Regional News U-Turn

ITV now wants to continue providing ITV regional news
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/sep/26/itv-u-turn-regional-news

Sorry guys

Please remove this post from here as it has not got anything to do with this topic and as I have posted in the ITV.com they have had these weather pages SINCE the sites launched last year.

I don't really get what is so hard about local news in England. In the US, stations are jumping over themselves to start at 4.30am - even 4am in some instances - there is that much money in local news. Here in Japan, local news dominates the airwaves throughout the late afternoon. In Australia, the #1 and 2 programs for the night, year-round, are usually local news - and Ten News is soon to offer local news at 5-6 and 6.30, and network news at 6 and 7. I gather national rules the roost in the UK, in terms of newspapers, radio and TV and there isn't the localism that we have with states, but still... is it that ITV doesn't know how to offer competitive local content?

The UK isn't as big as those places you've mentioned, it isn't that national rules the roost, just that more of the news that is happening fits better in national news or I should probably say more of the news that is of interest to most people.

There are really three tiers of news in the UK; national, regional - which is what ITV and the BBC do and local which is mostly delivered in the form of local newspapers.

Actually more people get their local news from local radio than newspapers.

Which is why it's such a shame that local radio news isn't invested in more - how many commercial radio stations have decent local news teams any more.

Mine (I think) is a very minimal team of 5 maybe?, it uses SKY News for toth News and even has SkyNews on the website along with Local I reckon it should merge with the Local News Paper to get more Local News and spread resources.

But that will never happen.

BRMB used to take news from ITN, I'm not sure. Their head of news Kevin Pashby was laid off along with 5 local journalists.

Scotland has about 2 which covers most of the stations...

But you can blame ITC, IBA for the system we have ended up with.

I think the way radio is going it fits better into the regional category thesedays.

I think it's time to bust this size myth once and for all.

Only two "markets" in the US, New York and Los Angeles, are bigger than the London region here in the UK.

Of the 200+ markets in the US, over 150 of them, are smaller than the old South West/Westcountry region, and one is even smaller than Channel Television.

In Canada, a country with just under half our population, there are 43 TV markets, again most of which are smaller than the South West/Westcountry.

It's all to do with attitude towards regional television, and nothing at all to do with size.

Myth BUSTED!