DS Forums

 
 

Once again London Live is allowed to dilute content.


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 22-12-2016, 15:10
Richardcoulter
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 9,702

Isn't it now time for the Tories to finally admit that Local TV has been a waste of money and a complete failure as predicted?

http://www.rapidtvnews.com/201612214...#axzz4TZxm9uij

A semi national FTA channel would be a more productive use of the space being used by these "channels".
Richardcoulter is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 22-12-2016, 15:20
ftv
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 31,434
I think you need to direct your inquiries to Jeremy Hunt - it was his naïve idea that because it works in the US and to a lesser extent in Australia it would work here.He was wrong.London Live consists of old movies and repeats of series from the 50s and 60s with an occasional local news bulletin thrown in.
ftv is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22-12-2016, 16:01
Richardcoulter
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 9,702
I think you need to direct your inquiries to Jeremy Hunt - it was his naïve idea that because it works in the US and to a lesser extent in Australia it would work here.He was wrong.London Live consists of old movies and repeats of series from the 50s and 60s with an occasional local news bulletin thrown in.
Yep, it was Hunts vanity project, done at a time of austerity when the money could have been spent on far more important things.
Richardcoulter is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22-12-2016, 22:46
MetalGearRex
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: London
Posts: 30
What an utter farce by far.

London Live doesn't even represent the city or the boroughs as a whole - instead it cheapskates on Channel 4 comedy repeats and films. I don't think that warrants a local channel on its own to be honest - and what makes it worse is that it occupies extremely high EPG positions on Freeview (LCN 8) and Sky (LCN 117), while adding nothing of value whatsoever.

The licence needs to be revoked - LL is an utter joke.
MetalGearRex is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 00:05
Radiomike
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,408
I suspect their next application to Ofcom will be to ask if they can remove the word "London" from the station name
Radiomike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 00:19
MetalGearRex
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: London
Posts: 30
I suspect their next application to Ofcom will be to ask if they can remove the word "London" from the station name
It very much sounds like they're out to reduce their local programming commitments as much as possible. If they even pull this off again - I doubt that Ofcom will give ESTV leniency on the matter as it goes against what Local TV stands for.

A sad farce by far.
MetalGearRex is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 00:19
Zeropoint1
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Derbyshire / UK
Posts: 3,727
Am I right in thinking that licence payers money has also been used on the whole local TV project?
Zeropoint1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 01:10
popeye13
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: England, E.Midlands & London
Posts: 7,692
The biggest joke here is that OFCOM allowed their first request and every one since!
They've got a remit that they themselves have selectively eroded to going from a 'local tv' channel to basically nothing of the sort!
Your local BBC region is more of a local channel than LL is now.
What is the point of OFCOM to enforce the requirements if when LL go crying yet again, OFCOM say yes despite the huge pile of submissions against the request!?

To quote The Thick Of It, its an omnishambles!
popeye13 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 01:14
Fairyprincess0
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 9,696
Yep, it was Hunts vanity project, done at a time of austerity when the money could have been spent on far more important things.
Such as doctors and nurses????
Fairyprincess0 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 01:19
popeye13
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: England, E.Midlands & London
Posts: 7,692
Such as doctors and nurses????
LOL!
Behave. Spending money on Doctors and Nurses is worse than saying the c-word on kids TV to the Gov!
popeye13 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 01:23
hyperstarsponge
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: North East
Posts: 12,254
London Live is like ITV when you think about it, Minimum required.
hyperstarsponge is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 03:57
MTUK1
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: London, United Kingdom
Posts: 19,783
I think you need to direct your inquiries to Jeremy Hunt - it was his naïve idea that because it works in the US and to a lesser extent in Australia it would work here.He was wrong.London Live consists of old movies and repeats of series from the 50s and 60s with an occasional local news bulletin thrown in.
Local channels could and should work here. It's just never been done as well as it is done in the US. The companies that try always do a less than half arsed job. I especially like the affiliate channel system they have in the US. Watching ITV in London has zero London content. What's the point of having regions on U.K. Tv anymore. Apart from an hour or so of local news there's sweet fa to differentiate the regional networks.
MTUK1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 06:24
ftv
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 31,434
Am I right in thinking that licence payers money has also been used on the whole local TV project?
Indirectly - the BBC is supposed to offer local stations technical help and advice and in return they should supply the BBC with material. I can't imagine LL would have anything the BBC would want.It just shows how toothless OFCOM is but that's true of many regulators.
ftv is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 08:04
mfr
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Inverness
Posts: 3,473
Local channels could and should work here. It's just never been done as well as it is done in the US. The companies that try always do a less than half arsed job. I especially like the affiliate channel system they have in the US. Watching ITV in London has zero London content. What's the point of having regions on U.K. Tv anymore. Apart from an hour or so of local news there's sweet fa to differentiate the regional networks.
Indeed, it just wasn't thought through. As you say the local TV channels in the US work because they have fast-paced news and have some of TV's biggest shows on them the rest of the time.

