[all new phil]

It's worth noting that according to the RXinfo article the licence renewals will be occurring next year, rather than this year. By that time a general election will have taken place, and based on current polling it's highly likely there will be a change of government.

This means that there's less pressure for whoever is secretary of state to rubber stamp the renewals. After all the local TV was originally announced in 2010 by the then Culture Secretary as one of his / the government's flagship projects. Had the renewals been this year then a rubber stamp renewal would be far more likely, given that Jeremey Hunt is now Chancellor of the Exchequer.

I think it's fair to say that the majority of 'local TV' stations have been on a p-take in recent years with regards to their local requirements. It would be nice to see OFCOM enforce these guidance, and give those not meeting it a much shorter 1 (or 2) year extension in which time they must meet the requirements or be axed. I'm guessing issuing this reminder now is designed to give the local TV companies time to improve before renewal.

A tie-up with GB News for simulcasts instead of Talk TV could be mutually beneficial. It's been noted in Private Eye recently how very few of GB News' regional correspondents who were appointed at launch remain, with those positions not being filled after individuals have left or changed role. I imagine that GB News could tweak their daytime schedule to allow for a couple half hour opt-outs for local TV to meet their requirements, whilst GB News benefitted from exposure on channel 6/7.

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I doubt anyone would bother to apply for a local TV licence, unless it was an existing channel that wanted exposure on channel 6/7 and was prepared to have a few opt-outs for local TV in its schedule.

It’s unlikely to happen, but I’d love to see Sky take them on. They’ve trialled it previously so it’s clearly something they’ve considered once upon a time. It’s not like they don’t have the content to fill out the schedule.