Evgeny Lebedev’s London Live TV station has won approval from Ofcom for a reduction in the amount of new peak-time local shows it broadcasts to one hour per day.
The broadcasting regulator has accepted London Live’s request to change the definition of “first-run” programming, traditionally defined as a programme’s debut in the UK, to include any show that has not run on its channel previously.
The loss-making TV channel had committed to air eight hours a day of “first-run, local programming”, with 2.5 hours in peak time between 6pm and 10.30pm.
Under the new agreement, London Live will only broadcast 5.5 hours of true “first-run” programming a day, and one hour in primetime, the rest of its obligation can be programming that has aired on rival broadcasters.
“London Live’s proposed new commitment to provide ‘first-run (on the licensed service)’ content, which Ofcom understands to mean ‘local programming that is broadcast for the first time on the licensed service but has been broadcast on other services in the UK before’, would ensure that additional locally-relevant content would be delivered and that, if the requested variation were allowed, there would be no overall reduction in the volume of locally-relevant programming,” said Ofcom in its decision statement.
In October last year, London Live persuaded Ofcom to reduce the amount of time it is required to run repeats of local programming from 10 to six hours a day, and from an hour and a half to zero during peak time.
