The city of Birmingham, England is home to an evolving media industry, including news and magazine publishers, radio and television networks, film production and specialist educational media training. The city's first newspaper was published in 1732.
Publishing
History
The first known Birmingham newspaper was the Birmingham Journal, which was published by Thomas Warren from 1732 and whose early contributors included Samuel Johnson. The most notable of the town's early newspapers however was Aris's Birmingham Gazette, which was founded in 1741 and continued publishing until 1956.
Contemporary
Birmingham has two main local newspapers—the Birmingham Post and the Birmingham Mail—as well as the Sunday Mercury, all owned by Reach plc (formerly Trinity Mirror).
In 2018, the Birmingham Mail rebranded their online digital operations as BirminghamLive.
Reach plc additionally own What's On Magazine Group, running since 1986 and currently producing six monthly regional entertainment titles, including What's On Birmingham and LGBT+ publication Midlands Zone.
Reach plc is contracted to publish Forward (formerly Birmingham Voice), the Birmingham City Council's free newspaper distributed to homes, community centres and public buildings. Reach plc previously published the now defunct Birmingham News, a weekly freesheet distributed to homes in the suburbs.
Birmingham has three mainstream digital-only news publishers; I Am Birmingham established in 2009, Birmingham Updates established in 2011, and BirminghamWorld established in 2021. I Am Birmingham is run as a non-profit news publication by independent professional journalists. Birmingham Updates is run as a commercial business enterprise by Updates Media. BirminghamWorld is run as one of many national titles by National World.
Several hyperlocal newspapers serve Birmingham, including the Birmingham Advertiser and the Sutton Coldfield Observer, which serves Sutton Coldfield and parts of Erdington. Independent news publisher Erdington Local additionally serves the Erdington area in both print and online format.
Birmingham is the hub for various national ethnic media, including The Phoenix Newspaper, The Sikh Times, Desi Xpress, and The Asian Today.
National entertainment news publisher Ikonz is based in Birmingham, one of few outside London.
Birmingham culture and lifestyle publications include music magazine Bearded, Fused Magazine, Birmingham Living, Style Birmingham, SixtyNine Degrees, and Dluxe magazine.
Radio
Local radio stations include BBC WM, BBC Asian Network, Free Radio Birmingham and Greatest Hits West Midlands, 102.2 Capital FM Birmingham, Heart West Midlands, Absolute Radio, and Smooth Radio. The city has a community radio scene, with stations including BRMB, New Style Radio, Switch Radio, Scratch Radio, Raaj FM, and Unity FM. With the rise of internet stations, Birmingham now also has independent radio stations like Brum Radio, serving local, independent and alternative music and arts which doesn't fit the commercial radio format.
History
Birmingham was the first British city outside London to have a radio service from the newly formed British Broadcasting Company, with the Birmingham station 5IT starting regular broadcasting from its Witton base at 17:00 on 15 November 1922, one day after 2LO started daily BBC broadcasting from London and one hour before the 18:00 launch of Manchester's 2ZY. 5IT pioneered many innovations in early broadcasting, launching Children's Hour in 1922, developing sophisticated methods of programme control and employing the first full-time announcers in 1923. The station's first announcer on its opening night was its general manager Percy Edgar, who was to be the dominant figure in Birmingham broadcasting and the BBC's most influential regional director until his retirement in 1948.
5IT moved its studios from Witton to a former cinema in New Street in 1923, moving again in 1926 to a completely new building in Broad Street with two studios – one of the largest the country. 1927 saw the low-powered city station 5IT replaced by the BBC Midland Region – the first of the BBC's regional services – broadcast from the new Borough Hill high powered transmitter near Daventry. The Broad Street studios now controlled and made programmes for a region stretching across central England from The Potteries to Norfolk.