The Future of Independent Television - Coursework Example

The Future of Independent Television (ITV) Name Course Tutor Date Table of contents Introduction 3 The future of ITV local and regional news 4 The future of ITV viewers 5 Regional news 6 Regional news unsustainable in Wales 7 ITV Tyne Tees and Border 8 Tyne Tees to pilot ITV local news scheme 8 Challenges facing the future of news on ITV 8 Today’s technology and the Internet Impact on local news 9 ITV goes digital 10 Piracy Clampdown 11 Importance of local news organizations 11 Reviving local news 11 Building of mobile opportunities 12 Pursuing mobile technology 12 Participation in networked journalism projects 12 The effect of the global financial crisis on ITV 13 ITV’s merger of newsroom 14 Conclusion 14 Bibliography 15 The Future of Independent Television (ITV) Introduction Independent Television (ITV) refers to the original commercial British television broadcasters, established to compete with BBC. The ITV system was originally established and controlled by the Independent Television Authority (ITA) which was formed by the Television Act 1954. In the initial ITV system United Kingdom was divided into different regions and the tree most highly populated of these were further sub-divided between weekdays and weekends. The divisions were then provided as franchises to program organizations which were broadcasters as well as production firms. The firms in the highly populated areas and commercially profitable divisions produced the highest number of programs. The program firms would then exchange programming either at the same time or in other arrangements such as time shifts to create a national service. National commercials do not exist in the ITV system, but rather they are traded on a region-by-region basis1. The main idea behind this complex arrangement was to prevent any individual firm from monopolizing the commercial broadcasting. The British authorities had an idea on the effects of monopolizing especially after reviewing the American system. The main principle in the system was that commercials were distinguished from other programs. The first ITV regions to start broadcasting were the London and Midlands in 1955. Other regions followed suit and by 1962 the entire network was complete including the North and West Wales region. The first ITV broadcast was on 405-line VHF. In the 1960s some commercial firms suggested the introduction of color on the 405-line which BBC rejected maintaining that it had to wait until the more advanced 625-line system standardized. ITV later introduced PAL color on 625 in 1969 at the same time with BBC ONE while BBC TWO introduced the color two years afterwards. Initially every contracting firm was only in control of its own franchise area although the contractors of the BIG four franchises: London Weekday, London Weekend, Midlands and North of England were in charge of the production of the main networked programs. ITA and the IBA rigorously prohibited the owners of a single franchise from owning more than a minute share of the franchise-holders in other regions2. The restrictions of holding more than one franchise by firms was lifted in the 1990s and by the beginning of 2003, all the firms having franchises were purchased by either Granada or Carlton leaving only the contractors for Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands. Carlton and Granada have been attempting to merge in order to create a large form a large firm with a control over the ITV system. ITV at the moment broadcasts three television channels: terrestrial ITV service, and two digital channels: ITV2 and ITV News Channel. ITV remains a major force in the British commercial television although its share of TV viewing audience has been declining over the years. This is due to the competition offered by satellite television and the recently introduced digital terrestrial television3. The future of ITV local and regional news The struggle over the future of regional news programming on ITV has narrowed down into an enraged row between Ofcom and the BBC, after corporation lobbyists and senior officers at the regulator disagreed over the level of public subsidy required. Senior Ofcom insiders are uncomfortable with the BBC rubbishing of the regulator’s estimate that a total restoration service for ITV’s regional news offered by independent consortia involving media firms around the nation would cost $40m to $60m annually for a simple offering or $80m to $100m per year for a more developed version of the same. The row centers around the future application of switchover surplus, that is, money left over after the $130 funding for the annual license fee placed aside to assist the most vulnerable and underprivileged get digital TV receivers. BBC is at the moment preventing a concerted last minute rearguard action before the publication of communications final digital Britain report which will initiate the government’s plan for the future of the United Kingdom’s public service broadcasting. BBC officials have the intention of barring the license fee from being top sliced or applied directly in the funding of ITV regional news service after ITV drops out of providing the programming in 2012. The BBC is also maintaining that the application of any switchover surplus until the year 2012 should be aimed at universal broadband provision4. Several of the senior civil servants comprising the team working in the drafting of the final Digital Britain report due to be published by June are finalizing their final contributions to the draft. The draft will then be presents to the cabinet ministers for approval. Meanwhile, the BBC’s offer to create