Regional balance
BBC News: ITV to merge regional newsrooms
The regional structure of ITV was conceived almost by accident, took forty years to fully develop and another ten years to simultaneously amalgamate and decline to its present state of affairs. Tight regulation has been replaced by commercial-driven neglect, whilst the remaining regulation proved relatively ineffective as well as outdated for its present purpose.
However things have not been standing still elsewhere. The last ten years has seen the explosive growth of the internet, with broadband connections enabling a "Web 2.0" experience that permits people to interact with media like never before, so unsurprisingly this could make what's left of the old ITV local news operations look a little old-fashioned to say the least.
In an era where anyone can upload a video clip to the world in seconds, a large network of regional news studios looks distinctly archaic and costly by comparison. Therefore it's perfectly understandable that ITV as a commercial entity wishes to merge some newsrooms, but ITV and Ofcom also need to remember that there's a basic regional service to be provided.
No amount of YouTube clips can be a substitute for true regional television, and ITV is still the best-placed commercial entity that can deliver such a thing and make it a unique selling point. Local newspapers may currently be locked into a terminal headspin but that generally relates to printed news that runs the risk of quickly becoming oudated.
So Ofcom may feel that it's logical to permit ITV to amalgamate news operations but in theory this ought to be counterbalanced by additional investment and promotion of regional programming; something that has been sorely lacking in recent years for which there is still a demand, and certainly falls under the category of public service provision.
Regardless of Ofcom's decision on this issue and whether there is any form of counterbalance provision, what happens next will be a stiff test of whether Michael Grade fully appreciates the history of ITV and whether he can successfully reinvent its regional assets to provide a distinctive and popular service whilst maintaining some form of public service remit.
