[Community Television] Local bid for Ofcom's Public Service Publisher

[Dave Rushton]

LOCAL BID FOR PSP

Yesterday the Institute of Local Television and the The Broadcasting 
Trust submitted a hypothetical tender document to Ofcom for £200m of 
the proposed PSP fund. A consortium of ACTO, independent producers and 
RSL interests propose introducing local services onto the regional ITV 
airtime by reconfiguring the regional output to target the region's 
micro- or sub- regions with local news and current affairs.

Ofcom has suggested that the non-news regional public service 
responsibilities of the ITV companies should be slimmed down from 2005 
because the regional programming is not popular. Ofcom has established 
in its Phase 2 PSB Review that viewers are nevertheless interested to 
receive a more local TV news service.

So rather than give up regional PSB airtime to network (and possibly 
non-PSB) programming, the Broadcasting Trust propose local television 
be introduced from 2005 to replace regional output.

The public should not lose the PSB responsibility in the regional ITV 
slots and the Broadcasting Trust would provide a smaller-scale of 
public service broadcasting closer to city and administrative 
boundaries.

As digital switchover progresses the Broadcasting Trust will manage the 
PSP fund to install local digital multiplexes throughout the UK for 
operation by an independent network of local PSB companies.

Dave Rushton
local.tv at virgin.net