Following a request from London’s new TV channel, London Live, to reduce the number of hours of local programming each day, Ofcom has ruled out the proposals, telling the station that it would “substantially alter the character of the service.”
ESTV, which runs the channel, applied to Ofcom to cut the hours of peak-time local programmes following poor viewing figures and early financial losses.
The application originally stated that London Live would seek to deliver 8 hours of first run local programming per day in the first year – rising to 10 hours by year three, while peak programming would rise to 3.5 hours.
However, in a statement issued on Tuesday, Ofcom said: “The BLC [Broadcast Licensing Committee] noted that it had considered all of these features of the Programming Commitments to be significant and important reasons for the award of the Licence.
“After careful consideration, the BLC decided that the overall effect of the requested changes would be to substantially alter the character of the service.”
When Ofcom awarded the licence to ESTV in February 2013, it was granted public service broadcaster (PSB) status, meaning that the channel would receive certain privileges received by other PSBs, as long as it agreed to fulfil specific licence obligations to provide a defined amout of local TV.
Angered by the request, Channel 4 formally told Ofcom last week that PSB status should not be given lightly, and that by significantly reducing public service obligations so soon after they were agreed, ESTV would set an “unwelcome precedent.”
