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Local TV
CountryUnited Kingdom
Broadcast areaSky: United Kingdom
Freeview:
HeadquartersLeeds
Ownership
OwnerLocal TV Ltd
Sister channels
History
Launched
  • Bristol: 8 October 2014
  • Cardiff: 15 October 2014
  • Leeds: 6 November 2014
  • Tyne and Wear: 12 November 2014
  • Liverpool: 12 October 2016
  • Birmingham: 8 November 2016
  • Teesside: 30 March 2017
  • North Wales: 26 April 2017
Former namesMade Television (2014-2021)
Links
Websiteuklocal.tv

Local TV (formerly Made Television) is a local television network in the United Kingdom, operating eight[1] stations serving the Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool, North Wales, Teesside and Tyne and Wear areas.

Overview

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In September 2012, the broadcast regulator Ofcom awarded two licences to Made Television to broadcast local TV services in the Bristol and Cardiff areas.[2][3] Three months later, the company was granted a third licence to serve the Newcastle, Sunderland and Gateshead areas,[4] followed in February 2013 by a licence for the Leeds area.[5]

In November 2013, the company gained a fifth local TV licence to serve the Middlesbrough and Teesside areas.[6]

Made in Bristol was the first of the company's channels to launch, at 8pm on Wednesday 8 October 2014, followed a week later by its sister station in Cardiff.[7] Made in Leeds began broadcasting on Thursday 6 November 2014 and Made in Tyne & Wear launched six days later. The stations launched an on-demand service, OnView, in March 2015[8] followed in August by live streaming.

In 2016, the company bought two independently run local TV stations: Bay TV Liverpool, shortly after it went into administration in August, followed by Walsall-based Big Centre TV in October.[9] Bay TV was reopened and relaunched as 'Made in Liverpool' at 6pm on Wednesday 19 October 2016, followed by the relaunch of Big Centre as 'Made in Birmingham' on Tuesday 8 November 2016.[10]

Two further stations launched during the spring of 2017 – Made in Teesside for the Middlesbrough area on Thursday 30 March 2017[11] followed by Made in North Wales for Mold and surrounding areas on Wednesday 26 April 2017.[12]

On Thursday 25 May 2017, all Made channels began carrying acquired programming from the UK and Ireland version of factual entertainment channel TruTV as part of a supply agreement with Sony Pictures Television. The stations simulcast TruTV in two daily blocks from 1pm to 5pm and 9pm to 1am (8pm to midnight on Tuesdays to accommodate America's Got Talent).[13][14] From November 2017, the Made channels began simulcasting CBS Reality for 11 hours a day.

In November 2017, following a restructuring of the Made network's operations,[15] local programming was cut and studio production of daily news and magazine programmes was centralised at Made's Leeds and Birmingham stations. Around forty staff across the network were reportedly made redundant.

Following the cutbacks, the network began producing two weekday programmes - Made TV News (broadcast from Leeds) and The Big Daily (initially produced from Birmingham), both including local and networked content. Both programmes were axed in February 2018 and replaced by separate rolling blocks of pre-recorded local news, sport and features

On 2 January 2018, Made Television ceased broadcasting its localised services in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool and Tyne & Wear on digital satellite. They were replaced by a single, generic Made Television feed featuring a daily three-hour block of local news programming. Made in Cardiff ceased broadcasting on all platforms and was replaced by the generic network feed.[16]

The stations aired a block of localised news and sport alongside networked simulcasted programming from factual entertainment channel CBS Reality.[17][18][19]

In January 2021, Local TV Limited began broadcasting a service targeting viewers in Manchester. Unlike the group's other channels, Manchester TV is not the official local-TV service provider; That's Manchester occupies the Comux local multiplex slot and LCN 7, with LTV's Manchester TV occupying a lower berth (LCN 99 at launch) and transmitting on the legacy Greater Manchester multiplex originally set up for the defunct Channel M service. When transmissions began, the channel relayed the network Local TV service as provided on satellite.[20]

On 15 December 2021, Local TV Manchester abruptly closed on Freeview with the released space given to a Greater Manchester channel from On Demand 365.[21]

In 2023, the channels started simulcasting TalkTV's news programmes during the day, with hour long local news bulletins at 1pm, 6pm and 9pm (which were also looped overnight) and it was later decided to rebrand all eight stations under the TalkTV name, a move which took place on 18 October 2023.[22]

In 2024 the channels were rebranded back to their previous branding following the closure of TalkTV on broadcast television.[23]

Satellite version

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On 20 October 2021, all of the 5 Local TV versions on channel 117 were removed on Sky. Local TV Cardiff was on channel 135 due to S4C previously occupying channel 117. Local TV Cardiff was renamed Local TV and moved to channel 195, the lowest ranked slot in the EPG's entertainment section and began broadcasting to all of the United Kingdom.[24] All six Local TV services (not Manchester or North Wales) were merged into this new channel with various local news broadcasts over a 2 hour period instead of just one news broadcast.

Programming

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All Local TV Ltd stations produce a rolling block of pre-recorded local news, sport and features airing each weeknight. Each station's block airs each weekday for up to three or four hours. For example, Bristol Live airs each weekday from 5pm to 9pm while North Wales Live airs from 6pm to 9pm. Cardiff Live, a half-hour block for Cardiff, airs at 5pm on weekdays on the Made Television networked feed. The networked feed also carries a half-hour version of the rolling blocks for Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Tyne and Wear.

