entertaining; and the things they make are things people would want to make, not things that people would get bored of easily.

A couple of months ago, my best friend and I sent in a drawing of the presenters and a letter in hope that we might get a Blue Peter badge. A couple of weeks later an envelope came in the post with my name on it. I was over the moon when I realized that it was from Blue Peter and I HAD WON A BLUE PETER BADGE! As well as the badge I received a letter that said that they had our drawing and had read our letter.

When my family and I went to visit my grandma and grandad in the school holidays, they took me to MediaCityUK as a surprise on the last day. I was soooooooooooooooo excited when mummy told me that we were going on the C�� tour! As I had a Blue Peter badge I could get in for free.

As soon as we got there, we parked up and followed the signs to the Blue Peter garden. It was amazing! I saw the statue of Petra, Blue Peter’s very first dog, and the hand prints of Radzi, Barney, Lindsey, Iggy and Shelly.

We were met by our tour guides at the studios. First, we went to the C�� office. There, we sat behind the desk and some people had a go at reading from an autocue. The adults and the children also did a quiz. Then we went to a radio studio and learnt some interesting facts about how they make the sound effects. After that, we went into a room with spiked foam blocks covering the walls and the ceiling, they were to 'deaden' the sound.

That part of the tour was extremely exiting, but my favourite bit of the tour by far was when we went into the Blue Peter studio. I learnt a lot and had tons of fun! I also got to walk through the entrance doors for guests while they called my name, stand behind the table where they make/cook, and I got my photo taken by the stage.

After we left the Blue Peter studio we went to the Newsround practice room. We sat on the judge panel for A Question of Sport, had a go at presenting the weather forecast, admired some Strictly Come Dancing dresses, and saw some pretty gory Horrible History props! Sadly that was the last bit of the tour.

It was a day I will never forget.

Harriet is a Blue Peter fan, aged nine.

Blue Peter is broadcast at 5pm every Thursday, and repeated at 9am every Sunday, find out more about the show on the Blue Peter website.
Read also A filming day in the life of Blue Peter
Blue Peter editor Ewan Vinnicombe wrote Blue Peter Project Petra: Making history
Read Jon Jacob's post Restored Blue Peter mural to form part of park entrance to Television Centre

A filming day in the life of Blue Peter

2015-08-26T15:00:00+00:00

Thursdays are sacrosanct in the Blue Peter diary, they’re the day that the live programme is filmed and broadcast each and every week. The About the �� team were invited by Editor Ewan Vinnicombe to Media City UK in Salford, to take a look around where the show is based, and to document a day in the life of the longest running children's magazine show in the world:

Upon arrival we clock this placard of the unmistakeable iconic Blue Peter logo. Along with bunting and barriers, it helps mark out the performance area in the piazza for the afternoon’s live outdoor show. The logo has stayed the same for the 57 years the show has been on air and is a constant in the lives of many a generation.

Onlookers are left in no doubt what is being filmed here today as a huge screen animates the show's title in front of the Blue Peter Garden. The weather looks a little undecided, but �� Breakfast weather presenter Carol Kirkwood mentioned the show was outside today and thankfully forecast sunshine for the afternoon.

For the time being however, it's a bit chilly. Having been greeted by our host Ewan, we are then introduced to the show's presenters who are completely charming, explaining that they'll be in their 'proper clothes' after these rehearsals. For now though, it's definitely coats on weather.

Rehearsals with the production crew start at 2pm, but in the meantime a crowd of children start to take an interest in what's going on.

By the time the young audience is on set to film pre-recorded cutaways for the musical performance, the sun is out and everyone’s warmed up and ready to dance, with a little bit of helpful choreography from presenter Lindsey and Floor Manager Carmella and Researcher Portia..

Onlookers are invited to join the audience members, as long as they will still be there when the show goes out live, and their parents are on-site to see their starring role.

Tucked away behind the filming area there is an homage to the Italian sunken garden that stood in Television Centre from 1974-2012. Established by Percy Thrower who was the Blue Peter gardener from 1974-1987, our memory of that garden was of somewhere quite secret, with high walls. The Blue Peter garden in Salford has no such walls and is open to the public, meaning we could get a look at something we remembered, but never thought we'd see...

These hand and foot prints, made by presenters Peter Purves, John Noakes, Simon Groom and a shoeless Lesley Judd in 1978 when the garden was opened, were carefully transferred to the new garden in 2012. The paw prints are from the Blue Peter pets at the time, Shep, Goldie, Jack, Jill and Freda the tortoise. Blue Peter has featured had many pets on the show since 1962.

The current presenters also put their prints in the garden. Barney, Lindsey and Radzi are the 35th, 36th and 37th presenters of Blue Peter respectively. They have a way to go to catch up with the longest serving presenters Konnie Huq (female) and John Noakes (male).

Petra was the first television pet, and this statue was outside TVC until being moved to the Blue Peter garden in 1984, and then on to Salford. Her moniker was recently given to Project Petra, a competition in collaboration with MI5, to search for three ‘C�� Intelligence Officers’.

The current animals on the show, are Shelley the tortoise and Iggy (pictured) who is continuing a tradition of Blue Peter’s association of working with Guide Dogs UK, a tradition that began with Honey in 1964, whose training was paid for by viewers sending in foil wrappers and milk bottle tops. Iggy is going through her guide dog training at the moment and will graduate in early 2016.

Today, however, is a day off from study and Iggy clearly loves the attention as Lindsey and C�� presenter Karim (right) make lots of fuss of her.

While nosing around the Blue Peter garden (and resisting the urge to nab some veg from the blooming Blue Peter allotment) we bumped into set designer Emma busy tending to it all.

On this day, the set she designed was empty (because they were filming outside) but we had a look around anyway. It’s a 360 degree design, something Ewan was keen to experiment with.

On entering the studio - aware we were experiencing something few had the chance to do - we immediately wanted to try our hand at standing in front of the desk and presenting. What also struck us was how much smaller and, well, greyer it appeared than on TV, a testament to the magic of cameras and lights, of which there are many.

The ceiling is an extensive lighting rig that every week is tested by the variety of items featured on the show. Lee the lighting director creates a bespoke lighting arrangement for every programme. Over 100 lights including many energy saving LEDs help to make the Blue Peter set shine. The show is environmentally conscientious and uses the albert+ sustainable production rating system.

We were also shown round the ‘Make Room’, where the ‘here’s one I made earlier’ magic happens – sadly there was no sign of the sticky back plastic box.

Then, in a room, usually only accessible by staff, we were shown some of the props from the show, including Blue Peter helmets from the many risky challenges presenters have done over the years, a huge box of Blue Peter badges (although this may have been empty) and Helen Skelton’s vessel with which she kayaked the entire length of the River Amazon for Sport Relief (that’s it in the red wrapping).

This store room is also home to a bit of Blue Peter treasure: Ewan guided us over bags of costumes and other props, and then pointed to something tucked away on a shelf -'do you know what that is?' We did, but were almost too scared to say, in case our hopes were dashed and it wasn't true.

It was the original Blue Peter time capsule that was buried in 1971, dug up in 2000, along with another capsule buried in 1984. Also in 2000 Katy Hill, Konnie Huq, Simon Thomas and Matt Baker buried another capsule to be dug up in 29 years (2029), the same amount of time as the original was underground for.

