Nottingham Trent University (NTU) says it hopes other organisations will "pick up the baton" from Notts TV after confirming that the channel will close in November. It was confirmed on Monday (February 17) that the independent network will be shutting down after over a decade of broadcasting across Nottinghamshire.In a statement, NTU, which funds the channel, said it would not be seeking to renew Notts TV's licence with Ofcom when it expires in November. The university said it hoped "other organisations will step forward to submit proposals to Ofcom to continue focused local broadcasting" and pick up the baton from Notts TV and the university itself.The NTU statement read: "After more than ten years of bringing local news to the city and county, NTU will not be seeking to renew its licence from Ofcom to run Notts TV after November 2025 when the current licence expires. Notts TV is an independent broadcaster, entirely owned and mostly funded by Nottingham Trent University."In November 2025 Notts TV's broadcasting licence will be up for renewal. This has provided NTU with an opportunity to consider if Notts TV delivers sufficient benefit to its students at a time when all organisations in and around the public sector are operating with constrained budgets."Whilst students who have had placements with Notts TV have gained significant real work experience, the numbers involved have been too small to warrant continued investment. NTU hopes that other organisations will step forward to submit proposals to Ofcom to continue focused local broadcasting and pick up the baton that NTU has been holding aloft since May 2014."In the meantime, it is NTU's intention that Notts TV will continue to broadcast for the duration of its remaining licence period at which point it will close down."The channel's licence was first granted in 2014 along with more than 30 other local TV channels across the country. As those licences come to an end, Ofcom confirmed late last year that it would be inviting all the stations to apply for an initial licence extension lasting until November 25, 2026.After that initial extension, channels were then invited to apply for a formal renewal lasting eight years, up to 2034. The deadline for applying for renewal is March 31, 2025, but there will be no application for Notts TV.Notts TV broadcasts across Nottinghamshire on Freeview, BT and Virgin and is the official broadcast partner for the annual Splendour Festival. The channel offered year-long, term time internships for journalism students within NTU's Centre for Broadcasting & Journalism.
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