Brit Awards 2026: Manchester Goes Big as Global Brands Stage Extensive Coverage

The brit awards 2026 are centring on Manchester this weekend, the first time the ceremony has been held outside London, and organisers and broadcasters are mobilising a large-scale live push from the red carpet to the winners' room. That shift matters for the city’s long-running relationship with the awards and for the way national coverage will be delivered across live radio, digital and social platforms.

Brit Awards 2026: Manchester hosts outside London for the first time

Manchester will host the Brit Awards on Saturday, marking the ceremony’s first staging outside London. Artists from the city and the wider Greater Manchester region have been winning the famous statues for four decades, a legacy organisers and local partners are highlighting during this relocation. A quiz inviting audiences to test their knowledge of Manchester’s biggest Brits moments has been prepared to showcase that history.

National broadcast groups and red-carpet plans

A coordinated push from major broadcast groups will place presenters at the centre of this year’s Brit Awards coverage. Multiple stations and digital brands will broadcast live from the red carpet, speaking to nominees and winners on arrival and capturing reaction throughout the night across radio, social and digital platforms. Presenters will also report from backstage and the winners’ room, with content intended for wide distribution on short-form and long-form social channels.

One longstanding broadcast partner will continue its Song of the Year sponsorship for nearly two decades, and breakfast and weekend build-up programming branded around the awards will lead into the show. A presenter, Jimmy Hill, will host his Saturday show from 9am to 12pm live from Manchester, while showbiz teams will report from Co-op Live. Another showbiz correspondent, Ashley Roberts, is scheduled to report live from the red carpet on Saturday afternoon and to share backstage and after-party coverage on the following breakfast programme.

Another channel will focus on red carpet and backstage interviews, while a themed programme will air a Best of the BRITs compilation on the Friday before the ceremony from 6pm, revisiting past performances and winners. James Rea, the group’s chief broadcasting and content officer, described the awards as one of the biggest nights in music and said the broadcaster would make sure audiences could experience every minute. Platforms will offer real-time updates and opportunities to subscribe for direct alerts.

Local engagement and ways to contribute

Organisers and local teams have encouraged Greater Manchester audiences to engage with the coverage and to share story ideas. Regional radio and social platforms are hosting features and playlists reflecting Manchester’s music history, and listeners are invited to send story ideas by messaging to 0808 100 2230. A week of build-up branded as a special awards weekend will feed into Saturday’s live coverage.

Wider headlines and regional roundup

• 10 things we learned as Greater Manchester got a new Gorton and Denton MP.
• EuroMillions results live: Winning lottery numbers for tonight's £139m draw - Friday, February 27.
• Councillor opens up on a four-year hate campaign amid abuse directed at Cheshire East leaders.
• Sara Cox is looking for heart-warming stories from Bolton to feature on a popular show.
• A regular Mock the Week comedian is heading to a Warrington venue.
• An abuser described as 'Jekyll and Hyde' was jailed after leaving a partner paralysed in a vicious attack.
• Labour leader Starmer vows to fight on after a historic Green by-election win.
• Commentary notes that a Green victory shows insurgent parties are here to stay and may make the future of British politics more uncertain.
• Former US president Bill Clinton said 'I saw nothing, I did nothing wrong' as he testified about Jeffrey Epstein; broader inquiries into international alignments and deals between Hollywood and political factions are under discussion.
• A commentator, Sir John Curtice, said the Greens' win means future political outcomes are more uncertain than before.
• Analysis pieces address why Afghanistan and Pakistan are fighting in recent coverage.
• A personal feature tells of a victim who hugged her daughter's killer as they cried together in prison.

Industry notes and related media moves

Other media items tied to the awards and the broader industry this week include: two presenters, Matt Edmondson and Mollie King, launching a real-time whodunit podcast; a major radio festival heading to Stirling in Scotland for 2026; a jazz-focused station announcing a full lineup of awards nominees for 2026; a radio academy rebranding to an audio academy and appointing a new chair; a major broadcasting group taking BRITs coverage across Europe; and regulator plans to require stations to create local news locally.

In regional programming moves, a local breakfast show has appointed Lorna Bailey for weekday breakfast presenting, a coastal station is celebrating DAB+ expansion, and a long-standing community network chief has signed off after expansion. These items form part of a busy media week that converges with Manchester’s hosting of the brit awards 2026.

Details remain subject to late changes and providers are still finalising schedules for red-carpet, backstage and winners' room access. Recent updates indicate programming and presenter line-ups may evolve in the hours before the ceremony.