Media City UK
Mediacity:uk is an ambitious scheme to deliver the UK's first media city, an innovative, creative hub, to rival other media cities emerging around the world. It is a national project that will enable the UK to compete in an international media marketplace that is growing fast.
The BBC's proposed re-location of five major departments to the Salford, Greater Manchester is the catalyst for the creation of mediacity:uk. It will bring together the BBC, other major broadcasters and the independent sector on one purpose built site to enjoy state of the art facilities within a creative environment.
A major broadcasting hub outside London gives the BBC an opportunity to safeguard and grow the talent pool that the BBC will depend on in the future. Combined with the creative talent of the North, the BBC will have the people it needs to face new challenges. A concentration of new media technology and content companies, in one purpose-built environment, will mean that the BBC can stay ahead of the game as a global leader in using new media and technologies to reach an ever-wider audience.
Moving five significant departments (Sport, Children's, Future Media, 5Live and Learning) means that programs can be made to reflect the whole of the UK and re-connect the BBC with audiences in the North. 14.4m licence-fee payers live in the North, approximately 25% of the UK population, an audience the BBC has admitted to failing in the past.
Skills and training
Skillset North will be at the heart of mediacity:uk driving forward an industry led cross regional skills strategy. By working with regional screen agencies, universities and skills providers across the North, the next generation of highly skilled media professionals will be trained and nurtured. Skillset North will bring together the resources of the universities; building on the strength of the BBC and commercial research and development activities to ensure the UK is at the forefront of innovation.
Skillset North is led by a 20 strong regional employers panel and in the North West in partnership with North West Vision and Media has won £2.8 million of funding, allocated to develop the talent needed for a 21st century global media workforce.
