SuperDave's posts, page 9

London Live

I'm not talking about a full breakfast service like they had at the start, or even the 90 minute morning programme they run now.

I'm thinking more of a 10 minute bulletin of stories (overnight headlines plus a few packages from the previous 6pm show) mixed with live weather and travel updates, repeated every 15 minutes.

London Live

In their submission to Ofcom, London Live claim they get their biggest share of audience after 6pm (no surprise there), but also in the morning.

Could we see the return of a breakfast show (6-8.30am) Monday to Friday and an hour of news from 6pm Monday to Sunday?

The breakfast show could essentially be a repeating 15 minute wheel of news, sport and weather interspersed with live travel updates. The majority of resources could then be employed on the main 6pm show.

If they could supplement this with regular short updates during daytime and prime time, this would give the news service greater exposure to a wider audience.

London Live

Or knowing their habit of inconsistent scheduling, you'll probably find Monday's news will be 2 hours long starting at 6, Tuesday's will be an hour from 7, they simply won't bother with Wednesday, Thursday's will start at 8 for half an hour .......

London Live

As reported in TV Home, London Live have requested a further reduction of local programming to 3.5 hours a day Monday to Friday and 1 hour on Saturday and Sunday to focus resources in key viewing periods. Ofcom are inviting comments with a closing date of 13 October.

UTV sell TV business to ITV

What about 3D - essentially a local service for Dublin?

Run the ITV schedule but switch Emmerdale and Corrie to 3 and turn the 7 o'clock Show into a local magazine programme. Where ITV runs local news, 3D could run a special Dublin news service, mixing national news from 3, supplemented by local reports.

Ireland retains most of the ITV service and Dubliner's receive a local news programme - a real point of difference.

UTV sell TV business to ITV

They signed a contract with the Irish equivalent of Ofcom back in February 2014 under section 71 of the Broadcasting Act 2009. They stated they would provide a news service for one hour per day, but I'm not sure if this is a formal obligation as such.

London Live

I totally agree that news needs a rethink. It is a licence requirement, but you're right, management don't consider it a priority, despite the fact that if done well, could be the station's USP.

Non news programming (the movies and comedies particularly) draw reasonable audiences. News has only appeared in the top ten on a handful of occasions in the past 2 years.

A tight format of essential information every 15 minutes would work well at breakfast, a time of day where they could really make a mark, particularly as many have remarked, if there were up-to-date travel and weather updates included.

Maybe an extended 30 minute wheel would work at other times, repeated twice at lunchtime and 3 times in the early evening. A 30 minute late night bulletin around 11pm would also be welcome, particularly as many commuters are not home for the 6pm show.

Style wise they need some personality and energy. It's been said before, but the old City Pulse/Channel M format might be worth dusting off?

London Live

Absolutely agree. There is some potential, but a lot of work still needs to be done if it's ever to make a mark on the local audience.

A relaunch is maybe the way forward - dropping London Live (which apart from 5.5 hours a day, it isn't!) in favour of ESTV perhaps?

London Live

London Live has had £18m of investment in the last 2.5 years, far more than any of the others (probably as much as the others combined). I agree the management, particularly at launch, was way way way off the mark.

London Live

Reading ESTV's accounts is like watching one of the early travel reports by Vanessa Baffoe - it just doesn't make sense.

Turnover was up 217% to £2.6 m. Audience was up 24% to 2.3 million per month.

Average salaries were down 9% to £42k pa, though staff numbers were up from 49 to 62. No hardship for Kirkman though, his own salary went up 9% to £250k pa.

The more worrying thing however, for a ''sustainable business model' is the company has £20m in debt (loans to the Lebedev's) due for repayment in 2016,17 & 18. Where that money's coming from is anyone's guess.

London Live

Did anyone see it?

London Live

What to Watch has been a Monday lunchtime fixture since March 2015, along with London Go on a Friday. What's surprising is they haven't moved London Go to the 7.30 slot, or as you say, repeated it on a Saturday morning which would be s good idea.