[Brekkie]

The government has announced plans to renew the local TV licences through to 2034.   Not sure this really benefits anyone other than Narrative Entertainment, who run the Great TV network and POP channels on the mux.

I'm sure we all agree with media minister John Whittingdale when he says

Local TV stations from Belfast to Birmingham help to support local journalism, drive the creative economy and foster pride in communities. We want to see this continue, so we’ve set out plans for Ofcom to review all services to ensure they’re well positioned to continue serving local audiences with trusted and distinctive content for years to come

www.gov.uk 

Of course for most of the local network operated by That's TV and Local TV the local provision is now barely ten minutes of poorly produced, not that local, news a night - compared to the intial licence agreement which pledged hours of original local content per week, not 80's music and Talk Radio simulcasts.    They seem to hold up Notts TV and KMTV as examples of how local communities are served - and of course those two show local TV can be local, but that is far from the norm. The appendix states the Thats TV licences must offer 7 hours of local news a week - don't see how 10 minutes a day is achieving that.


A consultation is now open until the end of August.

www.gov.uk