Local TV in the UK
Around 20 local TV services are expected to start up in the coming 12 months. For Show 85, we look at what local TV is likely to offer, and whether it's worth watching.
Listen to FrequencyCast Show 85 - Local TV in the UK |
Local TV - Will you be watching?
Here's the transcript from Frequency|Cast Show 85, where Kelly and Pete look at the UK's new local TV service:
Pete:
Well, here I am with Kelly - hello, Kelly.
Kelly:
Hello, Pete.
Pete:
Lots to get through in today's show; the first thing we're going to talk about is local TV. Do you ever watch the local TV news, you know, the London Tonight, or whatever?
Kelly:
I do, now I live in London. I didn't when I used to pick up East Anglia.
Pete:
You do listen to local news on the radio, and local TV in London?
Kelly:
Yeah, absolutely. I think it's quite important to know what's happening in your local area.
Pete:
Well, funny you say that, because in the next 12 to 18 months, there'll be 21 new local TV services. Would you be interested in watching local TV, if it were on all day, every day?
Kelly:
Possibly. It depends how I'd access it, first of all, and secondly, really how much they do actually cover. If it's quite pointless, then no.
Pete:
OK, well shall we have a little look into it, and see how it's all going to work?
Kelly:
OK, yeah - let's.
Pete:
OK, so there were 21 areas that were up for a licence, so we've got services in Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton & Hove, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Grimsby, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Sheffield and Southampton. There were two for Plymouth and Swansea, but there were no bidders, so if you're living in Plymouth or Swansea, no local TV for you.
Kelly:
Aaaw!
Pete:
And they've got some interesting names, some of these. In Birmingham, we've got:
Kelly:
City TV Broadcasting.
Pete:
In Nottingham, we've got Notts TV. I like Oxford's - that's a good one.
Kelly:
That's Oxford.
Pete:
I'm assuming the same company has gone for the Southampton franchise, That's Solent. My real favourite one though is for the good people of Norwich. What's their TV station going to be called?
Kelly:
Oh, you love this a little bit too much. They are going to call their TV station, Mustard.
Pete:
No idea why! And we've got stations called Made In Leeds, Made In Bristol, Made In Cardiff, and a few others with some unusual names, but we'll put a link to the list of all of these up on the website. (Local TV providers) But yes, local TV, it's going to be interesting, and we would love to know what you think. Now, you had a question about how to access this TV, is that right?
Kelly:
Yeah - is it internet-based, or through a TV?
Pete:
It's going to be all over the place, so most of these companies are going to be offering internet TV, but it will be on Freeview. Channel 8 is dedicated to local TV, so eventually, when these start coming online, channel 8 of Freeview will be where you can find these. They're also going to be available on Sky and cable, or certainly most of them are. We've been looking closely at the London one, which is London Live, that we expect's going to get the biggest audience there. They're going to be operating 18 hours a day. They're available on Freeview and Sky and on cable, and they plan to be on air by the end of 2013, so will you be watching?
Kelly:
Yeah, quite possibly. Can you only access them, I take it, when you're in that area?
Pete:
Probably, is the answer. They'll offer an internet service as well, so you can get it anywhere over the internet. Normally, with a channel that's on Sky, because it's going through satellite to the whole UK, there are ways of doing it, so you can pick up Scotland TV in the south of the country, and Wales TV in Scotland, so there will be a way of doing it, but it is intended to be purely for the local area.
Kelly:
Quite interesting - I think I'll definitely tune in.
Pete:
Now, what we've managed to acquire is a look at a possible TV schedule for the London service, so I'm going to run you through what you might be watching on London TV, and see if you're interested. Are you ready?
Kelly:
I'm very ready - go on.
Pete:
OK, so at six o'clock, there's a show called iNews, which apparently will feature the semi-finals of the commuter dash between Victoria and Liverpool Street stations.
Kelly:
OK, that sounds rather interesting.
Pete:
A little bit random. Then at seven o'clock, London Go - essential London happenings, live from the rich mix, where they're looking at things that are going on in London.
Kelly:
OK, that's good.
Pete:
Eight o'clock, Fresh Pickings, which is a cookery programme, with someone that you've heard of, Kelly.
Kelly:
Yeah, it's with Charles Campion, so that should be excellent actually. I'm looking forward to seeing that one.
Pete:
So feasts and restaurants in London. Nine o'clock, there's a five-minute comedy short about lost property in London, followed by a news programme at five past nine, about the slums in London; Newsround up at ten o'clock, and then at ten-fifteen, Launchpad, the premiere of London's firsts, looking at film-makers in the boroughs of Brent and Southwark. At eleven o'clock - something's making you laugh there?
Kelly:
My Beautiful Laundrette!
Pete:
It's a London comedy - it fits with a London TV station.
Kelly:
That is fantastic. I actually looked at that, and got a bit concerned it was a documentary to start with, but OK, a comedy - well, we'll see how it goes.
Pete:
So would that tempt you to switch away from say, BBC1 or Sky, to watch your local London station?
Kelly:
Yeah, I think so, particularly if it's got some new guys in production actually creating some new bits and pieces, that doesn't really conform to standard TV. I think it's really good to watch those sorts of things that are more amateur-based.
Pete:
Excellent, OK - you'll be watching by the end of the year, then?
Kelly:
Absolutely - I'm already there, I think.
Pete:
Brilliant - OK, local TV coming to most of you in the next 18 months.
Transcript continues: Kelly joins Foundation Radio Training Course
Listen to FrequencyCast Show 85 - Local TV in the UK |
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