UTV bids for ITV North-East news pilot

UTV, the ITV licence-holder in Northern Ireland, has submitted a bid for the forthcoming Border and Tyne Tees regional news pilot, after it lodged a separate proposal for the Welsh trial.

Bids are currently being assessed for three pilots of the government's Independently Funded News Consortium (IFNC) scheme. The winning proposals will receive around £7m of public money a year to develop a replacement ITV regional news service as a viable alternative to the BBC's coverage.

All firms involved in the IFNC trials, including the third pilot in Scotland, will have to create a multi-platform local news model, including TV, radio and newspapers.

UTV intends to replicate many of the vibrant news sources it already offers in Northern Ireland under the new Border Live and North East Live brands.

Speaking to The Guardian, UTV managing director Michael Wilson said: "I know how important high-quality local news is to the audience in the North-East. It is vital for the plurality of journalism that there is a strong alternative to [the BBC's] Look North."

Wilson said that local people in the North-East will be able to stipulate what they want from the pilot via two dedicated websites.

He also highlighted that the firm's UTV Live programme in Northern Ireland had a 35.9% audience share in 2008, putting it ahead of Border programme Lookaround with 24.1% and ITV's North East Tonight with just 16.8%.

Despite UTV's collaboration with newspaper owner NWN Media for the Welsh bid, the firm has decided to go it alone for the Border and Tyne Tees pilot due to the low penetration of local newspapers.

However, Wilson said that partnerships would be established with local media producers and existing ITV news staff would ideally be retained in the new operation.

"We will be putting in a direct UTV proposal to enable us to move more quickly to ensure the services in both areas are unique and relevant," he said.

"This will include future partnerships and relationships with other media in the regions if successful and we would aim to retain the existing ITV staff."

Culture secretary Ben Bradshaw will announce successful parties for the three pilots in spring 2010. The three IFNC trials will then get under way in April and run until a planned national rollout for the scheme in 2013.