From The Editor: Government Update On Future Of Local TV

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has revealed a list of 65 towns and cities across the UK which could get new local TV services in the coming years. Manchester is among them, and the proposed new Manchester service would cover and be available in Oldham, and presumably therefore also in Saddleworth.

The government has been holding consultations about the future of local TV for several months, and I’m among those to have met Mr Hunt to get my tuppenceworth across. For what it’s worth, I’d rather the government concentrated on encouraging more internet-based services, such as the Saddleworth News TV bulletins I’ve produced in association with The Oldham College, rather than a new framework of local channels.

Cllr Dave Hibbert is interviewed by Saddleworth News TV recently.

That’s the road the government is going down though, at least for the time being. The new channels would be available on your TV via Freeview, with the first broadcasting from late 2013.

However, it’s envisaged that, as online-based television becomes more commonplace and broadband coverage improves, the internet will eventually become the way in which these programmes are delivered to your telly, rather than the current digital terrestrial system. That could make it easier for ultra-local video services, such as Saddleworth News, to reach a wider audience.

Mr Hunt has described his plans as “probably the biggest shake-up in our broadcasting landscape for two decades.” He believes local services, rather than the current regional ones, could do a better job of covering politics and scrutinising bodies such as councils, the police and health service.

You can hear the rest of what Mr Hunt has to say about all this by clicking the box above. Much more information is available from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport here.

Past Saddleworth News TV bulletins can still be watched here.

Next week, Mr Hunt will hold a summit with “industry, MPs, councillors, regional screen agencies, viewers groups, university and college staff and potential bidders” in Manchester. Not sure which category I fall into, but I’ve been invited along anyway, so I’ll report back, especially if I can find out more on what this might mean for Saddleworth.

I’d be interested to hear what you think. Would a Manchester-based local TV service be any more interesting to you than the existing BBC and Granada regional news? Would you be interested in more coverage of local democracy, rather than the human interest and magazine items which often feature on those programmes? Is there anything you’d like me to ask Jeremy Hunt?

Please leave any comments or suggestions below!

Author: Jude Gidney - Editor

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