The UK’s new network of local TV stations will be known as Local TV, Comux UK announced at the Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival (GEITF).
The community-owned business will maximize awareness through a dedicated website www.getcloser.tv..
In November the first of an initial 19 Local TV service is slated to launch in Hull.
Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), said: “The first station to hit the airwaves will launch an entirely new media industry in the UK. These stations are creating new jobs in our communications and creative industries, and providing people with a fresh way to be informed about their local communities.”
Lia Nici, executive producer, Channel 7 Grimsby, added: “The opportunity to launch our service on Freeview represents a major advance for us and will bring us to a far bigger audience. This has been made possible by the shared infrastructure that Comux UK has put in place which allows us to focus our investments and efforts on programme making. We’re, therefore, very pleased that we will be the first station to broadcast on the new service this November.”
Local services have been allocated channel 8 on the Freeview TV guide in England and Northern Ireland, and provisionally channel 34 in Wales and Scotland.
Meanwhile, the head of the new London station London Live has set out ambitious plans for the capital, promising cutting edge documentaries, music videos and animation.
London Live is being produced by ESTV, which is owned by Evgeny Lebedev, who also owns The Independent and Evening Standard newspapers.
