Should (and could) ITV regionalise again?

It would have to be renamed for the French market

"Have Your Gateau And Eat It"

QUOTE <Broadcasters urgently need a modern framework that recognises a siesmic shift in the industry> ... "We need an updated compact for PSBs which ensures that the benefits continue to match the cost of delivering our public service obligations. Perhaps the greatest benefit of public service broadcasting is the contribution it makes to the health of our democracy../ It provides a gold standard of trusted national and local journalism amid the anarchy of fake news." /QUOTE -Carolyn Mcall, ITV CEO in today's Torygraph Business Section.

The catchphrase would be .."The clock is ticking" All the prize points would be cherries...

I'm not sure that's the case. Our sub-regions fit in with their US equivalents fairly well. Five are in the top 20 and all bar STV North Dundee, both Borders and Channel are in the top half of the table. Even tiny Channel (ranked 192) at 54,000 households is larger than 19 US media markets. Glendive is by far the smallest with a meagre 3690 households.

Region/households

1 New York ----------------------6,824,120
2 Los Angeles ----------------5,145,350
London ------------------------4,900,000
3 Chicago ----------------------3,256,400
Granada -----------------------3.100,000
Central West ------------------2,900,000
4 Philadelphia -----------------2,758,330
5 Dallas-Ft. Worth -----------2,563,320
6 San Francisco-Oak-San Jose 2,364,740
7 Washington, DC (Hagrstwn) 2,351,930
8 Houston ----------------- 2,330,180
9 Boston (Manchester) ------2,302,680
10 Atlanta ----------------------2,269,270
Yorkshire West ----------------1,900,000
11 Phoenix (Prescott) -----------1,879,780
12 Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota) 1,800,600
13 Seattle-Tacoma -----------1,764,680
14 Detroit ----------------------1,737,170
15 Minneapolis-St. Paul ------1,697,370
16 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale ------1,642,220
17 Denver ----------------------1,532,320
18 Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn 1,492,640
Tyne Tees ----------------------1,400,000
19 Cleveland-Akron (Canton) 1,366,110
20 Sacramnto-Stkton-Modesto 1,317,500
STV Central Glasgow ---------------1,300,000
Wales --------------------------------1,200,000
21 Charlotte -----------------------1,125,970
*****
27 Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle) 1,025,320
Anglia West -------------------------1,000,000
28 Nashville ------------------------983,180
*****
31 San Antonio ------------------916,970
Central East --------------------------900,000
Meridian South ----------------------900,000
Meridian Thames Valley -------------900.000
West Country East -------------------900,000
32 Kansas City ------------------896,850
Anglia East ---------------------------800,000
West Country West ------------------800,000
37 Cincinnati ------------------828,250
*****
40 Austin ------------------------736,770
Yorkshire East -------------------------700,000
Meridian South East ------------------700,000
41 Jacksonville -------------------690,400
*****
50 New Orleans ------------------615,480
UTV -----------------------------------600,000
51 Memphis ------------------------580,600
*****
59 Albany-Schenectady-Troy --500,400
STV Central Edinburgh ---------------500,000
60 Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn --497,830
*****
66 Honolulu ------------------------414,130
STV North Aberdeen -----------------400,000
67 Green Bay-Appleton --------394,210
*****
125 Bakersfield -------------------200,460
Border England -----------------------200,000
STV North Dundee --------------------200,000
126 SantaBarbra-SanMar-SanLuOb -195,870
*****
164 Abilene-Sweetwater --------100,790
Border Scotland -----------------------100,000
165 Yuma-El Centro ---------------99,710
*****
191 Twin Falls --------------------------55,050
Channel ---------------------------------54,000
192 Great Falls ---------------------53,210
*****
209 North Platte ---------------------12,010
210 Glendive ----------------------------3,630

^^ Oh, that goes without saying.

Updated compact. That's an interesting choice of words. It has two meanings to my mind. Either 'we're determined to keep PSB as part as our coverage' or 'Hey, PSB is great but and we'll keep it if we have to but we really wouldn't mind if someone else did it'"

There isn't a public interest because there isn't much public interest in anything changing, and presumably too not much corporate interest in anyone challenging for the franchises otherwise the status quo wouldn't have stayed the same for the last couple of decades.

Always when comparing to other countries it is important to remember history - just like how our stations got to where they are today though various decisions over the course of six decades so did theres. Yes, it may be viable in theory to have a much greater regional presence with for example 30 minute bulletins in the afternoon and late night too, plus additional local content at weekends, but it is much harder to make that viable from the point we're at now than had the history of regional television took us to that point naturally.

Nobody has been allowed to challenge ITV for the franchises. I make an intelligent guess that had a franchise round been held in the early 2000s then it would have attracted plenty of applicants.

It's a good question whether anybody now is interested in contesting an ITV region if they given the opportunity in 2024. Would there be more interest in a franchise round for bits of ITV instead of regions, such as local news, children's programmes, sport etc.?

There's no money to be made broadcasting to just one or two regions. The only region that would realistically be available is STV but even then it's more likely that ITV would buy STV in the future.

If the licence was re-offered in 2024 then chances are it would be a national licence and I can't see that happening unless there was a major change in the industry.

Are you implying that a regional (not local) TV channel covering, say, Yorkshire or the Midlands is genuinely unprofitable nowadays?

as someone that grew up with scottish television/STV, i get the feeling that sooner rather than later that ITV will buy STV, and therefore the end of ITV! the way that UTV was swallowed up by ITV, does not bode well for the future!