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ITV Local a month on…

I
posted about the trial of ITV’s new ITV Local web TV service running here in
Brighton & Hove and in the nearby town of Hastings (previous posts here and here) and I guess it’s about time for another
update, just over a month since the launch of the service.

 

I’ll
admit, I’ve not been checking it regularly, and was pretty unimpressed at the
time of my last post; but checking up on it this weekend, it looks like there
are some signs of life, including:

 

  • Some
    new content in the My Brighton section,  including a featurette taking you on a tour of the Royal Pavilion (of more use to visitors than locals, you’d think, but good content nonetheless).
  • A feature about local voluntary organisations called I’m a Volunteer, Get Me in There.
  • Some classifieds appearing (for two businesses outside of Brighton, it seemed).

 

The best section at the moment though, is the classified section, which includes an ad for the Kroon Kat Lounge (which looks great) and for a forthcoming "Brighton on Film" event at the much-loved art-house cinema here, The Duke of Yorks. It was a shame that no one at ITV Local had thought to include links from the What’s On films – just a phone number to call for tickets.

I was struck again by just how good the streaming was, basically broadcast quality over my 300 kps connection. But that was yesterday – today it seems to be jittery. The usability is, though, poor and the site confusing to navigate.

Final verdict: if ITV doesn’t make it work someone should pick up the Waht’s On with videos ideas and run with it – I think it works well. The service as it stands needs a good deal of attention – not least in the usability / accessibility area.

All in all, the ITV Local service doesn’t quite feel like it’s going to have a long life – I’m not sure I sense the energy, determination and corporate will behind this project to make it successful in the long run.

I’ll keep watching for the time being and report back on progress.

Antony Mayfield

One response to “ITV Local a month on…”

  1. Alison Pope Avatar
    Alison Pope

    ITV Local gets bigger and better

    ITV Meridian is expanding ITV Local – its new 24 hour broadband news and weather service – to cover the whole of the South and South-East. The public will also have the ability to submit video clips and adverts from their own computers and see themselves on ITV.

    All three editions of Meridian Tonight and local weather forecasts will be free to view for anybody with a home PC or Mac computer and a broadband connection by logging onto http://www.itvlocal.tv.

    The news channel also offers an archive of previous stories and a video-on- demand function so viewers can watch ‘what they want, when they want’.

    ITV Local is also offering users free software which will enable people to upload their own material. This service is unique on the internet and ITV hopes it will be the beginning of a new ‘citizen’s TV’ service.

    The trial broadband channels were launched in Brighton and Hastings in October and have proved popular with viewers and advertisers. Film, classified advertising, ‘what’s on’ and documentary channels can also be viewed at the click of a mouse.

    Lindsay Charlton, ITV Meridian’s Managing Director said: “This is the first time in 50 years that an ITV region has provided news and feature programming 24 hours a day to the entire region. We’re also giving our viewers the opportunity to create their own programming and we think there is an enormous potential appetite for this service. Friends and family can catch up with their own region wherever they are in the world thanks to the internet and broadband technology”.

    ITV Local automatically calculates the bandwidth of individual computers and then delivers high quality pictures which can be viewed full screen.

    “There are already 9.8 million broadband connections in the UK and many people can now catch up with local events from their home or workplace computer which wasn’t possible in the past,” said Mr Charlton. “Broadband is going to be an increasingly important television platform”.

    During the trial, viewers also have the chance to win a camcorder by filling in a simple feedback form.

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