Television and radio stations based on Westside have been playing a vital role in providing people across the Midlands with essential information during COVID-19,
We focus on this broadcastmedia sector in the third part of our #WestsideStillWorking series, which acknowledges local businesses working during lockdown.
Westside houses three main regional broadcasters:
- ITV Central based in Gas Street
- Free Radio Birmingham, located in BrindleyPlace and
- Birmingham TV and its owner Local TV, situated at The Wharf in Bridge Street.
ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television and Carlton Central, was created following the restructuring of ATV. The service, owned and operated by ITV plc, began broadcasting on 1 January 1982.
It moved to its current Gas Street studios in 1997, having previously been in Broad Street.
ITV News Central said it has continued to broadcast throughout the pandemic, keeping Birmingham and the Midlands informed about the latest COVID-19 developments.
Liz Hannam, head of news, said: “This is the biggest story of our working lifetimes. Right from the start, the team were determined to continue to provide trusted news from familiar faces during this most worrying period.
“The technical challenges of keeping news on air, while maintaining the safety of staff, were enormous, but like so many others across our region these difficult times produced some very creative and enterprising solutions.”
Also busy on the airways has been the independent Free Radio Birmingham which serves the city and its surrounding areas, including the Black Country and Worcestershire.
The station, owned and operated by Bauer Radio, was launched in September 2012, having started life as BRMB in 1974. Past well-known presenters included Ed Doolan, Les Ross, Phil Upton and Tony Butler.
A Free Radio Birmingham spokesperson said: “Bauer Media’s studios in BrindleyPlace have continued to provide programmes for Free Radio across the West Midlands and Greatest Hits Radio across the UK.
“We feel it has been important to stay live and connected with our audiences at such a crucial time when they have needed information, entertainment, and companionship.
“To achieve this, all non-essential broadcast staff have been working from home, such as commercial and admin teams, to allow our studios to remain open to skeleton staff to keep the crucial broadcasts on air.
“We’ve seen massive increases in digital listening this year which makes all the extra effort required worthwhile.”
Meanwhile, Birmingham TV is a local television station, serving Birmingham, the Black Country, Wolverhampton and Solihull.
It launched in 2015 as Big Centre TV, before becoming Made in Birmingham in November 2016 and finally Birmingham TV in August 2018.
Owned and operated by Local Television Limited, Birmingham TV forms part of a group of eight local TV stations.
Westside BID general manager Mike Olley said: “It’s crucial that the public is kept fully informed during this pandemic, and our local broadcasters have been playing a key role in spreading that information to the people of Birmingham.”
By Tony Collins.
