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Scotland's local TV debate

The introduction of a local TV network is very much a key element of the Westminster coalition government’s legislative programme. Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State of Culture Media and Sport, or to give him his full title – Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport – has set his own personal bar extremely high through his almost-evangelistic commitment to delivering such a network in Britain for the first time.
The Culture Secretary has been travelling the length and breadth of the UK to share that vision and he was in Glasgow on September 9 to hear Scotland’s views on how best a local TV network should operate for the benefit of communities here.
Charles McGhee chaired the consultation event in the Recital Room of the City Halls and the Culture Secretary was joined on the discussion panel by two powerful advocates for local TV north of the Border – Brian Keating, the CEO of the Helensburgh-based local TV channel, URTV, which is already successfully broadcasting on broadband; and Julie Craik who is co-ordinating another local TV initiative – FifeTay.tv. Completing the panel was Greg Bensburg, the Director of Spectrum Policy at Ofcom, who will play a key role in ensuring the technical requirements are in place to get Britain’s local TV project off the ground.
The coalition government has acknowledged that audiences in Scotland and the other devolved nations have “specific needs for news and content that hold the devolved institutions to account and better reflects their identities”. Exactly how local TV will help fulfil those specific needs has, of course, already been the subject of intense debate north of the border.
When the government last month published a list of 65 locations, including nine in Scotland, which could be in the running for the new local TV licences, it was not met with universal approval. The Scottish Culture Secretary, Fiona Hyslop, said it left a “gaping hole in provision, particularly in rural areas”. She was particularly concerned about Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders which she described as “arguably the parts of Scotland most in need of local television.”
The Scottish Government, of course, supports the creation of a separate Scottish Digital Network for Scotland (Charles McGhee declared an interest here as he served on the panel, under the chairmanship of Blair Jenkins, which endorsed these recommendations earlier this year). The establishment of an SDN public service network enjoys cross-party support and it could also provide the backbone for local TV in Scotland.
In a wider context, there is also the question of how local TV will impact on existing media players. For example, STV already provides a national TV service as a counter-weight to BBC Scotland and it has recently extended its reach into local communities through its rapidly-expanding STV Local service. With the city of Glasgow already emerging as the front-runner to host the first local TV service in Scotland, how will that affect STV? And will the overall independent television picture in Scotland alter dramatically when the Channel 3 licences come up for renewal in 2014?
Finally, what about Scotland’s existing local commercial radio network and the country’s beleaguered local newspaper industry which, in the internet age, is struggling with the greatest structural change in its history? Any newcomer will obviously eat into the ever-diminishing local advertising cake on which the existing media depends.
These concerns and many others were aired during the Glasgow event which also heard positive arguments about the benefits of local television and how it can inform, enrich and strengthen local communities.
The coalition says it wants to allow genuine local editorial voices to emerge within a framework that is robust and commercially viable. For those who couldn’t attend the Glasgow summit on Local TV, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is still inviting contributions to the debate via e-mail. Send your comments to: local.tv@culture.gsi.gov.uk
Here are links to some of the coverage of the event:

BBC
SCOTSMAN
THE DRUM
DCMS

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