Press Release: Local Television Network (LTVN)
Local TV – First Freeview channel launched in Grimsby
Tuesday 26th November 2013 sees the start of a new era in broadcasting as Local TV takes its place in the UK media landscape.
The launch of Estuary TV in Grimsby marks the first channel on-air in the first phase of the Government-led initiative to make Local TV a reality across key towns and cities in the UK.
The Chair of the Local TV Network, Nigel Dacre, said: “The fact that local TV will be available in many major population centres will switch-on audiences to a new range of programmes, made in and about the areas that are most important to them – the communities where they live. Local businesses will also have access, in many locations for the first time, to an attractively-priced local TV advertising network”.
Nigel, a former Editor of ITV News, and Director of Notts TV, leads the trade body that represents the 14 companies which hold the 21 local TV licences which have been awarded to date.
The first 19 channels are expected to be launched over the next 12 months. In England and Northern Ireland they will be available on Channel 8 on Freeview. In Wales and Scotland the EPG slot is still in negotiation as are the Local TV ‘prominent’ EPG listings on the satellite and cable platforms.
The founders of Estuary TV, pioneers of local television making local programmes for cable distribution since 1998, were among the first to win their right to broadcast on Freeview. In September 2012, Ofcom announced that they had been awarded the licence to operate a local TV channel for the Grimsby area. Just over 12 months later they are set to make broadcasting history. The station is based at the Grimsby Institute and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the further and higher education college.
Estuary TV’s Executive Producer Lia Nici said: “We’re both proud and excited to be leading the way for the launch of the first 19 stations across the UK. Interest from the public both locally and nationally has been great as people are watching our test signals in anticipation of the channel programming starting at teatime on Tuesday”.
Maria Miller MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said: “Local television is an important part of the Government’s vision of a connected society, so I am delighted to be able to welcome the launch of the first local TV channel in Grimsby. Viewers consistently say they want local TV services grounded in their communities – and the new network which we have commissioned seeks to address this gap. We are building on our already outstanding media sector to enable a wider choice of news, and in time to create a stronger focus on local decision making.
“Since securing the licence to develop and run the local television infrastructure, Comux has done an excellent job to get us to this point, the launch of the first channel. I am grateful to Ed Hall and the Comux team for all of their efforts and would like to offer my congratulations to Estuary TV on being the first local TV station to start broadcasting. As more and more local TV channels go live across the country I look forward to seeing the excitement they cause and impact they have on local communities.”
For more information contact:
Lia Nici, Executive Producer Estuary TV t. 01472 315561 or
m. 07717 342372
or
Lin Glover, Director YourTV m 07711 554995
