When a picture tells its own story

By Ofcom

Over 5,000 people from the Borders area care enough about the future of regional news on ITV to send us a postcard on the matter. We could only fit a couple of thousand on the desk for this photo - several thousand more are in the drawers below.

Comments

[Damon Standing]

Great am glad we are getting noticed! Just please listen to us and what we are saying. Surely the decision cannot go ahead?!

[John]

Save Lookaround and save Anglia West and Central East

[Richard]

The picture doesn't tell the whole story. People in the South of Scotland do want a local news service. But they also want guaranteed access to programmes of Scotland-wide interest. They do not want a token local news opt-out from a Newcastle-dominated programme. Saving a local news service must not be at the expense of truly reflecting the fact that Peebles, for example, is about thirty minutes drive from Edinburgh, the capital of a country with its own parliament, education system, legal system etc. Yet the current ITV local news service is dominated by Carlisle and Cumbria. And, interestingly, a survey of over 7,000 people in the South of Scotland, mainly Scottish Borders, found that around three-quarters of them would rather receive STV, albeit with a local news opt.

[John]

I disagree with Richard. I live in the Scottish Borders and whilst don't want to be part of a Newcastle based programme, I think ITV Border have delivered a good news service over the past 45 or so years. STV has too many big cities that would dominate the news giving less local provision to southern Scotland than at present. When the Duke of Buccleuch died, Lookaround was presented live from Melrose Abbey for his funeral. You wouldn't get that on STV, a larger ITV region or the BBC. Save ITV Border, if it goes the region will lose out whoever we get our news from.

[rhona parry]

For those of you aren't familiar with the background to this, here's the lowdown(section 9 in the condoc has more)...

Last year, ITV put forward proposals for regional news, which suggested a new structure in England and the Scottish Borders. These would merge some regions to reduce the number of regions by two, and would have phased out most news programmes produced in what are known as ‘sub-regions’. This is because ITV plc believes there is a high opportunity cost which is the difference in profitability between regional news programming and a single network programme in the same slot.

Following consultation with Ofcom, viewer groups, MPs and other stakeholders, ITV plc has now put forward an alternative structure which, while still effectively reducing the number of regions, would provide most of them with peak-time sub-regional or local ‘opt-outs’ – news summaries targeted at specific areas which are included within regional news programmes.

In Phase 1 of the PSB Review, we recognise that continued provision of regional news is one of the most important short-term issues in the PSB debate, and one that will require a clear decision by Ofcom supported by significant evidence. Therefore, rather than deciding on the matter in phase 1 of the review, we have launched an extensive research and evaluation programme to inform our decision on this issue. Such analysis will inevitably need to strike an appropriate balance between what is desirable from our perspective as citizens and what we want public service broadcasting to deliver, and what is viable from an economic one.

So at this stage in our review of PSB, we have identified a range of options for us to consider, including:
- refusing any change to current licences;
- allowing ITV plc to reduce its costs by a version of its proposed re-structuring plan;
- considering other options for the sustainability of regional news.

In phase 2 of the review, we will put forward our preferred policy option in relation to regional news provision in England and the Border region for public consultation.

But in the meantime, the postcards and other correspondence are a welcome contribution to the debate (albeit we won't be responding individually to them all sorry... that would need another forest!)

[Russ]

Classic photo!

Likely scenario: Tom and Rhona 'accidentally' drop them into the Thames! And later, people on the beach in France or Belgium will no doubt wonder what 'ITV Borders' are!

But seriously, I'd be curious to learn more about the economics of the situation. I'm from the U.S. and have lived in some semi-rural areas that have their own television stations that are advertiser-supported. Local adds - like Jimmy's Waterbed Warehouse...

Why does the government need to intervene to require a private firm (or a state-owned one) to provide regional programming when maybe it can be done by willing firms who are profit-seeking?

Is that just not viable for some reason?

Russ

[Steve Perkins, Ofcom]

Russ makes a great point about how regional/local TV ad markets appear to work better in US than UK. We're taking a closer look at why this is.

[Mark Bunting]

Russ - good question. We're going to do more thinking about this in phase 2. But a couple of immediate differences spring to mind:
- geography - the UK economy is homogeneous in a way the US isn't because the vast distances in the states allowes distinct local markets with large numbers of advertisers who only want to advertise to that market. How many advertisers in the UK want only to advertise to London or Manchester, never mind smaller markets? Not that many.
- the network/affiliate models are rather different. Local broadcasters in the US have more control over scheduling and airtime sales than in the UK, where the emphasis is more on ensuring a strong network schedule that benefits all licensees than on giving local broadcasters flexibility to serve their own audiences in different ways.

[Russ]

There might be some connection with sports rights. Local stations in the U.S. nearly always show the local football or basketball FTA. That's uni or pro-level.

So, you will see TV promos that say 'Channel 10 - your local Hokies station. Next, the news with Ron Burgundy.'

Bonus points if anyone at Ofcom knows what a Hokie is.

[Dave]

I say get rid of Border, its broadcast area is to diverse, Granada should cover Cumbria and the Isle of Man and STV should cover South Scotland!

[Richard]

There is also the question of access, for people in Southern Scotland, to programmes of wider Scottish interest. Border currently has a "Border Scotland" facility which allows, for example, Scottish sports programming to be shown. That, too, is under threat as Border's outgoing MD has stressed that, for cost reasons, there was no guarantee that the separate Scotland programming, which isn't part of Border's operating licence but a "gentleman's agreement" will continue. Why should viewers in Galashiels and other parts of the Borders lose out on programming which is screened across the rest of Scotland? In other words, why can't Scots living in their own country watch programming of interest to them, rather than be treated as aliens?