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Local TV in Manchester: Rainy City’s answer to Loose Women among launch titles

What’s new with Local TV in Manchester?

Manchester’s answer to Loose Women among launch titles

Local TV in Manchester is set to feature Now Get This, a daily mid-morning talk show that’s being billed as ‘Manchester’s answer to Loose Women’ in its line up.

Now Get This will feature a rotating panel of three local women and guests who’ll take a fun and entertaining look at current topics as well as serious subjects.

Local TV in Manchester: Manchester’s answer to Loose Women among launch titles

The indicative schedule, which licence winners YourTV Manchester submitted to Ofcom, gives us the best idea of what shape Local TV in Manchester will take.

Rubbing shoulders with Now Get This is Pet Clinic, featuring animal training footage, lost pet messages as well as funny animal videos – always a safe bet.

Get IT! promises to show off IT and computer know how and PC surgery sessions every Thursday and The Manchester Edge will see each one of Manchester’s 27 MPs given a chance to discuss local issues with councillors and citizens. This will be broadcast in front of audiences in venues including Manchester College and Salford University, bringing a Question Time-style debate show to local voters.

YourTV Manchester, awarded the Local TV licence for Manchester this month, is expected to launch at the start of October, though this date could change. We’ll update once we have a solid start date from YourTV Manchester.

February 8, 2013

Previous news stories about Local TV in Manchester

Who are YourTV Manchester?

YourTV Manchester has won the licence to broadcast Local TV in Manchester for the next 12 years.

YourTV Manchester is part of YourTV, a company which has several bids for Local TV franchises running around the UK. YourTV is chaired by Sir Michael Lyons, former chairman of the BBC Trust, who heads a team of experienced industry figures.

YourTV has also bid for Local TV licences in Birmingham, Blackpool & Preston, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Newcastle and Sheffield. Manchester is the first area where YourTV has been granted a Local TV licence by Ofcom.

What will be on YourTV Manchester?

Local news coverage will be at the forefront of YourTV Manchester’s schedule, making up 31 per cent – the biggest slice of the pie – of total airtime in the first year.

There’s to be an emphasis on community focussed programmes and getting all residents of Greater Manchester involved in things like political discussions, legal advice, and film and book reviews amongst others.

Local TV in Manchester

Where will YourTV Manchester cover?

If you’re able to get Freeview signal from the Saddleworth and Winter Hill aerials, then you’ll be able to pick up YourTV Manchester on channel 8. Click on the map below to see exactly which locations will be able to pick up YourTV Manchester.

When will Local TV be coming to Manchester?

Local TV in Manchester
Local TV in Manchester Freeview footprint – click to enlarge

YourTV Manchester aims to be live and kicking by October 1, 2013. Comux, the company responsible for the Local TV infrastructure working will need to have everything in place for Local TV to land in Manchester by then. So this October date isn’t set in stone by any means yet, but Arqiva, the company which owns the Freeview masts.

What’s Local TV all about?

Local TV is an ongoing project that will provide a selection of UK cities an extra locally produced TV channel. Local TV channels will provide an extra bit of local flavour to digital TV and give citizens a chance to get involved with TV production and get their voice heard.

Will I have to retune my Freeview box?

YourTV Manchester will arrive on Freeview channel 8 and you’ll need to retune your Freeview set-top box or TV set in order to get it.

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

Not yet – Local TV is set to launch on Freeview first and will hopefully arrive on other digital TV platforms once certain technological hurdles have been crossed.

Sky and Freesat can’t roll out Local TV at the same time as Freeview, because it’s much more expensive to broadcast different channels to multiple regions across the UK via satellite than it is via digital terrestrial signals.

As well as this, Sky is also not in favour of vacating the channel 8 position on its programme guide, instead preferring to launch an entirely separate Local TV section, accessed via the yellow button on Sky’s remote.

Virgin Media too would prefer to make Local TV services available via a single portal, such as an app on its Virgin Media TiVo boxes. It’s not yet clear how Local TV will manifest itself on other digital TV platforms – all we know right now is that it’ll be arriving first on Freeview.

In YourTV Manchester’s case that’s channel 8. In Scotland and Wales, Local TV channels will be arriving on channel 45, while channel 8 will make way for Local TV in England and Northern Ireland.

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