BBC Sport breaks viewing records for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

It’s not just our athletes who have proved their weight in gold this summer. Our second city, Birmingham, has also flexed its muscles when it comes to leading the way in digital, culture, media, art and sport.

I couldn’t be more proud of the BBC’s wall-to-wall coverage of the Commonwealth Games for 11 days this summer. We broke our overall BBC Sport record with over 57 million online streams and over 28.6 million views on TV.

56% of the population of the West Midlands tuned in, and now it’s time to demonstrate that our commitment to the Midlands is permanent.

What are the BBC ambitions for the Midlands with the move from the Mailbox to the old Typhoo Factory in Digbeth?

This week we have announced the next chapter for the BBC in this region by unveiling our plans to move our HQ to the beating heart of creativity in this region: Digbeth.

In 2026 the plan is to relocate from The Mailbox to the iconic former Typhoo Factory. We will develop a new purpose-built broadcast centre, complete with cutting edge technology, to further increase the Midlands’ creative impact on a global scale.

The new base will also work to support the BBC’s net-zero commitments and be an open, accessible and inclusive space for the future.

How else will this move help Birmingham and the West Midlands?

It’s a significant move for us and not just a building swap – with our added investment into the regeneration of the Digbeth area, the BBC will also provide a solid foundation for kick-starting economic growth around the region as a whole.

We want to signal to other producers what we at the BBC have already known for a long time - that the Midlands is a place worth investing in, telling stories about and permanently setting up shop.

We hope our mission was made clear when we announced earlier this year that the BBC’s flagship food entertainment show MasterChef is moving to Birmingham in 2024, as well as BBC Newsbeat and BBC Asian Network this autumn.

BBC One has commissioned a new Steven Knight project Two Tone, which will showcase how the amazing world-wide phenomenon of ska music developed in both Coventry and Birmingham – something I’m really looking forward to seeing on screen!

What about local talent? Is the BBC going to help young creatives in Birmingham and the West Midlands?

But a move to Digbeth isn’t just about investing in great content for our audiences. As we’ve seen, there is a whole wealth of creative talent here in the Midlands, and the BBC Apprentice Hub is already on the case with providing young people from the region support to succeed in their future careers.

Just last month a cohort of talented new apprentices started on the job training with the likes of Full Fat TV, Optomen Television and Caters News, thanks to our agency.

To take it that step further, the investment the BBC will provide in the new creative quarter will not just give hundreds of people the chance to start their careers with us. It will also be here that the youth-brands of tomorrow will be developed, with young creative producers at the helm.

We’d love for them to join the 1,200 people from across the Midlands that are already employed with us at the BBC and to hear their new ideas, feedback and contributions.

In March last year, we committed to work with Create Central and the West Midlands Growth Company to increase production spend in the West Midlands. Broadcasting the new real-life programmes Queen of Trucks and Filthy Business this summer.

The scheme and the programmes showcased the ingenuity, nuance and hard work of real people from across the Midlands, and we’ll be further developing this partnership going forward.

Our audiences in this region don’t need us to tell them what a brilliant place this is to live and work. We just need to hold the mirror up to let your talents and stories invigorate our BBC, and that’s what we will continue to find ways to do.

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