Nosing around complete we got back to the show: it’s broadcast live at 5pm and just one hour before that at 4pm, the cast and crew have a ‘dress rehearsal’ run through the episode. Here is a view of the gallery as it begins.

We got an insight into what the presenters hear in their earpieces, how intricate the timing of a live show with VT sections is and just how rhythmical filming a live music performance is as camera cues are called out in time to the song.

Following the dress rehearsal any last minute editorial changes are discussed amongst the team in a whirlwind notes session, including editor (and our host for the day) Ewan Vinnicombe (centre), digital producer Emma (first left), live producer Jamie (second left), series producer Zoe (next to Ewan) director Martin (next to Zoe). We're struck how calm and composed everyone is, even though we are just minutes away from live transmission.

After these last minute tweaks the show goes live at 5pm.

Here, in their 'proper clothes', Barney, Lindsey and Radzi get ready to introduce a section of the show about Seated Volleyball.

Presenters join the GB Seated Volleyball Team to learn how to play the sport.

Musical guest Fuse ODG tweets followers that he is performing live in 10 minutes.

This external content is available at its source: Fuse ODG's Blue Peter Tweet

“Do we get to keep the badges?” Fuse ODG’s backing vocalists proudly display their Blue Peter badges and check on some technical details before they perform.

Then, all too soon it’s 5.30pm, and the end of show is already upon us. The boom camera swoops up as presenters and audience wave to the sky, and like the maritime flag that Blue Peter is named after, we realise 'this vessel is ready to leave'.

The show is over, for another week, the equipment is packed down and put away, Emma has to undress the trees.

Everything is wheeled back inside and the Blue Peter placard makes its way back to the studio. It’s all over … until next week.

Blue Peter is broadcast at 5.30pm every Thursday, and repeated at 9am every Sunday, find out more about the show on the Blue Peter website.

Read also Ewan's blog Blue Peter Project Petra: Making history
And Restored Blue Peter mural to form part of park entrance to Television Centre

Here's One We Made Earlier

2014-07-18T10:20:50+00:00

On Saturday 19 July, a major new exhibition opens at The Lowry in Salford; Here’s One We Made Earlier is the biggest ever celebration of the heritage and continuing importance of �� Children’s programmes.

We all remember the programmes and characters that shaped our childhoods, many of those made by the ��. Blue Peter to Muffin the Mule, Humpty and Big Ted to CBeebies Bedtime Stories. This exhibition will pull the nostalgic heartstrings of many visitors, and will be just as relevant to the children who visit as it will to their parents and grandparents.

Trailer for C�� which looks back at some favourite children's programmes of yesteryear

One of my distant forebears as Head of �� children’s programmes in the late 1940s, Mary Adams, expressed the ambition that children's television would one day offer:

"plays, how-to-series, storytelling, a collectors' corner, pets, travel, outside broadcasts from museums and factories, informational films, quizzes and encyclopaedia programmes".

The aim was to make children's television a 'service in miniature', replicating all of adult television's genres and formats for younger audiences.

And that’s what we still aim to do –if you visit the exhibition you’ll see content from almost a century, because the �� has always believed that content to cater for the emotional and developmental needs of children, that satisfies the positive curiosity children have that adults often don’t, helping them understand the world and their place in it, speaking to them in language and with references they understand, and showing that we believe childhood to be different from adulthood is as important today as it was then.

And therein lies the public service it performs - the very best culturally specific content particularly drama and factual programming, can positively shape childhoods, encourage respect for others, open children’s eyes to the world, and contribute to positive, active, engaged adulthood.

Grange Hill uniforms are unpacked - ready for inspection

We’re delighted that after 90 years we’re still the foremost producer of public service children’s content in the world. There are 34 dedicated children’s TV channels in the UK but C�� and CBeebies are the most popular and loved of all.

1922 was a very big year for �� Children’s – in December of that year, the first ever bespoke programming for children was broadcast from the ��’s Midlands transmitter. 2014 is set to be an even bigger year. In May we saw the first families pour through the gates of Alton Towers to visit the new CBeebies Land, and more than 35,000 visitors met with their favourite C�� stars and shows at the free C�� Live in NewcastleGateshead - and now this superb exhibition is launching.

The Furchester Hotel, the brand new children’s series from CBeebies and Sesame Workshop which saw Cookie Monster and Elmo here in Salford, launches on CBeebies in the Autumn. And there’s an exclusive clip in the animation showreel in the exhibition.

The CBeebies Playtime app has been downloaded nearly 3 million times and later this year it’s big brother the C�� app will be available and also a brand new “CBeebies Storytime” app. You can have a go at some of our apps and see what’s coming next in the Future Zone at the Lowry show.

CBeebies and C�� are also playing their part in helping children understand the Great War centenary; on CBeebies Radio – Simon Weston will read Poppy’s Day. There’s a compelling C�� drama Harriet’s Army, about a girl in 1914 who wants to join the war effort, and a 45 minute Horrible Histories Frightful First World War.

It’s three years since the Children’s department moved to our new home in Salford, and MediaCity is already a global centre of excellence for children’s media. This exhibition is helping cement that status.

Unwrapping Teletubby Laa Laa, ready for her stint at the exhibition

The exhibition at The Lowry runs until October and is free. I’m very proud to see our 92 year heritage celebrated here, and to know that that the content we're producing now will shape the childhood memories of today’s children. If we needed a reminder, this wonderful exhibition reminds us of the power of children’s television to shape children’s lives in a way that stays with them forever.

Joe Godwin is Director, �� Childrens.

The 'Here's One We Made Earlier' exhibition runs from 19 July to 12 October 2014. For details visit The Lowry's website.
Hear Kay Benbow talking to About the ��'s Hannah Khalil about her role as Controller of CBeebies.

Reflecting on the first �� 6 Music Festival

2014-03-13T14:37:19+00:00

On Friday 28 February, at the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, �� 6 Music launched it's first festival. The station's editor, James Stirling, looks back over the two day event, which included a live performance of Everyday Robots by Damon Albarn, featured below.

Now that the dust has settled and we’ve had a chance to recover, I’m really pleased to share some thoughts on the first 6 Music Festival. An explanation as to how it came to be seems like a good place to start. 6 Music has been going for 12 years now and it seemed like the right time to host a two-day event showcasing everything we do on a daily basis at the station. Our aim was simply to celebrate the unique world of 6 Music with a live audience, but equally for those either at home or on the move. Thankfully, the �� Radio iPlayer app makes that goal easy these days.

Of course, music is key to 6 Music, but we’re so much more than that too. So, along with three stages for live artists in the main Festival, we programmed a free Festival Fringe which showcased spoken word, a photography exhibition, a cinema screen, a collection of Independent Record Stores from around the UK as well as some amazing live performances.

Location too was really important when we were developing plans for the Festival. Musically, Manchester is such an important UK city. It has internationally recognised, genre-defining artists whose work spans the six decades of music you'll hear when listening to the network. We work closely with our colleagues at �� North and over 30% of 6 Music shows are broadcast from Media City UK in Salford. Manchester was therefore a natural choice. We found a fantastic space - the Victoria Warehouse in Trafford - which worked as a venue, big enough to hold the audience, artists and stages. Across the Festival and Fringe, there were five stages in total. All looked wonderful, particularly the trees on our largest stage - certainly worth a look.

