Over time, the demand for local services increased, and finally prompted an Act of Parliament to deregulate the respective industries and facilitate new long-term and short-term broadcast licences.
While the 1990 act proved successful, licensing procedures remained restrictive compared to those in other countries.
In May 2015 Ofcom made the decision to end the contract with Arqiva and to in-source the existing services.
The first local TV station to go on the air in the UK with an analogue RSL licence was TV12 on the Isle of Wight.
Initially a staff of more than 25 made hundreds of hours of local programmes – most of which were filmed on location in and around the island.
Later local TV licences were awarded for stations in Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Carlisle, Coleraine, Derry, Dundee, Edinburgh, Fawley, Glasgow, Hertford, Lanarkshire, Leicester, Limavady, Manchester, Northampton, Norwich, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Taunton, Teesside, Ware, Wellington, and York.
Meanwhile, in February 2009 bids were invited for auctions for the first local digital multiplex licences to be offered in the UK – the first two of which were awarded shortly thereafter.