Bay TV wins bid for local stations in Swansea and Mold

Bay TV says it will create a "truly local" station for Swansea and Llanelli

A broadcaster has won the race to run local TV stations in Swansea and Mold.

Ofcom awarded licences to Bay TV Swansea and Bay TV Clwyd. Although they are separate companies, the two will work closely and share expertise.

Bay TV Swansea says it committed to providing new jobs for young people and aims to be on air by September.

The UK government has said there is demand for more local programmes than those offered by BBC or commercial TV.

Bay TV Swansea was chosen over rival bidder Love Swansea.

John Curzon, director of programmes for the new station, said the firm was planning a "truly local" TV offering for Swansea and Llanelli.

"This is a good time for the area to acquire its own TV channel. We believe Bay TV will be able to reflect the ambitions of the Swansea Bay city region and will have a major role to play in the future growth of the region," he said.

'Exciting time'

Mr Curzon, who worked at BBC Wales and HTV Wales, said the station would work closely with Bay TV Clwyd.

The two companies are separate, but will share expertise and work closely on Welsh language programmes for both areas, he said.

The firm will also work with Swansea University to offer students experience of the TV industry, and will set up a apprenticeship scheme with Swansea council.

Mr Curzon said Bay TV would not be able to compete with established broadcasters to cover Premier League football or top class rugby, but it could give wide coverage of amateur and youth sport.

The company has previously said it would deliver a daily schedule of at least an hour of news a day, as well as features, sport, arts and university programmes.

Made TV Ltd was unveiled as the winning bidder to run the new local station in Cardiff last year.

The Swansea local TV licence attracted no bidders when it was originally advertised in 2012.

Ofcom has now awarded a total of 25 local licences.