The Evening Standard is to have its own TV station following news that the owners of the newspaper, Evgeny Lebedev and his father Alexander, have won the local TV license for London.

The London license was the most hotly contested of all the 21 city-wide TV licenses to be awarded by Ofcom as part of the local TV project. Ofcom said it picked ESTV for the 12-year license because it showed the "greatest understanding of London's diverse communities". So far 15 licenses have been awarded around the country.

The new station, London Live, could begin broadcasting on Freeview later this year, possibly by September. It will launch with around 18 hours of daily news, eventually rising to 24 hours, and will offer current affairs, entertainment, weather and sport news for London, seen in around four million homes.

The channel will draw on the editorial resources of the Evening Standard and Independent newspapers to deliver content. It will feature regular news bulletins plus 33 complementary internet TV streams covering every borough within Greater London.