The Television Will Not Be Revolutionised?
THE TV DEBATE
THE MEDIA CENTRE, ST PETER'S CAMPUS
UNIVERSITY OF SUNDERLAND
FREE
Thursday March 6 1200 – 1700 & Friday March 7 1200 - 1800
The switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting has begun. But is the much vaunted switchover really going to revolutionise television? Or is the switch to digital simply going to create a surfeit of programming which we can not possibly keep up with? How can broadcasting meet the needs of the people after switch-off? And what is the fate of regional television and public service broadcasting in a new multi-channel broadcasting environment? This two-day debate will ask these questions, as well as surveying how community media groups, and other cultural sectors are affected by the digital switchover. It will conclude by exploring how the internet and new digital technologies are emerging as new sites for broadcasting.
Places are FREE and can be reserved via the AV Festival Box Office on 0191 232 8289
A Free bus leaves Newcastle Central station at 11.10 each day returning in teh evening
Participants include:
Austin Mitchell, MP, Chairman of the Commons All-Party Media Group; John Grundy - well known writer, historian and broadcaster, UK; Graham Howell - Director, Ofcom, England;
John Askew – Regional Manager, Border, Digital UK; Andy Cooper, TV Editor, BBC North East;
Jim Knight, News Editor, ITV Tyne Tees; Bill Thompson – Digital Planet, BBC & independent journalist, UK; Patrick Collerton – television documentary maker, UK; Jaqui Devereux, Community Media Association, UK; Dave Rushton, Institute for Local Television, UK;
John Wilson – researcher, Open Spectrum, UK; Brian Springer – filmmaker & spectrum scanner, USA; Hanna Harris – researcher, Finland; Annalisa Pelizza – Telestreet TV activist, Italy; Mick Fuzz – Transmission (independent network of journalists & researchers), UK; Helen Philpot – Project Director, The Yorkshire Channel; Nicola Smythe – BBC Future Media and Technology; Eric Kluitenberg – Theorist, writer and organiser, Centre for Culture and Politics, Amsterdam
Debate topics:
The debate will be organised into five sessions which will explore television in a variety of different ways. The topics of the sessions are:
The Switchover
What is the switchover? When is happening? Why is it happening?
Let the People Speak!
What is the impact of digital switchover on local and regional television? What is the future of public service broadcasting in the new digital era? What is Public Service Publishing (PSP)?
Citizen Spectrum
What is the fate of the part of the electromagnetic spectrum where television broadcasting happens? Will it be auctioned off? What happens to community broadcasting?
We Want the Airwaves!
What are the motivations behind activists and artists' radical incursions into broadcasting space?
Web Futures
Is the internet the new frontier of television? If so, what are the key initiatives which are creating the context for the future of TV online