In the last week or two I have been contacted by a number of media students wanting to know how ITV works in the regions and how they can equip themselves for future employment. It comes as a shock when they realise that much of what they are learning is subject to the same amount of uncertainty as the professionals are facing.
Regional ITV News continues to be under pressure as the company tries to find ways to cut costs. The staffing cuts in the Leeds newsroom have been among the most painful in the company’s history (we are in the middle of them).
Public service on ITV is at serious risk unless the industry can come up with a creative way of making it viable. Only today ITV has been communicating with staff on future proposals for making ends meet. One idea is that the BBC and ITV should share some media and facilities – maybe working out of the same buildings. Never before has there been such a real possibility that the BBC could be the only regional TV news broadcaster. The newspapers are of course including video on their websites but this is a long way from being established as an alternative to regional TV news. (Personally I think collaboration and partnerships are a good idea and much more in keeping with the way new media is heading)
Today we learned that advertising budgets have been revised down by the greatest amount ever, according to the latest Bellwether survey (a quarterly survey of marketing spend). Online accounts for almost 10% of all advertising spend but it suffered a record reduction in spend, dropping 7%. However this was a smaller drop compared to other media. And so even the ITV’s online services like ITV Local are under pressure.
Competition between ITV and the BBC has in the past been very strong but as the commercial realities unfold the financial contrasts between the BBC and ITV are significant.
Re-inventing ITV under these conditions is extremely difficult with the company (in my opinion) reluctant to take risks and gamble any new cash on innovative services without guaranteed financial returns. ITV Local, held to be important to the future of ITV, is being run on a relative shoestring with many of the staff who pioneered the service becoming victims of the cutbacks.
Technology, it is hoped, holds the key to the success of ITV in the regions. Like many broadcasters, staff are becoming multi skilled. To give you an example reporters are now becoming video journalists (VJs). For simpler stories reporters will operate as a one person crew taking with them a lightweight camera. They will do their own shooting, their own reporting and their own editing. While a theoretical solution, implementing the technology and training required is expensive and time consuming process.
The inclusion of user generated content, citizen journalism and more localalised information are not just a strategies for engaging with audiences, they are things the audiences are coming to expect. So as well as finding a way though this business challenge the whole culture around how we consume and use the services is changing.
Newsroom staff everywhere are working across a number media. Radio, TV, Online, text & design are being handled by staff who where previously specialists. As well as technical experts they will also have to perform as managers and content editors safeguarding the integrity of the output. And so the challenge is to improve the service, cut the costs and move quickly.
None of this is intended as a criticism of my employer who I think is putting some genuine energy and creative thinking into reforming its activities. All this bodes well, i'm sure.
But there is an equation which says that of quality, volume and speed you can only achieve two of these without compromising the third. It’s a tough one.
