Yup, checker now also showing launch of the new multiplex on Pontop Pike as 10 Feb 2014.

Ofcom have finally come to a decision about Bangor, despite there only being one applicant. And... it has been rejected. This is the first area to have an applicant yet not get a licence awarded.

I thought this local Tv idea would have been dropped by now. I suppose that will happen when the first one loses money and closes.

Our local Tv is going to be merged with Gloucester and it will not even have the name of our city in it, so what is the point? A local company is going to try and put one online just for us, if it will work is another thing, as to be honest, there is not much here to stick on Tv for hours on end. But at least it will be to do with Hereford and not some other city which we have nothing in common with at all.

I wonder whether Birmingham will ever make it to air, been postponed now till September. Test transmissions still continuing on ch791, i would have thought to save money they would have turned ch791 until nearer the opening date.

LCN 8 (Mustard TV) has just been added at Tacolneston. Currently a blank screen.

BonazaBonanza (LCN 64) and Comux Local Test (LCN 791) have appeared on Rowridge HP.

The tests on 791 are for the second national stream and nothing to do with Local TV which will appear on LCN 8 nearer the launch.

The Nottingham Post (one of the Notts TV Consortium) is reporting that Notts TV will be launching Tuesday May 27 (they previously tweeted saying it would be April 29) Hmm....

Apparently Sky and Virgin negotiations are ongoing too.

I costs no additional money to broadcast a test card (well possibly a slight amont of electric to generate it) as it's just another data stream on the multiplex - the additional streams are there to reduce the cost to the local tv operator (i.e. the costs of having 1 and 3 streams are little different (to the multiplex operator))

... and if I were Comux I would quite like an off air test rig!

Quick round-up of the last couple of days:
KMTV has been awarded the licence for Maidstone, and That's Basingstoke for Basingstoke.
Sheffield is getting improved coverage via a new relay.
Ofcom have finally advertised the final tranche of Phase 2.

No word on Bedfordshire Television, which disappeared off the Ofcom applicants page not long after they were put up. Either it has been withdrawn (I'd expect it to have been moved to "previous applicants" though) or it's still being considered. The disappearance is a bit odd though.

Is local tv for Birmingham still going to launch, was featured on BBC Midlands Today the other day, a local MP is asking OFCOM if they still exist and are going to launch anytime soon. Strangely no one was available for comment from the broadcaster.

Their licence has been granted with a start date of w/b 3rd November.

That's the deadline date by the look of it:


http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/news...re-run-7502354

Prior to that:


http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/busi...y-city-7440685

That does not look at all promising

..and I doubt it will be the last to show signs of problems. You have to doubt the financial viability of some of the smaller "franchise" areas, and in the larger areas, aside from Birmingham, London Live is already trying to backtrack on the promises that got it the contract there, and the launches of several of the other stations seem to be drifting.

I suspect financial backing is proving difficult to secure in many cases. A disaster waiting to happen...and in some cases already happening. The best effort so far appears to be STV Glasgow which has the benefit of being tied to an existing broadcasting brand with the resources that go with that.

Indeed. Long term, it's likely the franchised channels will be the more successful - YourTV X, That's Y, MADE in Z and the like. Existing brands - whether pre-DSO or web-based - also have more of a chance of doing well. It's the upstart individual entities like London Live and City8 that are at a significant disadvantage.

Much of this local TV discussion in the forums and media seems to focus on the misfortunes of London at the moment. Let us not forget that it can, and has been successful - Estuary TV is testament to that.

Yes, but the fact the licence has been "granted" (rather than just "awarded") means they are in a position to commence broadcasts that week. That doesn't mean they will, of course, but it looks like they've said to Ofcom that they will launch at the last possible minute to give them the time they need. Presumably they are now hoping for a miracle, or trying to put together a skeleton interim service so they don't lose the licence.

We're getting to the point two years from when Ofcom started to award the licences so we'll find out shortly how many fail to make it on-air.

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidston...idstone-21002/

I hope they have deep pockets! The KM running TV is not the best of ideas! If fact they admit they dont even have any ideas!. If its as good as the Radio it might have a chance, but that took years and while not perfect is better than Heart (mind you, having boiling oil poured in your ears is better than Heart!) TV is very different and a much fickle bunch. Know the KM they will hunt down the TVS archives! I have been told that it will basically be a few news bulletins on constant repeat with infomercials. I seriously hope not.

It doesn't look good at all, maybe Ofcom should have examined the business plans more closely.

The lack of positive information with regard to future service launch dates is at best troubling. Essentially a broadcaster has two years from the date of the award of a licence in which to commence broadcasting. However, before it can actually commence broadcasts a formal licence (with full terms and conditions) has to be granted.

There are currently 9 areas where licences were awarded which have yet to commence broadcasts but which must do so before the end of the year. 6 of the broadcasters concerned have been granted formal licences - in Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Belfast, Birmingham and Newcastle.

The dates by which the 9 must start broadcasting under the licence terms which are as follows:-

10 September - Brighton
17 September - Bristol, Cardiff
8 October - Belfast
22 October - Southampton
5 November - Birmingham, Oxford
19 November - Sheffield
3 December - Newcastle

Southampton, Oxford and Sheffield have been awarded licences but licences have not been formally granted (certainly not confirmed by Ofcom) as yet - not unusual in itself.

