Note of Caution Sounded Over Local TV Plans

NS president Georgina Harvey has sounded a note of caution over recently published revised proposals for a network of Local TV stations.

The managing director of Trinity Mirror Regionals said she was convinced that the economics of local TV did not stack up, echoing comments made by Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey last year.  

But, she added, there was a danger that local television could take some advertising away from local newspapers in the short term if the stations were to receive subsidies from the BBC licence fee.

In an interview with media commentator Ray Snoddy, she rejected his assertion that local television is needed to improve the quality of local democracy.

“That’s what the regional press has been doing since God was a boy. I find that quite offensive actually. You would think that he (Hunt) would have that knowledge.” she said.

Last week, the Department for Culture Media and Sport published a summary of its plans for local television and a summary of responses to its four month consultation to which local media publishers and the NS made submissions.  

Mr Hunt indicated that he now favoured a series of individual stations as “more feasible and faster to deliver” rather than a “centralised ‘top down’ approach” and the final proposals would be set out in July.

• The Secretary of State for Delay (MediaTel)
• Georgina Harvey - interview (In Publishing)