(photo:Fan Wang)

Local TV:  Keep Calm and It's Not That Bad

Describing the new digital model for local television in the UK, Chris Romilly, Comux UK's Chief Technical Officer, suggested that, "What's happening here is something new for television, new locally, new for news and ... new for everything"

On the 26th June, RTS Wales Members (above) were given a presentation and guided tour of the Comux Broadcast Centre by Romilly and Broadcast Consultant, Arshad Rasul (formerly Chief Engineer with S4C).  The company claims it has revolutionised the way television can be networked and broadcast, and according to Rasul, "we're currently set up to carry 19 separate services, but we have capacity to expand to 40".

Following a successful bid to Ofcom by Comux owners Canis Media to run the UK local television multiplex, the Birmingham based company has received £25 million from the BBC to build and maintain the network.  Meanwhile the BBC is also providing £15 million over three years to local TV operators to produce news content which will also be used by BBC News.  "It's paid in advance.  That's quite generous," said Rasul, "but in return, each local TV operator is obligated to supply up to 85 stories per month to the founder.  The money provides the access to the content and the BBC can choose whatever they wish," he added.

Currently, 28 local TV stations have been licensed by Ofcom to offer local services, six of which are now live, in Grimsby, London, Norwich, Nottingham, Glasgow and Brighton, with a further 21 still waiting for future licensed local TV operators.  In Wales, along with licences granted to Swansea and Mold, Made in Cardiff, part of the Made In group, (broadcasting from Wenvoe, right), promises to be on air 24/7, aiming to broadcast an hour of live news every night for the city with a sustaining service provided by Made In, and its licence application also claims it will produce programmes "in association with the students of Cardiff University".  Although Jeremy Hunt's original plan drew a sceptical reaction from the industry, Comux appears to have provided an elegant solution to the significant transmission and distribution logistics posed by local television in the digital age, leaving local stations to focus on the business of producing compelling content.