News orgs pile on to web TV bandwagonLocal web TV services are set for a bumper year in 2006 as major news organisations and independent sites battle for their share of the increasing UK broadband audience.

Regional newspaper publisher Archant is the latest organisation to trial video bulletins, adding four-minute news reports to its Eastern Daily Press (EDP) website.

Ian Davies, director of development for regional news publisher Archant, said the growth of web video has been facilitated by reduced technology costs and the proliferation of broadband connections; these now account for nearly 60 per cent of all web connections in the UK.

"Local media businesses need to provide what advertisers and readers want in the local area. People expect more and more from information websites and want deeper, richer media - video and audio content," he told journalism.co.uk.

"We think that short-form bulletins of four or five minutes will appeal to a number of people who look at the site every day."

Video bulletins have been running internally for three weeks and were introduced to the EDP site last week. They have been cheap and simple to do, said Mr Davies, produced by existing staff with broadcast skills and using the £300 desktop editing programme Visual Communicator.

The current bulletins are studio-based reports but footage could be gathered by Archant's local news reporters in the field. Mr Davies said it is too early to predict how video content or advertising might be developed throughout the network but response to the four-month trial will be monitored.

All eyes on the trials

Archant will also be watching the outcome of the ITV Local pilot, which provides local video news reports, video classifieds and users' footage for Brighton and Hastings, and the BBC Local TV project.

The BBC's project is based in six regions in the West Midlands. One video journalist works in each area combining news, travel, entertainment and weather with footage from the local community.

Although a number of regional news publishers have expressed concern about the possible commercial impact of the BBC trial, the growth of independent local web news is not seen as a threat.

Head to head with indy media

Felixstowe TV covers part of an area in Suffolk served by two Archant titles; the Eastern Daily Press and tabloid Evening Star.

In a population of 25,000, Felixstowe TV claims to have built an impressive audience of around 32,000 unique users each month. As much as 15 per cent of traffic is generated by ex-pats and visitors spend as much as two hours on the site.

The site is run by Chris Gosling, a semi-retired marketeer and freelance journalist. He describes the 'world's smallest TV station' as a modest operation but recognises the enormous potential of hyperlocal journalism, partly due to what he sees as the limitations of commercial newspapers.

He says that there is huge potential for this form of microjournalism because stories can be shared and reported more quickly than in mainstream coverage.

"We have a tiny audience and deliberately so - that is the future," he said.

"Newspapers are big organisations and have to survive but they are walking away from the aspect that people like most - the local people who want to read infomration that directly interests and affects them."

Reporting on such a small patch has clear advantages over larger news organisations that have to cover a wider area. When a building earmarked for a controversial development caught fire in October, Felixstowe TV was on location filming the fire 10 minutes after the fire service arrived.

Film crews from the BBC had to travel 40 miles from Chelmsford and ITV from Cambridge, 45 miles away. Their footage was taken two-and-a-half hours after the fire started and showed firemen damping down the blaze. Felixstowe TV's report of the actual fire recorded 1,200 downloads that evening.

Though it has been difficult to generate money from the site, potential sponsors have begun to take an interest. By summer 2006, Felixstowe TV plans to have a second news reporter and a new design for the site.

"It shows that you can make local media work and there's an increasing appetite for web TV," said Mr Gosling.

"One of our viewers said that our site really does do what it says on the tin."

More news from journalism.co.uk:
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Web TV trials to rejuvenate local news
Print hacks turn their hands to video
ABC News signs 'vidcasting' deal with Apple iTunes
Local news sites expand video offering
Web TV trials to rejuvenate local news
Video course targets hacks

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