STV awarded both Scottish Local TV Licences

STV has been awarded both of the two local TV licences available in Scotland by Ofcom. The licences cover Glasgow and Edinburgh respectively.
The broadcaster, which also owns the Channel 3 licences covering Central and Northern Scotland, saw off competition from Metro8 and Made Television in both cities, plus CNTV (Glasgow) and Edinburgh News Network.
STV will operate GTV in Glasgow and ETV and Edinburgh, with both channels planned to be available on Freeview channel 45, as Freeview channel 8 – the home for future local TV channels south of the border is already used in Scotland for BBC Alba.

Responding to the award announcement, Bobby Hain, STV Director of Channels, said: “STV is delighted to have been awarded the Local TV licences for Glasgow and Edinburgh. The two services, GTV and ETV, will be delivered in partnership with Glasgow Caledonian University and Edinburgh Napier University.”
According to its applications for the licences, STV plans to launch the services within “approximately twelve months” of today’s licence award. Indicative schedules for the channels held on the Ofcom website show an evening-only schedule for both channels.