a local news partnership to assist ITV particularly in the short term by sharing resources such as newsroom, studios and camera crew has been found to offer significant savings to the firm. The commercial broadcaster also takes into account Ofcom’s independent consortia plan as an optional long-term solution. The ITV local news partnership has been asserted by insiders to be worth far much higher than the $7m initially projected and this has the effects of minimizing the costs of licensing that would be needed to promote a replacement service. The future of ITV viewers ITV has reported that there would be job cuts and other strategies intended to make savings for the firm. This will create a notable difference to the viewers which is not the intention of the firm. Some local news bulletins have been slashed but News at Ten will soon be aired on five nights a week an hour more than the normal four. The idea behind the program is to cut down costs in a manner that will not be noticeable on the screen. This is the reason behind the closing of the major Leeds studio and moving Countdown, established by Granada for Channel 4 to Manchester because it claims that it can not meet the expense of maintaining two huge studios in the north of England. ITV has also realized that selling more adverts does not assist in increasing the revenue for the firm. Creating more adverts implies that advertisers will pay less for their slots. The peak-time programs however carry the same number of adverts as it is allowed. One way ITV is making its ends meet is by selling sponsorship and also launch product placement where firms pay for their commodities to be seen in programs. Some of the programs that will be affected include the drama programming which will be slashed by an hour. Expensive dramas like the star-laden adaptation of an A acceptance to India will be cut. Viewers are expecting more repeats as the practice would not cost the company much. In fact, it will give the viewers an opportunity to catch up with the programs they missed earlier on. On the BBC’s iplayer and the ITV Player each program is a repeat and it is not a problem to most of the viewers. Some local news bulletins will have to be done away with during the day and ITV is rationalizing bulletins in England and the Scottish Border from 17 different programs to nine. Ofcom has admitted that present way of financing news is not operating and is looking for new organization. The ITV runs a multichannel world where viewers can choose channels for themselves that are geared to meet their interests like sports, business, music and documentaries5. Regional news ITV will be relieved of the responsibility of producing regional news by 2011, with the local news as an alternative being provided by a competitively financed independent consortium in every region according to the new plans described by Ofcom. The media regulators have allowed ITV to combine its local news operations in order to minimize its output in England. The restructuring which is scheduled to take effect within a span of two months is the first step in a practice that could enable ITV to be relieved of all their public service commitments and become entirely a commercial broadcaster in the future. In the short term, this relieve will imply that ITV’s 17 news areas across England, Wales and the Scottish borders will be combined into nine. All the sub-regions will continue to provide their news as normal. The initiative according to Ofcom, will enable ITV to emphasize on provision of the regional bulletin when most of the audiences are watching. The regulator affirmed that though it is for the idea of the suggested regional news collaboration between ITV and the BBC, the move is probably not enough to protect local broadcast journalism in the long term. Considering the risks and uncertainties, Ofcom maintains that the government should plan for an optional method of securing regional news for the entrusted nations and English areas from 20116. Regional news unsustainable in Wales ITV has projected that its flagship regional news programs in Wales will not be sustainable in their current format after 2010. The worst affected program is the Tonight show at 6PM hosted by Jonathan Hill and Andrea Benfield. The program is under threat from the pressures of strong competition in the digital swap which will slim the commercial broadcaster’s profits. ITV Wales was however allowed to cut its output by broadcasting watchdog Ofcom, while maintaining its major Welsh news slots at 6pm and 10.30 PM. It is still necessary for the UK government to have an appropriate plan for a new model for public service broadcasting from 2011 to preserve essential choice for viewers. S4C proposed that it could preserve future English language news programs for slots on ITV, together with its own Welsh language news services, currently offered free by BBC Wales. The BBC also provided a share of its regional news collection infrastructure and images to ITV to assist in the maintenance of alternative news service. Ofcom however opted to balance the offer with other issues of editorial independence or competition and the extent to which the partnership would provide a genuine choice to viewers. Ofcom’s priority is to sustain competition in news coverage in Wale considering that it has scarce news in other print and other media7. ITV Tyne Tees and Border ITV Tyne Tees and Border is a non-franchise ITV local station covering the North of England as well as Scottish Borders and integrating the former ITV Tyne Tees and ITV Border areas. The two regions were merged after the broadcaster was permitted by the regulator Ofcom in