Timeline of local television in the UK facts for kids

This is a timeline of how local television in the United Kingdom has grown. Local TV means channels that broadcast to a small area, like a city or a part of a county. This is different from bigger channels like ITV or BBC that cover larger regions.

The 1970s: Early Days

• 1972
  • The UK government allowed five test local TV channels that used cables. The first one to start was Greenwich Cablevision.

• 1973
  • Sheffield Cablevision, The Bristol Channel, and Swindon Viewpoint all started broadcasting.

• 1974
  • March – The last of these early local channels, Wellingborough Cablevision, began.

• 1975
  • 14 March – The Bristol Channel closed after less than two years.
  • 24 March – Wellingborough Cablevision also closed.

• 1976
  • 2 January – Sheffield Cablevision closed because it ran out of money.
  • Greenwich Cablevision stopped being a full-time channel. Volunteers kept it going in a smaller way until the early 1980s.
  • Swindon Viewpoint's test phase ended when its funder, EMI, pulled out. But the channel kept going after the people of Swindon bought it for £1.

The 1980s: New Ideas

• 1980
  • April – Regular shows on Swindon Viewpoint stopped when funding ran out. Volunteers kept making programs now and then for the next ten years.

• 1981
  • Radio Rental Cable Television launched 'Cinematel'. This was the UK's first pay-per-view movie channel for cable viewers in Swindon. It also showed local programs, like documentaries and a live news show called Scene in Swindon. They also had a local teletext service with information like movie times and job openings.

• 1985
  • Swindon's cable service changed its name to Swindon Cable. Its news show was renamed Focus on Swindon and started broadcasting three times a week instead of two.

• 1986
  • 4 February – Thorn EMI sold its part of Swindon Cable to British Telecom. The new owners stopped Focus on Swindon and other local shows, replacing them with content bought from other places.

• 1988
  • Swindon cable's TV channel was relaunched as Swindon's Local Channel. This brought back local news, sports, and special documentaries.

The 1990s: More Channels Appear

• 1994
  • November – Associated Newspapers launched Channel One, a news channel for London. It was only available on cable in some areas.

• 1995
  • L!VE TV started its first local TV channels. They planned to have about 20, but only a few actually launched.

• 1998
  • 25 September – Channel One closed after less than four years on air.

• 1999
  • C9TV (Channel 9 Television) launched as a local TV station in Derry.
  • 27 May – MATV Channel 6 began broadcasting to the Asian community in Leicester.
  • 6 June – The Oxford Channel started broadcasting.
  • 5 November – L!VE TV closed, and so did its local channels.

The 2000s: Changes and Closures

• 2000
  • 14 February – Channel M began broadcasting in parts of Greater Manchester. You could watch it for free on regular TV.

• 2001
  • May – Channel Six Dundee started broadcasting.
  • The Oxford Channel was sold and relaunched as Six TV.

• 2002
  • July – Channel Six Dundee stopped broadcasting.
  • 31 October – Solent TV started broadcasting to the Isle of Wight.

• 2004
  • 9 February – Belfast local channel NVTV started broadcasting.

• 2007
  • C9TV stopped making new shows and mostly showed Sky News.
  • 16 April – Channel M launched a breakfast show called Channel M Breakfast.
  • 24 May – Solent TV stopped broadcasting.

• 2009
  • C9TV stopped broadcasting after ten years.
  • April – Six TV stopped broadcasting to the Oxford area after a decade.
  • 27 April – Channel M announced it would cut many jobs and reduce its live programming to save money. A new news show, Channel M Today, launched on 13 July.

The 2010s: Digital Era and New Channels

• 2010
  • March – Channel M Today ended. Most of the staff were let go. The station then showed old programs, shows from Salford University, and other channels like Euronews.

• 2012
  • 16 April – Channel M closed after 12 years. Its owners said new government plans for local TV would make it hard to earn money.
  • 10 May – Ofcom, the TV regulator, asked for bids to run local TV services in 34 areas of the UK.
  • August – 57 groups applied to provide these services.
  • October – Belfast local channel NVTV stopped broadcasting on TV but continued online.
  • 23 October – All old analogue TV signals in the UK were switched off, completing the move to digital TV.

• 2013
  • 13 March – Ofcom announced more areas where local TV services could be set up.
  • 26 November – Estuary TV launched on Freeview. It was the first new Local Digital Television Programme Service.

