‘Local Television’; do we want it and will we watch it?

The towns of Bromsgrove, Kidderminster, Malvern and Stratford upon Avon, which have populations of about 30,000 people each, are 4 of the 17 towns and 11 cities listed in the second group of places chosen that could get their own local television service, because they each have their own television transmitters - the Government then aiming to provide local television services for the rest of the country distributed via broadband.

The Birmingham local TV station would serve about 1.2 million people in the city and some of the surrounding area, including Walsall, Dudley and parts of Wolverhampton, while Kidderminster could be the smallest West Midlands TV channel as it’s been estimated that it has a potential audience of just 35,000; whereas the first Local Television Station Ofcom awarded a licence to in London covers 4 million homes.

The  Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said “there’s a huge appetite for local news and information in communities the length and breadth of the country” and that "I want people to be able to watch television that’s truly relevant to them, about what’s happening where they live and featuring the people they know.” If this is correct its up to those places given the opportunity for it, to get organised and apply for a broadcasting licence.

These new TV stations must provide a minimum of one hour of broadcasting a day, which must include local news, but would be free to broadcast around the clock if they wished; the Government allowing the BBC to subsidise these new Local TV stations in exchange for the right to rebroadcast their material in its own news coverage.

London and the other big cities have the greatest potential to provide a popular and professional local TV service, but with enough enthusiasm and leadership the towns could also make a success of this new venture.

At present we depend mainly on the local press to keep us informed of what our local Councillors and MP are up to; so would they be supportive of a local television service that would be expected to televise and interview them frequently – the package provided also includes two additional video streams that could possibly be used to broadcast full and edited highlights of Council Meetings and interviews with Councillors.

BBC ‘Question Time’ is a very popular TV and Radio format program that could be tried out on ‘Local Television’ allowing local residents the opportunity to air their views and question our elected representatives; yet being able to inform and entertain a local audience on a regular broadcast basis requires people with personality, enthusiasm and fresh ideas.

We need pioneers to make progress and those places that do begin broadcasting will encourage others if they make a success of it; yet there will be successes and failures with local broadcasting just like National and Regional Television.

‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ give people a way of expressing an opinion, local TV will be another medium; yet with possibly a greater potential for influencing those watching and those being broadcast, covering a far greater user age range.

So the Government is hoping that businesses and community groups will join together to help get some of these ‘Local Television’ Stations’ up and running; these stations receiving £25 million from the BBC ‘Licence Fee’ toward the initial setting up and then a further £5 million a year for three years from the BBC from 2014.

The executive director for planning and regeneration on Bromsgrove District Council has already welcomed the opportunity that getting local television would give in helping the regeneration of Bromsgrove and putting it on the map. While ‘New College’ in Bromsgrove runs film and TV courses and have a £3.5million development on their Bromsgrove Campus that includes TV studios and other media and performance facilities; so this could be of mutual benefit to both the town and the college students working in collaboration with the TV station to enhance their  opportunities and prospects.

Local television is the next logical step in broadcasting because it’s both technically achievable and been anticipated for some time now; so let’s look forward to it.
 

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