February 2009. The major regional news programs are North East Tonight and Lookaround for the previous Tyne Tee and Border areas respectively as well as other bulletins branded Tyne Tees and Border news. The pan-region was under the Isle of Man until July 2009 when ITV Granada took charge of the Crown dependency Tyne Tees to pilot ITV local news scheme The government of United Kingdom confirmed that Tyne Tees and Borders areas will be incorporated in the pilot-scheme areas for the new substitution ITV regional news service. First disputed in the Digital Britain report, IFNC are being trialed as a suitable substitution for ITV local news, which the broadcaster is striving to financially sustain. The government also intends to establish a more vivacious and sustainable option to the BBC’s coverage. The Tyne Tees and Border area covers urban sections of Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough, together with rural Northumberland, Cumbria and the Scottish Borders. Challenges facing the future of news on ITV ITV regional news output has been criticized for its inadequacy in the recent times. The BAFTA award that the firm picked in 2007 for the satisfactory coverage of the outcome of the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling incident can only be regarded as a favor from Granada Report. ITV and other under-funded newsrooms are increasingly finding it hard to compete with their rivals such as BBC. In February 2009, ITV axed about 430 jobs in across all its regions. This shows the extent of the problem ITV faces as it implies a withdrawal from its regional public service commitment. In fact, the broadcaster admits that it is not in a position to finance all its requirements. Audiences for the news programs have fragmented and so has advertising due to the wide range of TV channels that are available for the viewers. Online consumption is another drain that has drawn the attention of viewers as well as advertisers. Regional journalism is the main ITV public-service broadcasting expense and the main challenge to the broadcaster as well since there is no adequate revenue to finance all the necessary output8. Today’s technology and the Internet Impact on local news The exponential rate of technology advancement that has changed media and communication patterns in the world is revealed in the level of attention paid to the convergent media nexus by the international society. With the first growth of new media technology especially the Internet, interactive television networks and multimedia information services, many advocates concentrate on their potential to enhance interactive mass media, leisure, trade and education. Authorities and policy makers anticipate that free communication and privacy will be upheld and the democratic organizations will be enhanced by new communication chances promoted by digital media. This is due to the access and the application of digital media technologies like PCs, the Internet, computer games, and mobile telephones9. Media experts also acknowledge that there is a revolt in the media sector everywhere in the globe as a result of new media technology and convergent media that transforms the manner and means of communication in the community. Technology converges basically refers to the shifts in the application of various technologies from varied scientific and technical spheres that have been blended to establish new objects and new application for the objects. Digital convergence particularly describes the movement of telecommunications, print, screen and computing into new domains with the intention of creating new products that unite all of thee aspects to produce new structures of communication and information storage. Broadband Internet access is enhancing significant growths in all sections, with broadband reaching 448 million homes globally by 2009. Telecommunication carriers are spending heavily in IP, laying fiber to homes and gambling considerably on the promise of next-generation. Broadband and IP will be the basis via which consumers plan their work, leisure, and social time. ITV goes digital The Digital Britain is suggesting ways in which business firms like Channel 4 and ITV can cope with the impact of Internet on local news. The plans include strategies to handle the illegal file-sharing and to spread broadband to the entire country. Digital Britain is urging all major firms to take full advantage of technology advancement to grow and deliver their services more efficiently. Digital Britain report is looking for possible opportunities for growth as well as the means of handling threats brought by the new technology. Practices such as monopoly and illegal practices such as illegal downloading of material normally devastate the existing media. Local newspapers as well as television stations have suffered considerable losses in revenue as a result of the Internet. Internet is slowly monopolizing the media in general a practice that would lead to devastating consequence if left uncontrolled. All the broadcasters are required to have long-term stability options in order to be real and influential players in the broadcasting sector10. Piracy Clampdown The media has highly been affected by piracy, particularly the illegal downloading of material. The British authorities have introduced a legislation requiring that all Internet service providers to curb illegal file-sharing. This is due to the ISPs reluctance to curb the activities leading to huge losses in the sector. Technology has thus played a significant role in the transformation of ITV local news because it has facilitated important innovations, experiments and creativity in the