I would seriously doubt that any other launches will happen this year as no other areas yet have licences granted (as opposed to awarded), save for Leeds, and none of them require to launch this year pursuant to the dates of award.

As for Leeds although its licence was granted on 22 July and commences on 1 October the service has until 11 February 2015 to launch.

When you visit the various web sites relating to the licence holders there are only indications or hopes of launch dates, many of which have already passed.

As for 2015 the must launch by dates are as follows:-

7 January - Edinburgh
4 February - Manchester
11 February - Leeds
18 February - Liverpool
25 February - Preston
21 October - Cambridge, Scarborough
10 November - Middlesbrough
11 November - York

Guildford, Maidstone, Mold, Reading, Salisbury and Swansea have until 2016.

Interestingly the 5 services that have already launched all did so months in advance of the two year time limit from licence award. All of the remaining 2014 "must launches" are beginning to cut it fine however.

The made in network could really launch off the back of each other as 3rd December seems to be long after Leeds for transmission.

Made in Cardiff has already indicated a September launch and NvTV - The Belfast Channel has also confirmed September.

Brighton's Latest TV is already confirmed as launching 28th August.

From 26 November 2013 to 31 August 2014, 5 out of 5 local TV licences have/are launching on licence commencement date.

The Sheffield "must launch date" is in fact 25 September, as confirmed in Ofcom's approval for an additional transmitter serving Sheffield for Comux, as published on the Ofcom website last month.

All of those stations granted licences - except it appears Birmingham - have been actively recruiting staff over recent months.

Note that the mux has a go-live date of 25th Sept too! (maybe Ofcom were referring to that)
The muxes in Sheffield and Oxford aren't on-air yet, presumably because both were negotiating coverage improvements. I doubt either will commit to a date until transmission is sorted out, and Ofcom are unlikely to revoke their licences if they can't launch due to Comux missing their target dates.

This is one reason why I am sceptical that Birmingham will launch, to be just 3 months away from the "must launch by" date and not have begun the recruitment process speaks volumes.

Indeed, any station that is leaving it to the last possible moment to launch, running it extremely close to the wire, must be seen to be at risk.

How about this as a reasonable summary of the current position (and thanks for the link to the Brighton launch date confirmation):-

Local TV

Services Launched

23 Nov 2013 - Estuary TV (Grimsby)
24 March 2014 - Mustard TV (Norwich)
31 March 2014 - London Live (London)
27 May 2014 - Notts TV (Nottingham)
2 June 2014 - STV Glasgow (Glasgow)

Licence Granted (Launch Date Confirmed)

28 August 2014 - Latest TV (Brighton) (Must Launch Date 10 Sep 2014)
http://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2...ugust-28/32360

Licence Granted (Launch Windows* - Launch date TBC)

10 Sep to 17 Sep 2014 - Made in Bristol (Bristol)
17 Sep to 17 Sep 2014 - Made in Cardiff (Cardiff)
29 Sep to 8 Oct 2014 - NvTv (Belfast)
3 Nov to 5 Nov 2014 - City 8 (Birmingham)
15 Oct to 3 Dec 2014 - Made in Tyne & Wear (Newcastle)
1 Oct 2014 to 11 Feb 2015 - Made in Leeds (Leeds)

* - Launch Window is the period between the commencement date of the licence and the must launch by date (two years from original licence award)

Licence awarded but not yet formally granted (Must Launch Dates)

22 October 2014 - That's Solent (Southampton)
5 November 2014 - That's Oxford (Oxford)
19 November 2014 - SL TV / Sheffield Live (Sheffield)
7 January 2015 - STV Edinburgh (Edinburgh)
4 February 2015 - YourTV Manchester (Manchester)
18 February 2015 - Bay TV Liverpool (Liverpool)
25 February 2015 - YourTV Preston & Blackpool (Preston)
21 October 2015 - Cambridge Presents (Cambridge)
21 October 2015 - Yorkshire Coast TV (Scarborough)
10 November 2015 - Made In Teesside (Middlesbrough)
11 November 2015 - The York Channel (York)
13 January 2016 - Bay TV Swansea (Swansea)
13 January 2016 - Bay TV Clwyd (Mold)
2 June 2016 - That's Surrey (Guildford)
2 June 2016 - That's Reading (Reading)
2 June 2016 - That's Salisbury (Salisbury)
7 July 2016 - That's Hampshire (Basingstoke)
7 July 2016 - KMTV (Maidstone)

Applications Invited (Closing Date 23 October 2014)

Aberdeen, Ayr, Carlisle, Dundee, Forth Valley, Inverness, Stoke on Trent

Invitation to Express Interest (by 29 August 2014)

Kidderminster, Bromsgrove, Stratford upon Avon

Contracts Advertised but not awarded

No applicants - Barnstaple, Gloucester, Limavady, Londonderry, Plymouth
Rejected - Bangor
Other - Luton (Considering merger of licence with Bedford)