Independent TV station Latest TV has had its broadcasting licence renewed for eight years by Ofcom, with its local content creation, training services and succession plans recognised in the decision.
The Brighton-based station streams news and films “across the world” online, as well as on channel 7 on Freeview and Virgin Media channel 159 in the local area.
Bill Smith, founder of Latest TV, said the platform is “filling a massive gap in the market”, having founded the company in 2012 after campaigning for major news outlets to increase local coverage and set up a base in the area.
“Nobody would open in Brighton. Eventually, I just thought, ‘I’ll start one’.
“I started it on YouTube, a community-based station. I persuaded Youtube to do long-form programmes, and they agreed. I contacted the government and we secured some interviews with political figures. So that’s how, eventually, I successfully campaigned for the channel.”
Latest TV streams from 8am to 3am on TV and online, and claims to reach 100,00 viewers per month
It runs 30-minute news slots every day at 11am, 3:30pm, 8pm, 11pm and 2am, which sometimes include “significant interviews based on current affairs…and a major story every day”.
The morning includes news coverage, the afternoon broadcasts films including “Hollywood and Chinese high-quality greats”, and the evening” is our [own] stuff, covering local issues, our own documentaries and films made in Brighton”.
Latest TV is partnered with Chinese television company Hubei Television and a company in Ukraine, so makes programmes that are broadcast in Ukraine and China, “but we also have very big Ukrainian and Chinese communities in Brighton, so we service them too”, said Smith. The station has covered “a lot” of the Russia-Ukraine war, has Ukrainian presenters on the channel, and has had “millions” of views for its documentaries in China – “such as one about starling murmuration in Brighton”.
Latest TV also hosts the Ukraine International Film festival with the Ukraine Cultural Department, as well as Film Pride, an LGBTQ+ film festival, which do not contribute “significant revenues, and sometimes cost more than they make”, Smith said.
Its team is made up of six full-timers, and about twelve that “share roles” and work on a part-time basis.
‘Investment in local content creation and journalism’
“When you reapply [for a licence], Ofcom looks at everything we’ve produced, and considers whether we’ve done it well then make a decision on the licence,” said Smith. “There are 34 local TV channels across the country, and they’ve all had to reapply. Our was the first to be awarded.”
Ofcom’s renewal decision was made on the basis that: “The amount of first run local programming reflecting the licensed area… would continue to be provided, including a daily news programme with updated bulletins and current affairs”.
It added the station’s “investment in local content creation and journalism” was notable as well as its “training and development of a significant number of local employees, students and trainees since the service began”.
It also highlighted the station’s “current and projected financial sustainability”.
Station earns £5,000 per training student
Latest TV’s training programme accounts for 40% of its revenue streams, with the station earning “about £5,000” per student. The programme trains students in video production.
“The training programme works officially with the Department of Work and Pensions, so we’re helping a lot of people that can’t find work,” said Smith. “We got 72 people on the last course last term, from the six-week or 12-week courses, from the DWP. Forty of them have got jobs. The training programme aims to get people into work.”
“I find out what work [students] want to do, and try to make the course appropriate for that person,” said Smith
No public funding is ‘unfair’
“We get no public funding – none at all. I feel that’s slightly unfair, and I’d like a change,” said Smith.
“We do probably about 10 times as much news in Brighton as the BBC or ITV. I think it’s unfair all the public news money goes to the BBC.”
The station has sponsors from the local community and local advertisers, which both account for 40% of Latest TV’s revenue streams.
National ads account for 20% of the revenue, sold through agencies.
Smith said the station is aiming to achieve a new revenue stream split for the year 2026/27, with 40% still sourced from its training programme, 30% sourced from local sponsors and advertising, 20% from events in the local community and independent films, and 10% from national ads.
Additionally, the station is aiming to launch an app “that we can put next to iPlayer and ITVX available across the country, because we have so many great films only available to us”.
“We’ve more or less developed it already with Simple Stream – we just need the government to give us permission. It cost in the tens of thousands to develop,” he said.
The station is also currently in the process of expanding, looking for “young journalists” to work with the channel for the next few years.
“We want a succession plan. I would like to have a staff of 30 people at some point, and for them to be paid well to put Brighton on the map,” said Smith who holds a majority share of the company.
“I want to retain that [share] until I can hand it over to someone who can leave a legacy for the city of Brighton.”
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