OH
Yes, on the surface it doesnt appear that drastic BUT these are still only Ofcom proposals.
ohwhatanight
Founding member
Jez posted:
"Establish ITV Wales’ non-news regional output at a minimum of four hours per week"
Thats not bad for ITV Wales, about what we are getting now. At least regional news is continuing.
Thats not bad for ITV Wales, about what we are getting now. At least regional news is continuing.
Yes, on the surface it doesnt appear that drastic BUT these are still only Ofcom proposals.
CW
cwathen
Founding member
Oh dear, as soon as I here the nasty buzz-term 'digital age', I wait for the gimmicks.
And there they are. We're going to have a new Public Service Publisher (PSP), charged with making use of new platforms, which doubtless is going to be used as an excuse for making any decent programming. Indeed, every time the PSP is mentioned in the report, much is made of the way they will deliver their content, with what that content will actually be seldom mentioned - I doubt they've even thought about it, preferring to spend more time worrying about delivering TV to mobile phones than worrying about delivering TV to TVs.
And the big news, they've bowed to ITV yet again. All non news regional programming will be cut from English stations, with Scottish/Grampian/UTV/HTV Wales required to produced only a paltry 4 hours of non-news regional output per week. And that figure itself is only temporary, as soon as one of the stations has ceased it's analogue terrestrial service, the requirements will drop to only 3 hours per week.
OFCOM are making a rod for their own backs here. In the report, they acknowledge that the public value decent PSB, yet they must also acknowledge that the public do not like the unfair licence fee system through which the BBC is funded. Yet in effectivelly killing off commercial PSB, continuing the licence fee funding of the BBC becomes more and more essential in order to ensure that PSB will survive. One day those two issues are going to meet head on, and whichever way they go, it will be wrong.
Refusing to allow the ITV system to be decimated as it has been would have been a far better move towards securing the future of decent PSB than would the constant obsession with analogue switchoff, and the establishment of gimmicky entities like the PSP which, based on the report, looks like it's remit will be more about the technology than the material.
And there they are. We're going to have a new Public Service Publisher (PSP), charged with making use of new platforms, which doubtless is going to be used as an excuse for making any decent programming. Indeed, every time the PSP is mentioned in the report, much is made of the way they will deliver their content, with what that content will actually be seldom mentioned - I doubt they've even thought about it, preferring to spend more time worrying about delivering TV to mobile phones than worrying about delivering TV to TVs.
And the big news, they've bowed to ITV yet again. All non news regional programming will be cut from English stations, with Scottish/Grampian/UTV/HTV Wales required to produced only a paltry 4 hours of non-news regional output per week. And that figure itself is only temporary, as soon as one of the stations has ceased it's analogue terrestrial service, the requirements will drop to only 3 hours per week.
OFCOM are making a rod for their own backs here. In the report, they acknowledge that the public value decent PSB, yet they must also acknowledge that the public do not like the unfair licence fee system through which the BBC is funded. Yet in effectivelly killing off commercial PSB, continuing the licence fee funding of the BBC becomes more and more essential in order to ensure that PSB will survive. One day those two issues are going to meet head on, and whichever way they go, it will be wrong.
Refusing to allow the ITV system to be decimated as it has been would have been a far better move towards securing the future of decent PSB than would the constant obsession with analogue switchoff, and the establishment of gimmicky entities like the PSP which, based on the report, looks like it's remit will be more about the technology than the material.
OH
ohwhatanight
Founding member
The South Wales Echo today are reporting that the Ofcom decision is a
reduction
in non-news programming for Wales and also that the license for S4C could be put out to tender in the future!
Ofcom PDF downloadable HERE
Ofcom PDF downloadable HERE
TV
tvmercia
Founding member
there was a report on central news tonight about the cuts, as posted over in the midlands thread ...
tvmercia posted:
central news covered the regional programming cuts tonight, the MD said he didnt think the viewers would miss them ... now i know he has to toe the company line - but saying "they were crappy anyway" (in not so many words) surely wasnt the best argument for the cuts 
heres the report about it ...
CENTRAL REGIONAL PROGRAMME CUTS
heres the report about it ...
CENTRAL REGIONAL PROGRAMME CUTS
TV
Ooo I didn't see this thread
Well this was how HTV summaried the changes released this morning
http://members.lycos.co.uk/tindragon/htv080205.jpg
No doubt better than it could be [unless you work for S4C that is]. But somehow I can't see Wales making very much of a contribution to the "50% of network programmes must be made outside of London" production fund business.
