[cma-l] Local TV - consultation deadline 23 Sept

Fri Sep 23 09:31:58 BST 2011

I have to say that I don't have a great deal of confidence in the concept of local TV - having been unvolved in exactly such a project in Reading 10 years ago.
But I am in agreement with Steve on the transmission aspects.
Hooking up with or into existing station equipment and service areas would be far too costly and coverage would not be relevant.
Transmission planning for suitable coverage is identical in process to what we do now with FM - for CRs, ILRs and RSLs.
The structures and antenna systems required for Band IV/V TV are a totally parallel technology.
The transmission and linking electronics are again relatively cheap and readily available.
Only the digital encoding aspect is currently complex and pricey - but that will inevitably reduce with development and demand.
So the infrastructure hardware wouldn't be a problem.
Only the provision of suitable quality and quantity of broadcast material as I see it.
That and selling airtime!

Does this all sound a bit too familiar?

------------------------------------
Ian Hickling
Partner
transplan UK

Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 22:52:45 +0100
To: cma-l at commedia.org.uk
From: sbuckley at gn.apc.org
Subject: [cma-l] Local TV - consultation deadline 23 Sept

Dear all

Earlier this month CMA and Sheffield City Council 
hosted a national consultation event on DCMS 
proposals for local television. Over 50 
participants converged on Sheffield from as far 
afield as Scotland, London and the South West. 
The event was supported by CM Solutions, Cultural 
Industries Quarter Agency and 
Showroom/Workstation who are also working, as 
part of a wider consortium, to develop a 
Sheffield local television channel. There was a 
strong consensus among those present that, 
although the general commitment to develop local 
TV should be warmly welcomed, the proposal to 
require local TV channels to use a single 
monopoly provider (MuxCo) for transmission should 
be rejected. Instead the local TV channels should 
be free to own and operate their own transmission 
systems, in the same way that community radio currently does.

The deadline for comments to DCMS is Friday 23 
September. Please join us and others in calling 
on Jeremy Hunt to say No to the MuxCo monopoly.

Responses should be sent to: local.tv at culture.gsi.gov.uk

For those of you that missed the event or are 
beavering away on a more detailed response to the 
DCMS consultation, below is a summary of the 
conclusions and recommendations and attached is a 
copy of my presentation to the event.

Best wishes

Steve

//
Local Television Forum, Sheffield 6 September 2011

A national workshop for local television 
stakeholders, hosted by the Community Media 
Association and Sheffield City Council, with the 
support of Showroom/Workstation, Cultural 
Industries Quarter Agency and CM Solutions.

Summary of conclusions and recommendations

a.	Content and market

- Similar to the community radio model we want 
the licences to be framed by ‘key commitments’ – 
they should be local licences, for local 
communities, meeting local needs, supporting the 
local economy, promoting citizen participation in 
media, linking with other providers ,eg 
hyperlocal websites, and encourage networking with other stations

- However training is done, it is this which 
gives people the capability to participate and transferrable skills for life

- Concern about what kind of restrictions there 
might be on how news is delivered in terms of requirements on balance

- Consideration should be given to some kind of 
limit on profit to cap return on investment, for example CIC models

b.	Distribution models

- A monopoly supplied or transmission services is 
not to the advantage of local TV, there are a 
range of potential services providers, costs are relatively affordable.

- Stations should have the right to establish 
their own transmission system rather than be 
dependent on a single multiplex operator

- Some local channels might want to resell the 
spare multiplex capacity, e.g. to a shopping 
channels to contribute to their sustainability. This should be permitted.

- Transmission sites don’t need to be located on 
existing transmission masts. There should be 
flexibility to allow the local services to 
identify alternative transmission sites

- Some local TV stations would not want 
responsibility for transmission. They should be free to buy in services

- Cable is an important alternative transmission 
medium. The government should assure that 
negotiations with the cable operator are fair and 
linked to a must carry obligation

- The capital investment should be available to 
the local TV providers for investment that can 
demonstrate contribution to sustainability (not 
only the transmission infrastructure)

c.	Costs and funding

- Local TV might not be commercially viable 
without the back up of government in terms of loan or grant funding

- Advertising is considered a crucial revenue source to survive

- Government could also act as a guarantor for initial costs

- BBC could assist with audience measurement for local TV

- Costs could be reduced by federation and 
cooperation between local TV providers  – bulk buying, bulk sales etc

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