• 2014
  • 24 March – Mustard TV began broadcasting to Norwich.
  • 31 March – London Live started broadcasting at 6:30 PM.
  • 27 May – Notts TV began broadcasting.
  • 2 June – STV launched its first local channel, STV Glasgow.
  • 28 August – Latest TV began broadcasting to Brighton.
  • 23 September – Sheffield Live TV began broadcasting.
  • 29 September – NVTV relaunched after getting a new 12-year license.
  • 8 October – Made in Bristol began broadcasting.
  • 15 October – Made in Cardiff began broadcasting.
  • 6 November – Made in Cardiff began broadcasting.
  • 12 November – Made in Tyne & Wear began broadcasting.
  • 26 November – That's Solent began broadcasting.
  • 4 December – Bay TV Liverpool began broadcasting on Freeview. It had been an online service since 2011.

• 2015
  • 12 January – STV launched its second local channel, STV Edinburgh.
  • 28 February – Big Centre TV began broadcasting.
  • 19 March – STV was given licenses for three more local channels in Aberdeen, Ayr, and Dundee.
  • 17 April – That's Oxfordshire began broadcasting.
  • 31 May – That's Manchester began broadcasting.
  • 18 August – That’s Cambridge began broadcasting.
  • 24 August – That’s Lancashire began broadcasting to Preston and Blackpool.

• 2016
  • Local TV channels moved to new channel numbers on Freeview.
  • April – Ofcom allowed London Live to show fewer local programs during busy times.
  • 12 July – That's Swansea Bay began broadcasting.
  • October – Bay TV closed and then reopened as Made in Liverpool. This happened after Bay TV had financial problems.
  • November – Big Centre TV closed and relaunched as Made in Birmingham. This followed Made Television buying Big Centre TV.

• 2017
  • 30 March – Made in Teesside began broadcasting.
  • 19 April – Cardiff News, Cardiff TV's main news show, ended. It was replaced by a news bulletin made at Made TV's main office in Leeds.
  • 24 April – STV combined its local channels into one called STV2. This new channel launched a news program called STV News Tonight, covering all of Scotland, the UK, and international news. Local TV also started in Aberdeen, Ayr, and Dundee.
  • 26 April – Local TV came to north east Wales when Made in North Wales began broadcasting.
  • May – That's Thames Valley began broadcasting to Reading.
  • 23 May – That’s Hampshire began broadcasting.
  • 25 May – The Made channels started showing programs from TruTV for parts of the day.
  • 26 June – That’s York began broadcasting.
  • 11 July – KMTV Kent began broadcasting to Maidstone and Tonbridge.
  • 19 July – That’s Salisbury began broadcasting.
  • 25 July – That’s Carlisle began broadcasting.
  • 1 August – That’s North Yorkshire began broadcasting to Scarborough.
  • 2 August – That's Surrey began broadcasting.
  • 31 August – Mustard TV broadcast its last show and was replaced by That’s TV Norfolk.
  • November – The Made network changed how it worked. Local programming was cut, and daily news shows were made in central studios in Leeds and Birmingham. The Made channels also started showing CBS Reality for many hours a day.
  • 29 November – That's Norfolk began broadcasting.

• 2018
  • February – Cardiff Live launched as Made in Cardiff's only local show. Made in Cardiff and Made in North Wales were renamed Cardiff TV and North Wales TV.
  • 30 June – STV2 closed down. Its assets were sold to That's Media, which owns the That's TV network. STV News Tonight was cancelled.
  • 19 August – Made Television changed its name to Local Television Limited, and all its local stations were renamed after their cities.
  • 15 October – That's TV Scotland launched as the new local TV service in Aberdeen, Ayr, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.

• 2019
  • July – That's TV announced it would close 13 of its 20 studios. It planned to have seven main production centers to make content for all its 20 local stations.

The 2020s: National Expansion

• 2020
  • 12 November – Local news was reduced to a 10-minute slot. That's TV temporarily became That’s Christmas and started playing Christmas music mixed with pop hits from the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

• 2021
  • January – Local Television Limited started a service for viewers in Manchester. This channel, Manchester TV, was not the official local TV provider and used a different channel number.
  • 4 June – That's TV launched a national channel called That's TV Gold. A month later, it launched on Freeview, showing the same schedule as its 20 local That's TV channels. It mostly played pop music videos but added documentaries and concerts.
  • 1 November – Ofcom allowed That's TV to reduce the number of places where it gathered news. Some local news would be made outside the broadcast areas. That's TV planned to produce most news bulletins in Salford (for England) or Glasgow (for Scotland).

See also

• Timeline of That's TV