Jez posted:
There was a report on tonight ITV Wales News at 6pm and they said that the majority of people have welcomed the move as there will only be a small amount of cuts of regional progs in Wales and possibly more commissions of programmes made in Wales for the ITV Network.
Well this was how HTV summaried the changes released this morning
http://members.lycos.co.uk/tindragon/htv080205.jpg
No doubt better than it could be [unless you work for S4C that is]. But somehow I can't see Wales making very much of a contribution to the "50% of network programmes must be made outside of London" production fund business.
OH
Hmmmm, well apart from Granada up in Manchester have any of the regional ITV studios got any capacity to produce network programmes anymore? Looking at the regional strategy implemented at Meridian - it seems that a once big contributor to the ITV network is left with facilites that can only produce regional news!
Which ITV stations have facilities to produce network programmes anymore?
ohwhatanight
Founding member
TVDragon posted:
Ooo I didn't see this thread
Well this was how HTV summaried the changes released this morning
http://members.lycos.co.uk/tindragon/htv080205.jpg
No doubt better than it could be [unless you work for S4C that is]. But somehow I can't see Wales making very much of a contribution to the "50% of network programmes must be made outside of London" production fund business.
Jez posted:
There was a report on tonight ITV Wales News at 6pm and they said that the majority of people have welcomed the move as there will only be a small amount of cuts of regional progs in Wales and possibly more commissions of programmes made in Wales for the ITV Network.
Well this was how HTV summaried the changes released this morning
http://members.lycos.co.uk/tindragon/htv080205.jpg
No doubt better than it could be [unless you work for S4C that is]. But somehow I can't see Wales making very much of a contribution to the "50% of network programmes must be made outside of London" production fund business.
Hmmmm, well apart from Granada up in Manchester have any of the regional ITV studios got any capacity to produce network programmes anymore? Looking at the regional strategy implemented at Meridian - it seems that a once big contributor to the ITV network is left with facilites that can only produce regional news!
Which ITV stations have facilities to produce network programmes anymore?
AD
Hmmmm, well apart from Granada up in Manchester have any of the regional ITV studios got any capacity to produce network programmes anymore? Looking at the regional strategy implemented at Meridian - it seems that a once big contributor to the ITV network is left with facilites that can only produce regional news!
Which ITV stations have facilities to produce network programmes anymore?
Tyne Tees will until this summer, when they move into a building at the MetroCentre, with only 1 small regional studio, 1 news studio and a broom cupboard for Signpost BS. I'm told both studios will be small. The City Road studios will probably be demolished. However, TTTV rarely use more facilities than will be included in the new 'TV Centre' and the main studio hasn't been used for a while (probably last used for a Channel 4 '100 Greatest' Programme before YTV gradually took over the production).
ohwhatanight posted:
TVDragon posted:
Ooo I didn't see this thread
Well this was how HTV summaried the changes released this morning
http://members.lycos.co.uk/tindragon/htv080205.jpg
No doubt better than it could be [unless you work for S4C that is]. But somehow I can't see Wales making very much of a contribution to the "50% of network programmes must be made outside of London" production fund business.
Jez posted:
There was a report on tonight ITV Wales News at 6pm and they said that the majority of people have welcomed the move as there will only be a small amount of cuts of regional progs in Wales and possibly more commissions of programmes made in Wales for the ITV Network.
Well this was how HTV summaried the changes released this morning
http://members.lycos.co.uk/tindragon/htv080205.jpg
No doubt better than it could be [unless you work for S4C that is]. But somehow I can't see Wales making very much of a contribution to the "50% of network programmes must be made outside of London" production fund business.
Hmmmm, well apart from Granada up in Manchester have any of the regional ITV studios got any capacity to produce network programmes anymore? Looking at the regional strategy implemented at Meridian - it seems that a once big contributor to the ITV network is left with facilites that can only produce regional news!
Which ITV stations have facilities to produce network programmes anymore?
Tyne Tees will until this summer, when they move into a building at the MetroCentre, with only 1 small regional studio, 1 news studio and a broom cupboard for Signpost BS. I'm told both studios will be small. The City Road studios will probably be demolished. However, TTTV rarely use more facilities than will be included in the new 'TV Centre' and the main studio hasn't been used for a while (probably last used for a Channel 4 '100 Greatest' Programme before YTV gradually took over the production).