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Local TV in Leeds: November 2013 launch date revealed

What’s new for Local TV in Leeds?

November 2013 launch date revealed 

Made in Leeds will be beaming its way to Freeview channel 8 in Leeds this November, bringing a fresh new channel to over 1 million viewers.

Today, Ofcom announced the award of the Local TV licence to Made in Leeds, which promises a vibrant mix of live reporting, magazine shows and citizen journalism.

Local TV in Leeds: November 2013 launch date revealed

The actual launch date has yet to be set in stone, although Made In Leeds is confident that it’ll be ready to move within a month from Comux giving them the say-so.

Made In Leeds is part of the Made Television Ltd network, which has won Local TV licences in Bristol, Cardiff and Tyne & Wear.

CEO Jamie Conway said “Leeds is an exciting, dynamic city which has an abundance of talent and potential, and the opportunity to have a Freeview TV channel dedicated to the city is long overdue.  Add to that our plans to deliver content and interaction across tablets, mobiles, IPTV and VOD services as well as our second-screen strategies, and we’re confident that the people of Leeds will be engaging with us as soon as we launch.”

February 15, 2013


Previous news stories about Local TV in Leeds

Who are Made in Leeds?

Made in Leeds is part of the Made Television Ltd group, a company which has also bagged Local TV licences for Bristol, Cardiff and Tyne & Wear.

Made in Leeds will broadcast a wide range of local news and features generated in house and by local citizen journalists. Partners of Made in Leeds include Leeds Metropolitan University, Trinity Leeds, The Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds Civic Trust and Leeds Community Foundation.

What will be on Made in Leeds?

Made in Leeds aims to produce up to fourteen hours of original, locally produced content each week, in the form of news bulletins such as News at Seven, Weekend News and Get Into Football. These will cover rolling traffic updates, local news, what’s on listings and coverage of local sport.

As much of local sport broadcast rights are currently owned by the likes of Sky Sports and the BBC, Made in Leeds will be more focussed on after-game reactions from fans. Thanks to a partnership with The Square Ball, the biggest independent Leeds United fan club, Made in Leeds promises something special for fans of the Whites.

Because Made in Leeds is part of the Made Television network, some of the content appearing on the other Made channels will appear here. Shows such as Delicious, Pet Patrol and Tony Loveshaft will appear on Made in Leeds, alongside locally-produced shows. 

The sample schedule below submitted to Ofcom gives us a rough idea of what to expect.

Local TV in Leeds: November 2013 launch date revealed

Where will Made in Leeds cover?

Local TV in Leeds: November 2013 launch date revealedMade in Leeds will cover the city of Leeds itself as well as parts of Barnsley, Bradford, Dewsbury, Halifax, Huddersfield, Pontefract, Wakefield and York. Click on the broadcast map to the right to enlarge it and get a better idea of where Made in Leeds will be available.

Made in Leeds will initially only be broadcast on Freeview, so you’ll need to be living in the coverage area and have a Freeview antenna pointed towards either the Beecroft Hill or Emley Moor transmitters.

When will Made in Leeds be coming to Leeds?

While there’s not a solid, concrete launch date to mark on your calendars just yet, we know that Made in Leeds is expecting to arrive sometime in November.

What’s Local TV all about?

Local TV is a new project aimed at bringing a dash of local flavour to digital TV. Leeds is among the first 19 locations that has been selected to receive Local TV.

Will I have to retune my Freeview box?

Yes. Once Local TV has launched in Leeds, you’ll need to retune your Freeview box or TV set accordingly to pick up the new channel. In Leeds, Local TV will be broadcast on Freeview channel 8.

Can I get Local TV on Sky, Virgin Media, or Freesat?

From launch, Local TV stations like Made in Leeds are expected to be available only on Freeview.

There’s a number of technical and commercial reasons why Local TV won’t appear on platforms like Sky, Virgin Media and Freesat at the same time.

Sky and Virgin Media, both subscription services, don’t want to have to sacrifice a lucrative position on their programme guides for Local TV and instead are in favour of delivering Local TV via a dedicated portal. In Sky’s case, a press of the yellow button on the Sky+ remote would bring up a menu for Local TV stations, much like the red button is used to deliver connected Red Button services. Virgin Media is similarly in favour of delivering Local TV via a smart TV app on its TiVo boxes.

Freesat hasn’t committed to giving up channel slots for Local TV simply because broadcasting different channels to multiple regions across the UK would be an expensive to run on digital satellite.

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