Current local TV operators face a year of regulatory scrutiny to determine if they’re fit to operate a service on Freeview for another decade.
- Ofcom to review compliance history and financial plans before it renews licences.
- Financial model unpinning how local channels reach Freeview viewers under strain.
Operators of local TV channels across the UK are submitting their applications to renew their licences ahead of a deadline next month.
The licences guarantee their status as local public service broadcasters, giving them the right to broadcast on digital terrestrial television (Freeview) in their respective areas. Additionally, the licence for the multiplex carrying these channels on Freeview is also up for renewal.
However, unlike the original licensing round, Ofcom will keep details of the applications secret. An exception may apply if a substantial change is proposed, which requires input from third-parties. The regulator already kept details of the recent transfer of the London local TV licence private, not subjecting Evegny Lebedev’s London Live to the same treatment as other former local TV licence holders who wanted to transfer their licences to another company which were public. (See Birmingham decision & Liverpool decision)
Applications must be in by the end of March. Ofcom will then begin the process of scrutinising each local broadcaster’s compliance history and financial situation.
The regulator has until 25th November 2025 to decide in favour or against a licence renewal.
If a broadcaster loses their local TV licence, they could theoretically continue offering a service elsewhere. Local TV operator That’s TV already holds regular broadcast licences for its offshoot channels.
Minimum standards
Ofcom has previously warned local TV operators that it expects them to deliver a minimum standard of local news provision. It’s told broadcasters this can’t include repeating the same 15 minute bulletin over and over. Additionally, local channel mustn’t primarily be derived from a simulcast of a local radio station. Ahead of renewal, most local channels have extended their local news slots to almost two hours each evening.
Local TV operators have previously trimmed back local news commitments as initial start-up funding via the licence fee dried up and channels failed to attract local advertisers.
Despite boasts from some operators that they’re ‘digital-first’, some local TV operators lack a significant web presence, an online stream or a regular social media presence. Some have abandoned studio-based broadcasts altogether, with channels featuring local reporters presenting shows seemingly from their own homes and gardens.
Only London’s local channel remains on Sky, other operators have given up satellite distribution. Some services are carried on local cable networks. But for many, their main outlet continues to be Freeview.
The deadlines
The current set of local TV Freeview licences are set expire on 25th November 2025 unless the licence holder starts the process to renew their licence.
Local TV operators must apply for a renewal by 31st March 2025.
For broadcasters submitting a renewal application, Ofcom will move to automatically extend licences by one year, using a provision introduced in new legislation (The Local Digital Television Programme Services (Amendment) Order 2024). If a local TV operator does not wish to renew, then the existing November 2025 end date applies. Ofcom would then re-advertise the licence as soon as possible so that it can award a licence to a new broadcaster by 25th November 2025.
Renewed licences will run until the end of 2034, in line with other digital terrestrial TV licences.
Local multiplex unpins future of local broadcasts
Local TV channels wouldn’t be able to broadcast on Freeview without the relevant infrastructure set up to support local TV. But the financial model underpinning it all is under threat.
Currently, Comux, a company co-owned by local channels operates the local TV multiplex, which transmits a signal carrying the local TV channel in their respective areas.
The multiplex is supposed to make money by making surplus capacity available to third-party broadcasters. The money is then ploughed back into the local TV network, offsetting the cost of Freeview transmissions.
However, as broadcasting begins its shift online, there are signs that this financial model might already be struggling.
Over the years, Comux has seen a number of channels come and go on its capacity. These include channels from Ideal World, Sony Pictures Television, Narrative and the CBS AMC Networks UK Channel Partnership.
Channels stop traditional Freeview broadcasts
At the beginning of December, Narrative, which operates children’s channel POP and Tiny POP on Comux capacity switched the channels from traditional broadcast to hybrid streaming. This means Freeview users living in an area covered by a local channel can still find POP and Tiny POP in the channel list. But they need to have their TV connected to the internet to watch the channels. Hybrid streaming means that programme guide data is still broadcast over-the-air via the Comux local TV multiplex, alongside a portal that directs TV sets to the online stream. However, the method is much cheaper, as a broadcaster no longer needs to pay for the bandwidth required for a traditional linear TV broadcast. Instead of needing around 1.4 Mbps of bandwidth for each linear channel, a hybrid streaming channel takes a tiny fraction of bandwidth, measured in kbps.
As a result, the Comux local TV multiplex is almost half-empty, with analysis from digitalbitrate.com suggesting around 45% of the multiplex is stuffed with ‘null-packets’, i.e. is carrying nothing.
The remainder of the multiplex carries the relevant local channel plus entertainment channel Legend Xtra. Hybrid streaming channel Global Arabic+, available on Freeview channel 283 joins POP and TinyPOP.
As streaming channels gain dominance and more viewers switch to internet-based TV platforms like Sky Stream and Freely, it will be become harder to encourage broadcasters to take up a slot on a multiplex which only covers around 2/3rds of UK households.
More broadcasters could leave…
Wider moves in the industry only guarantee Freeview’s future until the end of 2034. That could lead to a ‘tipping point’, with more broadcasters exiting digital terrestrial coverage leaving local TV channels with a funding gap.
As a result, all eyes will be on any response from Ofcom regarding the local TV multiplex licence and its financial sustainability. No local TV multiplex, no local TV.
update
Shortly after this article was published, Nottingham’s local TV operator Notts TV confirmed it is not seeking to renew its licence. It will cease broadcasting in November. Ofcom has the option to readvertise the licence.
By: Marc Thornham | Image: Ofcom | Updated: 18/02/2025