Country | United Kingdom |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Greater Manchester |
Network | That's TV |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Ownership | |
Owner | That's Media Ltd |
Key people | Daniel Cass |
Sister channels | List
|
History | |
Launched | 31 May 2015 |
Links | |
Website | www |
Availability | |
Terrestrial | |
Freeview | Channel 7 |
That's Manchester is a local television station serving Greater Manchester. It is owned and operated by That's TV and broadcasts on Freeview channel 7 from studios at The Flint Glass Works in the Ancoats suburb of Manchester.
Before the launch of That's Manchester, Channel M had broadcast a locally focused television service for Greater Manchester from February 2000 until April 2012, when the service was deemed unviable to continue by its owners. [1]
In 2013, as part of a national roll-out of local television in the United Kingdom, the broadcast regulator Ofcom awarded the licence to Your TV Manchester, but the channel failed to launch within the two year time frame as stipulated by Ofcom. [2] The company, which also won a licence to service the Preston and Blackpool areas, had beaten four other bids - Made in Manchester, Manchester News Channel, MCR TV and Metro8 Manchester.
That's TV subsequently took over the licence, and in May 2015, Ofcom granted That's Manchester a ten-and-a-half year licence to provide a local television service. [3] A soft launch of the channel took place at 9pm on Sunday 31 May 2015. [4]
In March 2016, the station was placed on notice by Ofcom over persistent technical issues in its programming, along with its sister stations, That's Oxfordshire and That's Solent. [5]
The station broadcasts to its licence area from the Winter Hill transmitter via a directional localised signal beam on Freeview channel 7, but is not available on satellite or cable.
Along with all of the That's TV stations, That's Manchester programming consisted of a single news bulletin, shown on a loop during the evening and overnight, with teleshopping and old films broadcast during the day. However, after their deal with classic movie provider Timeless [6] expired, That's TV started to simulcast various TV shopping and reality TV shows on their channels before bringing in more music programming in the evening.
By 2020 That's Manchester had become reduced to a 10-minute local news slot at 6pm, with music video shows networked under the 'That's 70s', 'That's 80s' and 'That's 90s' section name in the afternoon and night ( TJC - The Jewellery Channel was still being simulcast in the morning). In November 2020, the newly rebranded That's Christmas started broadcasting the "Retro Disco Christmas Party" in its music video slot, with a mixture of Christmas classics and 'Europop/Party Tunes' from the 70s, 80s and 90s being played back-to-back [7] [8] [9] [10] The channel then became That's New Year, before reverting to separate blocks of That's 70s, That's 80s and That's 90s music video selections in 2021 (with the teleshopping continuing as well)
On January 5, 2021, rival operator Local Television Limited (LOCAL TV) launched a second local channel for Mancunians on the GImux multiplex (G-MAN). Called Manchester TV, [11] the service on channel 99 [12] debuted LOCAL TV's new 'L7' branding [13] and had a schedule similar to other channels in the LOCAL TV portfolio with a mixture of CBS Reality programmes and news from across the UK (though Manchester-specific news content is due to follow).
As of October 2021, the channel is simulcasting the That's TV Gold schedule with opt-outs for the short evening news bulletin each weekday night and a rolling news service at 3am replacing the usual late night music video slot (for example That's Classic Rock at the weekends). [14] On 9 October 2021, That's TV Manchester started to replace their Gold channel's That's 70s - The Best Music programme at the weekend with the Manchester Music Marathon, [15] a local music slot at 6pm, going out between back-to-back repeats of The Kenny Everett Video Show's [16] first two series, on its first showing.
Apart from the station's main news programme, Manchester Headline News, programming included current affairs programmes Now We're Talking, Advice Show and The Big Debate, offbeat news show Student Speak, arts and culture show That's Chatty, and specialist shows such as That's Pride and The Geek Show. These programmes were dropped in 2017.
Unlike That's TV national slots on Freeview which operate on a hybrid part-time/streaming basis, That's TV has secured a number of 24 hour slots on the Greater Manchester local multiplex area for their sister channels and as of 3 January 2024, That's TV2 MCR, That's 60 MCR, That's 80s and That's 90s are available on Freeview in Greater Manchester. [17]
Freeview is the United Kingdom's sole digital terrestrial television platform. It is operated by Everyone TV and DTV Services Ltd, a joint venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky. It was launched on 30 October 2002, taking over the licence from ITV Digital which collapsed that year. The service provides consumer access via an aerial to the seven DTT multiplexes covering the United Kingdom. As of July 2020, it has 85 TV channels, 26 digital radio channels, 10 HD channels, six text services, 11 streamed channels, and one interactive channel.
Now 70s is a British free-to-air music television channel, owned by All Around the World Productions, available through Sky UK, Freeview and Virgin Media within the UK. It focuses on music from the 1970s, being the third decade-oriented channel in the Now portfolio, along with Now 80s and Now 90s.
JML Direct TV is a television shopping channel owned by JML Direct Limited that mainly broadcasts infomercials featuring various products from the company. The channel is broadcast on Sky and Freesat.
Now Rock is a British free-to-air music television channel, focusing exclusively on playing rock music for 10 months of the year, with a sister channel called Now 90s featuring rock hits from the 1990s available in other territories. For the other two months, Now Christmas takes over with their Christmas service not only playing hits from the 1990s.
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That's Solent is a local television station on the south coast of England, owned and operated by That's TV.
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TalkBirmingham is a British local television station, serving Birmingham, the Black Country, Wolverhampton and Solihull in the West Midlands of England.
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TalkBristol is a local television station serving Bristol and surrounding areas.
Local TV is a local television network in the United Kingdom, operating eight stations serving the Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool, North Wales, Teesside and Tyne and Wear areas, under the Talk TV name.
That's TV is a national television network in the United Kingdom, broadcasting via Sky, Freesat, Freeview, and Virgin Media. That's TV started off as the owner of a number of local television licences in several conurbations, but even though regional news can still be found via these services, these channels simulcast the classic hits and television schedule of the national That's TV channel for most of the day.That's Television Ltd is owned by That's Media Ltd, which is based at The Flint Glass Works in the Ancoats neighbourhood of Manchester.
TalkNorth Wales is a British local television station serving Mold, Denbigh, Ruthin and surrounding areas. The station is owned and operated by Local Television Limited and forms part of a group of eight Local TV channels.
TalkTeesside is a local television station serving Middlesbrough and Teesside and parts of County Durham and North Yorkshire.
NOW 80s is a British free-to-air music television channel, focusing exclusively on playing music from the 1980s. The channel launched in its current form on 27 December 2016, initially as a temporary pop-up rebrand of Now Music, previously a contemporary pop channel. The 80s format was subsequently made permanent.
This is a list of notable events in the timeline of digital audio broadcasting 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.
This is a timeline of That's TV, which provides local and national channels in the United Kingdom.