Liverpool's Bay TV is seeking a deal with creditors to enable it to continue despite owing almost half a million pounds.
The local television station has suffered recent financial difficulties, which has now emerged ahead of meeting with creditors in August.
Bay TV owes a total of £451,575, with a debt to Revenue and Customs outstanding at £145,187, individual shareholder loans debts to the value of £133,800, and other “trade and expense creditors” to the sum of £152,488.
On August 4, a “Company Voluntary Arrangement” will take place, at the offices of Refresh Recovery in Skelmersdale.
At the meeting, proposals will be drawn up to reimburse Bay TV’s creditors for a percentage of the debt they are owed.
The arrangement is not a liquidation, Bay TV said, and the station will continue to operate, chief executive Chris Johnson added.
The “Company Voluntary Arrangement” will be voted upon by creditors.
Exactly what percentage of the total debt amounts will be repaid remains unclear.
Mr Johnson told the ECHO: “We are resolving some liabilities, and making sure we have future growth and development plans in place.
“This is a long way short of Bay TV closing.
“It is coming to an agreement with creditors over the payment of debts.”
According to documents seen by the ECHO, Bay TV has a balance of just over £143,000, which is available to unsecured creditors.
Bay TV said changes had been made to their programming schedule over the last two months, and more could be made in the future.
Mr Johnson said he had “active plans to relaunch the station and improve its performance.”
He added: “We have struggled with local advertising revenues.”
In April, Made Television, who run local channels in Leeds, Cardiff, Tyne and Wear and Bristol, made a “small investment” in Bay TV.
And the ECHO revealed how Made was preparing to inject a far larger stake in Toxteth-based Bay TV over future months which could see them take overall control of the station.
At the moment, Made TV is a new ‘minority shareholder’ in Freeview-available Bay TV, whose HQ is in the former Toxteth TV offices in Windsor Street.
In May, Liverpool and Everton FC legends David Fairclough and Graeme Sharp came forward to threaten suing Bay TV over “several thousands of pounds” owed to them for fronting a season-long football show.
Sharp, who scored 158 goals for Everton, launched legal action and Fairclough pondered a similar move after alleged unpaid monies from presenting Football Friday.
That was an hour-long show, fronted by former Goodison communications boss Ian Ross, which aired before the weekend’s matches during the 2014-15 season.
The former Liverpool and Everton players agreed a fee of £250 per show, they said, which has now run into several thousands of pounds.
Bay TV disputed those figures.
The station won the Local TV Licence for Liverpool in February 2013.
In 2011, then Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced plans for a largely privately-funded network of local TV stations to be launched across the UK, to be available on Freeview Channel 8, Sky 117, Virgin 159.
Some £40m of BBC licence fee cash was put forward to help fund Local TV in the first three years – with £25m going on the broadcasting infrastructure and £5m a year being used to subsidise programming.
© 2016 Trinity Mirror Merseyside.
Story found by "1andrew1".