The service, called Public TV, draws on the expertise Ten Alps has gleaned through the 18m purchase of publisher McMillan Scott, which produced magazines and other content for the public sector.

Ten Alps is already making headway in online television. It is the principal shareholder in Teachers TV, a joint venture with the UK Department of Education with a database of over 1,000 educational programmes accessible over the internet. Teachers TV currently supplies more than 100,000 video downloads a month, according to Ten Alps.

The company last week announced revenue growth of over 21% and a doubling of pro"ts to 4m as the joint venture began to pay dividends for the AIM-listed "rm, which said it has 10 TV series and 15 radio documentaries in production.