Norwich to get local TV news and entertainment channel

Norwich is to get its own local television channel in the second wave of licence awards.

Mustard TV, a joint venture led by newspaper and magazine publisher Archant, has been awarded the licence by Ofcom.

The station is expected to start broadcasting in autumn 2013 on terrestrial channel eight.

It will be on air from 06:00 to midnight, seven days a week offering news, weather and traffic information.

Mustard Digital will start on the internet in January 2013 and be joined by the Freeview service later in the year.

The Mustard Show

Chairman Johnny Hustler said: "We look forward to producing a station which will highlight a wide range of local issues, stimulate well-informed debate and motivate local people to engage."

The station will work on programme content with academic institutions, local businesses and production companies.

The company said in a statement that the channel's news bulletins will devote roughly five times as much airtime to Norwich-focused news each weekday than the existing coverage provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia.

A new programme, called the Mustard Show, will add more than three hours per week of Norwich-related programming to the Freeview schedule in 2013.

Other content will include original local factual, entertainment and documentary programmes, alongside coverage of events, arts and sports.