2ZY
Encyclopedia
2ZY was the name of a radio station
broadcast by the British Broadcasting Company
from Manchester
, England, between 1922 and 1927. It had its first test transmission on 450 metres on 17 May 1922 and began regular broadcasts on 15 November 1922, one day after sister station 2LO
started daily programmes in London
. On the same day 5IT
began in Birmingham
and eight others opened over subsequent months across Britain. The frequency chosen for 2ZY was then 375 meters Medium Wave. The programmes were made and broadcast at first from the Metropolitan-Vickers
Electricity works in Old Trafford. The ornate 'Iron Water Tower' was the site of the transmitter.
service called "5SC" was picked up and rebroadcast on a transmitter in Edinburgh
. 2ZY became the first English station to do this when it's signal was "relayed" to a transmitter covering Liverpool
from 11 June 1924 (the service was called "2LV") and the Leeds
/Bradford
area on 8 July 1924 (service named "2LS"). Hull
was next (service named 6KH on 15 August 1924 and Nottingham
followed (service named "5NG") on 16 September 1924. The last of that period was a relay to the Stoke-on-Trent
area ("6ST") which began on 21 November 1924. ALL of these services carried the main output of 2ZY; the most relayed of all the early core BBC radio services; a useful practical experiment for BBC engineers of the day.
which broadcast on 1562 meters Long Wave
and was receivable across most of Britain. The station was called 5XX and it conducted its first experimental stereo
broadcast from a concert in Manchester. (The 5XX Long Wave 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 the city in 1929 from where many network radio programmes were made or transmitted. Radio plays and concerts were staged in an old converted repertory theatre hall in Hulme
which was renamed 'The Radio Playhouse'.
Enigma Variations
, Holst's
The Planets
and Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius
. 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.
in 1927, the local material put out by 2ZY and the others was known as the BBC Regional Programme
and the 2ZY name was dropped. Both the National and Regional services were combined in 1939 to form the Home Service
.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
broadcast by the British Broadcasting Company
British Broadcasting Company
The British Broadcasting Company Ltd was a British commercial company formed on 18 October 1922 by British and American electrical companies doing business in the United Kingdom and licensed by the British General Post Office...
from Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England, between 1922 and 1927. It had its first test transmission on 450 metres on 17 May 1922 and began regular broadcasts on 15 November 1922, one day after sister station 2LO
2LO
2LO was the second radio station to regularly broadcast in the United Kingdom . It began broadcasting on 11 May 1922, for one hour a day from the seventh floor of Marconi House in London's Strand...
started daily programmes in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. On the same day 5IT
5IT
5IT was a BBC radio station which broadcast from Birmingham, England, between 1922 and 1927. It was the BBC's second station, going live at 17.20 on 15 November 1922, the day after 2LO started daily BBC broadcasting from London and one hour forty minutes before 2ZY launched BBC broadcasting in...
began in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and eight others opened over subsequent months across Britain. The frequency chosen for 2ZY was then 375 meters Medium Wave. The programmes were made and broadcast at first from the Metropolitan-Vickers
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, they were particularly well known for their industrial electrical equipment such as generators, steam...
Electricity works in Old Trafford. The ornate 'Iron Water Tower' 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 GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
service called "5SC" was picked up and rebroadcast on a transmitter in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. 2ZY became the first English station to do this when it's signal was "relayed" to a transmitter covering Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
from 11 June 1924 (the service was called "2LV") and the Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
/Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
area on 8 July 1924 (service named "2LS"). Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
was next (service named 6KH on 15 August 1924 and Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
followed (service named "5NG") on 16 September 1924. The last of that period was a relay to the Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
area ("6ST") which began on 21 November 1924. ALL of these services carried the main output of 2ZY; 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 DaventryDaventry
Daventry is a market town in Northamptonshire, England, with a population of 22,367 .-Geography:The town is also the administrative centre of the larger Daventry district, which has a population of 71,838. The town is 77 miles north-northwest of London, 13.9 miles west of Northampton and 10.2...
which broadcast on 1562 meters Long Wave
Longwave
In radio, longwave refers to parts of radio spectrum with relatively long wavelengths. The term is a historic one dating from the early 20th century, when the radio spectrum was considered to consist of long, medium and short wavelengths...
and was receivable across most of Britain. The station was called 5XX and it conducted its first experimental stereo
STEREO
STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
broadcast from a concert in Manchester. (The 5XX Long Wave 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 the city in 1929 from where many network radio programmes were made or transmitted. Radio plays and concerts were staged in an old converted repertory theatre hall in Hulme
Hulme
Hulme is an inner city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England. Located immediately south of Manchester city centre, it is an area with significant industrial heritage....
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 12 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'sEdward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
Enigma Variations
Enigma Variations
Variations on an Original Theme for orchestra , Op. 36, commonly referred to as the Enigma Variations, is a set of a theme and its fourteen variations written for orchestra by Edward Elgar in 1898–1899. It is Elgar's best-known large-scale composition, for both the music itself and the...
, Holst's
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
The Planets
The Planets
The Planets, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its corresponding astrological character as defined by Holst...
and Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius, popularly called just Gerontius, 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 before God and settling into Purgatory...
. 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.
Closure
After the opening of the BBC National ProgrammeBBC National Programme
The BBC National Programme was a BBC radio station from the 1920s until the outbreak of World War II.-Foundation:When the BBC first began transmissions on 14 November 1922, the technology for both national coverage and joint programming between transmitters did not exist – transmitter powers were...
in 1927, the local material put out by 2ZY and the others was known as the BBC Regional Programme
BBC Regional Programme
The BBC Regional Programme was a UK radio network which operated from the end of the 1920s until the outbreak of World War II in 1939.-Foundation:...
and the 2ZY name was dropped. Both the National and Regional services were combined in 1939 to form the Home Service
BBC Home Service
The BBC Home Service was a British national radio station which broadcast from 1939 until 1967.-Development:Between the 1920s and the outbreak of The Second World War, the BBC had developed two nationwide radio services, the BBC National Programme and the BBC Regional Programme...
.