BBC New Broadcasting House was a large building on Oxford Road, situated where the Circle Square complex now stands, casting the rest of the street in shadows. Before their move to MediaCityUK (at Salford Quays), this was the BBC's North West England headquarters. It was demolished in 2012.
It was not only home to BBC Manchester, but also to BBC Radio 6Music. Both offered local, national and International bands and artists live broadcasts, offering them a hugely wide listener-ship. BBC Introducing Manchester gave local artists a platform to play to a wide listenership and helped launch the careers of Blossoms, Aitch, and Larkins.
The building also housed the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, (now also located in MediaCityUK).
The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra came out of a collection of musicians who performed as the 2ZY Orchestra for the Trafford Park-based
experimental radio station 2ZY, formed in 1922. Popular singer Isobel Baillie (picture below) often provided the vocals by singing into a large horn, which conducted her voice to a ribbon microphone, a new invention at that time.
The Philharmonic Orchestra has gone through a few name changes - the Northern Wireless Orchestra (1926), BBC Northern Orchestra (1934) and BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra (1967). In 1982 it finally landed the name BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
Historically, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra has attracted and provided opportunities for local musicians. Along with the Hallé Orchestra, the RNCM and Chetham's School of Music, it has been central shaping the region into an unmissable cultural destination and a hub for world-class talent in orchestral music.
There is an English heritage blue plaque marking Isobel Baillie's house on Stretford Road in Old Trafford.
Previous BBC locations, before NBH was opened on Oxford Rd (1976) included offices in Piccadilly Gardens and a disused church on Dickinson Road in Rusholme, where the very first Top of the Pops broadcasts were filmed. The very first episode featured The Rolling Stones, and was broadcast on January 1, 1964. They performed "I Wanna Be Your Man".
