TV Home Forum

Local TV

Are you local? (July 2013)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
NG
noggin Founding member

What I fear though is that if and probably when it does fail, it'll be used as an excuse to demonstrate that no one cares about local/regional tv and ITV will try and ditch its obligations on this front entirely.


The ratings for the BBC 1830 regional news patently demonstrate that not to be the case though. It's the highest rating news slot in the UK nationally (but never gets reported as such as each regional programme is BARB-rated separately)
Rijowhi and London Lite gave kudos
LL
London Lite Founding member
ITV's 6pm bulletins still outperform the BBC in the Tyne Tees and Border areas, where the BBC regional areas are larger, especially in the Border Scotland area where the BBC bulletin is Scotland wide.
MO
Mouseboy33
We all need a bit of levity.....
Here is a bit of a giggle about Rupert Murdoch by Jon Stewart. LOL.
http://videos.mediaite.com/video/Jon-Stewart-042612
MO
Mouseboy33
SheffieldLive tweeted they are going to air soon (end of this month). Had a look round their site. Didnt find much. Interesting.
WW
WW Update

If any city in the UK had the levels of Crime of many US cities we would be in crisis mode.


While the US certainly has a higher murder rate than the UK, the UK has a higher total crime rate, including more robberies. Still, I feel totally safe in both countries.

And we're getting way off-topic.


Yes - though I recently learned of this sobering stat.

In the UK in 2011/2012 (financial year) there were 50 violent fire-arm deaths (excluding accidents and suicides)
In the US in 2011 (calendar year), there were 11,068 violent fire-arm deaths (again excluding accidental death and suicide)

That is a factor of 221 times more. Of course the US has approximately 5x the population of the UK.

If you take that into account the US only has 45 times the number of violent deaths from fire-arms than the UK. No wonder there are shootings to fill US local news...

We have fewer than one violent death (excluding accidents and suicide) from shooting a WEEK on-average across the whole of the UK, the US has more than 200... We really are very different countries.


Well, considering that firearms are essentially banned in the UK, but not in the US, of course there will be a considerable discrepancy in the number of shooting deaths. The overall murder rate -- regardless of the weapon used -- is still substantially higher in the US, but only by a factor of 4 rather than 45.
WW
WW Update

I could be here for days pointing out how in the US you can get away with lots which would never make print or air here in a million years.


It wouldn't make print in the UK? The UK newspaper culture has an international reputation of being among the least ethical in the world. Even Fox News makes a distinction between legal and illegal immigration, while many British tabloids bash immigrants left and right and don't let the facts get in the way of a good story. And let's not even talk about their non-reality-based coverage of the European Union. British newspapers routinely get away with things that would be unimaginable in the US.

US local TV news may be entertainment-driven, but it's rarely unethical.
Last edited by WW Update on 17 September 2014 6:45pm - 4 times in total
Rijowhi and amosc100 gave kudos
LL
London Lite Founding member
SheffieldLive tweeted they are going to air soon (end of this month). Had a look round their site. Didnt find much. Interesting.


Sheffield Live TV is owned by the same organisation who operate the not for profit community radio station for the town. I await to see if they can do a decent job.
CH
chinamug

I could be here for days pointing out how in the US you can get away with lots which would never make print or air here in a million years.


It wouldn't make print in the UK? The UK newspaper culture has an international reputation of being among the least
in the world. Even Fox News makes a distinction between legal and illegal immigration, while many British tabloids bash immigrants left and right and don't let the facts get in the way of a good story. And let's not even talk about their non-reality-based coverage of the European Union. British newspapers routinely get away with things that would be unimaginable in the US.

US local TV news may be entertainment-driven, but it's rarely unethical.


I'd agree about ethics of the UK press, but that's not what I'm talking about. It's because of the libel laws in the UK that they are kept in check (at some level).

Some US Local TV news is very good. Several Stations I've watched in New England are proper broadcasters with proper ethics. However there are Local stations in a lot of Markets in the States that are very unethical. They push agendas, they only give one side of a story and when the story is wrong (which happens often) there's rarely a retraction.

As for Fox News, they're one of the most unethical broadcasters around. NHS death panel anyone Embarassed
:-(
A former member
There have been a lot of comparisons with the US in this thread, however the fundamental difference between local US stations and those so far in the UK is the overall tone used. So far a lot of what we see here is the dour "someone's been murdered", "isn't this area ****", etc read by one miserable-looking presenter who thinks they're presenting News at Ten. I actually think London Live have got the right attitude in what they have been aiming for, they just haven't got it right.

What these stations need to work is a good team. Upbeat news presented by 2 presenters, supported by people out on location, all of whom have pride in where they are. So far, London Live have tried to do this on the cheap, which doesn't work. Local TV needs money throwing at it, but in return there's money to be made.
WW
WW Update
There have been a lot of comparisons with the US in this thread, however the fundamental difference between local US stations and those so far in the UK is the overall tone used. So far a lot of what we see here is the dour "someone's been murdered", "isn't this area ****", etc read by one miserable-looking presenter who thinks they're presenting News at Ten. I actually think London Live have got the right attitude in what they have been aiming for, they just haven't got it right.

What these stations need to work is a good team. Upbeat news presented by 2 presenters, supported by people out on location, all of whom have pride in where they are.


Well, the approach you describe pretty much originated in the US and was later adopted by other broadcasters around the world:

DO
dosxuk
SheffieldLive tweeted they are going to air soon (end of this month). Had a look round their site. Didnt find much. Interesting.


Sheffield Live TV is owned by the same organisation who operate the not for profit community radio station for the town. I await to see if they can do a decent job.


If their TV output is as poor as their radio output, I expect they'll be happy with 5 viewers. It's entirely run off EU funding, and has always appeared to me to be a pet project rather than a serious attempt at providing an alternative local media source.

And I think you'll find Sheffield is a city - quite a big one at that - even if it doesn't get any media coverage nationally / regionally. A local TV station could do quite well here, especially with the constant complaints about the BBC and ITV never leaving Leeds, but a station based on the same ideas and leadership as Sheffield Live radio is not going to be the answer.

There's a show reel somewhere. The comments I've heard have mostly involved words like "rubbish", "boring" and "cringeworthy".
bilky asko and London Lite gave kudos
LL
London Lite Founding member
Did the likes of Made Television bid for the Sheffield licence?

Newer posts