The demise of traditional commercial television in the UK has never been signified more clearly than in ITV's decision that it would rather pay fines than deliver local and public service programming.
The original strategy behind ITV Local was to move such programming onto the web; but if you're not producing the programming, there's nothing to show, so that service will equally decline.
ITV's strategy is regressive in a world that is made up of audiences of one. If a company can't make narrowcast audiences pay, then I believe there is little future for it in the media industry. It is something the publishing industry learned the hard way in the eighties.
This is a company that has totally lost its way and I doubt if it will be able to exist independently for much longer.
Perhaps the much better run UTV, which is responsible for the ITV franchise in Ulster, will step in and take up this opportunity to target local TV markets and special interest groups in the UK.
The original strategy behind ITV Local was to move such programming onto the web; but if you're not producing the programming, there's nothing to show, so that service will equally decline.
ITV's strategy is regressive in a world that is made up of audiences of one. If a company can't make narrowcast audiences pay, then I believe there is little future for it in the media industry. It is something the publishing industry learned the hard way in the eighties.
This is a company that has totally lost its way and I doubt if it will be able to exist independently for much longer.
Perhaps the much better run UTV, which is responsible for the ITV franchise in Ulster, will step in and take up this opportunity to target local TV markets and special interest groups in the UK.
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