That's Manchester is a
local television
The terms local programme, local programming, local content or local television refers to a television program made by a television station or independent television producer for broadcast only within the station's transmission area or television ...
station serving
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
. It is owned and operated by
That's TV and broadcasts on Freeview channel 7 from studios at The Flint Glass Works in the
Ancoats suburb of Manchester.
Overview
Before the launch of That's Manchester,
Channel M
Channel M was a regional television station in England which broadcast to the Greater Manchester area between 2000 and 2012. The station, originally Manchester Student Television, was owned and operated by the GMG Regional Media division of G ...
had broadcast a locally focused television service for Greater Manchester from February 2000 until April 2012, when the service was deemed unviable to continue by its owners.
In 2013, as part of a national roll-out of
local television in the United Kingdom, the broadcast regulator
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-rang ...
awarded the licence to Your TV Manchester, but the channel failed to launch within the two year time frame as stipulated by Ofcom.
The company, which also won a licence to service the
Preston and
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
areas, had beaten four other bids - Made in Manchester, Manchester News Channel, MCR TV and Metro8 Manchester.
That's TV subsequently took over the licence, and in May 2015, Ofcom granted That's Manchester a ten-and-a-half year licence to provide a local television service.
A soft launch of the channel took place at 9pm on Sunday 31 May 2015.
In March 2016, the station was placed on notice by Ofcom over persistent technical issues in its programming, along with its sister stations, That's Oxfordshire and
That's Solent.
The station broadcasts to its licence area from the
Winter Hill transmitter via a directional localised signal beam on Freeview channel 7, but is not available on satellite or cable.
Programming
Along with all of the
That's TV stations, That's Manchester programming consisted of a single news bulletin, shown on a loop during the evening and overnight, with teleshopping and old films broadcast during the day. However, after their deal with classic movie provider Timeless expired, That's TV started to simulcast various TV shopping and reality TV shows on their channels before bringing in more music programming in the evening.
By 2020 That's Manchester had become reduced to a 10-minute local news slot at 6pm, with music video shows networked under the 'That's 70s', 'That's 80s' and 'That's 90s' section name in the afternoon and night (''
TJC - The Jewellery Channel'' was still being simulcast in the morning). In November 2020, the newly rebranded That's Christmas started broadcasting the "Retro Disco Christmas Party" in its music video slot, with a mixture of Christmas classics and 'Europop/Party Tunes' from the 70s, 80s and 90s being played back-to-back The channel then became That's New Year, before reverting to separate blocks of That's 70s, That's 80s and That's 90s music video selections in 2021 (with the teleshopping continuing as well)
On 5 January 2021 rival operator
Local Television Limited (LOCAL TV) launched a second local channel for Mancunians on the GImux multiplex (G-MAN). Called Manchester TV, the service on channel 99 debuted LOCAL TV's new 'L7' branding and had a schedule similar to other channels in the LOCAL TV portfolio with a mixture of
CBS Reality
CBS Reality is a European pay television channel specializing in reality-based programming, including true crime documentaries and factual entertainment. It is operated by AMC Networks International in partnership with Paramount Networks EME ...
programmes and news from across the UK (though Manchester-specific news content is due to follow).
As of October 2021, the channel is simulcasting the That's TV Gold schedule with opt-outs for the short evening news bulletin each weekday night and a rolling news service at 3am replacing the usual late night music video slot (for example ''That's Classic Rock'' at the weekends). On 9 October 2021, That's TV Manchester started to replace their Gold channel's ''That's 70s - The Best Music'' programme at the weekend with the ''Manchester Music Marathon'', a local music slot at 6pm, going out between back-to-back repeats of ''
The Kenny Everett Video Show's'' first two series, on its first showing.
Previous programming
Apart from the station's main news programme, ''Manchester Headline News'', programming included current affairs programmes ''Now We're Talking'', ''Advice Show'' and ''The Big Debate'', offbeat news show ''Student Speak'', arts and culture show ''That's Chatty'', and specialist shows such as ''That's Pride'' and ''The Geek Show''. These programmes were dropped in 2017.
