08-06-2023, 10:19 AM
The local stations though generally deliver on their commitments - naemly an hourly local bulletin and usually now a three hour weekday slot, even if that local slot gives the local team very little creative control. In many ways that's the point though - Global don't want the local portions of the schedule to feel in any way inferior to the rest.
Simulcasting Talk TV or whatever wouldn't be a problem if these stations were delivering a relatively strong local core of programming in primetime - but they're simply not. It's quite hard to find the That's TV schedules online but Scotland seems to now have a 15 minute bulletin at 5.30pm and 6.30pm, which I believe is for the whole of Scotland rather than each local area - even though each local licence stipulates a minimum of 7 hours of "first run" local content per week and a minimum of 7 hours of "local news" each week. Glasgow is supposed to have 14 hours of local content each week according to the annex in the consultation document.
That said though the consultation isn't clear on what period those licences refer too - whether it's as they stand, what they propose moving forward or I suspect the licence requirement ignoring any reductions OFCOM have agreed too.
What I think the big for local television is is that whilst even in their reduced, nationally run form, local radio and local newspapers , along with local websites, add something to the local media, that on the whole local TV adds absolutely nothing.
Simulcasting Talk TV or whatever wouldn't be a problem if these stations were delivering a relatively strong local core of programming in primetime - but they're simply not. It's quite hard to find the That's TV schedules online but Scotland seems to now have a 15 minute bulletin at 5.30pm and 6.30pm, which I believe is for the whole of Scotland rather than each local area - even though each local licence stipulates a minimum of 7 hours of "first run" local content per week and a minimum of 7 hours of "local news" each week. Glasgow is supposed to have 14 hours of local content each week according to the annex in the consultation document.
That said though the consultation isn't clear on what period those licences refer too - whether it's as they stand, what they propose moving forward or I suspect the licence requirement ignoring any reductions OFCOM have agreed too.
What I think the big for local television is is that whilst even in their reduced, nationally run form, local radio and local newspapers , along with local websites, add something to the local media, that on the whole local TV adds absolutely nothing.