As Editor my role was to plan and oversee the production, joining together the various teams we had on site and at our broadcast base. A successful event takes a lot of co-ordination from all involved, especially given that the Festival content had a huge presence on the 6 Music website and Red Button as well as on the radio. Apart from the practical challenges of hosting 40 artists over five stages, we had 22 hours of live broadcasting from site. It can be difficult to work outside the comfort of a purpose-built studio - but the �� has the best technicians and engineers in the world. That made the job a lot easier.

We knew there was an appetite for the Festival and this was reflected in the speed that the tickets were snapped up. And it helped contribute to a very special atmosphere on site over the two days with both the main Festival and the Fringe going down very well with those who came along. It was great to spot friends of the station, actor Cillian Murphy who recorded a show for us last year and voice of the Festival radio trail Maxine Peake. But a big challenge, and arguably the most important one, was to bring the Festival alive for those at home. The regular 6 Music programme schedule was transformed for two days, with the majority of our presenters teaming up tag-team style. Both the Festival and the Fringe were brought to life for the audience at home as the team explored the venues. Our presenters were key to this and were excellent at bringing the Festival to life for listeners wherever they were and I think that was reflected in the many messages we received from our audience at home saying how much they were enjoying the coverage. Plus what we did online as well was crucial. We’re really proud of the 6 Music Festival website – which we designed to look equally amazing whatever device you're using, from smartphone to tablet or computer. It was vital in helping us reach audiences who couldn’t be at the Victoria Warehouse to enjoy the Festival in person, offering audio on-demand, live video, galleries and the like. All the things you’ve come to expect from us, but all contained in one easy-to-access location – a window on a really special event for the station.

There were many highlights of course, but for the record, my personal favourites were: John Cooper Clarke’s two sets at the Fringe (hilarious), Franz Ferdinand, The National, Wild Beasts, Drenge and Damon Albarn on the main stages, the photography exhibition which documented a year in the life of 6 Music by Jason Joyce, the record stores, who came and traded for two days and all of the 6 Music presenters who performed DJ sets at the silent disco or on the main stage. The sight of a few hundred people wearing glowing wireless headphones, bobbing up and down to Don Letts spinning tunes is one I’ll remember for a long time, as will the sight of the Radiophonic Workshop performing the Doctor Who theme tune, which we played on Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone show. It was also incredibly exciting to see thousands of our listeners in one place, which we hadn’t witnessed before.

Initial indications of the numbers who heard or watched it are very positive. So, from my point of view the Festival was a roaring success.

We’ve collated some amazing photo galleries on the website where you can also enjoy many of the highlights from the Fringe and watch all 24 main stage performances until Thursday 1 April.

And as for plans for another festival … you'll just have to watch this space.

James Stirling is Editor, �� 6 Music.

Listen to tracks from artists featured in the festival on the �� Playlister.
Read Jen Macro's blog about performing live on Marc Riley's 6 Music show.
See more blogs about 6 Music.
Follow @��6Music on twitter

Watching Salford 'Turn Up The Talent'

2013-04-05T12:15:42+00:00

About The �� Editor Jon Jacob returns to Salford after his initial visit in October, to give us his personal account of the 'Turn Up The Talent' audio drama showcase preparations.

On the fifth floor of Quay House at �� North in Media City UK, actors, aspiring directors from across the �� and new writers from the North gather to read through and rehearse short scripts specially written for a drama showcase, hosted at �� North under the banner of ‘Turn Up The Talent’. I get to go along to observe it all and then write about it. Perfect.

It’s been a few months since I was last at Media City UK. Things feel a little different this time. The sun is shining. There’s a mild breeze. The place feels a little less “new” to me.

I feel less like a cack-handed visitor from London: The lifts are no longer a baffling ordeal; I’ve become accustomed to the brightly coloured office interiors; and I’ve got a favourite thing on the canteen menu. �� North feels like a home from home.

That combination of reassuring familiarity and on-going development echoes the nurturing foundations of Turn up the Talent. Sharon Sephton – Audio Drama Development Producer, Audio Drama North – helps set the scene (and undoubtedly the atmosphere) when we meet the day before rehearsals.

She explains about her passion for audio drama and how she came to work in Audio Drama development. A passion for community drama, first suppressed by the pressures of bringing up a young family, later drove her to reignite her interest in the genre, and study drama to degree level. A job in audio drama at the �� followed. The fact that she can explain her path to and through the �� in a few delicious sentences is enough to hook me into finding out more about the work she’s doing.

Sharon’s enthusiasm for audio drama is infectious. She speaks openly about the work that Turn Up The Talent does for the local (and hyper-local) creative community to the extent that I wish I’d lived in the area and had a chance to participate myself. This particular project provides an opportunity for local writers to try their hand at writing 10 minute dramas. Scripts were vetted for inclusion in the afternoon-long workshop and local jobbing actors looking for further experience and networking opportunities invited along.

Next, a mix of directors are assigned to the various different scripts: some already experienced; others aspiring-types currently working in unrelated �� ‘day jobs’ are given the chance to develop their directing skills. The scripts are rehearsed during the afternoon, then ‘performed’ to a local audience with the resulting showcase by Salford University media students.

Objectivity quickly goes out of the window when Sharon explains all of this to me. I begin to go a little dewy-eyed. Local actors get to indirectly demonstrate their craft to ‘the ��’, so too equally enthusiastic and able local writers. Those in other jobs across the �� get a chance to try their hand and develop their production skills. Everyone gets to meet one another. Everyone gets something palpable out of the process. A world of possibilities might follow. It’s what hopelessly romantic writers go weak at the knees for.

Keith Carter, director Sally Rhodes, Hamish Sturgeon (Jim) and Philipa Dunn (Rosie)

The rehearsals don’t disappoint either. I quickly attach myself to one group in the corner of the fifth floor space at the front of Quay House. ‘A Mutual Agreement’ written by Keith Carter spotlights a couple in the final throes of their tumultuous relationship: he’s packing his bags to move out and racking up a hefty bill keeping the taxi waiting outside, while she’s eager to commit the final act on their relationship – agreeing which one of them gets which friends.

I maintain a discreet distance on proceedings. They’re rehearsing, I tell myself. They don’t need the likes of me hanging around. It’s already quite stressful (probably). I’ll just smile, nod and keep my note-taking to a minimum. There are moments where I feel like a driving instructor.

It may only be a ten minute drama, but the script remains in hand.

This at first seems like a bizarre strategy to adopt given my invitation until I begin to realise that my unease comes more from witnessing two people (albeit actors) having an argument. One moment I’m shaking hands with both of them and saying “just ignore me – pretend I’m not here” and the next I’m watching two characters arguing about his conviction about James Bond really being gay and her convinced that “if it wasn’t for that game we played at your Dad’s we wouldn’t be doing this now”. Their staccato delivery of a highly rhythmic dialogue has me enthralled and slightly embarrassed all at the same time.

Such is the quality of the performance and the plausibility of the dialogue that I’m completely sucked into what is going on. This feels like a very special experience. I can’t remember ever being this close to actors doing what actors do. Suddenly that which I take for granted when I listen to Radio 4 for example – listening to a drama – has light thrown on it. What I’m witnessing now is a snapshot of part of what is involved. So much so in fact, that at the end of the script I want the drama to carry on. Just for me.