As of September 2022, the service acts as a simulcast of CBS Reality for most of the day, with local programming from 6-9am, 1–2pm and from 6-8pm.[25] Repeats of local programming also air overnight from 2-6am.[26] There was also a TalkTV block from 7 or 8-9am.

On Sunday nights, Local TV gets the first airing of The Heritage Chart Show with Mike Read, a pop music countdown of videos and live performances from veteran acts, presetented by the former Radio 1 disc jockey Mike Read. The programme gets broadcast on Local TV's network of channels at 7pm[27] before getting a late-night repeat on Talking Pictures TV.[28][29][30]

Organisation

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Local TV Limited's headquarters are at the Leeds Media Centre in the Chapeltown area of Leeds, with studios and offices based at Elgin House in Cardiff city centre, the Toxteth TV studios in the Toxteth suburb of Liverpool and the David Puttnam Media Centre at the University of Sunderland.[citation needed] Playout and presentation for the network is run from the Leeds headquarters.

On 19 August 2018, Made Television rebranded as Local TV Limited and all sub-stations were renamed according to their city.[31]

By 2021, Local TV's chairman David Montgomery (a newspaper executive, whose company National World was known for taking over JPIMedia in a £10m deal which included papers such as The Scotsman and The Yorkshire Post)[32] outlined plans for a new 'Northern TV Network' which would include Local TV's channels in Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.[33][34] The 'NTVN' plans were later quietly dropped.

In 2022, Ofcom agreed to Local TV Limited's proposal to close their production centres in Birmingham, Bristol and on Teesside,[35] as the company decided to keep their remote Covid working practices as the company standard.

References

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  1. ^ https://uklocal.tv
  2. ^ Local TV in Bristol: Made in Bristol awarded licence by Ofcom, recombu.com, 19 September 2012
  3. ^ Local TV: Made in Cardiff to be capital's new channel, BBC News, 19 September 2012
  4. ^ Made in Tyne and Wear awarded TV licence, Press Gazette, 6 December 2012
  5. ^ "Ofcom awards Leeds local TV licence". Ofcom. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  6. ^ Made Television and Trinity Mirror land Middlesbrough local TV licence, theguardian.com, 27 November 2013
  7. ^ First Welsh local TV station prepares for launch Archived 1 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, OFCOM, 15 October 2014
  8. ^ Made Television - about us
  9. ^ "Liverpool's Bay TV set to be bought days after going into administration". 31 August 2016.
  10. ^ Big Centre TV acquired by rival network 18 months after launch, Birmingham Mail, 4 October 2016
  11. ^ Made TV network continues to expand with launch of new channel for Teesside, Made Television, 8 March 2017
  12. ^ Made TV network continues to expand with launch of Made in North Wales, Made Television, 20 March 2017
  13. ^ Made Television reveals all-new summer line up Archived 1 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Made Television, 25 May 2017
  14. ^ TruTV on Made Archived 1 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Made Television, 25 May 2017
  15. ^ Jobs to be axed at Made in Birmingham TV station, Birmingham Post, 26 October 2017
  16. ^ Made TV splits Sky and Freeview local TV feeds, a516digital.com, 4 January 2018
  17. ^ Made Television and Trinity Mirror land Middlesbrough local TV licence, theguardian.com, 27 November 2013
  18. ^ "Liverpool's Bay TV set to be bought days after going into administration". 31 August 2016.
  19. ^ Made Television to launch North Wales service in April, Prolific North, 20 March 2017
  20. ^ "Manchester TV launches on Freeview channel 99", RXTV.info, Jan 2021
  21. ^ "Freeview Updates". RXTV info. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  22. ^ Local TV stations align themselves with talk TV brand
  23. ^ "TalkTV closure brought forward; local Freeview channels revert back". RXTV. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  24. ^ "Sky: Local TV channel demotion". 15 October 2021.
  25. ^ Your Merseyside Tonight broadcast on Local TV Liverpool on 17 December 2021 at 6pm
  26. ^ Your Merseyside - Breakfast broadcast on Local TV Liverpool on 18 December 2021 at 6am
  27. ^ https://www.heritagechart.co.uk
  28. ^ "The Heritage Chart Show with Mike Read on Talking Pictures TV, Sun 8 May 11:55pm - TV Guide UK TVGuide.co.uk".
  29. ^ "The Heritage Chart Show with Mike Read, 11:55pm on Talking Pictures TV".
  30. ^ "Video".
  31. ^ "Local TV LTD | Always Local, Always Live!". Local TV TV. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  32. ^ Carrell, Severin; Sweney, Mark (31 December 2020). "Owner of Scotsman and Yorkshire Post newspapers bought for £10m". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  33. ^ Sharman, David (2 February 2021). "JPIMedia chairman launches new Manchester TV channel - Journalism News from HoldtheFrontPage". HoldtheFrontPage. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  34. ^ "David Montgomery's local TV network to launch Manchester channel". Prolific North. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  35. ^ "Local TV cuts as channels move to remote delivery". 17 January 2022.
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