Media tycoon Lord (Evgeny) Lebedev is on the lookout for a buyer for his financially struggling London television station, a decade after its grand debut.

Launched in 2014, London Live marked the introduction of the first dedicated TV channel for the city but has accumulated losses exceeding £20 million since its inception.

In recent times, despite reducing its workforce and cutting costs, the organization informed its staff that the ongoing operational losses have placed it in a precarious position to “remain viable”.

In an email to employees last week, Managing Director Tim Kirkman indicated that London Live is “considering opportunities to sell or merge with other television channels to create a more effective combined entity”.

The prospect of job cuts has left staff concerned after Kirkman mentioned the company would be “looking at ways to restructure to reduce costs, ensuring continued growth and profitability while still catering to its audience”.

London Live was launched as part of a larger initiative to promote “local TV,” introduced by former culture secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Lebedev, who was born in Russia and is the son of a former KGB officer, successfully acquired the coveted London broadcasting license and initially hired 50 editorial staff, supplemented by personnel from his newspapers, the Evening Standard and the Independent.

However, the channel has struggled to gain a significant audience, and with the decline in viewership of traditional television, its relevance has diminished over time.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, London Live drew attention when it faced criticism from broadcasting regulator Ofcom for airing a lengthy interview with David Icke, a former goalkeeper turned conspiracy theorist, who made controversial claims linking COVID-19 to 5G technology.

According to Companies House filings for London Live’s parent company ESTV, the organization recorded losses of £33 million from 2013 to 2019. Following a period of profitability, Kirkman’s recent email informed staff that the channel had begun incurring operational losses once more in the last two years. The latest financial reports indicate that ESTV had 22 employees as of 2023.

Lord Lebedev’s appointment as a peer by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was met with controversy. Although they were close friends, Lebedev claims that naming his pet wolf Boris was a tribute to Boris Yeltsin, not the former mayor of London.