Birmingham and the West Midlands will find out next week whether we have been shortlisted to become a new base for Channel 4.

The broadcaster will reveal on Wednesday May 30 which towns and cities have made it to the next stage of the contest to host its national headquarters.

The West Midlands Combined Authority is offering Channel 4 locations in Birmingham and Coventry .

But the region faces stiff competition from other major cities, including Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield

Those backing the West Midlands bid include MP Richard Burden (Lab Northfield). He said: "The West Midlands should be the choice for Channel 4 .

The broadcaster is to open a “national headquarters” to operate alongside its existing headquarters in London, and two smaller hubs.

Towns, cities and regions have been invited to bid for the opportunity to house one of the bases

Richard Burden
Richard Burden MP backs the bid

Channel 4 said 300 jobs will be moved out of London. The national headquarters will include a state-of-the-art studio that will be used to produce Channel 4 programmes and events as well as live broadcasts.

There will also be a new digital production unit to create short digital content targeted at young audiences.

Channel 4 News also plans to co-anchor from outside its existing London studio every night, opening a newsroom in a city outside London.

And the broadcaster will increase the amount it spends commissioning programmes made outside London by £250m.

This is expected to support up to 3,000 additional production jobs.

Cities that are shortlisted will be invited to make a presentation to Channel 4 managers in June.

A decision on the site of the new national headquarters, and the two smaller "hubs", will be made on October 1.

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight and Citzen’s Khan star Adil Ray have backed the West Midlands bid, which is supported by the region's arts and cultural organisations, local authorities, MPs and mayor Andy Street.

Setting out the region's case in a Parliamentary debate, Mr Burden said: "If Channel 4 wants to reflect the United Kingdom of tomorrow, it should look at the West Midlands today and get closer to it.

"Our young and diverse population is a massive reservoir of talent on which Channel 4 can build."

Adil Ray
Adil Ray

He added: "The heritage of the West Midlands has always been about making things, and it still is.

"Innovation has always been at the heart of successful manufacturing, and our region is now the meeting point of the industrial makers, storytellers and artistic innovators.

"All those things have been brought closer together in the west midlands. By choosing the West Midlands for its new headquarters, Channel 4 can get closer to it, too."