Ofcom awards local TV licence for Leeds

UK media regulator Ofcom has awarded a local TV licence for the Northern city of Leeds. The channel will be called Made in Leeds.

It will be run by London-based Made Television, formerly Element Television, the group chaired by former BSkyB executive and Top Up TV founder Ian West.

It has bid for 11 local licences and already won the right to run local channels in Bristol, Cardiff and Newcastle. It beat out four rival bids for the Leeds licence.

Made in Leeds will reach 840,000 homes

The license runs for up to twelve years and this and other local TV channels can start going live later this year. They will initially be carried on the digital terrestrial network, but could also gain carriage on cable and satellite platforms.

Ofcom is in the process of awarding local TV licenses throughout the UK. It will issue 19 in all.