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2ZY was the name of a
radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
established by the
British Broadcasting Company The British Broadcasting Company Ltd. (BBC) was a short-lived British commercial broadcasting company formed on 18 October 1922 by British and American electrical companies doing business in the United Kingdom. Licensed by the British General ...
in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
, England, in 1922. Part of the newly nationalised
British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
from 1 January 1927, the station continued broadcasting under the 2ZY name until its transmissions came to be referred to, from 9 March 1930, as "the Manchester programme". Subsequently, on 17 May 1931, the Manchester station – broadcasting from a new high-powered station at Moorside Edge – became the main production centre of the newly launched BBC North Regional Programme, which was to remain on air until the outbreak of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
in 1939. 2ZY aired its first test transmission on 450 metres on 17 May 1922 and regular broadcasting from the station started on 15 November 1922, just one day after sister station in London, 2LO, had begun transmitting daily programmes. On the same day,
5IT 5IT was a British Broadcasting Company (later BBC) radio station which broadcast from Birmingham, England, between 1922 and 1927. Birmingham was the first British city outside London to have a radio service from the newly formed British Broa ...
began in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
and eight other stations opened in subsequent months across Britain. The frequency chosen for 2ZY was then 385 metres
medium wave Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the dayti ...
. The programmes were at first broadcast from the
Metropolitan-Vickers Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, it was particularly well known for its industrial el ...
electricity works in Old Trafford. The ornate iron water tower at the works was the site of the transmitter.


Relays

From 1922 to 1924 all the programmes broadcast by these early stations were made locally as networking was not technically possible, but when quality improved the majority of output was provided by London. The idea of re-transmitting a service in a neighbouring area was tried in May 1924 when the
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
service from station 5SC was picked up and rebroadcast from a transmitter in
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. 2ZY became the first English station to do this when its signal was "relayed" to a transmitter covering
Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
from 11 June 1924 (the station was called 6LV) and the
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...
/
Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
area on 8 July 1924 (station 2LS).
Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...
was next (station 6KH, from 15 August 1924) and
Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
followed (station 5NG opened on 16 September 1924). The last of that period was a relay to the
Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
area (from station 6ST) which began on 21 October 1924. All these services carried the main output of 2ZY, which was the most relayed of all the early core BBC radio services: a useful practical experiment for BBC engineers of the day.


Stereo

In July 1925 the BBC opened a much higher powered transmitter at
Daventry Daventry ( , historically ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority in Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 Census Daventry had a population of 28,123, making ...
which broadcast on 1562 metres
longwave In radio, longwave, long wave or long-wave, and commonly abbreviated LW, refers to parts of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave broadcasting band. The term is historic, dating from the e ...
and was receivable across most of Britain. The station was called 5XX and it conducted its first experimental
stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
broadcast from a concert in Manchester. (The 5XX longwave transmitter beamed the right hand channel and all the local BBC medium wave transmitters including 2ZY broadcast the left hand channel). A central Control Room was opened in Piccadilly Gardens in 1929 from where many network radio programmes were produced or broadcast. Radio plays and concerts were staged in an old converted repertory theatre hall in
Hulme Hulme () is an inner city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England, immediately south of Manchester city centre. It has a significant industrial heritage. Historically in Lancashire, the name Hulme is derived from the Old Norse word ...
which was renamed 'The Radio Playhouse'.


Orchestras

In order to fill the hours of airtime, Dan Godfrey Junior, 2ZY station manager, decided to create an orchestra of twelve players (the 2ZY Orchestra) specifically to perform for the station. He also instigated a chorus and an opera company for it. This enabled 2ZY to start a variety of regular live music broadcasts and this meant that a number of works by British composers, were given their first radio airing by the 2ZY Orchestra, including Elgar's ''
Enigma Variations Edward Elgar composed his ''Variations on an Original Theme'', Op. 36, popularly known as the ''Enigma Variations'', between October 1898 and February 1899. It is an orchestral work comprising fourteen variations on an original theme. Elgar ...
'', Holst's '' The Planets'' and Elgar's ''
The Dream of Gerontius ''The Dream of Gerontius'', Op. 38, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment b ...
''. The 2ZY Orchestra was renamed the Northern Wireless Orchestra in 1926 which went on to play an important role in the formation of the
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at Media ...
.


Closure

After the launching on 9 March 1930 of the
BBC National Programme The BBC National Programme was a radio service which was on the air from 9 March 1930 – replacing the earlier BBC's experimental station 5XX – until 1 September 1939 when it was subsumed into the Home Service, two days before the outbrea ...
(and the consequent dropping of such "call signs" as 2LO), the BBC's service from the erstwhile 2ZY became known as "the Manchester Programme". With the opening on 17 May 1931 of a new high-powered station at Moorside Edge, the output from Manchester became the core of the BBC North Regional Programme. Under wartime conditions, the National and Regional Programmes were merged in 1939 into the Home Service.


Inspired by 2ZY

In 2012, former
BBC Radio Manchester BBC Radio Manchester is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater Manchester. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience o ...
Managing Editor, John Ryan, launched an independent production company called 2ZY.


See also

*
BBC Regional Programme The BBC Regional Programme was a radio service which was on the air from 9 March 1930 – replacing a number of earlier BBC local stations between 1922 and 1924 – until 1 September 1939 when it was subsumed into the Home Service, two days b ...
*
List of oldest radio stations It is generally recognised that the first radio transmission was made from a temporary station set up by Guglielmo Marconi in 1895. This followed on from pioneering work in the field by a number of people including Alessandro Volta, André-Mar ...
* Moses Baritz


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2zy 1922 establishments in England 1930 disestablishments in England Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations established in 1922 Radio stations disestablished in 1930 Radio stations in Manchester