Sky has confirmed the departure of the Local TV Channel from Sky satellite channel 188 this Thursday, with programmes due to end at 6am.
The Local TV Channel combined the output of local stations covering Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool and the North East. Sky viewers living in the local areas covered by the stations may still be able to receive the channels through Freeview and/or Virgin Media cable from 1st December.
The channel was originally regionalised on Sky, under its former name of MADE Television. But following funding cuts and a change in owner, a single satellite feed was created. The output from each regional station received a half-hour slot on the channel during local hours. A simulcast of CBS Reality fills the remaining hours.
In September, the Local TV Channel briefly hosted content from Talk TV, simulcasting Tom Newton-Dunn’s former show The News Desk and repeating Piers Morgan’s show following the death of the Queen.
The Local TV Channel is operated by Local TV Limited, under the ownership of newspaper publishing group Montgomery Media.
Origin of local TV
Local TV channels were championed by Jeremy Hunt when he was Culture Minister, leading to Ofcom advertising licences to broadcast new local services in various locations across the UK. The first of these local channels launched on Freeview during 2013-14. Local TV operators were able to claim licence fee money for the first three years. After a period of consolidation, the two largest local TV licence holders are currently That’s TV, based near Manchester and Local TV Limited, headquartered in Leeds. None of these stations has been able to maintain their original local programme commitments, with Ofcom allowing them to water down the amount of local programming shown on each channel.
Current status of the local channels
Following Local TV’s departure from Sky, only London Live offers its local service on the platform. All other channels are on Freeview, either on channel 7 or 8, depending on area. Some services are also carried on Virgin Media in their respective broadcast areas. That’s TV offers a national version of its channel on Sky, which excludes all local content.