Channel 5 Advertised

The ITC has today readvertised the Channel 5 licence to provide a new service to commence broadcasting by January 1997. The licence will run for 10 years and will be awarded by competitive tender in accordance with the 1990 Broadcasting Act. The closing date for applications is 2 May 1995 and the ITC hopes to award the licence between July and November next year.

When the Channel 5 licence was first advertised in April 1992 it was proposed that the UHF channels 35 and 37 would be used to reach around 74% of the population. However, in July 1994 the Government withdrew channel 35 for use by digital services, reducing the predicted coverage of Channel 5 to 50%. The ITC has since sought clearance for a further 14 transmission sites which will increase the predicted coverage to 70%.

National clearance for these additional sites has now been given but the process of international clearance is unlikely to be completed by the closing date for applications. As a result applications are being invited on the assumption that all clearances will be achieved.

Applicants may choose to provide a local, regional or national service. The level of originally-produced or commissioned programmes has been set at 40% for the first year of broadcasting. rising to 65% in the sixth year. There are a number of mandatory programme categories,covering news, current affairs, children’s programmes and religion, with minumum amounts of broadcast hours set for each category.