Norwich shortlisted by Ofcom as pioneer for new local television station
Paul Hill, Archant Anglia business editor
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
11:32 AM
Norwich is set to be among the first 20 cities in the country to pioneer new “local” television, the broadcasting regulator Ofcom confirmed today.
The regulator has whittled down a long-list of 65 cities around the country to a shortlist of 20 where it believes a local - rather than regional - television station could operate.
Ofcom said the 20 cities had been selected “from the sites where local TV is technically possible and we consider there is a potential local service operator, and selected to achieve a range of locations across the UK, and a range of scales of operation.
“We also take into account evidence of strong local demand.”
Norwich was alone with Cambridge in the East of England where broadcast spectrum – a digital TV signal – could be made available for a local channel, according to the original list of 65 candidate cities.
According to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, up to 155,000 households around Norwich would be able to receive it.
But it appears that Cambridge has not made Ofcom’s final cut.
The 20 cities shortlisted today by the regulator are Norwich, Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton & Hove, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Grimsby, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Plymouth, Preston, Southampton and Swansea.
Ofcom said it would give further details in a consultation paper later this month.
* Join the debate on Twitter using the hashtag #norwichtv
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8 comments
One has to be concerned about what will actually appear on any new station. Repeating what has already been shown elsewhere will be an absolute waste. Will it be freeview or freesat or more monopoly sky? Keep out BBC and sky!
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andy
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
I hope Sky's mucky snout is kept out of the equation. Money would be better used for fast broadband across the Eastern Counties.
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Tractorboy
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Why are they going on about the first 20 places in the UK having their own TV station. Southampton has had one for about 20 years!
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Pling
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Well hope the picture quality is improved, cause since the digital switchover for Norwich certain channels pixelate or have no signal, and varies from day to day quality wise. Cannot see the broadcasters or anyone related to the masts they done a bodge Job
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chebram71
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Maybe apply for your own show, bookworm?
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Jono Read
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
tv is mainly trash. we need old drama and comedy from the 1970s and 1980s.on all day every day.
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bookworm
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
stuart white in 3d 247 careful!!!
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bookworm
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Can they guarantee that another channel is not just going to further water down the quality of TV content that has already been diluted to near death.
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Dennis Kemp
Tuesday, December 13, 2011