Forget hi-def, Freeview needs Local TV services

[The News Bot]

Forget high-def. What we really need on Freeview is amateur local TV channels. That’s the view of 120 MPs who have backed an Early Day Motion to turn over spectrum space on terrestrial digital TV to local TV services. The move follows campaigning by a group called United for Local Television, which seeks to secure [...]
More...

[Shaun666]

Originally Posted by R Thomson

Forget high-def. What we really need on Freeview is amateur local TV channels. That’s the view of 120 MPs who have backed an Early Day Motion to turn over spectrum space on terrestrial digital TV to local TV services. The move follows campaigning by a group called United for Local Television, which seeks to secure [...]
More...

These MP's haven't got a clue. The last thing I want is local tv. It's bad enough watching local London news. Just imagine how crap "and now news from your street" would be.

[thornton]

I lived in the US for some years where local TV is well established and the major networks tend to affiliate with local TV. It is utterly dire. Headline news is a fire in a shop, or a new store opening, or a car dealer's grief at a burglary of his garage. And this was the main news - you had to wait for the important stuff. It all added to the ghastly parochialism of the place, and ignorance of the rest of the country, let alone the rest of the world. In Oxford where I used to live there was or maybe is a thing called SiXTV, which was similarly awful. I moved out of the city and fortunately do not fall over it any more.

Local TV would be an utter waste of bandwidth - far better to go for quality HD.

[alcabs]

Bit of a non-story - only proposing a single channel. Is that going to take up ALL the available bandwidth for HD?

I think not.

Next!

[AgentCool]

Why would you want to watch some amateur non-HD channel report "a dog laying a big smelly one out down Smith Street" when you could see the BBC's professional local news team report "a dog laying a big smelly one out down Smith Street" in glorious HD? Oh wait...

[marty2005]

I wish they'd dump all those quiz channels that no one watches.

[sbowler]

And the shopping channels, who the hell wants to buy 24 sheets of glittery stars for £30.

[Roger Matthews]

This confirms the widely held opinion that most MPs don't know what they are talking about!

[OddBod82]

Astonishing! Absolutely astonishing! For any of you who has seen Channel U on Sky will know just how bad 'home made' tv can get. MP's really do seem to be in a world of their own. Do they even watch tv?
Keep the bandwidth for HD. All the people who have bought shiny new HD ready sets will not be too pleased if what they actually get is "...and now news from the deli, which has a great two for one offer today."

[Jonstone]

Although I disagree with the idea that we should have local television channels I think that the general public at large may well be in favour of using extra bandwidth to increase the scope of the channels on offer on freeview rather than using it for a much smaller number of hd channels.

Given the option, for example, of having a multi channel movie and sport service to rival sky's on freeview in sd or having a few extra hd channels showing basically the same stuff that is on their sd counterparts then I think a lot of people on these forums would get a surprise as to what the public would choose.

Avforums are populated by people who have an avid interest in av equipment and want the best quality they can get, the general public is not as bothered about pq etc.

If it went to a straight vote I would bet that the majority would be in favour of an increased sd output on freeview rather than a small number of hd channels

[ashraf]

Thank you want technical services to the organs of the old Toshiba and maintenance methods SCHEMATICS
Repair