Council switched on to possibilities of new local TV channel

 
Issued by City of York Council

City of York Council-backed One&Other TV consortium has won its bid to provide the city with its own channel.

Ofcom’s announcement this morning said that it was awarding an L-DTPS licence to the One&Other bid submitted by a consortium of leading local institutions including City of York Council.

Amongst the support promised by the council to the city’s new source of news and information is access to initiatives that improve democracy, facilitate civic understanding and fair and well-informed debate, such as the live streaming of Cabinet meetings and the results of the Big York Survey.

The council will also grant filming access to its festivals such as Illuminating York, Festival of Cycling, and the Festival of Rivers to help share them with a wider audience. It will also provide in-kind marketing support via City of York Council’s in-house marketing channels.

From autumn next year, some 100,000 households in the York area will be able to tune in daily to Channel 8 on Freeview to watch original news, current affairs, entertainment, heritage and culture programming created for, and in, York and its surrounding areas.

The channel, with the working title of The York Channel, is expecting to create 12-15 new jobs initially and is also looking to work with local independent producers.

Besides City of York Council, other partners in the channel include University of York, York St John University, SCY, Visit York and Yorkshire Film Archive.

Councillor James Alexander, leader of City of York Council, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to reach and engage with residents, visitors and businesses which will have access to innovative and high quality TV by this York-based company.

“We’ve backed this bid and will continue to support the channel because we believe in the principle of local TV and the part it can play in improving democracy and informed debate as well as showcasing all that’s great about our city, and have been lobbying for it to become a reality since 2011.

“I congratulate One&Other for its successful bid which builds on York’s reputation as a powerhouse of creative and digital media, which exploits and develops that skill base and brings new jobs to the city.”

Stuart Goulden, managing director of One&Other, said: “One&Other are delighted about today’s news. We put a plan to Ofcom that does justice to the richness of everyday life in York and approaches television programming from a fresh perspective, meaning important issues are seen by as many people as possible.

“Just as exciting, the channel will create 15 broadcasting jobs locally and provide a platform for many others. We intend to involve interested parties as much as possible and owe a great deal to the support of our partners on the bid.”

The channel will operate as a community interest company by licence-holders One&Other TV and will be chaired by Clare Morrow, current Chair of Welcome to Yorkshire and former controller of news and programmes at ITV Yorkshire.

The University of York and York St John University will provide technical studio infrastructure until the channel’s own offices and TV studios are built.

The earliest on air date for The York Channel is the Friday 31 October 2014 and at the latest by Friday 30 January 2015.

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