Timeline of local television in the UK
This is a timeline of local television in the United Kingdom. This refers to stations transmitting to a small area such as a city or part of a county, not to larger regions covered by ITV and BBC regions. 1970s 1972 The UK's Minister for Posts and Telecommunications authorises five experimental community cable television channels. The first to launch is Greenwich Cablevision. 1973 Sheffield Cablevision, The Bristol Channel and Swindon Viewpoint launch. 1974 March – The final community station, Wellingborough Cablevision, launches. 1975 14 March – After less than two years on air, The Bristol Channel closes. 24 March – Wellingborough Cablevision closes. 1976 2 January – Sheffield Cablevision closes when the funds run out. Greenwich Cablevision closes as a full time service although programming made by volunteers keeps the station on air in a restricted form until the early 1980s. Swindon Viewpoint’s experimental phase ends when EMI decided to pull out of funding the service. However, the channel continues after it was sold to the public of Swindon for £1. 1977 No events. 1978 No events. 1979 No events. 1980s 1980 April – Regular programming on Swindon Viewpoint ends when funding dries up. but continues intermittently for the next decade with programmes made by volunteers. 1981 Radio Rental Cable Television launches the UK's first pay-per-view movie channel, 'Cinematel', for cable viewers in Swindon. As well as showing movies, the channel also broadcasts some local programming, including one-off documentaries and shortly after a live news-magazine format programme, called Scene in Swindon launches. Also provided is a local teletext service, with pages about film information, horoscopes, recipes, local bus times and job vacancies. 1982 No events. 1983 No events. 1984 No events. 1985 Swindon's cable service is rebranded as Swindon Cable and its news programme is renamed as part of this move and became Focus on Swindon. The channel increases the programme's frequency from twice a week to three times a week. 1986 4 February – Thorn EMI sells its stake in Swindon Cable to British Telecom and the new owners axe Focus on Swindon and other local programming and replaces it with bought-in content. 1987 No events. 1988 Swindon cable's TV channel is relaunched as Swindon's Local Channel. This sees the return to the service of local news, sport and one-off documentaries. 1989 No events. 1990s 1990 No events. 1991 No events. 1992 No events. 1993 No events. 1994 November – Associated Newspapers launches a rolling news service for London called Channel One. It is only available on cable and only in some areas. 1995 L!VE TV launches the first of its local television channels. Out of a planned network of around 20 channels, only a few make it to air. 1996 No events. 1997 No events. 1998 25 September – After less than four years on air, Channel One closes at 6pm. 1999 C9TV (Channel 9 Television) launches as a local television station channel in Derry. 27 May – MATV Channel 6 begins broadcasting to the Asian community in