At the end of five minute read-through both actors look at each other, then the director and writer. “Was that OK? What did you think?” Immediately, it’s obvious that no one person takes ultimate control over the end product. Each discussion about the previous read-through and what might be done next time around is a delicate compromise between the person who wrote the story and those who bring the characters to life. Writer, actors and director bring ideas to ‘the table’ but have to remain flexible so they can respond to what each other is saying. Another read-through is done, this time with a different emphasis on a particular part of the script. Then another discussion, then another read-through. It is a remarkably intimate thing to witness and even though I’m not part of the production, I still – by proximity alone – feel a part of something incredibly special. There is a palpable sense of excitement throughout the rehearsals – in part because I’m watching someone who’s day job is normally attending to the diary needs of a member of senior management, successfully try her hand at an entirely different skill: directing.

Rehearsing 'A Mutual Agreement' in Quay House, Media City.

The script goes through more read-throughs and more tweaks, before the cast get the chance to do a sound check on the stage in the presentation area on the fifth floor. It’s then I have to leave to make my way back to London. “You’re not staying to see the performance?” asks the director surprised I’m running away so soon. “The truth is,” I explain, “I feel as though I’ve had my own special performance already.”

My loyalty to the one script I’ve observed in rehearsals all afternoon makes considering any of the other groups efforts something bordering on betrayal. The journey back to London instead focusses on dreaming about dipping my toe in the water and writing a 10 minute script for myself, buoyed up by the excitement I’ve seen on the faces of those who’ve already dived in. Even now – recalling the process a few weeks on – the powerful effects of such an intensive afternoon linger: a safe space for creatives to try out new skills which might just develop into something bigger in the future. A very special thing.

Turn Up The Talent showcased acting and writing talent in the North, run by Audio Drama North in partnership with �� Writersroom North.

The event was compered by writer and comedian Toby Hadoke and featured six 10 minute plays including:

Order no 58762 by Clair Parker, directed by Michelle Matherson with Brennan Reece and Kimberly Hart-Simpson

Dating for Godot was written by Jim Spiers and was directed by Usman Mullan and saw Smug Roberts and Ed Easton playing the roles of Alan and Colin.

Small Plans by Morgan Sproxton, was directed by Amber Molyneux and featured Sian Weedon, Anna Denise Whelan, Ed Easton and Cesare Taurasi

A Mutual Agreement by Keith Carter was directed by Sally Rhodes and starred Philippa Dunn, Hamish Sturgeon with Stefan Gumbs playing the role of the taxi driver

Single Yellows was written by Ian Winterton, directed by Sophie Williams and featured Cesare Taurasi and Andrew Lindsey

Rusholme Roulette was written by David Viney, directed by Helen Elizabeth Varley and starred Shaun McGowan, Laura Naylor and Stefan Gumbs

�� Radio Leeds' Crime and Justice Week

2012-07-06T11:59:05+00:00

Rozina Breen is the Managing Editor of �� Radio Leeds. In this post, she writes about the station's Crime & Justice Week which begins this Monday.

The week of programmes includes interviews, documentaries and debates which ask the question "Is the criminal justice system in the UK working?"

As I write this, I am listening for the first time to a documentary about Death Row, made by one of �� Radio Leeds' presenters, Liz Green. It's a beautiful piece of work. Death and Beauty: that must sound odd. But it's a powerful piece of storytelling. It is a story that saw her, with two others, travel to Death Row to take a look at the US justice system in Florida.

It's not just any journey, told through dispassionate eyes. It's a journey felt, as well as a journey told. A journey for one West Yorkshire MP who believes the death penalty should be resurrected in this country and for his travel companion, a man called Shane who, with a few of his friends, set up a charity to tackle gun crime after his mother (also a peace campaigner) was killed.

Crime and justice is an issue that touches most of us at one time or another. Whether it's our own experience, or the stories and images we read or see in the media. I wanted to find the real stories behind the headlines and to challenge perceptions. That may be through hearing a prisoner read a book to his child via a recording that's processed into a CD and sent to his family, or from the man who's been inside dozens and dozens of times because life on the inside is more comforting than life on the outside. �� Radio Leeds talks to the mother of a convicted killer on her love for her son, and to the criminals who let us into a day in their lives, into their world behind bars.

In �� Radio Leeds' Crime and Justice Week the women who write to prisoners tell us what motivates them, and we feature the men who make radio programmes for their fellow inmates. We also interview criminal justice lawyer Michael Mansfield QC. I hope the audience will be interested in and stimulated by the stories we've discovered.

To end the week we stage a debate with a panel made up of the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Sir Norman Bettison, Frances Crook CEO of the Howard League for Penal Reform and Philip Davies MP. Family members of murder victims, representatives from NACRO and West Yorkshire Probation Trust will also be there.

I hope our listeners find these programmes as rewarding and inspiring to listen to, as the team have found making them. We offer a unique, human appraisal of other - different - approaches to justice. These are stunning and unique stories from West Yorkshire and the world, and I am very proud of them, and of our team who have made them."

�� Radio Leeds' Crime and Justice Week broadcasts from 9-15 July 2012. Programme times are available via the �� Radio Leeds website. Programmes will also be available for catch-up on iPlayer for seven days after broadcast.

Read more about the week of programmes on the �� Media Centre website.

Follow �� Radio Leeds and presenter and journalist Liz Green on Twitter.

Uniting communities and the nation throughout the summer

2012-06-25T15:58:24+00:00

At the weekend Manchester, Salford and Trafford became part of Olympic history when they hosted the Olympic Flame on its way to its final destination in East London.

In recent weeks it has travelled through the North East - Alnwick, Newcastle, Gateshead, Durham, Middlesbrough, Hull, York and Carlisle - before returning to the North West through Dumfries, Bowness-on-Windermere, Kendal, Blackpool and Lytham St Anne's and coming to a temporary rest in Manchester's Albert Square on Saturday.

Early on Sunday morning it arrived in Salford. Olympic hopeful Shanaze Reade, professional BMX racer and track cyclist was one of the people who had the honour of seeing the Torch safely from Salford to Trafford in front of more than 2,000 local people.

In every town and city that the Torch has passed through, the event has brought communities together to celebrate a unique moment of history with a sense of both local and national pride.

Salford was no different. Alongside members of the British Olympic Team like Shanaze, local people have also had the opportunity to carry the torch and - rain or shine - friends, family and the public in general came out to cheer them on.

Shanaze was also joined by Manchester-born teenager Kirsty Howard, whose personal story and incredible fundraising efforts have had a big impact on many people's lives, ever since her appearance at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games. And it was great to have Sir Bobby Charlton and Kirsty Howard live on �� Breakfast on the day as well.

It is moments like this that make each and every moment of the Torch relay inspirational and memorable. And across this region and the entire UK, �� local news has been on the ground bringing the Relay into peoples' homes.

Encouraging and celebrating this sense of community is at the heart of what we are doing from our home at MediaCityUK, across the entire North of England.

This weekend for example, �� Outreach held a series of events here at MediaCityUK including a two-day showcase celebrating the end of the Salford Gardens Festival. Inspired by the fact that Frances Hodgeson Burnett, author of the classic children's novel The Secret Garden lived in Salford as a child, the Festival is a partnership between a number of organizations including the �� as well as local community groups and Salford City Council.

