Marketing PRojects visits Media City

The Chartered Institute of Marketing, Manchester arranged the visit which was sponsored and filmed by WebVM based in MediaCity. Video highlights of the visit include an interview with Jane Harrad-Roberts.

Paul Newman, Director of Communications at Peel Holdings presented and then guided us round the spectacular development which is set to fast forward the digital and media landscape in Manchester to world-class. Professor Brian Longhurst, Pro Vice-Chancellor Media & Digital Futures at the University of Salford showed us the impressive foyer of the new university facilities there.

Some facts;

· The BBC currently has 1200 staff there, set to increase to 2500.

· Coronation Street is rebuilding its famous cobbles there, moving the whole team from its historic Quay Street site in the city centre to the modern MediaCity UK by June 2013.

· A Question of Sport was one of the first programmes to be transmitted, and the first Match of the Day from MediaCity was in November. In December the BBC’s flagship Sports Personality of the Year came from there too.

· BBC Breakfast begins broadcast from the site in March, and Radio 5 Live and the children’s programmes are already mostly transferred.

· A big screen is planned for the piazza, to entertain crowds day and night. The huge screen can even broadcast different content on each side, meaning that any potential programme clashes of next year’s sporting events – from London 2012 and Euro 2012 to Wimbledon – can be avoided, and the big sceen will still cater for all tastes by streaming live content across the site.

· 1500 University of Salford students and staff now occupy the site, with access to the best broadcast technology in existence today. Students will even share the same building as ITV staff.

· Booths Supermarket brought a flock of sheep down from Cumbria for a photoshoot when it launched the news it was plannning to take space there. It’s open until 10pm every night.

· The Holiday Inn has also taken space there.

· 400 flats are available on the site, all supplied with up to 100Mb broadband.

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