Local television in the United Kingdom

Licences to broadcast local television in the United Kingdom are currently being offered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Ofcom.

Availability

The multiplexes that the stations operate on are operated by Comux, owned by Canis Media.[1]

The stations are located on DTT channel 8 in England and Northern Ireland. Because channel 8 is already allocated in Scotland and Wales, the stations were originally given channel 45, however following a number of channel closures, the number is now channel 23.

Phase 1

In May 2012, twenty one areas were selected to invite bids for providing a local TV service:[2]

Primary location Transmitter Winning operator[3] Launch date Other bids[4]
Belfast Divis NVTV 29 September 2014 Made in Belfast
Birmingham Sutton Coldfield Big Centre TV 28 February 2015 Bham TV, Made in Birmingham, YourTV Birmingham
Brighton and Hove Whitehawk Hill Latest TV 28 August 2014 none
Bristol Mendip Made in Bristol 8 October 2014 none
Cardiff Wenvoe Made in Cardiff 15 October 2014 Cardiff Local TV
Edinburgh Craigkelly STV Edinburgh[5] 12 January 2015 Edinburgh News Network, Made in Edinburgh, Metro8 Edinburgh
Glasgow Black Hill STV Glasgow[5] 2 June 2014 Glasgow TV, Made in Glasgow, Metro8 Glasgow
Grimsby Belmont Estuary TV[6] 26 November 2013 none
Leeds Emley Moor Made in Leeds[7] 6 November 2014 Leeds TV, Metro8 Leeds, NORTH, YourTV Leeds
Liverpool Winter Hill Bay TV Liverpool[8] December 2014 Made in Liverpool, Metro8 Liverpool, Our-TV, YourTV Liverpool
London Crystal Palace London Live[9] 31 March 2014 London8, LondonTV, Made in London, YourTV London
Manchester Winter Hill YourTV Manchester, now That's Manchester June 2015 Made in Manchester, Manchester News Channel, MCR TV, Metro8 Manchester
Newcastle Pontop Pike Made in Tyne and Wear[10] 12 November 2014 Metro8 Newcastle, NEON-TV, YourTV Newcastle
Norwich Tacolneston Mustard TV[11][12] 24 March 2014 NR ONE
Nottingham Waltham Notts TV 27 May 2014 Television Nottingham
Oxford Oxford That's Oxford[13] 5 November 2014 Oxford 8, Oxford 8
Plymouth Caradon Hill no bids N/A no bids
Blackpool/Preston Winter Hill YourTV Blackpool & Preston[14], now That's Lancashire 2015 Metro8 Preston
Sheffield Sheffield Sheffield Live TV 23 September 2014 Metro8 Sheffield, YourTV Sheffield
Southampton / Portsmouth Rowridge That's Solent 22 October 2014 TV Solent
Swansea Kilvey Hill no bids N/A no bids

In August 2012 fifty seven applications were received to provide these services.[15][16] Bristol, Brighton and Hove, and Grimsby attracted only one bid each.[17] Plymouth and Swansea received no bids from potential broadcasters.[18]

† The owners of Birmingham licence City8 went into administration before the channel launched. The licence is expected to be re-awarded to another operator.[19]

Phase 2

In March 2013, Ofcom announced another 30 areas selected to invite bids for local television services.[20]

Primary location Transmitter Winning operator[3] Other bids[21][4]
Aberdeen Durris Around Aberdeen Around Aberdeen (STV Group plc)
Ayr Darvel Ayrshire Today (STV Group plc)
Bangor Llanddona not awarded[22] Bay TV Gwynedd
Barnstaple Huntshaw Cross
Basingstoke Hannington That's Hampshire
Bedford Sandy Heath
Bromsgrove Bromsgrove
Cambridge Madingley Cambridge Presents[23] none
Carlisle Caldbeck
Derry Londonderry
Dundee Angus View from the Bridges (STV Group plc)
Gloucester
Guildford Guildford That's Surrey[24]
Hereford Ridge Hill
Inverness Rosemarkie ICTV
Kidderminster Kidderminster
Limavady Limavady
Luton Luton
Maidstone/Tonbridge Bluebell Hill KMTV
Malvern Malvern
Middlesbrough Bilsdale Made in Teesside[25] TeesVision
Mold Moel-y-Parc Bay TV Clwyd[26] Serch TV Mold
Plymouth Caradon Hill
Reading Hannington That's Berkshire[27]
Salisbury Salisbury That's Salisbury[28]
Scarborough Oliver's Mount Yorkshire Coast TV[23] none
Stoke-on-Trent Fenton
Stratford-upon-Avon Lark Stoke
Swansea Kilvey Hill Bay TV Swansea[26] Love Swansea
Tonbridge Bluebell Hill
York Bilsdale The York Channel[25] none

References

  1. ↑ "Ofcom awards local TV ‘multiplex’ licence". Ofcom. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
  2. ↑ Deans, Jason (10 May 2012). "Ofcom invites bids to run local TV services in 21 towns and cities". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "List of L-DTPS Award Decisions". Ofcom. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "List of Previous L-DTPS Licence Applicants". Ofcom. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Ofcom awards local TV licences in Scotland". Ofcom. 11 January 2013.
  6. ↑ Brown, Maggie (4 September 2013). "Local TV steps up activity ahead of launch". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "Ofcom awards Leeds local TV licence". Ofcom. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  8. ↑ "Ofcom awards Liverpool local TV licence". Ofcom. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  9. ↑ "Ofcom awards London local TV licence". Ofcom. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "Made In Tyne and Wear awarded local TV licence". PressGazette. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  11. ↑ "Ofcom awards second set of local TV licences". Ofcom. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  12. ↑ "Mustard: Norwich local TV service to create 14 new jobs". BBC News. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  13. ↑ "Rantzen set to star on That’s Oxford TV". Oxford Times. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  14. ↑ "Ofcom awards Preston local TV licence". Ofcom. 1 March 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  15. ↑ Reynolds, John (14 August 2012). "Lebedev, Johnson and Norris to fight it out for London TV". MediaWeek. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  16. ↑ "List of Applicants". Ofcom. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  17. ↑ Ray, Bill (14 August 2012). "Wannabe media barons outed in UK local telly bid list". The Register. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  18. ↑ "Local TV: No bids for Swansea, but two for Cardiff". BBC News. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  19. ↑ "Birmingham local TV firm City TV in administration". BBC News. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  20. ↑ "Ofcom prepares for second phase of local TV licensing". Ofcom. 13 March 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  21. ↑ "List of Current L-DTPS Licence Applicants". Ofcom. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  22. ↑ "Local TV Award decision: non-award for Bangor" (PDF). Ofcom. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Ofcom awards Cambridge and Scarborough local TV licences". Ofcom. 31 October 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  24. ↑ "Local TV Award: Guildford" (PDF). Ofcom. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Ofcom awards York and Middlesbrough local TV licences". Ofcom. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Ofcom awards Swansea and Mold local TV licences". Ofcom. 23 January 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  27. ↑ "Local TV Award: Reading" (PDF). Ofcom. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  28. ↑ "Local TV Award: Salisbury" (PDF). Ofcom. Retrieved 5 January 2015.

External links