Sister channels
Unlike That's TV national slots on Freeview which operate on a hybrid part-time/streaming basis, That's TV has secured a number of 24 hour slots on the Greater Manchester local multiplex area for their sister channels, with That's TV (UK) MCR, That's TV 2 MCR, That’s TV 3 MCR and a trio of music channels available on
Freeview in Greater Manchester of 12 July 2024.
That's TV 2 MCR
That’s TV 2 MCR was launched on 3 January 2024 in the place of the Christmas channel with repeats of ''
Home and Away
''Home and Away'' (''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...
'', showing from the start 35 years after it was first broadcast, with Channel 4’s ''
Humans
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
'' and ''Prisoner: Cell Block H'' in the first night line-up, joining shows already shown on their main channel like ''
Baywatch
''Baywatch'' is an American Drama (film and television), drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz ...
'', ''
Bread
Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...
'' and ''
The Likely Lads''.
Even though most marketing in the press focused on the rerunning of ''Home and Away'' from the start, on 12 January 2024 the repeats were taken out of the schedule and replaced with 80s pop videos, ''
Blankety Blank'', old ITV sitcoms and new to the network episodes of ''
Would I Lie to You? Australia''. In addition to axing ''Home and Away'' after 18 episodes, repeats of the Channel 4 science fiction television series ''Humans'' were moved from 9:00pm to after midnight with the episodes shown out of order.
As of 15 January 2024, the channel was still broadcasting ''Baywatch'' and ''Prisoner: Cell Block H'' in their usual slots, but is repeating episodes of ''
Little Britain'', ''
Bread
Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...
'', ''
Up Pompeii!'', ''
Secret Diary of a Call Girl'', ''
Great British Railway Journeys'', ''
Blankety Blank'', ''
The League of Gentlemen
''The League of Gentlemen'' is a British surreal comedy horror series that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives ...
'', ''
The Jerry Springer Show
''Jerry Springer'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Jerry Springer. The show ran for twenty-seven seasons from September 30, 1991, to July 26, 2018, in which it broadcast 3,891 episodes. It was taped at the NB ...
'', ''
Grace & Favour'', ''
Baywatch
''Baywatch'' is an American Drama (film and television), drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz ...
'', ''
Fat Friends'', ''
The Kenny Everett Video Show'', ''
Steptoe & Son'' and ''
The Benny Hill Show
''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketch comedy, sketches typified by slapstick, mime, parody, and ...
'', a day after being shown on the main That's TV UK channel.
That’s TV 3 MCR
This channel was added as a placeholder on 12 June 2024 on channel 95, along with the national That’s Memories channel on channel 71.
That's TV music channels
On 24 August 2022, that's TV took over Country Music Entertainment's Freeview slot on channel 91 and launched Classic Hits MCR, which became That’s 80s MCR on 5 January 2023 as That's TV launched a number of decade themed music channels. These were That’s 60s, That’s 70s and That’s 80s, with That’s 60s getting an additional 24 hour 'MCR' simulcast on channel 87 and That’s 70s only being seen in the area on channel 76. As of 3 January 2024,
That's 60 MCR, That's 80s and That's 90s MCR were available on
Freeview in Greater Manchester. with pop videos also shown during the day on That's TV 2 MCR. On 12 June 2024, That's TV refreshed their channel portfolio with That's 60s MCR (channel 77), That’s 90s MCR (channel 78) and That’s Dance MCR (channel 80) now being their music channels in the Greater Manchester area on Freeview.
and as of January 2025, the line-up was That's Melody MCR, That's Oldies, That's Dance MCR, That's TV 2 MCR and That's TV 3 MCR.
See also
*
List of television stations in the United Kingdom
*
Local television in the United Kingdom
References
{{Local television channels in the United Kingdom
2015 establishments in England
Local television channels in the United Kingdom
Mass media in Manchester
Television channels and stations established in 2015
That's TV