The Outreach team also worked with local primary schools to create four short films around the theme of "secret places". These were screened to pupils and local residents here on the site alongside "Shelagh Delaney's Salford" by director Ken Russell which featured the famous Broughton-born playwright talking about her hometown.

And over the summer we will continue to go out into communities here in Greater Manchester and across the region. Here on the piazza at MediaCityUK for example, we are finalising plans for free events around Wimbledon, London 2012 and �� Children's that I hope will bring thousands of people to the site.

Later this autumn �� Radio 5 live will be out on the road with OctoberFest and �� Philharmonic Presents will return with a series of concerts. Keep an eye on the �� North website for details on all these events coming soon.

While the Olympic Torch may have left our backyard en route for Leeds and Grimsby next week, �� North has an important role to play in delivering the Corporation's Olympic coverage. The state-of-the-art digital technology housed in our new buildings will ensure that the audience doesn't miss one moment of the Olympics that the �� will cover on 26 television channels, 3 radio stations or online.The fact that our Salford-based �� Sport online site has just amassed its biggest ever weekly reach figure - 15.4m UK browsers - speaks volumes for licence fee payers' growing enjoyment of this massive 2012 summer of sport.

In fact if you've ever wondered whether sport still has the power to unite the nation, the twenty-three million people who watched on Sunday evening for the European Championships is even more proof. As England once again succumbed to penalties, it tells you everything you need to know about why the �� needs to stay in major sporting events.

So with an eye on the rest of this summer, the breadth of coverage on offer will be truly Olympian in its own right. Like the Torch Relay itself it will hopefully unite communities and the nation together this summer and �� North will enjoy being at the heart of it.

�� Breakfast is live from Salford

2012-04-10T09:19:04+00:00

The gallery during rehearsals ahead of the first �� Breakfast broadcast from Salford.

Every morning for more than a decade, �� Breakfast has helped viewers start the day, with its trademark mix of news, issues and guests. Today, it's done just that - but this time from its new studio at MediaCityUK in Salford.

We announced the move two years ago, as part of the ��'s commitment to developing a strong creative hub in Salford. In recent months, the team has been working hard to bring Breakfast alive in its new home, on time as planned. It's a big day for the team, but in some ways we hope that viewers may not notice that much. Breakfast is still the same programme that viewers know and love as it was last week - the news of the day (the fate of Abu Hamza, the ceasefire that isn't in Syria), issues that matter to viewers (pay day loans, neighbourliness). All that and school champion cup-stacking and some horse whispering too!

Obviously, there's the brand new studio in a new location. We're pleased with the studio that we will share with the news team responsible for putting out the regional bulletins, North West Tonight. It's a flexible modern space, making the most of the latest technology, and with a bright warm look. Breakfast is the first daily �� News programme to be broadcast from an HD studio.

There's still a big red sofa and the same �� Breakfast logos, titles and music. In fact very much business as usual, broadcasting more than three hours of live news, sport, weather and entertainment every day, the most successful morning show on television. As always, we tried to strike a balance between the big issues of the day and inspiring stories from around the UK.

Bill Turnbull and Susanna Reid on set in the new �� Breakfast studio MediaCityUK in Salford.

The presenting team, too, has a familiar look to it. Bill Turnbull and Susanna Reid presented today - later in the week it will be the turn of Charlie Stayt and Louise Minchin. This is our core family of presenters, all now firmly established on the show, along with business presenter Stephanie McGovern, sports presenters Sally Nugent and Mike Bushell, and Carol Kirkwood, Breakfast's weather presenter.

Breakfast is an important part of �� News, primarily a news programme - but with a big helping of human interest, entertainment and culture. We get more than our fair share of interesting guests with great stories to tell and some of those guests are household names. This won't change. This morning we were joined by Connie Fisher, star of the Sound of Music and now the lead in Wonderful Town, and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.

The �� has a rich heritage of journalism in the north of England across local, regional and national outlets. �� North is home to Breakfast, regional news and current affairs; network and regional radio programmes, including Radio 5 live and Radio Manchester; plus �� Children's and �� Sport. Some guests will be down the line - as happened until now with out of London guests - but we know that the red sofa will continue to be a magnet for a great mix of guests.

Breakfast has always been very successful at reflecting all our audiences, no matter where they live, and being in the heart of the UK means we can continue to reflect all points of view. After all, we're a network show and we won't be making a Northern Breakfast any more than we made a London one, although we'll also make the most of our new home. The move comes during a hugely successful period as it continues to reach more than 12 million viewers per week. There are many people who helped make the move successful. But our real appreciation is for our loyal viewers. Breakfast from Salford will continue to serve them.

Mary Hockaday is Head of Newsroom, ��

More about the �� Breakfast team's move to MediaCityUK in Salford can be found on the Media Centre website.

Matters of faith and community

2012-04-10T08:27:17+00:00

Preston Bus Station was the unlikely venue for the ��'s latest and most innovative live event - The Preston Passion. This sixty-minute live programme on �� One fused mass-audience participation, compelling drama and music-making to celebrate both Good Friday and the city itself.

Hosted by Fern Britton, featuring actors like Tom Ellis and Samantha Bond in three mini dramas, Jamelia -who agreed to step in at the last moment - and hundreds of locals from across the city who rehearsed for weeks, this reinterpretation of the medieval Passion Play was a searing success. Not only did hundreds of fellow Prestonians turn up to show their support but, true to the times we live in, many watching at home expressed their pride as well as their surprise as they recognised friends and family on national television via Twitter.

For everyone involved as well as those watching across the UK, it showed what the �� and an entire city can achieve by working together. The Preston Passion was a truly inspiring moment of community spirit as well as a strong and undeniable expression of faith. And it happened because a powerful new �� North base, with the �� Religion and Ethics department, Drama Productions and local programmes combined to extraordinary effectiveness.

Its success was a good omen.

Today everyone here at MediaCityUK can be proud that the final milestone in the first phase of the ��'s move to Salford has been reached.

At 6.00am today Bill Turnbull and Susanna Reid presented the first ever �� Breakfast show from Salford Quays. And later this week their colleagues, Louise Minchin and Charlie Stayt have their first turn on the sofa in the new studio. This talented quartet is joined by Stephanie McGovern for business and Sally Nugent and Mike Bushell for sport. And Carol Kirkwood will continue to present Breakfast's weather reports from London and locations across the UK.

�� Breakfast is a significant part of people's lives across the UK. Providing three hours of uninterrupted live news, sport and entertainment at the start of every day, it now reaches over 12 million viewers per week. We take its continued success very seriously.

And it also marks a small piece of broadcasting history. �� Breakfast joins �� Children's Newsround - now in its fortieth year - as one of only two network television news programmes made outside London.

The �� Breakfast team is part a thriving community of journalists here on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal. Regional and network news and current affairs have been produced in the North for decades but never in such numbers. From front-line coverage of last summer's riots to this year's Budget coverage and the recent Bradford by-election shock they help make the local national; the national global and the global local.

With over 400 journalists based here - including Radio 5 live and �� Sports news - �� North is now home to the biggest concentration of journalists outside the capital. That should effect the way the �� looks, sounds and is perceived. Over time, I am confident we will see and hear more stories that reflect new communities here and capture a real sense of Northern warmth, humour and grit. That isn't something we need to force - it will happen naturally, carefully and organically.