communication sector. ITV news has established innovative newsgathering model that has adopted advanced technology and new methods of working to satisfy its audience. It is also intending to launch new technology into the non-news team, who will apply desktop editing on the re-launched services such as Wales this week and the Ferret. The news coverage has greatly improved due to the use of state-of-art technology and the Internet in the delivery of wider coverage of events and incidences. Due to the technology advancement ITV News will create new functions of political editor, putting the nation’s politics into peak-time. Bulletins such as ‘Wales tonight’ will also encompass specialist correspondents to offer high quality coverage of stories and events essential to viewers11. Importance of local news organizations Reviving local news One of the main significant roles of local news organizations is to revive local news. Local news organizations ensure that appropriate efforts are involved towards ensuring that local news coverage in most of the major areas in United Kingdom in order to reach the majority of the targeted audience. The local news organizations ensure that they offer high-quality original coverage of news to all the regions. They strategize and figure out ways in which news can be disseminated to local communities every time there is a hinge in the spreading of news12. Building of mobile opportunities Local news organizations are involved in assisting local businesses pursue mobile opportunities. The news business has lost or missed several opportunities due to lack of appropriate strategies to grab them. Local news organizations offer opportunities for business firms to grab the opportunities and advance in the market. A good example is the newspaper which took too long to adapt the digital technology before the World Wide Web was developed. The newspaper was loosing an opportunity to advance in the business as a result of failure to adapt to the digital technology. Local news organizations facilitated the adoption of digital technology by the newspapers. This is a business opportunity that the organization prevented from going into waste. They also assist businesses organizations in reaching larger audience than they would in absence of the organizations. Pursuing mobile technology Local news organizations are playing an active role in ensuring that mobile technology is adopted in the communication world. In the past people had enough time to read newspapers while waiting for flights or in newspaper strands where vendors are selling them. Currently fewer people are interested in reading the newspapers since the mobile phones have greatly grown in popularity. The local news organizations are key advocates to the adoption of mobile technology in the dissemination of to the communities13. Participation in networked journalism projects Local news organizations are involved in implementation and execution of networked journalism projects. An increasing number of Web-based journalists usually assist in the collection and coverage of quality news to the communities. The organizations are partnering with journalists to ensure that quality news is delivered to the local communities. The news organizations reach out to prospective and potential partner news site to the local communities. They also assist in the publication of local information in collaboration local newspaper and local bloggers or citizen journalists. They also assist in enhancing the amount of local information delivered to the community and increase its quality14. The effect of the global financial crisis on ITV ITV was affected by global financial crisis to the extent that it considered merging two of its service providers: ITV Tyne Tees and ITV Border. The broadcaster was further affected by commercial broadcaster poaching like the mighty force from the BBC. This was a major blow to the broadcaster especially when ITV had to struggle to raise the grade as cost cuts. The company intended to benefit enormously from the plan as a strategy to unrivalled its broadcasting experience. The financial crisis caused a fall in the shares of the ITV. ITV was suffering from the global recession which was affecting the structural changes in its advertising spending as the firm was migrating online. The advertisement solely was not however entirely the blame for the firm’s failure as the firm could have come up with strategies to curb the action. ITV recognized in its annual report that advertisement downturn was impeding financing of the firm’s activities. ITV recognizes that if the earnings of the firm continue to drop, the firm might no longer be able to support its activities in the coming years. Shareholders may blame the management for failure to get plausible dividends from their shares. Much of the time of the firm had been spent battling with the regulators over the declining revenues in the sector. This was particularly aimed at averting the regulators decision to block ‘Kangaroo’ which had been suggested by online TV scheme with Channel 4 and the BBC. The regulators are renewing the ITV’s contract rights mechanism which was established to safeguard advertisers from ITV’s market control after its merger of Carlton and Granada was not removed in spite of the decrease of the broadcaster’s advertising revenues15. ITV’s merger of newsroom The broadcaster is targeting to make significant savings when it merges its newsroom after getting permission from regulator Ofcom. These mergers are part of the broadcaster’s plan to enhance its programming. The plan involves the merging of ITV’s West and West Country news shows but also take account