Brit Awards 2026: Manchester Hosts, National Radio Rolls Out Red Carpet Coverage and Local Stories Take Centre Stage

Manchester hosts the Brit Awards 2026 on Saturday, marking the first time the ceremony has been held outside of London. The move has prompted coordinated red carpet and backstage coverage from major radio brands and a raft of local-focused features and competitions that underline the city’s enduring influence on the awards.

Brit Awards 2026: Manchester's first ceremony outside London

The shift to Manchester is notable not just as a change of venue but as recognition of four decades of winners and nominees drawn from the city and the wider Greater Manchester region. Organisers and broadcasters have highlighted Manchester’s history with the awards while planners prepare for ceremonies and wraparound programming on Saturday.

National radio brands to place presenters at the centre of BRITs coverage

A coordinated push across national radio brands will put presenters at the heart of BRITs coverage, with teams broadcasting live from the red carpet, reporting from backstage and the winners’ room, and sharing content widely across social platforms. Presenters are scheduled to capture arrivals, interviews and reaction throughout the night to deliver real-time audience engagement.

Presenters, shows and schedule details

• Jimmy Hill will host his Saturday show from 9am to 12pm live from Manchester.
• Coverage teams will report from Co-op Live, with planned backstage and winners’ room reporting during the evening.
• Showbiz correspondent Ashley Roberts will report live from the red carpet on Saturday afternoon and will share backstage stories and after-party coverage on a Monday morning breakfast programme.
• Specialist stations and programming blocks will revisit classic performances and winners in the build-up, including a Best of the BRITs feature set for Friday at 6pm.

Commercial sponsorship and long-running partnerships

A commercial radio partner continues a long-standing sponsorship of the Song of the Year category with Mastercard, a relationship that has been in place for nearly two decades. Executives involved in the broadcast push described the BRIT Awards as one of music’s biggest nights and signalled plans to maximise listener access to every stage of the evening.

Manchester-focused audience engagement: quiz, community pitches and local highlights

Local programming teams have launched a Manchester-themed quiz inviting listeners to test their knowledge of the city’s biggest BRITs moments, while editors are calling for suggestions about which Greater Manchester stories should be covered around the event. Audience members are invited to submit story ideas by WhatsApp to 0808 100 2230.

Notable local and national headlines running alongside BRITs coverage

Organisers and editorial teams are bundling BRITs coverage with a wide sweep of regional and national stories. Distinct items being signposted in editorial rundowns include:

• Hannah Spencer setting out the first thing she has already done as Gorton and Denton MP during an emotional visit to her old stomping ground.
• Stone Roses' Mani to be honoured by a music legend at the BRIT Awards after a sad death.
• A councillor speaking about a four-year hate campaign amid abuse directed at Cheshire East leaders.
• Programme searches for heart-warming stories from Bolton for an established presenter.
• A regular Mock the Week comedian heading to a Warrington venue.
• An abuser jailed after leaving a partner paralysed in a vicious attack described as 'Jekyll and Hyde'.
• Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowing to fight on after a historic Green by-election win and commentary that the Green victory shows insurgent parties are here to stay, with political analyst Sir John Curtice saying the win makes the future of British politics more uncertain.
• Former US president Bill Clinton saying 'I saw nothing, I did nothing wrong' as he testifies in connection with Jeffrey Epstein.
• Rising international tensions described as anxious days inside Iran amid speculation of US strikes, and features examining why Afghanistan and Pakistan are fighting.
• Industry coverage of entertainment-business alignment over a major studio deal and a range of radio-sector developments: a real-time whodunit podcast launched by Matt Edmondson and Mollie King, a major radio event heading to Stirling for 2026, a jazz-focused station announcing a full lineup of awards nominees for 2026, a radio academy rebrand and appointment of a new chair, expanded BRITs coverage across Europe by a commercial network, and regulatory moves to require stations to create local news locally.
• Personnel shifts and expansions in regional radio: Lorna Bailey named for a weekday breakfast slot at a regional station, a Dorset-area outlet celebrating DAB+ expansion, and a religious broadcaster’s chief signing off after an expansion phase.

One additional item in editorial systems is a placeholder page titled 'Just a moment... ' that currently contains no text; teams have noted this as a technical or staging artefact during the build-up to the weekend.

As Manchester prepares for the weekend, organisers, broadcasters and local newsrooms are balancing live ceremony logistics with a broad slate of regional stories and audience-facing features that aim to connect national interest in the Brit Awards 2026 with Greater Manchester’s longstanding musical legacy.