So as we approach the first anniversary of �� North this May it really does feel that we are closing the opening chapter of our Northern story.

A great deal of hard work and faith in what we are trying to do by everyone here as well as across the �� has brought us to where we are now. No one should underestimate what has been achieved despite the challenges we have encountered.

Not only have we successfully completed a 36-week migration of staff from both the South and North but we have recruited and welcomed over 700 new people fresh and full of new ideas into the ��. We have also started to see increased investment of the Licence Fee with creative companies across the region and begun to develop a generation of new talent in our own backyard that can have long-term benefits for the �� and other creative industries. All this in just less than one year at our new home.

There has been no bigger single shift in the history of British broadcasting. With the first phase complete and �� North fully operational, now is the time to focus on the future and start to write the next chapter of our story.

Peter Salmon is Director, �� North

Whose job is it anyway?

2012-01-27T14:09:41+00:00

Performers from the �� Philharmonic Presents...Salford Tales, based on the real life stories of people living and working in Salford (a collaboration between the �� Philharmonic Orchestra and the Salford Symphony Orchestra).

There's no denying the facts - in the eight months since we opened for business at MediaCityUK in May 2011, �� North has so far directly employed an additional 24 residents from Salford. We have also recruited an additional 209 people from Greater Manchester, and a further 127 from across the North of England.

In the current economic climate, any talk of jobs will strike a nerve and some people and the media have criticised us for not doing enough to recruit Salford residents.

Any single job at the �� routinely attracts scores of applications for every appointment. We also receive 180,000 CVs every year and 70,000 enquiries for work experience.

For �� North alone, 68,000 people successfully registered via our dedicated job website for 680 vacancies. A hundred people for every job.

Like other major national organisations, and even more so because we are funded by the UK public, the �� cannot recruit by postcode. We would be doing a disservice to our audience if our recruitment process was geographically selective rather than based on the skills and experience of the applicants themselves. The quality of our output must remain paramount.

Nevertheless, more than half the jobs we advertised at �� North went to people from across the North. Additionally our partners on the site are recruiting local residents directly as a result of the ��. Balfour Beatty for example, who help run our buildings, employ 90 people from the Salford area alone and even more from across the North West. So that means - including existing staff who moved from Oxford Road - we now have over 200 Salfordians in our buildings.

But to make a bigger, longer-term difference, we knew we would have to adopt a 'slow-but-grow' approach to training and developing the local workforce. In Salford, with its high levels of unemployment sometimes across generations of families, we knew the challenge would be substantial.

So, in the past year we have launched two schemes for Salfordians and people from across Greater Manchester to work for and train with us at MediaCityUK and build a workforce of the future.

Our �� North Young Ambassador and Apprenticeship schemes have been developed specifically for people with little or no job experience or formal qualifications and who might never have otherwise considered the �� as somewhere to work.

Building the skills base is the reason we launched the �� North Apprenticeship scheme. The principle of apprenticeships isn't new - it stretches back to the Middle Ages in England, and there is resurgence in apprenticeships today because they can address current concerns about skills shortages in specific areas.

At a time when unemployment is a serious and growing issue they offer a route into skilled jobs. For that reason we have based our scheme on the traditional model - salaried jobs with training. Our apprentices train in specific roles for between 12 and 18 months with on-the-job training in areas such as production or technology, receive mentoring and study for a qualification. And at the end of their apprenticeship, there is a job for them at the ��. Our ambition is to offer 100 apprenticeships at MediaCityUK in the first four years. Sixteen have already started working on-site and we are about to start a second wave of recruitment.

For local 16 to 18 year olds, when even getting first job experience can prove almost impossible these days, we have launched the Young Ambassadors. At any one time we expect to have eight ambassadors employed at �� North. During their six months with us they will work across a variety of departments, receive mentoring by a member of staff and study towards an external qualification. I believe that as many of them come to us with no experience whatsoever, these six months provide invaluable training, build their confidence and hopefully helps them on the road to either another job with us, if the opportunity arises, or elsewhere in further education and training.

And let's not forget the impact our investment in programming, training and development can have outside our own buildings. We have made hundreds of hours of drama, comedy, entertainment, factual and news for television and radio, spending millions of pounds with production companies across the North of England. And we have encouraged production partners - from Sheffield to Liverpool - to offer trainee placements wherever possible.

But it isn't just about employment. I am proud that we are in Salford and we are here for the long-term. So it's as important that we become part of the local community through projects that bring people into our buildings or take us out to them. Thousands of school children have taken part in projects with the �� Philharmonic Orchestra, �� Learning and �� News Schools Report. From producing the first live broadcast from MediaCityUK to writing new music, it is as important to engage and inspire as it is to develop bespoke employment opportunities.

And our own staff are increasingly getting involved through volunteering and are taking a more active role with local schools and colleges directly. For example we are already working with The Oasis Academy which will be the closest secondary school to MediaCityUK when it opens later this year.

So those 24 from Salford might only be a start but, I would argue, a promising start.

Earlier this week one of the newspapers asked "Can the �� save Salford?". Well, Salford doesn't need saving. Salford needs companies to invest in its residents for the long term. Alongside the ��, others including The Salford Foundation, University of Salford, ITV, Peel Media and a plethora of smaller companies, not only in MediaCityUK, but across the area, are making a difference.

At the moment that difference might seem small to some people but remember we are eight months into a twenty year-project and we are just building the foundations for a sustainable and successful future. For �� North but also for our neighbours here too.

Dragons, we've moved your chairs ...

2012-01-05T13:36:39+00:00

Editor's Note: Sam Lewens is Executive Producer of Dragons' Den. Here he writes about the programme's move to Salford.

Well no one said it would be easy! We've been talking about trying to bring the Den up to the North West for well over a year now.

The thing is, that of the nine month production period, only 18 (very long) days are spent each year filming down at Pinewood Studios. So to be able to announce that we will be making the whole programme from up here feels like closure for a process that started many years ago, after we first took over the series in 2006.

Of course big thanks need to go to all the Dragons who were very generous and flexible with their diaries to try and make the logistics work for everyone. When one of the dailies printed a story about two of the Dragons threatening to pull out if filming was moved up here, it was obviously not the best of mornings! But it was a rumour quickly dispelled, and IÂ¹m pleased to say that all five are raring to go, and keen to build on the success of the latest series.

The Den is truly a magical place, as anyone who has passed through it will testify. From the outside, it may sometimes feel like the Willy Wonka Factory of the business world.

But witness the excitement and nerves of budding entrepreneurs, desperate to convince the multi-millionaires that theirs is the business plan most deserving of investment, and all skepticism is set aside. I know it sounds misty eyed, but I really do like the idea of knowing that the Den will be nearby. It is the heart of the production, and yet for years it has been 200 miles away. Dozens of entrepreneurs from all over the country will now be travelling to Salford. And for a lucky few, this is the place where their business dreams will come true.

I personally won't miss the 80s-style hotel in Beaconsfield where we camped out during our weeks down south. I did go to one of their fortnightly Friday night discos but it was way too surreal an experience for me. In my head, I was transported back to being my awkward fourteen year old former self, but my actual 40-odd year old current self was now in a room full of grown ups all still desperately trying to make sure they had someone to dance with when Careless Whisper was played at the end of the night!

