Birmingham is a big city with lots of well-developed spheres of activity. Telecommunications is one of them. There are several local TV channels in the city. One of them is simply called Made in Birmingham. Learn more at birmingham-future.
New story
Made in Birmingham is far from the first TV station in Birmingham. It was launched by a large telecommunications company, Kaleidoscope TV Limited. In 2014, after the closure of City8, they got the right to open a new local station.
The new TV channel was broadcasting not only in Birmingham but also in the Black Country, Solihull and Wolverhampton.
The first name of the station was Kaleidoscope TV. Big Centre TV put a lot of effort into launching a new project. It was decided to involve students of specialised higher education institutions to work on the new TV channel, thus, giving them the opportunity to gain experience.
Broadcasting began on February 28, 2015, with the video clip for the Electric Light Orchestra’s song Mr. Blue Sky. In addition, there were introductory shows and a special edition of The Midland local news programme. Also, on the same evening, the channel broadcasted coverage of the local hockey team’s match.
The first news releases were heavily criticised. Local TV critics from Birmingham Mail criticised the information content. There were also technical problems with sound, camera defocusing, etc.
Critics from the Black Country’s Express & Star said that the launch of the new channel was too corporate and without glitz and glamour in it. The channel management didn’t try to attract viewers with a bright cover. While the critics considered it a bad sign, the management of the station, represented by Chris Perry, said that was a standard situation for newly born channels.
In April 2015, the Canadian media company invested in Big Centre TV. That was a good sign and help for the development of a young media company.
New owners
In 2016, Made Television bought Big Centre TV. The amount of the deal wasn’t disclosed and the very fact of the purchase was a surprise. A tender was held, but the contract was concluded with a company that didn’t even participate in it.
Big Centre TV went off air in November 2016 and was relaunched as Made in Birmingham within four days. The new owners have changed its content format, making it an entertaining one. They immediately bought British and Irish entertainment shows. In 2017, the TV channel broadcast for eleven hours every day. The new station was opened in the centre of Birmingham, next to the Gas Street Basin. The Made in Birmingham office neighboured with other TV channels.
The new management faced a number of problems. In November 2017, they had to carry out restructuring. Some of the employees were dismissed and the TV programme was shortened.
In 2018, Made in Birmingham changed its name to Birmingham TV.
TV programme
35 air hours per week consisted of local news, sports and entertainment shows. In addition, the TV channel constantly acquired shows produced by other companies.
For some time, especially at the very beginning, the channel broadcast old entertainment shows, children’s series and soap operas. In particular, they repeated the well-known show Crossroads and the documentary series Out of Town.
There was a scandal around the Crossroads series. Its actors continued to be paid every time the show was on air. It was difficult for the company to come to an agreement with the former actor Paul Henry. He was dissatisfied with the payments and threatened to sue the TV channel. Therefore, they were forced to stop the reruns of the series. Later, the channel gave up on all the old shows. They started broadcasting new shows, including locally produced ones.
