Media in leeds

Leeds has bases for some media activities for the UK. Yorkshire Post Newspapers Ltd, owned by Johnston Press plc, is based in the city, and produces a daily morning broadsheet, the Yorkshire Post, and an evening paper, the Yorkshire Evening Post, as well as other publications such as Leeds Express.

Regional television and radio stations also have bases in the town; BBC Television and Yorkshire Television both have studios and broadcasting centres in Leeds, but there is concern over the future of regional independent television with the consolidation of Independent Television franchises in the UK. BBC North, Radio Aire, Magic 828, Galaxy 105 and Real Radio all broadcast from the city. In the 1980s, pirate radio stations including Rapid City Radio (RCR), amongst other shorter-lived stations broadcasting a mainly reggae playlist from Chapeltown, later diversifying into hip hop and house. Later, Dream FM was one of the biggest pirate radio stations in the country, but folded soon after getting a license to operate legally. Leeds is the UK’s largest media city, outside London. This is likely to change, however, as the BBC is to move a number of departments and staff to Manchester.

In the late 1990s dot-com boom, Leeds became one of the key hubs in the emerging new media sector - companies such as Freeserve, Energis, Sportal and Ananova emerged to dominate the UK internet industry, with Freeserve and Ananova going on to become part of Wanadoo and Orange within France Telecom. The City’s Holbeck area is now home to the ‘internet quarter’ - an urban village with infrastructure and facilities for digital media and creative companies; at its heart is the Round Foundry media centre facility. Now, over 33% of the UK’s internet traffic goes through Leeds, making it the UK’s largest internet city.