A sad goodbye though to Pinewood, who have been brilliant partners for us for the last five years, and an even sadder goodbye to those showbiz moments where we would accidently bump into Johnny Depp or Daniel Craig.

But then an exciting hello to the chance to have pre-production, production and post-production in one space, and where of course we can always look forward to accidently bumping into Misters Tumble and Bloom (my kids will be much more impressed!).

And 2012, among other things, is the Year of the Dragon. And it feels good to say for definite, that it will be the year of the Dragons here in Salford.

Find out more about the Dragon's Den on the show website where you'll find clips and information about the Dragons.
Dragon's Den also has a Twitter account. You can follow it here.

It's been an 'eventful' year....

2011-12-20T10:09:30+00:00

Frankenstein's wedding. Image by Ralph Petts

Our new home here at MediaCityUK has gone from being a project to a creative and broadcast reality. We have moved almost two thousand people into our new buildings at the same time that many of them are building new lives for themselves in the region. And onsite people are making programmes for television and radio and content for online at the same time that we are broadcasting live from studios overlooking Salford Quays twenty-hours a day. Listen to Radio 5 Live, catch the Christmas Blue Peter or watch the CBeebies Pantomime if you want proof this festive season.

The evening I sang along to the MediaCityUK Community Carol concert here on the piazza last week, reminded me that a key reason for building a new creative hub here in the North of England was to get closer to our audience. This isn't only about spending the licence fee more fairly across the region, investing in programmes, training and employment, but about getting physically closer to licence payers as well.

And I believe that ultimately this isn't just for our audiences. For me, it is as important for our staff as well. Meeting the public, listening to what they have to say and simply just talking to them, can give a fresh perspective and help enrich the programmes we make and the services we offer. We all should get out more.

So this year we created a series of events both at MediaCityUK and across the region that have either brought the audience here to Salford Quays or taken us to where they live and work.

Since May, tens of thousands of people have come face to face with their favourite presenters and personalities, taken part in live broadcasts or heard free live concerts and even helped us raise money for charity. I don't imagine many had been face to face with the �� before.

At the beginning of the year, together with a host of partners, we transformed Kirkstall Abbey in Leeds and invited the public to be guests at a Gothic-inspired wedding. Over 12,000 people braved a cold March evening to attend Frankenstein's Wedding... Live In Leeds. Nearly everyone dressed up for the occasion broadcast live on �� Three and which has won a series of awards.

In June, the �� Philharmonic marked their arrival onsite with a festival of free concerts in their new studio. �� Philharmonic Presents welcomed over three thousand people to a two-week programme of free music that ranged from church and film music to the premiere of a dubstep symphony. As well as live studio audiences, over 10 million people tuned into the concerts across the ��'s radio networks or watched via red button - a testament to the originality of the idea and the imagination of our orchestra. Later in the same month, the �� Philharmonic performed 'Music While You Work' in a factory in Salford. Originally started by the �� in the 1940s to improve morale, the �� Philharmonic has been associated with the initiative for decades and, I hope, made a normal work-a-day lunchtime more memorable, putting a spring in the step of the audience both in the factory and on Radio 3.

Over the summer we worked with the Manchester International Festival both here in Salford and in central Manchester, creating a series of unique events for young and old alike. Possibly the most unusual collaboration was Music Boxes. Seventy-eight shipping containers were transformed into series of music-inspired adventures for young children including CBeebies and Zingzillas, who created two very special sound worlds in their containers to engage and entertain their young visitors. Our own North-based Research & Development team combined forces with Manchester-based magneticNorth to create the Virtual Maestro. This clever piece of kit gave budding young maestros the opportunity to conduct the �� Philharmonic. It wasn't as simple as it looked, as it seemed to baffle the most determined of parents - me included.

On the other side of the piazza, in collaboration with PunchDrunk Theatre, the �� created an alien world as the setting for a special Doctor Who adventure - The Crash of the Elysium. Within moments of entering the exhibit, the children were thrust into a confrontation with one of the most dangerous of the Doctor's adversaries, the Weeping Angels. And for one group, the adventure was made even more memorable by the surprise appearance by Matt Smith himself. And in central Manchester, members of the �� Philharmonic joined Damon Albarn for the world premiere of his opera, Dr Dee.

A wetter than normal Bank Holiday weekend in August couldn't deter thousands of children from coming to Salford Quays. Their objective was to meet one of their heroes, Justin Fletcher aka Mr Tumble, and they weren't disappointed. Despite the rainy weather, they watched as Justin performed a series of live shows on a specially built stage and in between Shaun The Sheep's "Championsheeps Live" game kept them entertained with a summer fair inspired assault course. That soggy concert also then inspired Justin and team to produce more than 20 new episodes of Justin's House in the studios here at MediaCityUK. The series was so successful that it went on to break all records for CBeebies.

And the following month, Alesha Dixon travelled to Salford. Stepping out from Strictly, she brought street dance to the Lowry and hosted a series of workshops as part of C��'s new show, Alesha's Street Dance Star.

A world away from dance was BarCamp in September. Hosted by the R&D team this was the very first time the �� had opened its door to this global free-form event. Over a single weekend over 150 people came together in one of our buildings to discuss the latest developments in technology - everything from gaming to social networking - and to share their ideas.

On a smaller scale but just as important, Mr Bloom, another new CBeebies personality, visited my hometown of Burnley. Over a single weekend, a patch of land was transformed into a community allotment that formed a special episode and was then handed over to a local Pennine charity. A moving event for all of us who attended.

Back at base we hosted out first local residents' Open Day. Our Outreach team have been out in the community since before we arrived at MediaCityUK, but it wasn't until November - once we had enough people in the buildings and were broadcasting live from the site - that we felt we would really welcome our neighbours round for a tour. Seven hundred people from the local community visited us over the weekend. It was interesting that - in spite of what some of them had read in the papers - their feedback on our new home and programme plans were broadly positive.

A few weeks later we hosted a day of events to celebrate Children In Need and to raise money. As well as a flashmob dance to Singing In The Rain - and typically the rain failed to fall at the appointed time - a cohort of me and my colleagues grew beards that were then ceremoniously shaved off and there were a series of other events that encouraged people to visit the site. In total the public raised over Â£26 million and I am incredibly proud that approximately six million pounds alone was raised across the North of England for this incredible cause - not to mention the massive Children In Need Rocks Manchester Concert.

And I could keep you here all day if I went into detail about Lady Gaga in Carlisle for The Radio One Big Weekend; Strictly Come Dancing and the big finale in Blackpool; never mind Jesting About, our entertainment search in Tyneside; or even the first ever Salford Sitcom Showcase.

And that brings me finally to the last two weeks here at MediaCityUK. In the run up to Sports Personality Of The Year this week, �� departments across the site have come together and created Celebrate Sport.

Celebrate Sport was a fortnight of sport-related events. Two particular highlights for me involved Manchester's two greatest clubs. The very successful �� One series Bang Goes The Theory collaborated with the reserve team of Manchester City. Working with children from two local schools they tackled the science behind the "beautiful game", looking at the things that are critical for any major player including fitness and nutrition. And at the end of last week, the �� Philharmonic joined forces with the Manchester United Foundation Choir and the �� North staff choir. Attended by Sir Bobby Charlton, it was an amazing concert and I don't think that there was a dry eye in the house by the end of it.

