C9TV (Channel 9 Television) was a local

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...

based in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, Northern Ireland. The station's licences were awarded by the ITC (now

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...

) in 1996 and allow the station to broadcast to

Limavady Limavady (; ) is a market town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, with Binevenagh as a backdrop. Lying east of Derry and southwest of Coleraine, Limavady had a population of 12,032 people at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census ...

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

and

Strabane Strabane ( ; ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Strabane had a population of 13,172 at the 2011 Census. It lies on the east bank of the River Foyle. It is roughly midway from Omagh, Derry and Letterkenny. The River Foyle marks ...

. The channels signal also spills into

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

in the

Republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

and can be picked up in the northeast of the county. Along with Belfast's

NvTv 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 involv ...

, C9TV was one of two local or 'restricted' television services in Northern Ireland.

Output

C9TV produces local programming – some of its most popular output being the news and current affairs programmes. Alongside news and current affairs, the station also broadcasts a number of hours of

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...

every day. Music videos also make up a portion of the stations daily output. The station started in 1999 with Channel 9 News with Jimmy Cadden he continued to 2005 when he was replaced by Teresa Craig. It broadcast many local programmes such as Agenda, Local Matters, Galligan, A morning program which went around local schools and the news at 6 pm & 9 pm and the Sport was presented by Felix Healy. It also covered local events live such as the Relief of Derry Celebrations, the Remembrance Day Services and many others. It broadcast Sky News at 11 am, 2 pm and 5 pm with Local Infochannel and music overnight. As the channel went on fewer local programmes were produced from about 2005 when it just showed Music Videoes and the local news as well as Sky News and in 2007 it just broadcast Sky News for 24 hours until it finally went off air in 2009 with a whimper.

Identity

While most RSL local stations in the UK refer to themselves as "Channel 6" or "Six" or similar, the number 9 reflects the large number of stations receivable in the area. All 5 UK-wide services can be picked up in C9TV's transmission area, although

Five 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

coverage via analogue was weak in some parts. The Republic of Ireland's four channels can be picked up (from the Holywell Hill transmitter outside

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the R ...

at high power), although only 3 had launched when C9TV was being conceived (though not by the time it had launched), resulting in the channel getting ninth place.

Ownership

In October 2008, C9TV was brought by businessman Alan Cummings and was due to be relaunched with a further ten staff due to be employed at the station.Ten jobs at Channel 9
''Londonderry Sentinel'', 29 October 2008 It was announced that the station was to be located at Magee University of Ulster, with local news and students being involved in the production and presenting of programmes.

Planned relaunch and axe

In 2007, the station ceased all local programming production, replacing much of the station's transmission time with further simulcasts of Sky News. Until the planned relaunch of C9TV, the station has ceased transmission in 2009. The C9TV website was relaunched the day after Cummings bought the station saying 'Coming Soon' but soon the website domain was taken down and since it has transpired the relaunch has been abandoned and will no longer return to Derry as of 2012.

References

External links