[Community Television] Institute of Local Television joins Open Channels for Europe

[Dave Rushton]

The Institute of Local Television recently joined a relaunched Open 
Channels for Europe! - the objective of which is to facilitate exchange 
and best practice among open and access channels throughout Europe.

A local initiative is to set up a music video exchange - which 
currently is more likely to benefit bands in Scotland/UK (who have no 
local broadcast outlet for their music videos). With national 
organisations from Sweden, Netherlands and Germany involved there's 
access to 120 or more open or community TV channels - ranging from 5000 
or so viewers in one station in central Sweden to more than 3m in 
Berlin ..... the basic structure of the proposition is as follows.

Subscribers to Music for Europe (or similar OCE type branding) are 
members of OCE! (which ILT is)

Music videos - typically 3-4 minutes - are submitted to the Institute 
of Local TV for compilation into a regular - monthly initially - 
magazine format programme for circulation on DVD - lasting 30 minutes 
this will go to member organisations (several of which are local or 
community broadcasters). (In addition we hope a festival will be 
established to celebrate local music video.)

At first this DVD compilation will probably include every music video 
we have sent to us - but later it could become more thematic - 
programming by genre or some other criteria

The video will usually take the form of a band miming to their CD, 
sometimes with acting and fooling around in varying degrees of 
complexity.

All contributors to MfE must provide a waiver form which entitles us to 
use the video and transmit it without incurring royalties - the waiver 
will include band name, members names, writers and composers names can 
be inserted as well as producers, crew etc - space also for other info 
on band, contacts etc - ideally reference to band's web site address 
and/or email

The videos should be sent to ILT 13 Bellevue Place, Edinburgh, EH7 4BS 
on miniDV or first generation VHS only.

We (ILT) will provide a top, intermediate and tail graphics package to 
wrap-around the videos and we'll run off each programme onto DVD.

Member stations/organisations of OCE! can then request a copy of the 
compilation DVD for a small charge - to cover postage and packing.

So ....... if members of CMA have been involved in recent music video 
productions and can lay their hands on consents from performers/music 
rights holders etc - please forward both - or if you plan something 
along these lines - just music videos only, not programmes about or 
introducing bands - then let me know and I'll send on some waiver 
forms.

The organisations in OCE! are not-for-profit, community, educational or 
open access producers/broadcasters.

Best wishes,


Dave Rushton