Be Inspired! Shirley Ayres Consulting

The future of local and regional TV is up for grabs. But decisions about how much the government commits to regional and local broadcasting and who delivers it, will be made above the heads of the majority of any potential audience. 

The invitation to tender for contracts to make TV content for Jeremy Hunt’s new local TV channel is open to the public until March 1. It will be interesting to see how many of those eventually chosen follow business models significantly different from traditional broadcasters. Given the continuing convergence of web, TV, mobile and gaming platforms, can we anticipate a cross platform hyper local TV network which resembles YouTube, Facebook and Twitter rather than expensive broadcast companies?

Organisations, in all three sectors, public, business and charities, have embraced social networking as a way of engaging with clients and stakeholders. It wouldn’t be a huge step to see them share short video news items or upload footage from an event to a peer to peer community TV website reaching people with a common local interest. Collective peer to peer video stories and blogs from the area, could be supplemented by a small team of video journalists making a daily news programme. If the model is sustainable, more editorial programming can be done as revenue streams grow. But how will this make money? Well think about the overheads; very small compared to a traditional broadcaster. Sustainable and supportable by advertising revenue and production fees charged to clients who request bespoke video content and corporate messages. Webcasts of meetings and events broadcast on the network offer more potential revenue streams and a great way to extend participation in local decision making.

The key to success is partnership and the commitment of communities to see a local TV network that reflects its interests. The future of local media could be in our own hands after all.