 | |
| Ownership | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Island Volunteers Group |
| History | |
| Launched | 31 October 2002 |
| Closed | 24 May 2007 |
| Availability at time of closure | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Analogue | Channel 54 (735.25 MHz) from Rowridge (Isle of Wight) |
Solent TV was an independent not-for-profit television channel broadcasting on the Isle of Wight. It was transmitted from the Rowridge transmitter on the Isle of Wight on UHF channel 54 (735.25 MHz). It began broadcasting in October 2002 but ceased trading on 24 May 2007.
After a false start in March 2006, the channel launched on the Sky satellite platform (channel 219) on 15 January 2007, just a few months before it ceased broadcasting altogether.
To enable the transition to Sky, Solent TV worked with Sony Broadcast and Broadcast Networks to upgrade Solent TV's technical infrastructure to digital and HD technology. The new equipment included a new Sony XDCAM HD camera system, allowing Solent TV to create all new footage on this format; an HD-ready media server and media management system from Suitcase TV; a Miranda X-Station HD-ready playout system and the new Miranda Kaleido multiview system for playout. To link Solent TV to the Sky platform, a new Broadcast Networks H264 encoder system was used to provide the live link to Globecast, who in turn provided the uplink to Sky.
Until the Sky launch, the channel's content was streamed live in Windows Media format, as well as a collection of video on demand files such as the channel's news programme 'Solent Tonight'. Shortly after the Sky launch the live web stream ceased, and although the on-demand service continued, it was via Flash video format.
The website carried a news and sports service for the Isle of Wight.
The TV station's web site was by 2007 claimed by the station to be receiving over 350,000 unique visits every month. In a BBC report following the station's closure, it was revealed the station claimed it had 70,000 peak time viewers at any one time, although the company earlier in the year said it could not produce viewing figures as it was not on BARB [ citation needed ].
Some people felt that the station concentrated too heavily on its news output and lost sight of its finances. [1]
Solent TV was positively reviewed by the Guardian TV reviewer Charlie Brooker who said "Solent TV is strikingly confident. Brash, even. It's just like an ITV region circa 1989." [2]
The company's publicly available bank details revealed it lost almost £1,000,000 in the 2006 financial year, more than double its losses in 2005.
Prior to the station's closure, Solent TV director Linda Ovnik stated the station "had not received as much as a 10p piece in public funding". [3] The parent companies of Solent TV were largely funded by public or charitable money and it was suggested at the time of the collapse that this money was used to support Solent TV. [1]
After the station folded, Isle of Wight MP Andrew Turner said he would raise the matter with ministers, and called on the Charity Commissioners to investigate Island Volunteers, the parent company of Solent TV. [4]
In September 2007, several former Solent TV staff – who lost their jobs when the station went bust – won a tribunal hearing for £17,000 for breach of contract after their contracts were terminated without notice. [5]
At the start of 2007, the station was losing several thousand pounds a month but had said that it was on course to reduce its losses dramatically since its move to Sky and the dramatic increase in revenue should have taken it into profit by 2008. A few months later station director Linda Ovnik told the Isle of Wight County Press that the station was "desperately seeking investors". [6] A statement on the Solent TV website on 24 May 2007 read:
Solent TV's final programme was a shorter-than-normal edition of the local news programme, Solent Tonight.
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded entirely by its commercial activities, including advertising. It began its transmission in 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in the United Kingdom. At the time, the only other channels were the licence-funded BBC1 and BBC2, and a single commercial broadcasting network, ITV.
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, primetime drama and entertainment, and live BBC Sport events.
ITV1 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for the central and northern areas of Scotland where STV provides the service.
Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. In 2019, Sky News was named Royal Television Society News Channel of the Year, the 12th time it has held the award. The channel and its live streaming world news is available on its website, TV platforms, and online platforms such as YouTube and Apple TV, and various mobile devices and digital media players.
NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was established as a 50/50 joint venture between News Limited and Telstra, with News Corp and Telstra holding 65% and 35% ownership shares respectively.
WIN Television is an Australian television network owned and operated by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television station covering the Wollongong region. The WIN Network has since grown to cover much of regional Australia. The network's name, WIN, originates from its first station, Wollongong's WIN-4. WIN has a programme supply agreement with metropolitan broadcaster Nine Network, covering its stations in Regional Queensland, Southern and Western New South Wales, Griffith, Regional Victoria, Mildura, Tasmania, Eastern South Australia, and Regional Western Australia. WIN also has a programme supply agreement with third-placed metropolitan broadcaster Network 10 for its Northern New South Wales station. WIN also produces and broadcasts weeknight half-hour local news bulletins across its Queensland, southern New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania markets as WIN News.
Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as CBN-8 in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. It was initially an independent affiliate owned by Prime Media Group before the network, and its sister GWN7, were acquired by Seven West Media on 31 December 2021.
BBC Radio Solent is the BBC's local radio station serving Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight, broadcasting on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Havelock Road in Southampton.
A UK Restricted Service Licence is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event. Licences are granted by the broadcasting authority Ofcom.
Sky Open is a New Zealand free-to-air television network. It airs a varied mix of programming, largely imported from Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Television in Germany began in Berlin on 22 March 1935, broadcasting for 90 minutes three times a week. It was home to the first regular television service in the world, named Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow.
Sky Arts is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, films, documentaries and music. The channel is available in the United Kingdom through Freeview, Freesat, BT TV, Sky, Virgin Media, and TalkTalk TV and in the Republic of Ireland via Sky Ireland, Virgin Media Ireland, Vodafone Ireland and Eir, included in most basic subscription packs, but started life as a premium service requiring an additional payment on top of the monthly Sky subscription. The channel launched on Freeview and Freesat as a free-to-air service in September 2020.
Juice TV, is a 24-hour music television channel operating from the Auckland suburb of Parnell in New Zealand. The channel is available on channel 38 on the Freeview streaming app. It also broadcasts 18 hours a day on CH200, Kordia's local channel on Freeview terrestrial.
SES Platform Services GmbH was a subsidiary company of SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. From its headquarters in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany, SES Platform Services operated a broadcasting centre, providing a wide range of services, including content management, playout, encryption, multiplexing, satellite uplinks and other digital TV media broadcast services for the broadcast industry.
That's Solent is a local television station in The Solent region of England, owned and operated by That's TV.
That's TV is a national television network in the United Kingdom, broadcasting via Sky, Freesat, Freeview, and Virgin Media, although only a small number of both local and national That's TV channels are available on Virgin Media.
This is a timeline of cable television in the United Kingdom.
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.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help){{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)