BBC (Oxford Road)

BBC New Broadcasting House (NBH) on Oxford Road, Manchester, was built in the 1970s to bring together the BBC’s scattered local operations, which had been spread across several sites including Dickenson Road in Rusholme and studios in Piccadilly. FYI, the very first Top of the Pops aired on 1 January 1964, broadcast live from a converted church at Dickenson Road Studios in Rusholme, Manchester. The debut show was hosted by Jimmy Savile and featured acts including The Rolling Stones (“I Wanna Be Your Man”), Dusty Springfield (“I Only Want to Be with You”), and The Hollies (“Stay”). The programme was produced by BBC Manchester at the time, and its success quickly made it a weekly fixture. When BBC NBH on Oxford Road opened in 1976, Top of the Pops later used its studios for some editions, but it had moved to London by then. Designed by R. A. Sparks of the BBC’s own architectural department, NBH's construction began in 1971 and the modern concrete-and-glass complex opened officially in June 1976. With state-of-the-art television and radio studios, a restaurant, and office space, it became home to BBC Manchester, BBC North West, BBC Radio Manchester, BBC Radio 6Music, the BBC Philharmonic, and the Religion & Ethics department. For decades, NBH was a major hub for both regional and national output. Studio A hosted large-scale TV productions, while Studio B was the base for regional news programmes like BBC North West Tonight. The building saw the creation of well-known shows including A Question of Sport, Red Dwarf, Mastermind, Top of the Pops, and Songs of Praise, alongside influential radio programmes such as Mark & Lard and File on Four. We love it especially for the brilliant Oxford Road Show - a weekly music show. By the 2000s, changes in broadcasting and the rise of MediaCityUK in Salford led to the decision to relocate. The Oxford Road site was sold in 2011, and the final broadcasts left the building in late November that year. Demolition followed in 2012, and the site is now part of the Circle Square development. Though the building is gone, New Broadcasting House remains an important part of Manchester’s broadcasting heritage, remembered as a creative powerhouse that shaped television and radio in the North for over three decades.

NBH originally was the BBC's North West England headquarters, where it was home to BBC Manchester, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC North West, and the BBC Religion and Ethics Department.

Before NBH opened, the BBC's Manchester base was at Broadcasting House in Piccadilly, and from 1958 it occupied four floors of Peter House in St Peter's Square. Another studio was purchased in Rusholme in 1954 where it housed BBC’s Northern Symphony Orchestra, renaming it to the Philharmonic Orchestra in 1982.

Staff moved into the building mid-July 1975, and it was fully operational by the end of August. It was officially initiated as the headquarters of BBC North on 18 June 1976. Later, a second TV studio was opened in May 1981 for regional news, leading to the closure of Broadcasting House in Piccadilly after 52 years, where about 800 staff worked on site.

New Broadcasting House was vacated during the autumn of 2011 when the departments were relocated to MediaCityUK in Salford Quays. Then, in 2010, when the building was offered for sale during the move, they rendered it surplus to requirements and was sold for £10 million in April 2011. Unfortunately, the building wasn’t repurposed and was demolished the following year.