Local Freeview channel for London, which launched in 2014 will close on Sunday evening as uncertainty over the future of local TV channels on Freeview persists.
- After nearly 11 years, London Live will end on Sunday.
- Replacement service due to launch.
- Local TV future uncertain: licences to broadcast on Freeview expire in November.
London Live will come off the air at 23:59 this Sunday, 19th January after nearly eleven years on air. According to a statement on its social media channels, the final London Live news programme will air on Thursday 16th January 2025.
The channel was until recently owned by Evgeny Lebedev, owner the London Standard. Earlier this month, Local TV Limited, which operates a number of local stations in the north of England, plus Cardiff, Bristol and Birmingham finalised a deal to take over the operating company holding the local TV licence.
London Live launched in March 2014 with high hopes of providing the capital with a range of local news and information. It originally promised to deliver 8 hours a day of local, first run programmes. That was quickly watered down to 3.5 hours on weekdays with regulator Ofcom’s approval. London Live’s schedules began to be filled with more acquired programmes. In addition to Freeview, London Live also launched on Virgin Media and Sky satellite, under a separate licence.
Replacement service
Local TV Limited is expected to launch its own channel, London TV, on London Live’s current TV slots on 20th January. London TV is expected to carry a simulcast of Freeview channel True Crime for most of the day, in line with Local TV Limited’s other channels serving other UK cities.
Uncertain future for Local TV
However, the future of local TV in London and the wider UK remains uncertain, with all local TV licences still needing to be renewed before they expire on 25th November.
The Local TV licences permit each local TV operator to run a local TV service on Freeview in a particular geographical area. It is up to each operator to decide if they want to also join Virgin Media or Sky under a separate licence.
Renewal of local TV licences had been delayed because the piece of legislation allowing Ofcom to complete the process didn’t clear Parliament until just before Christmas.
Local TV licence holders must now apply to have their licences renewed by close of play on the 31st March. Successful applicants will be allowed to continue broadcasting on Freeview until 1st January 2035.
However, Ofcom has already warned current local TV operators that they must commit to providing local news. The regulator previously noted that local channels have struggled to broadcast just one hour of non-repeating news per day. It warned local TV operators that repeating the same 15 minute bulletin four times over does not meet the minimum requirement.
In addition, Comux, the multiplex operator carrying each local TV channel on Freeview also needs its licence renewed by November.
Ofcom to scrutinise local TV operator’s plans
In a statement issued in November, Ofcom said it would undertake a number of checks before renewing a licence.
Firstly, Ofcom will review the licensee’s compliance history over the current licence period, including but not limited to, any recorded breaches or open investigations. Ofcom has stressed that the presence of a previous breach or open investigation does not mean it will automatically refuse to renew the licence – it will assess the licensee’s compliance history in the round, taking into account factors such as the seriousness of any breaches recorded against the licensee, the extent to which the licensee has co-operated with any previous or on-going investigations and the extent to which the licensee has brought itself into compliance and remedied the consequences following any breach finding.
Secondly, Ofcom will review the local TV licensee’s plans for the next licence period and the extent to which they will secure compliance with its licence obligations for the duration of the next licence period. Ofcom says it will also look at the financial position of the licensee, both currently and as projected, to assess whether it is likely to be sufficient to support the fulfilment of its licence obligations over the next licence period.
Local TV operators increase local news provision
Ahead of licence renewal, and a telling off by Ofcom last month, That’s TV’s local channels have boosted their local news provision from a 15 minute bulletin at 6:30pm to a longer block running from 6:00-7:50pm. This is almost identical to the nightly strand of local news programming on Local TV Limited-owned channels.
The question is whether this will remain the same once licence renewals have completed, or whether the industry lobbies for a further reduction in programme commitments.
By: Marc Thornham | Image: London Live