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Further plans for Local TV news pilot announced
The BBC has announced further details of the pilot for its new local
television news service, which is to run in the West Midlands from December
2005.
The nine month scheme will use the latest broadcasting
technology to create different kinds of local television news in five
different areas of the West Midlands via digital satellite and on broadband.
David Holdsworth, Head of Regional and Local Programmes
and Project Manager for the pilot, says: "It's been our strategic aim
for a number of years to make our services as local as possible - all
the research suggests that audiences are most interested in news and
events from their own areas.
"Until now, technology has made it impossible for
us to provide any sort of local TV news service on top of the one dictated
by regional transmitters.
"This pilot gives us the chance to provide news
on demand (on broadband) or once an hour (on digital satellite)."
The pilot will allow the BBC to reach new audiences
with relevant locally based programming, providing a service in line
with that already delivered by BBC Local Radio stations.
It will also improve and expand the links between the
BBC's local Where I Live websites, Local Radio and Television.
It is set to run in the following areas: Birmingham
and the Black Country; Coventry and Warwickshire; Herefordshire and
Worcestershire; Stoke and Staffordshire; and Shropshire.
On digital satellite, viewers will be able to see news
from their area for ten minutes every hour - for example, Shropshire
might always appear at 20 minutes past the hour.
Viewers will have access to the service via the red
button on their remote control.
Broadband users can watch their local bulletin on-demand
linked through their local Where I Live website. The
material will be available on demand in separate 'chunks' on the site,
as well as a combined ten-minute bulletin.
Nearly 40 staff will be appointed, including six journalists
on each site - one in each area being a specialist community user/user-generated
content producer.
News lies at the heart of the content, along with public
service information, sport and weather. In addition, there will be an
information service appropriate to the time of day and items which celebrate
local heroes, the arts, entertainment and heritage.
The aim will be to refresh non-breaking news once every
24 hours.
Local television reinforces the BBC's commitment to
improving media literacy and provides new opportunities for partnership
with local communities.
The pilot will test a variety of ways of commissioning
new user-generated content from individuals and organisations in each
locality, building on the success of projects like Digital Stories and
Video Nation.
All community material broadcast will be subject to
the usual BBC editorial and health and safety guidelines.
Once the pilot scheme is completed, a rigorous independent
public value test will be conducted, including an assessment of its
market impact in the West Midlands and detailed scrutiny by the BBC's
Board of Governors.
Subject to this appraisal, the BBC then hopes to introduce
around 60 similar services across the UK as a key part of its Out of London
strategy.
This strategy was first outlined in Building Public
Value, the BBC's manifesto for the next Charter period, published in
June 2004.
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