Birmingham’s City TV has gone into administration, before broadcasting any programmes. The company local TV licence was granted in 2012 and the channel would have served 1.2 million households in the Birmingham area.

It had until November to start broadcasting but did not have studio premises or equipment, having been unable to secure sufficient financing. Administrator Duff & Phelps said the firm, also known as BLTV, would work with Ofcom to transfer the licence and return funds to creditors.

Matt Ingram, joint administrator, said: “Unfortunately, it would appear that despite having demonstrated a comprehensive programming proposal, the company was unable to secure the necessary funding to get the project off the ground, having been awarded the licence.

“We are aware of considerable interest from a number of local television operators in continuing with the Birmingham area opportunity and we are already engaging with them, and Ofcom, to secure a successful transfer of the licence.”

Ofcom initially received 57 bids to run the channels in the UK. As part of the current licence fee settlement, the BBC agreed to contribute up to £25 million (€31.5m) for the successful bidder to build the network.

Other posts by :

1. Safran Space links laser direct to satellite
2. SpaceX fearful of AST SpaceMobile’s potential?
3. Equatys wants 2,800 new satellites
4. FCC eyes freeing up Weird Space Stuff spectrum
5. SES happy with releasing 160MHz of spectrum for 5G
6. Inmarsat “likely to win appeal” over Ligado/AST action
7. FCC seeks fair play over foreign satellite access
8. Bank raises RocketLab target price
9. Paramount throws kitchen sink

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Business, DTT/DSO, FTA