Ofcom awards Guildford, Reading and Salisbury local TV licences
20 Jun 2014 04:00 PM
Ofcom has awarded licences to run local TV
services in Guildford, Reading and Salisbury on digital terrestrial TV
(DTT).
The
licences are awarded to:
Guildford
Channel name: That’s Surrey
Website: www.thatstv.com
Reading
Channel name: That’s Reading
Website: www.thatstv.com
Salisbury
Channel name: That’s Salisbury
Website: www.thatstv.com
The
awards follow legislation enabling Ofcom to issue local TV licences. The
channels will be broadcast on DTT by the local multiplex, a discrete amount of
spectrum reserved for local TV broadcasting on DTT.
Ofcom has now awarded 28 local TV licences, as well as the multiplex licence. The
first local TV channel began broadcasting on DTT in Grimsby on 26 November
2013.
In
June 2013, Ofcom started the second phase of local TV licensing by inviting
applications to run local TV services in seven local areas. In September 2013
Ofcom invited applications for further 11 Local TV locations, including
Guildford, Reading and Salisbury.
Ofcom estimates that the local TV licences could reach
approximately 170,000 homes in Reading, 54,000 homes in Guildford, and 30,000
homes in Salisbury. The exact coverage at these locations will be confirmed
with the local multiplex licensee.
Statements setting out the main reasons for the award of
these three local TV licences for Guildford, Reading and Salisbury have
been published on the Ofcom website.
ENDS
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1.
Ofcom has provided technical assistance for local TV coverage planning and is
overseeing the licensing of local TV services. This follows the
Government’s policy statement in December 2011, and our public
consultation that closed on 19 March 2012.
2.
Digital UK, the organisation responsible for the management and allocation of
channel numbers on DTT, has reserved channel numbers for new local TV channels.
These will be carried at channel 8 (England and Northern Ireland) and channel
26 (Wales and Scotland).
3.
Full contact details for the current applicants, along with details of their
application areavailable here.