MediaCityUK is to become “the heart” of BBC Sounds, with the curation team joining Controller Jonathan Wall at the Salford base “within weeks”, Director General Lord Hall has announced.
Prolific North understands the BBC is currently recruiting a new Head of Curation role for BBC Sounds and that this person will build a team based in Salford over the coming year.
In his New Year speech to staff today, Hall said: “Salford will become the heart of BBC Sounds, with the curation team joining the Controller in MediaCity within weeks”.
There will also be a new tech hub in Newcastle to “help deliver a new generation of software engineers and designers,” Hall said. He described Newcastle as a city “looking for fresh ideas, collaboration and innovation, with two highly successful universities and a digital cluster growing faster than any area outside London.”
The existing building in the city will be used for this expansion of the design and engineering teams, with staff there working on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds and BBC News Online.
Hall added that “much more journalism” and “a lot of our digital growth” would come from the BBC North headquarters in Salford in future.
On Monday, Prolific North reported that the BBC wants two thirds of its staff to be based outside London by 2027 and Hall gave more details in his address from Cardiff.“Today over half our spending – and half our teams – are away from the capital,” he said. “I’ve spent a lot of time with them in local radio; Salford; Birmingham; Bristol; and around the nations.
