Evgeny Lebedev’s TV channel London Live is closing after ten years on air.
London Live‘s licence is reportedly being acquired by David Montgomery’s Local TV Ltd.
The final news programme will be on Thursday (16 January) at 6pm and the TV channel will go off air at 11.59pm on Sunday.
London Live said in a statement on Monday: “We want to update our loyal followers that very sadly London Live will be closing down…. We want to thank you for following and supporting us over the last ten years. We have loved helping to share the stories that matter in London, making sure the voices that count are heard.
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“In our biased opinion, London is the best city in the world, made up of brilliant people. Thank you for being a part of our journey.”
Sky News reported last week that Local TV Ltd, owned by National World boss and ex-Trinity Mirror chief executive David Montgomery, was close to announcing a deal to buy the London licence.
The Sunday Times had reported in December that Lebedev, who also majority owns The Independent and the Standard, was looking for a buyer for London Live after losing £20m in ten years.
Managing director Tim Kirkman emailed staff saying it was “considering options to sell or merge the business with other TV channels where a combined entity can be more effective” after its continued losses meant it was battling to stay viable.
London Live was the third channel of its kind to launch in the UK in 2014 under then-culture secretary Jeremy Hunt’s local TV initiative.
The lead presenter of London Live’s News at 6 ended the programme on Monday night – his final one – with a missive about the importance of local news reporting.
Deputy head of news and presenter James Dickman said: “It’s not news to anyone that local news reporting is on life support. The need for it in a modern world, for better or for worse, seems more and more by the day to be surplus to requirements. I believe it is for the worse.
“The importance of stories that affect our communities and the individuals within them cannot be underestimated. The seemingly inconsequential at first glance to the often downright bizarre are things that would be overlooked by so many others.
“They’re often, though, the first key in the door that opens to shine a light on something much larger that affects us all. These small stories can remind us perhaps more acutely than things only visible in a bigger picture of what it is to be human and what it is to believe in something bigger than yourself – something needed now more than ever in such difficult times. So I wish you the best of luck and I hope you have the courage to never lose hope.”
Montgomery’s Local TV Ltd already owns eight channels in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool, North Wales, Teesside and Tyne and Wear.
Montgomery also currently owns the UK’s third biggest regional publisher National World, but a deal for the business to change hands was agreed last month.
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