2ZY was the name of aradio station established by theBritish Broadcasting Company inManchester, England, in 1922. Part of the newly nationalisedBritish Broadcasting Corporation 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 atMoorside Edge – became the main production centre of the newly launchedBBC North Regional Programme, which was to remain on air until the outbreak of theSecond World War 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 began inBirmingham and eight other stations opened in subsequent months across Britain. The frequency chosen for 2ZY was then 385 metresmedium wave. The programmes were at first broadcast from theMetropolitan-Vickers electricity works in Old Trafford. The ornate iron water tower at the works was the site of the transmitter.^[1]

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 theGlasgow service from station 5SC was picked up and rebroadcast from a transmitter inEdinburgh. 2ZY became the first English station to do this when its signal was "relayed" to a transmitter coveringLiverpool from 11 June 1924 (the station was called 6LV) and theLeeds/Bradford area on 8 July 1924 (station 2LS).Hull was next (station 6KH, from 15 August 1924) andNottingham followed (station 5NG opened on 16 September 1924). The last of that period was a relay to theStoke-on-Trent 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.^[2]

In July 1925 the BBC opened a much higher powered transmitter atDaventry which broadcast on 1562 metreslongwave and was receivable across most of Britain. The station was called 5XX and it conducted its first experimentalstereo 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.^[3] Radio plays and concerts were staged in an old converted repertory theatre hall inHulme which was renamed 'The Radio Playhouse'.^[4]

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, includingElgar'sEnigma Variations,Holst'sThe Planets and Elgar'sThe 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 theBBC Philharmonic Orchestra.^[5]

After the launching on 9 March 1930 of theBBC National Programme (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 atMoorside Edge, the output from Manchester became the core of theBBC North Regional Programme. Under wartime conditions, the National and Regional Programmes were merged in 1939 into theHome Service.^[6]

In 2012, formerBBC Radio Manchester Managing Editor, John Ryan, launched an independent production company called 2ZY.^[7][8]

• BBC Regional Programme
• List of oldest radio stations
• Moses Baritz

• 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

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• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from September 2014