Notts TV is a much-loved local channel serving Nottinghamshire, as well as other parts of the East Midlands including Leicester and East Derbyshire, which launched back in 2014.

A beloved TV channel has announced a sad closure after ten years of broadcasting on Virgin Media and Freeview. Notts TV is a much-loved local channel serving Nottinghamshire, as well as other parts of the East Midlands including Leicester and East Derbyshire, which launched back in 2014.

The independent broadcaster is owned by Nottingham Trent University (NTU). But it has confirmed it will not be seeking to renew its licence when it expires in November. It means the channel will close down at that point unless another organisation decides to take on the licence.

“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,” the NTU said.

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“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.” Ben Cooper, chair of the Nottingham branch of the NUJ, said the branch was “deeply concerned” by the news.

He said: “Notts TV performs a vital democratic function, holding local government and other public bodies in Nottinghamshire to account. It scrutinises local politicians, on behalf of the people they are meant to represent and serve. It gives a voice to the voiceless.

“It is also an invaluable centre of learning, training, and work experience for those members of the next generation of journalists drawn to Nottingham by the chance of gaining real experience in a professional broadcast environment.

“When a city loses an important media outlet dedicated to fighting for local people, everybody loses out. The level of scrutiny on local government falls, court cases go unreported, matters of local concern and interest never reach the public’s attention, and local campaigns – such as the current fight for the victims of the NUH maternity scandal – get lost in the shadows.

“The Nottingham branch of the NUJ will be discussing NTU’s decision internally, and will be pressing the university for answers over a number of key questions. We are concerned both by the significant shrinkage in local journalism that will be an inevitable consequence of their decision, and by the sharp drop off in the quality and quantity of training and work experience opportunities future NTU journalism students will have access to.

“We are also concerned about the consequences of the closure of Notts TV for the future of the Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) scheme. The strength of the LDR scheme is based on having a healthy plurality of local media outlets available to deliver this important democratic service.

“None of these things is good for Nottingham, nor for the future of journalism.”