short, recorded sections consisting of extra local content. The same strategy has been designed for the Border and Tyne Tees regions and also the East and West Midlands and the Meridian and Thames Valley areas. The firm is however required to implement the changes as soon as possible since the current strategies are not sustainable. The firm is therefore under pressure to make enough savings before it incurs major losses. The firm also has plans to trade off some of its minor assets such as its share in the websites of Arsenal and Liverpool football clubs16.. Conclusion ITV has at the moment been hit by global economic crisis and decided to reduce its labor cost by shedding 600 jobs and has a great impact especially in the Wales. It has also affected the status as a free to air broadcaster. ITV plans to make significant savings especially after having a disappointing end of year results. The broadcaster’s decision to abandon its ITV local platform will lead to one of the highest job losses in Cardiff, though it creates a public interaction role. There is also a role that the function of national director could be under threat as ITV is to analysis its senior management organization. ITV local will be substituted with a new service via ITV.com although ITV Wales will be forced to gather its politics channel, which was only introduced in January 2009 on ITV local. ITV will also introduce a new political program that will use resources from the ITV Local Wales political channel17. Bibliography Allen, Craig. News is people: the rise of local TV news and the fall of news from New York. New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2001. Allen Craig explains the major challenges that local news TV face in the delivery of their services to the clients. Similar problems are faced by service providers in United Kingdom. Bland, Michael, et al. effective media relations: how to get results. New York: Kogan Page Publishers, 2005. The book describes the best ways in which news service providers can collaborate in the provision of excellent services to its clients. Garnham, Nicholas. Capitalism and communication: global culture and the economics of information. Michigan: University of Michigan, 2009. The book examines the government’s role and intervention measures in cases of harsh economic and political conditions. Nicholas Garnham claims that Marxist political economy provides an adequate theoretical basis for the understanding of both economic and political communication practices of the society. Grant, Tina. International directory of company histories. New York: Pennsylvania State University, 2006. This directory by Tina Grant covers the history of most of the major firms. It clearly outlines the beginning of ITV and all its operations since it began. Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: Select Committee on Communications. Ownership of the News: Report. London: the Stationery Office, 2008. This report by the Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: Select Committee on Communications outlines the ownership of news service providers and the regulations controlling their operations in United Kingdom ITV to merge regional newsrooms. Retrieved on January 14, 2010 from . Wednesday, 12 September 2007 This site explains the reasons that made ITV decide to merge its regional newsroom. The reason behind the idea was to cut down on the operational costs of the firm because the existing practices were unsustainable by the firm in terms of resources at that time. McNair, Brian. News and Journalism in the UK. London: Taylor & Francis, 2008 The book describes the entire media and communication sector in the United Kingdom. It highlights the major service providers and the regions which each service provider covers. Media and Telecoms feed. ITV struggles to make the grade as cost cuts unveiled. Retrieved on January 14, 2010 from This site describes the major challenges the broadcasting firms including ITV are facing as a result of global economic crisis. It particularly outlines the struggles that ITV is making in its efforts to cut operational costs to survive the economic crisis. The ownership of news. London: the Stationery Office ,2008. This book describes the ownership of news and news service providers in UK. It also explains the functions of broadcaster regulators. Okin, J.R. The technology revolution. London: Ironbound Press, 2005 Okin in the “The technology revolution” explains the impact that technology and the Internet have in the transmission of news and the advantages they have brought into the communication industry. Protecting content in a digital age : promoting broadband and the digital television transition : hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, One Hundred Seventh Congress, second session. New York: DIANE Publishing, 2002 This book describes the effects of new technology and the Internet on transmission of news. It also provides some means of curbing illegal activities in the Internet. Scriven, Michael & Roberts, Emily. Group identities on French and British television. London: Berghahn Books, 2003 The book explains the general roles of the British television network. Straubhaar, Joseph et al. Media Now: Understanding Media, and Culture. New York: Cengage Learning, 2008 The book examines the integration of media, culture and technology in the modern world. Welsh, James. Ofcom to allow ITV regional news cut. Retrieved on January 14, 2010 from . James Welsh explains the circumstances that led to the regulator firm Ofcom to allow ITV regional news to cut down their operational costs. This was chiefly due to harsh economic times at the moment. Read More