Will local television be a success

Although six have already launched and 23 more are on the way, it is being questioned as to whether local television stations will be a success.

OFCOM, the communication regulator, have recently said that ‘the nature of the awarding licenses for a new type of service in a competitive media market means that it is very unlikely that all channels will succeed’.

This statement comes after the company that created Birmingham’s station collapsed before even launching, and London Live have already asked to cut content only four months after becoming live.

There are currently 6,400 hours being broadcast to an audience of around six million around Britain, but the recent statement from OFCOM has added to the doubt that many feel within the media industry, as to how many local stations will actually succeed.

£40 million of the BBC licensing fee has gone towards local stations, but with some already folding, it could be also questioned if spending this amount of money is a bad idea.

However, it has been argued that they could be a success, if launched in smaller areas. Cardiff’s local station has so far been a triumph. According to their station manager, this is because of a ‘smaller, more local approach’ to their company and the programmes they run.

Sound Brief

For our final Sound assignment  we will be building on the media production skills that we have learnt so far.

As a group, we will produce a five minute factual speech based feature or documentary. To start, we will each do research on current out using the BBC Listen Again website, analysing the use of narration, location recording, music, interviews and the overall structure.

We need to explore our chosen theme well, brainstorming subjects, researching the subject and developing a proposal.

As Journalism students, we also need to present our feature in the context of a magazine or news programme, by including an into and outro.

Hull City of Culture

In November 2013 Hull found out they had won the title of City of Culture 2017. Beating 11 other city’s in England, including Swansea, Hull is expected to hold a range of different events that will bring a £60 million boost to the city.

The City of Culture aims to help cities in areas of tourism and the economy. It was said that Hull put forward ‘The most compelling case based on its theme as a city coming out of the shadows’.

Hull Council Leader Stephen Brady said that this opportunity will give Hull the chance to tell the world what the city has to offer.

Events taking place in 2017 include an opening ceremony, and an aerial show as part of Hull’s annual Freedom Festival.

Previous City of Culture, Derry, saw a range of events take place, such as BBC Radio One’s Big Weekend.

Notes from BBC Presentation

British Broadcasting Company formed 18th Oct 1922.

John Reith (managing director)- 1923 ‘Bring best broadcasting to widest possible number of homes’.

‘Mission is to inform, educate and entertain’.

Dec-, first regular news bulletin, radio station 2LO, general news agency- though no news until after 7pm due to newspapers.

News provided by ‘Rueters’, an international news agency.

2LO also had music, talks on different subjects and dramas.

1926- nationalised to ‘British Broadcasting Corporation’.

Introduced 10 year Royal Charter- a document specifying its rights- reason for licence fee.

Reith- ‘pledge it will remain independent’, instead of being dependant on government. Then it would be free from political inference.

1936- news shown in cinema by Pathe, in 1948- 1st TV news reel debuts.

First television trials on BBC frequencies in 1929.

-First recognisable BBC news bulletin in 1954, ‘BBC news and newsreel’ introduced by Richard Baker.

Several feats- 1st British Monarch to broadcast on radio- George V in 1932- famous by King’s Speech.

First broadcaster in the world to provide high definition TV service in 1936, but halted by the war in 1939.

-1953- first live coronation- Elizabeth II, which boosted TV sales.

1967- 1st full colour TV service in Europe- BBC2

Even first video recorder- VERA developed by the BBC.

-Even though competitors- ITV, Channel 4 from 1955-1989, they still stood out, produced BBC news online in 1997 along with their digital channel ‘BBC News 24’.

Is now a tri-media company.

Caters for all, ‘accommodates for all minorities’- as everyone pays for it.

‘Brings UK to the world and the world to the UK’. It is a main element of British Culture.

It is their public purpose to ‘sustain citizenship and civil society’.

1938- first foreign language broadcast in Arabic, which brings in different cultures. Have World Service- 28 languages.

Also Olympic Games first broadcast in 1948, 68.5hrs in all.

Use regional accents to reflect diversity of UK.

-1939-45- news bulletins ‘fundamental to morale of troops during the war’.

Catered for different social groups- women’s hour in 1946 which talked about politics, women’s citizenship (keeping house and childcare less after 60’s)

Children’s shows started in 1946- ‘Muffin the Mule’- a puppet with a piano.

The Archer’s- world’s longest running soap- 1950, brings people together, gets them talking. The same applies to news.

Corronation- 20mil watched it, all came together to share televisions.

Now online so different ways to view BBC, radio, twitter. News at different times so everyone can see it.

CATS presentation

Yesterday I presented to the class my presentation on the formation of the BBC. I was last out of our whole class so by the time it was my turn I was quite nervous!

Overall I think it went well. I tried hard on this assignment and I got all the information wanted to say out. All that’s left is to find out how well I did!

A Milestone in journalism

I decided to use Prezi for my presentation as I have used it before so I have experience, and also it looks better than a PowerPoint. I have tried to give a more complex Prezi, rather than just the templates given, so will hopefully be more aesthetically pleasing.

I have found all of my information from the BBC’s website and from a PowerPoint we looked at in class.

The images are from the BBC, as well as Wikimedia and johnchampionseatacforum.org

I think it reads pretty well when accompanied by my notes, but I am a little worried on whether it fulfils the brief/ whether I have done it right. Suppose I will find out tomorrow!

Here is my finished presentation on a Milestone:

 

http://prezi.com/pctajhhku6jl/the-bbc/

Presentation- A milestone in Journalism

For our CATS lesson we have to produce a five minute presentation on a particular milestone in Journalism in the 20th-21st Century.

We need to write about its cultural, social and historical context, using appropriate text and images.

After looking through a presentation on the History of Journalism we looked at in class, I have decided to do a presentation on the formation of the British Broadcasting Company (The BBC). This is because I have grown up watching the BBC, and even though we have Sky+ at home, all my mum and step-dad seem to watch is BBC1!

There is so much to talk about regarding the BBC, so I think it is a good subject to write about. Also they were the first major television company, and set the pace for other channels.

Salford Media Festival

This Thursday we visited the media festival at Salford University. Despite the early start I had a really good time! I found it a lot more interesting than I thought I would, and learnt a lot from it.

My first lecture, called ’10 Top Tips to get into TV’ had some great information about the industry as a whole, and made me consider working in television as more accessible, as I thought it was very much an industry I would never be able to reach.

My second lecture was about the television show ‘The Burrowers’. The executive producer, Fiona Pitcher, spoke about the challenges of filming such a unique programme. Though it was more about project management and less journalism, I really enjoyed it as I love programmes like this. She had actually also produced a lot of the programmes I have watched in the past.

After my hour lunch break I made my way to a Radio Design lecture.  This was a sort of masterclass on the construction and operation of the BBC Radio studios. Although I’m not too interested in how a radio show is technically run, I do like the idea of working in radio, so would be useful to know if I ever found myself in such an environment.

My last lecture, which I was excited about as we were suppose to listen to Ian Findlay who has worked on a lot of my favourite films, ended up not being too great as he couldn’t come in due to an accident! We listened instead to a lecturer from Salford, which was good but I was disappointed we didn’t get to hear what Ian Findlay had to say.

Although I nearly missed the bus on the way home (!!) I really enjoyed the day and would love to go back and listen to some different lectures.