The Fife and Tayside Local TV working group has now made its submission in terms of the Digital Dividend Review Consultation to Ofcom, the media regulator. It is great to see the momentum behind the campaign for local television in Tayside and Fife, summed up, I think, by a brief quote from the submission to Ofcom :“The Fife and Tayside Local TV Working Group (FT-TV) welcomes this further opportunity to comment on the proposed allocation of digital spectrum and reiterates previous requests that the Angus and Craigkelly transmitters are included in this process.
“We note that following previous lobbying all main transmitters in the UK are now offered with a frequency plan suitable for local TV use and the existence in Scotland of further transmission capacity through a 7th MUX.
“As you will see from our website information, also at www.tayscreen.com, the Fife and Tayside Local TV Working Group is an initiative being lead by Cllr Fraser Macpherson of Dundee City Council and consists of representatives from the production, business, media access, cultural and college/university sectors in the region. The group benefits from the advice of the Institute of Local TV. The activities of the group are being coordinated by FifeScreen & TayScreen Scotland, the screen agency for, and a partnership of, the Councils of Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perth & Kinross, reporting to Economic Development in each case.
“ … we believe the local TV represents a significant opportunity to:
* get people involved in their communities
* support business opportunities and development (such as the production and tourism sectors) facilitate media access and political and social engagement
* promote and raise awareness of projects (regional, European, international)
* network content at regional, national and international levels
* for audience access via broadcast and broadband provision
* develop audience and market demand for content, culture, heritage and regional goods and services”
In my view FT-TV is making a great case for digital spectrum to be allocated for local TV across our region. I’ll wait for further developments with a keen interest.