Competition launched to find name for York’s new Local TV Channel

Posted on 15 May 2014

York’s new local television channel, which will be based at the University of York, has launched a campaign to select its name with the help of its future audience.

Launching in Spring 2015, with the local community at its heart, the channel is asking for ideas for its brand name in a campaign entitled #MyYorkChannel that will run on Twitter and at www.myyorkchannel.com

Taking the channel’s brand values of creativity, originality, inspiration, ambition, contemporary and fun, people are being asked to contribute names that summarise the relevance to York in an instant, whilst offering something fresh to television.

The prize for the individual or company behind the chosen name is £1,000 and the opportunity to work with the channel’s creative time to bring the brand to life. For everybody else, they hope it is the first of many opportunities to help shape the local television channel they want to see.

Naming ideas can be submitted at www.myyorkchannel.com and via Twitter using the #MyYorkChannel hashtag. The competition will run until 5pm on 27 June 2014.

A board of judges formed from the winning consortium of the local television licence will select the name from the all entries.

The new channel will be based initially at the University’s Department of Theatre, Film and Television and the plan is to work closely with interested students at the University.

Stuart Goulden, the channel’s Managing Director, said of the campaign: “Ever since winning the licence, we have wanted to involve the local community - our future audience – at the earliest possible opportunity. We hope people will join us in creating the TV channel they want to see in York, starting with its name.”

Carole Dove, Commercial Director of Heslington Studios – the commercial arm of the University of York’s Department of Theatre, Film and Television, said: “We want to hear from as many people as possible as this is the first big opportunity for the people of York and North Yorkshire to shape their channel and influence its look and feel.”

Launching in Spring 2015, York’s new television channel will provide original and exclusive news, current affairs, entertainment, heritage, business and culture programming about York and the local area. It follows the award of a 12-year L-DTPS licence to broadcast on Freeview channel 8 by Ofcom to a consortium of leading local institutions including One&Other TV, University of York, York St John University, SCY, Visit York, York CVS, City of York Council, Yorkshire Film Archive in November 2013. The channel is expecting to create 12-15 new jobs initially.

The new television channel coincides with York’s bid to become a UNESCO City of Media Arts, in recognition of the wealth of media arts experiences, creative pioneers and social innovation the city has to offer.

Further information:

To coincide with the launch of the campaign, the channel is showcasing a sample of its future content: a mini-documentary called Terry’s - A York Legend.In 2005 Terry’s Chocolate Works closed, bringing an end to 250 years of Terry’s confectionery production in York. Former employee Mike Grimes takes us on a tour of the dormant factory site to tell the story of where it all went right and then wrong for the proud York company which provided so much prestige to the city.
For more information on the University of York’s Department of Theatre, Film and Television visit www.york.ac.uk/tftv