Ofcom has told local TV services they must familiarise themselves with guidance on meeting their programming commitments and best serve their audiences.
The guidance reminds the UK’s 34 licensed local TV services about their regulatory obligations, including how licensees must satisfy themselves that the service they are offering meets the statutory criteria which characterise a L-DTPS service. The guidance also sets out the types of local content, and scheduling, which would contribute to how services meet the programming commitments set out in their licences.
It also reminds local TV services that local news should remain at the centre of their offering and be sufficiently tailored to the tastes, interests and needs of people living and working in their area.
Local TV was launched in 2012, the baby of the then culture minister Jeremy Hunt, and supposedly-based on the (much different) US TV market.
The UK’s largest operator, That’s TV, has dropped much of its local branding and instead positions itself as The Home of Iconic TV. The Tuesday schedule features re-runs of 30 year-old comedies After Henry and The Britas Empire. A 15-minute news bulletin is scheduled at 6.30pm, while the website pulls in stories from local newspaper Cambridge News.
The licences for all 34 local TV services currently operating across the UK are due to expire on 25 November 2025.
As part of the renewal process, the government plans to introduce a conditional licence renewal process. This will require Ofcom to consider the licensee’s performance and to only renew if it is satisfied that the licensee will meet its regulatory obligations in the next licence period.