And all week the National Football Museum have taken up residence in The Studio block and run a series of events throughout the day. These have ranged from kit design, sports-themed reading sessions for young children to an exhibition of football artefacts and memorabilia that not only included the football from the 1966 World Cup Final but also George Best's Manchester United shirt and John Motson's famous sheepskin coat.

Of course, events are complicated and sometimes things don't go according to plan. Only this weekend some people were disappointed at not getting into a recording of Football Focus at Salford Lads Club. It's normal practice to issue more tickets than the capacity of a venue because it's usual that some people won't turn up. Unfortunately at the weekend - either because it was Football Focus or because we were recording at the Club - everyone with a ticket turned up and sadly some people couldn't get in. I know that this was a massive disappointment for all of them, some of who had travelled a long way. However, I am pleased to say all those who were weren't able to get into Football Focus are being offered tickets to watch a recording of Question of Sport in the New Year.

Best laid plans! But neither we, nor our new neighbours I hope, will be deterred. This year has been a promising start and we will build on what we have done and what we have learned.

We are now finalizing our plans for 2012 and naturally the Olympics - and in fact a massive year of sport in all - will play a major role in how we get even closer to the public.

We will continue to invest in programmes made across the region and as well as events here in Salford Quays that create a real sense of public space in front of our buildings, I am determined that we move beyond Greater Manchester and travel across the North.

We have already announced that the �� will be in Preston next Easter and are putting the finishing touches to events that will take us out and about across the North.

And we will continue to organize events with universities and colleges across the region. Starting with Preston College in January, when I will attend the opening of the college's new visual and performing arts building and we have plans for events at Sheffield Hallam University and Leeds Trinity Centre for Journalism in the first months of 2012.

However, getting out and actively engaging with our audiences will be a challenge at a time when we are reducing budgets across the ��. But this isn't the time to retreat behind the walls of our buildings. We need to both welcome the public into our spaces and go out to them. Just as the audience value and enjoy the programmes that we make, equally they take great enjoyment when they experience the �� for real, meeting us, talking to us and asking us their own questions.

We should never underestimate the importance of the audience. Engaging with them directly - here in Salford, across the North or, in fact, anywhere in the UK - makes for a better, stronger and more supported ��.

Peter Salmon is Director of �� North

Read all about it

2011-11-29T14:14:10+00:00

In the age of twenty-four hour breaking news this phrase might belong to a bygone era, but it's crossed my mind more than a few times in the past few weeks.

Not only have we said our final and historic farewell to Oxford Road - the ��2 special TV Greats - Our Favourites From The North - paid it a fine tribute at the weekend - but we have also begun to usher in a new era of journalism from these parts at MediaCityUK.Â

So it seemed timely that C��'s Newsround arrival in Salford should be honoured by the television industry with a Special Award at the weekend's Children's BAFTAs.

It really is worth singling out Newsround's role in more detail.Â For the last four decades Newsround has been the only constant news provider for children. Starting with the legendary John Craven, and followed by the likes of Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Kate Sanderson and Matthew Price, the programme has become a national institution, successfully helping generations of children to learn more about, and crucially come to terms with, the world around them.

Â Today's presenters - Ore Oduba, Ricky Boleto, Leah Gooding and Hayley Cutts - continue this fine tradition. As well as the lighter side of news - from the latest technological developments to entertainment news - the programme has covered the most momentous and tragic events of the past 40 years. From the famines that inspired Band Aid, the events of 9/11 and 7/7, the tsunamis that ravaged the Far East to today's global recession, Newsround has delivered daily bulletins that have guided the audience through often incredibly complex issues with great clarity, balancing high quality journalism with sensitivity. And the programme's award-winning specials have covered everything from it's recent piece on autism to bullying and alcoholism, bringing a deeper perspective to stories that all too often impact directly on the audiences' own lives.Â

In today's world of instant and continuous global news, Newsround provides a safe harbour for children to learn the facts behind often sensationalised headlines and it's hard not to believe that it makes a real difference in their lives. In fact, I'm in no doubt that since that first programme over forty years ago it has kicked started and inspired the careers of more than a few journalists beyond its own past presenters.Â

Another example of the ��'s high standard of journalism is to be found in our regional programmes and just yesterday the ��'s North West regional news programmes became the latest slice of news to begin broadcasting live from Salford Quays and I was one of the first guests to join Ranvir and Roger on the sofa for North West Tonight in the evening. I felt very honoured as I mumbled a few answers about our new venture.

Â Our regional news teams, those journalists who work on our North West programmes as well as their colleagues in �� Radio Manchester, have been the cornerstone of journalism across the region for decades. From the tragedies of Hillsborough and the Jamie Bulger case through to the recent riots that rocked Salford and Manchester, from the Commonwealth Games in 2002 to Manchester United's success in the triple, they have not only covered the major stories from across the region in depth and with outstanding and award-winning journalism but also given a voice to local communities.

Last week has also seen the final pieces of the Radio 5 live jigsaw fall into place. The arrival of the Breakfast show with Nicky Campbell and Rachel Burden, Fighting Talk with Colin Murray and football phone-in 606 marked the moment when Radio 5 live became the first national radio network to broadcast its entire output from beyond London.

Â And over the tough weekend, given the sad loss of a close colleague and friend in Gary Speed, our teams performed strongly.

But as we begin to establish a new base for �� journalism here on Salford Quays we also have to face the challenge of making savings and finding new efficiencies across the whole organisation. These measures will have an impact on our local radio and television colleagues across both the region and the whole of the UK but these are challenging times for everyone in the public sector not just the ��. Inevitably there will be changes and cuts in some areas, but our commitment to reinvestment means that we will continue to safeguard and champion local journalism for the long-term, and keep the �� firmly embedded in the communities that it has always represented. And as Mark Thompson said only last week, we continue to listen to the concerns of our audience and they still have the opportunity to have their say as part of the consultation process on Delivering Quality First.

Â We are also playing our part in supporting and landing Â some massive events in the North. Following the huge success of Children In Need Rocks, we are now planning another warm welcome for two of the biggest events in the ��'s calendar. On 13 December we launch Celebrate Sport where some of the ��'s best sports brands come together in a two-week festival of events that will culminate in Sports Personality Of The Year. And on 17 December, Strictly Come Dancing will trip the light fantastic with its final at the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool.

Â Â In the manner of the best news bulletins, it seems appropriate to end with "and finally" and news about some wonderful collaboration here involving the brilliant �� Philharmonic. Last week the �� announced its extensive contribution to and support of the Cultural Olympiad next year. It's hard to believe how close the 2012 Olympics suddenly feel and that reality is brought a little closer to home as the �� Philharmonic is the orchestra that will be performing with Elbow when they record their 2012 �� Olympics signature track here in the studios at Salford Quays. It's been a fantastic year for our orchestra and this is just the icing on the cake in a year when they will have worked with everyone from Radio One Xtra to the Manchester United Community Choir, Mayo and Kermode to Morning Worship - and finally Elbow and �� Sport.

When I was a young journalist, with my first ever �� contract working at Oxford Road on R4's superb File on 4, if you'd told me I would have been writing this article about the above events from our new Â digital home in Salford Quays, I'd have said we've taken a trip way beyond journalism into the realms of fantasy and fiction.Â

It's been that kind of year...

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