Sony Pictures Television Networks to back Channel 6 LondonTV bid
Sony Pictures Television (SPT) Networks is to back the Channel 6 Consortium which aims to run the proposed local TV channel in London.
The agreement will see SPT Networks provide the schedule and creative services for the new channel, should it win its bid.
Dolphin Television, the sales house for SPT Networks in the UK, will also handle LondonTV’s advertising sales.
Richard Horwood, chief executive of the Channel 6 Consortium, described the partnership with SPT as completing its bid.
“Local television has struggled in the past to be commercially successful in this country even where the potential has existed, even in London, due to lack of commercial realism. SPT Networks’ expertise in the multichannel sector will significantly strengthen LondonTV from the outset, attracting audiences and advertising revenues that will underpin our investment in high quality local programming and expand our capacity to commission more,” he added.
Also backing the bid are newspaper companies Archant, Tindle and Trinity Mirror, while SPT Networks includes Sony Entertainment Television and Sony Movie Channel.