Whilst I don't dispute that the actions of Carlton did consolidate the ITV network, it was after all Granada who caused it the most damage. Whilst the Westcountry and Central brands were removed under Carlton, there was not the large-scale closure of resources and centralisation of playout as seen in Granada regions. Granada's arrogance is continued today by the fact that only ex-Granada production facilities continue - the Carlton brand and associated businesses were immediately discarded by the merged ITV plc. For the record also I am no fan of David Cameron.

As for Arqiva, there has long been a duopoly prior to the merger of NGW and NTL which led to a lack of competition. Both companies relied on each other - transmission sites were complimentary and non-competitive - there has never been real competition in the transmission sector. Competition between BBC and IBA masts died with 405-line VHF. When we saw the last wave of local stations - the RSLs - they could not afford the fees of either NGW or NTL and mostly formed their own low-power transmission sites. At least with the new local TV set-up they have half a chance of achieving decent coverage with national contracts to access Arqiva-operated masts.

I do support local TV - but I feel they do now need to work together to bring programmes that people want to watch - whether that means sacrificing some local content for a network-based approach is unclear, but it was what saw ITV become popular in its heyday.

I see the Local TV Network has its own website, but still littered with inconsistencies for a group of stations which, really, have very little in common.

http://localtvnetwork.org.uk/

I've also managed to find it but the signal strength here isn't impressive.

Just out of interest, where is their studio? I had a quick look and the only address I could find is this one

That's TV Network
Highbury
Tudor Crescent
Portsmouth
PO6 2SA

http://www.thatstv.com/

Is that the address of the spare bedroom that their enterprise is run out of?

From Next Monday Notts TV will simulcast Gem 106's Sam and Amy Breakfast show.

https://twitter.com/SamandAmy/status/633175260754542592

Also, looking at the EPG it appears they now broadcasting 24/7 with Nottingham Now and Then filling in for Sam and Amy this week, local news remains evening only.

Interesting.... While the photo doesn't give much away, it doesn't look like they're automating it. Most of these radio visualisation systems use 'hothead-style' cameras to avoid needing to crew up.

Actually the address is as follows:

That’s Lancashire TV
Northern Lights Business Centre
The Media Factory
Kirkham Street
Preston PR1 2HE, UK

So it seems they aren't using Portsmouth.

That's Lancashire supposed to start on monday but there is no epg info yet

Looks like the cameras are fixed.

Some screenshots, you can see the cameras on the Dave one...

http://kjs.me.uk/3rdparty/digitalspy/gemnotts/all.jpg
http://kjs.me.uk/3rdparty/digitalspy/gemnotts/amy.jpg
http://kjs.me.uk/3rdparty/digitalspy/gemnotts/dave.jpg
http://kjs.me.uk/3rdparty/digitalspy/gemnotts/sam.jpg
and during the ads
http://kjs.me.uk/3rdparty/digitalspy/gemnotts/ads.jpg

Looks to be manually controlled in some way, camera switching doesn't 100% follow the open mic.

You can see the photos Sam browses during the songs

That's Lancashire's licence came into effect today (http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/binari...PS_Licence.pdf)

In line with section 4 paragraph 3 of the licence, has anything been spotted on the channel?

That's Manchester launched with not much time to spare before the deadline, is That's Lancashire doing the same?

A programme called "Talk Lancashire" has appeared.

That's Lancashire now on air.

This is uncomfortable viewing, the presenters don't look natural on camera and some bad editing too. Just watching the girl reading the news from 3.30pm, it looks like she is force reading off the camera and thinking what does that say before carrying on. She read a piece what would assuming would be shown on film and you could clearly see the edit that didn't show the story and her read the next bit.

It went to a break with ads then cue news titles which repeated 4 times before going back to the ads again. oh dear

Now we have a trailer on repeat for the last 15mins *Rolleyes*

Sounds like That's Oxford

But do they have a nice brick wall and a pot plant like That's Manchester?

It looks like it's broadcast from Preston, there isn't enough content on it as when they run out a promo loop is put on for ages until the next story or pgramme starts.

It's shockingly bad lol

Talk about repeats lol

Well it seems the channel is going back off air next Monday with test transmission on the epg.

They probably just haven't updated it yet.

It's not even live, all pre-recorded on a loop.

I don't know how far local TV signals usually go but Notts TV was clear and stable on the TV in the guest house I stayed at in Boston Lincolnshire this week. The TV was a rather grim 19inch Goodmans that showed only about 70% signal strength and 80% quality on all channels so it wasn't because the place had a very good aerial system. The land around there is very flat of course so no physical obstructions to impede the signal from the Waltham transmitter.

The morning show, pictures from the Gem 106 radio studio, was a novelty for a few minutes.

That's Lancashire there's been nothing on apart from a black screen and dog for ages.

A disaster in the making.

Thats Solent has had a frozen screen for the last half hour at least!!! Does nobody watch the output really poor

Breakdowns and embarrassing amateurism used to be part of the charm of the old local cable channels, but with today's technology there's really no excuse for it anymore. Even the lowest budget channels ought to be able to present a reasonably professional look in this day and age. Notts TV had a few teething troubles early on but now runs pretty smoothly. They've recently started doing live OB reports as well, there was a recent story that did appear to prove that the initial broadcast of the daily news (which is repeated three times) does now go out live. It is still crying out for a decent weather forecast though.

Maybe 'That's Lancashire' will get its' act together eventually, but it certainly doesn't sound like a promising start.

Looks like L_MAN is currently off air - no signal on the mux at all, dropped between 11:30 approx 11:39 according to my pc. Anyone else (not) seeing this? Also any reports on Preston/Blackpool or L_LIV from Winter Hill?

Back on air now.