NVTV | |
---|---|
Launched | 9 February 2004 |
Owned by | Northern Visions Ltd |
Picture format | 576i (16:9 SDTV) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Broadcast area | Belfast |
Website | www |
Availability
|
|
Terrestrial | |
Freeview | Channel 7 |
Cable | |
Virgin Media | Channel 159 |
NVTV, also known as Northern Visions Television, is a local community television station based in the city of Belfast. It is operated by the Northern Visions media and arts project, and although some staff are employed by the station, most involved are volunteers. NVTV is now the only local community station in Northern Ireland.
The station was launched on 9 February 2004, with the first programme aired being a film called The School Trip, which was made by students at the Fleming Fulton School in the city. Initially NVTV broadcast just one hour of programming on weekdays which was repeated on loop, with shows repeated again at the weekend; however, the station expanded its content and covers community and other events in and around the Belfast metropolitan area, as well as other commissioned programmes. The analogue signal was broadcast on UHF channel 62 (799.276 MHz).
NVTV was originally granted a four-year Restricted Service Licence by the Independent Television Commission, and is operated by the long established, non-profit Northern Visions media and arts centre in the Cathedral Quarter of the city. The station's facilities are used by 200 community-based organisations, as well as a range of individual actors and filmmakers.
NVTV's analogue transmissions ceased in October 2012 during the digital switchover, however it continued to stream its programming online. On 10 October 2012, the channel was granted a 12-year local TV licence to broadcast on digital terrestrial television by Ofcom. The channel was relaunched on 29 September 2014 through the Freeview and Virgin Media platforms. It is currently licensed to transmit on UHF Channel 30 (Freeview LCN 8).
Northern Visions was established in 1986 as a Channel 4 franchised workshop under the ACTT Workshop Agreement, with a strong emphasis on inclusion and the value of bringing communities together to meet a common goal. It was the first local "production company" in Northern Ireland to be awarded a Channel Four commission, one of a number of documentaries in the years that followed that went on to be broadcast by other European broadcasters, ZDF, RAI and ARTE and to win awards. Documentaries were also broadcast in Australia and America.