A new national network should have been established with large blocks for local news / entertainment. If that wasn't viable, the whole idea should have been scrapped.
mfr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 08:14
Mark C
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 8,079
Indeed, it just wasn't thought through. As you say the local TV channels in the US work because they have fast-paced news and have some of TV's biggest shows on them the rest of the time.
From what I've seen of local TV in the states, it's often fast paced trivia, wrapped up in flashing presentation, with invariably a male presenter in his sixties, and a female in her early thirties, both with whitened teeth, and atheistically pleasing overall of course.
There's normally someone in a chopper showing us a traffic jam, the same traffic jam on the same freeway everyday, and a fiftysomething metrologist leaping about stretching the weather forecast out to fill 3 minutes, (then he comes on again 10 mins later, and does it all again) . All in all it's a triumph of style over content.

To be fair, the smaller the station, the better the programme is. I did see what could be described as useful content in deepest Maine and New Hampshire.

Someone said in another forum (and I agree) take a look at Amsterdam's AT5 channel, for something that the UK stations should be realistically aspiring towards.
Mark C is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 09:16
malpasc
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 6,350
London Live is a total waste of time. I don't know anyone in London who actually watches anything on it.

Local TV as a whole is failing in the UK, but the 'Made In' channel areas do seem to at least be trying. My friend actually has her own show on made by 'Made In Bristol' but also shown in their other regions too. I'm not saying the ratings will set the world on fire but there does seem to be a bit more effort.

London Live when it started seemed quite ambitious and actually did have a large collection of their own shows. Unfortunately I think they realised there just isn't the audience, hence the advertising revenue to make any kind of profit. I also think local TV came too late in the UK, other countries having had this kind of system for years whereas here in the UK they just get lost in amongst the other 100s of channels that start up and fail every year.

The closest we had to local TV affiliated to a larger network was ITV before it became the dumbed down shadow of itself it is now.
malpasc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 09:22
ftv
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 31,434
I suppose the closest we have to local TV is Channel ITV which serves about 100,000 people but even they have cut back on their local programming (and now have competition from the BBC). Local stations in the US are affiliates of the main networks so have a sustaining service, that doesn't exist in the UK.
ftv is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 09:33
Straker
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 36,982
It's a weird channel these days with odd programming such as Curiosity Killed the Cat live gigs from 30 years ago at 6am in the morning. Their seemingly never-ending Ealing season had merit though and could be argued had a London-focus so they've not been entirely useless.
Straker is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 11:20
ktla5
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 1,489
Indeed, it just wasn't thought through. As you say the local TV channels in the US work because they have fast-paced news and have some of TV's biggest shows on them the rest of the time.

A new national network should have been established with large blocks for local news / entertainment. If that wasn't viable, the whole idea should have been scrapped.
Whenever I have watched local tv in the USA, during the day its nearly always news based, but what they do, do is have what seems like a reporter on every street corner, reporting live almost 24 hours a day....not to mention helicopters and decent traffic news !
ktla5 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 11:29
Andy_Marlowe
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 3,073
Local channels could and should work here. It's just never been done as well as it is done in the US. The companies that try always do a less than half arsed job. I especially like the affiliate channel system they have in the US. Watching ITV in London has zero London content. What's the point of having regions on U.K. Tv anymore. Apart from an hour or so of local news there's sweet fa to differentiate the regional networks.
The problem is London,or for that matter, any British city is minute compared to the vast areas of America, and of course the FCC is a totally different organisation than the various broadcasting bodies in Britain. The one that is allowing LL to do exactly what they like seems a pointless and toothless organisation.
Andy_Marlowe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 11:54
technologist
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: London
Posts: 7,514
Am I right in thinking that licence payers money has also been used on the whole local TV project?
Yes £25 million on capital to set it up
and then a guaranteed £15 million a year buying content from local tv
After all it is PSB ..
technologist is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 11:59
MTUK1
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: London, United Kingdom
Posts: 19,783
The problem is London,or for that matter, any British city is minute compared to the vast areas of America, and of course the FCC is a totally different organisation than the various broadcasting bodies in Britain. The one that is allowing LL to do exactly what they like seems a pointless and toothless organisation.
not every city is minute compared to cities in the US. That's an exaggeration. There are cities and even towns of similar sizes in the US with their own affiliates. So as I said, it can work.
MTUK1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 12:15
omnidirectional
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 10,877
Local channels could and should work here. It's just never been done as well as it is done in the US. The companies that try always do a less than half arsed job. I especially like the affiliate channel system they have in the US. Watching ITV in London has zero London content. What's the point of having regions on U.K. Tv anymore. Apart from an hour or so of local news there's sweet fa to differentiate the regional networks.
Local TV could work in the UK, but probably only under the US affiliate model as you say. There needs to be popular, high-quality content to draw viewers in. Few people will want to watch low budget programmes about their town/city and amateurish local news programmes.

I think the original idea for these local channels was a so called "Channel 6" providing a national backbone of networked programmes, which the local broadcasters could opt in and out of. That would have worked so much better.
omnidirectional is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 13:04
niceguy1966
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 12,479
There is hardly any London content, and hardly any Live content. There are also hardly any viewers (not surprisingly).

Scrap the whole channel and save some money. Can we have BBC3 back instead?
niceguy1966 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-12-2016, 13:06
niceguy1966
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 12,479
The problem is London,or for that matter, any British city is minute compared to the vast areas of America, and of course the FCC is a totally different organisation than the various broadcasting bodies in Britain. The one that is allowing LL to do exactly what they like seems a pointless and toothless organisation.
London Live's coverage area is in no way "minute" compared to US local channels, its bigger than most.

You need to check your facts.
niceguy1966 is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply



Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 23:13.