TeleG was established as the first daily digital Gaelic TV channel in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 31 October 1999, and was available on the Freeview platform until 23 May 2011. The channel was based in

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

. Programs were transmitted on TeleG between 6pm and 7pm each day. The channel slot was shared with the

CITV CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged ...

channel (which broadcast from 6am to 6pm) and

ITV2 ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...

+1 (which broadcast from 7pm to 6am). The Broadcasting Act of 1996 required that programs aired would be repeats transmitted on analogue channels (many of which are first shown outside peak hours) between 6pm and 10:30pm. The

Communications Act 2003 The Communications Act 2003 (c. 21) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act, which came into force on 25 July 2003, superseded the Telecommunications Act 1984. The new act was the responsibility of Culture Secretary Tessa ...

created the Gaelic Media Service which decides on the future development of Gaelic Broadcasting services. The broadcaster and service provider of TeleG was SDN, the company which holds the license for DTT multiplex A. SDN, then owned by NTL, S4C and

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, was awarded the Multiplex A licence in May 1998. Part of the capacity on Multiplex A was reserved for services provided by Channel 5, S4C in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and Gaelic programming in Scotland. SDN was purchased by

ITV plc ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV (TV network), ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ITV plc ...

in 2005. TeleG initially continued to broadcast after the launch of BBC Alba on 19 September 2008. At launch BBC Alba was only available on

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

before later being added to

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

. TeleG would continue to broadcast until the BBC Trust had reviewed the performance of BBC Alba and announced their decision on whether they would recommend carriage of BBC Alba on Freeview. In December 2010, the BBC Trust approved a plan put forward by BBC management which would see the thirteen

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

stations which broadcast on Freeview removed from the platform in Scotland during the hours of BBC Alba's broadcast to free up capacity for the TV channel to operate. The radio services would not be affected outside Scotland, and the affected BBC radio stations would continue to be available on other platforms in Scotland including: DAB digital radio, FM/AM (where applicable), satellite and cable TV and online. A date for the change to be brought in has yet to be confirmed, and as the service would broadcast on the BBC's public service multiplex, the effect that this would have on TeleG was not clear. The plans were later revised to allow BBC Radio 1Xtra, 5 Live and 6 Music to continue broadcasting alongside BBC Alba. During its run, the arrangement between TeleG and SDN raised £2.5 million to Stornoway's economy. It was confirmed on 22 May 2011, that TeleG would close on 23 May, with BBC Alba launched on 8 June 2011, using its old EPG number on Freeview.

External links

* (Official website rchived {{Television in Scotland Scottish Gaelic mass media Defunct television channels in Scotland Television channels and stations established in 1999 1999 establishments in Scotland 2011 disestablishments in Scotland Television channels and stations disestablished in 2011