RNS Number:2265N
Milestone Group PLC
07 July 2003


For Immediate Release                                    Monday 7th July 2003



                               MILESTONE GROUP PLC


                           SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION FOR
                      LOCAL TELEVISION LICENCE FOR READING



Milestone Group PLC ("Milestone" or "the Group"), the new cross-media group,
announces its first successful license application, the 4 year local television
licence ("the licence") for the Reading area, since the Group floated on the
Alternative Investment Market earlier this month.



The Independent Television Commission ("ITC") has awarded the licence to Reading
Television Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Group, following the
application which it submitted in January 2003.



Milestone already operates the local television service for Oxford through its
91%-owned subsidiary Oxford Broadcasting Limited trading as SIX TV The Oxford
Channel. The Group will announce in due course details of when the new licence,
to be known as SIX TV Reading, will be launched.  The Group anticipates that the
licence will cover a significant part of the Reading area. Milestone's
application proposed significant content and resource-sharing between the Oxford
and Reading services. SIX TV Oxford has been broadcasting for four years and
recently had its own licence renewed by the ITC.



Local television licences (also known as Restricted Service Licences) allow
their operators to provide a terrestrial free-to-air television service to a
defined location for up to four years using spare analogue frequencies. Licences
operate at lower power than the five national channels but can be received using
conventional television sets without the need for additional cables or
set-top-boxes.



The award of the Reading licence will enable Milestone to pursue its cross media
strategy in Reading where it already owns the Thames Valley Weekly, a free
weekly classified listings magazine published by its wholly-owned subsidiary
Courier Newspapers (Oxford) Limited. Milestone also has a 37% beneficial
interest in the Independent Local Radio licence operated by the Reading
Broadcasting Company Limited, trading as Reading 107 FM.



Milestone Chief Executive Andrew Craig said:



"This is an important step in the development of Milestone's cross-media
strategy with our television and publishing divisions working closely together
in and around Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley region. It is our intention to
establish a cost-effective advertising proposition for advertisers based in the
Thames Valley across our television, teletext and publishing platforms. Together
with the radio services we already control in West Berkshire (Newbury-based Kick
FM) and Oxford (Passion 107.9) we are continuing to build a significant media
presence in and around the Thames Valley, enabling us to provide a powerful
advertising offering in what is one of the most affluent areas in the UK."



For further information:


Milestone Group PLC                                  Tel: 01635 202 700
Andrew Craig - Chief Executive

Buchanan Communications                              Tel: 020 7466 5000
Bobby Morse / Bobbie Swanson






                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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