Made TV, the largest licensee for city TV in the UK, has signed a systems integration contract with Megahertz that includes design and implementation of production, news and ENG for five new stations, plus centralised playout.
It opens in Bristol on 6 October, followed by Cardiff (15 October), Leeds (6 November) and Newcastle (12 November). The Middlesbrough station is waiting for Arqiva to finish the multiplex build-out, but expected to open in the spring.
Although the most prominent city service, London Live, has had a troubled start, other city services have been more successful.
“The numbers outside London are very good,” said Jamie Conway, Made TV CEO, with STV Glasgow expecting a first year profit.
The best stations have been getting a lot of new-to-TV advertisers, and, with a reach of about 11 million potential viewers, Made TV is targeting these.
Each station will have a studio with three robotic cameras, with facilities for five. They will also have ENG equipment with live contribution capability. The Leeds site also includes the playout, master control, distribution and asset management operations.
The channels will initially broadcast in SD, but with HD production to enable resale of content and allow easy future upgrades. All the sites are networked together, sharing content and facilities as required.
