BR Video: Public comes out in support of local news

by Nikki Sandison and Jacquie Bowser, Brand Republic 03-Oct-08, 08:00

LONDON - ITV could face a backlash as it prepares to cut local news as the public voice concern about the broadcaster's plans, insisting that local news is a vital service according to the latest Brand Republic video -- watch it here.

Brand Republic took to the streets and found that the public are not happy with ITV's plans because they believe that it is important for people to know what is happening in their local area.

ITV has revealed that it is cutting 1,000 jobs across the company including 430 in news to reduce costs as advertising revenue slows.

The broadcaster is expected to reinvest the savings to improve its programming line-up with a focus on more high quality dramas such as the recently aired 'Lost in Austen'.

As part of the second phase of its public service broadcasting review, media regulator Ofcom gave ITV the go ahead to drop some regional news bulletins, reduce non-news regional programming by half and cut back on its current affairs shows.

ITV plans to achieve annual cost savings of £40m from 2009 by reducing its regional news delivery in England and the Scottish borders from 17 separate main programmes to nine.

The broadcast unions have threatened to strike over the proposed job losses.

In another attempt to combat the downturn in advertising, ITV is trialling new overlay ad technology, which will allow ads to be embedded into blank space during TV programmes.

This will mean that there is no escape for viewers who usually fast forward through the ads.

The technology is currently being tested during local news footage on ITV's website but, if successful, the broadcaster plans to transfer it to the television screen.

Comments

Nic Niewart - 03/10/2008

Why is it, that London, the largest city in Europe, with so much going on at any one time- when it comes to tv news whether BBC or ITV, the life blood seems to be drained out it? There's something of the early 1950's British film naffness about the wooden presenters and the writing of the scripts- the camera work- in fact everything. There's New York or Chicago with a smaller population- and yet the news is presented with so much more full-on "balls" for the want of a proper word. Everyone- the presenters are so much more better paid, better dressed, more full-on more switched on. The script is better written and better read. Every story is craving your attention. And yet here it's some snotty nosed kid interviewing another snotty nosed kid about the bus timetable. All this overlay bullshit- white- hot- technology nonsense won't mask the fact that local TV news is poor material poorly done.