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Local TV -
Locations Announced
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has unveiled 20 UK towns and
cities which are expected to get their own local TV stations.
The first 'pioneer' areas include Belfast, Brighton and Hove, Cardiff,
Glasgow, Grimsby, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Swansea.
The locations were chosen from 65 towns and cities which applied earlier
this year.
The government hopes to license the first local stations from summer 2012.
Jeremy Hunt said: "I am confident these new stations will provide local
communities with programming which is relevant to their daily lives, will
support local democracy, boost the big society and enhance local
communities.
The other areas included are Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, Norwich,
Nottingham, Oxford, Plymouth, Preston and Southampton.
The towns and cities earmarked were chosen by media watchdog Ofcom, which
examined the interest from potential operators and local audiences, as well
as ensuring the projects were technically viable.
Ofcom will now begin a further consultation on those areas, starting at the
end of next week.
The process is expected to take between eight and 12 weeks, after which the
licences will be awarded.
A further 24 areas have been identified for a future round of licensing,
four in Scotland - Aberdeen, Ayr, Dundee and Inverness.
In Northern Ireland - Bangor, Londonderry and Limavady.
Mold in Wales and in England - Barnstaple, Basingstoke, Bedford, Cambridge,
Carlisle, Guildford, Hereford, Kidderminster, Luton, Maidstone, Malvern,
Salisbury, Sheffield, Stoke on Trent, Stratford upon Avon and York.
Legislation enabling the stations to be set up has still to be passed, but
this is expected to be laid down shortly.
The BBC licence fee will finance some start-up costs.
December
13
2011 - waveguide.co.uk
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