News at One to move to MediaCity as BBC expands its news hub in the city

The BBC has announced plans to boost its weekday BBC One news coverage from MediaCity, by extending BBC Breakfast and launching a new one hour-long News at One bulletin.

This will be the first time a daily BBC TV news bulletin has been delivered outside of London on an ongoing basis. The move expands the BBC’s national news hub in Salford creating a daytime TV powerhouse in the city and bringing around 20 new jobs in the North West.

These plans are part of the BBC’s Across the UK Strategy, which aims to bring the organisation closer to audiences to better reflect, represent and serve all parts of the UK. Already, all content on BBC One on weekdays from 6am to 10am is broadcast from the North West.

BBC’s Director of News Programmes, John McAndrew said:

“The BBC does more than any other broadcaster to reflect the whole UK, and expanding our national news hub in Salford to deliver the UK’s first daily news bulletin from outside of London is an important step to ensure we are delivering for audiences across the UK. We are committed to providing impartial news and information and I’m delighted to announce this investment in BBC News, which ensures we are closer to more communities and delivering more high-quality news to our UK audiences.”

Heidi Dawson, Head of Salford and Controller, BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra, said:

“BBC News at One will join an exciting line-up of major BBC brands that already broadcast from the heart of Salford and Manchester, including BBC Breakfast, Morning Live and BBC Radio 5 Live. We are committed to ensuring that the North West continues to be a creative powerhouse, and this move not only makes certain that we better reflect and serve our audiences across the whole of the UK – it also guarantees that we deliver trusted, informative and impartial news for all.”

Richard Frediani, Editor, BBC Breakfast, said:

“As a proud Northerner it’s a privilege to oversee nearly 30 hours of television content from Salford every week. Breakfast has been the number one choice for morning viewers since moving to Media City a decade ago and I’m confident the One will continue to reflect the stories and issues of audiences across the UK.”

The News at One will be extended to an hour giving audiences across the UK a more in-depth and broader daytime news offering including regional news.

Specifically, the plans mean:

• Extending BBC Breakfast from 9:15am to 9:30am Monday to Friday
• Creating a new hour-long News at One bulletin Monday to Friday
• Relocating the News at One to Salford to join BBC Breakfast

The changes will start to take effect from January 2024, with the launch of the extended BBC Breakfast, and this would be followed by the relocation and extension of the News at One from May 2024.

The extension of BBC Breakfast will give viewers across the UK a longer news bulletin from their specific nation or region, ensuring that they get the latest and most up-to-date information, followed by Morning Live, which moved to Manchester City Centre in 2022.

Since opening its doors in 2011, the BBC in Salford has been a centre of excellence and transformed the local economy by driving investment in the wider region. Two years in to our Across the UK strategy, we have seen even more content and teams move to Salford and Greater Manchester.

For example, BBC Radio 1 is now broadcasting from Salford for seven days a week for the first time; The Writersroom, our home for new writing talent, has been expanded in Salford; BBC Radio 3 is moving a raft of programmes to Salford supporting the BBC’s vision to create a classical music hub in the North; and a new BBC 6 Music evening schedule with all shows live from Salford was announced in April 2023.

A KMPG report published in 2021 found that since the BBC moved to Salford, employment in the creative sector in the city has grown by 142% and the number of creative businesses has grown by 70%. KPMG found the BBC’s move to Salford “has had a positive contribution… in terms of employment, increased skill levels and spill-over effects.”