Manchester on the shortlist for local TV by 2014

Manchester has been named as one of 20 cities in the UK where local TV stations could be set up.

As well as Manchester,the local TV areas, which could have stations by 2014, will be: Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Grimsby, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Newcastle, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Plymouth, Preston, Southampton and Swansea.

Manchester has been put on the first shortlist as an area having good local spectrum coverage and significant levels of interest from potential operators and audiences. Ofcom will now consult on these areas and its proposed licensing process.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said:

“I am confident these new stations will provide local communities with programming which is relevant to their daily lives, will support local democracy, boost the big society and enhance local communities,” said Mr Hunt.

The Government is also taking a number of steps to create a new statutory framework for licensing that will allow for transmission infrastructure to be built and the new local TV services to start operating. Spectrum will be awarded through a competitive process to a single multiplex operator to provide the distribution for local TV. The necessary enabling legislation will be laid shortly.

More pressure on Desmond's lottery

There has been a great deal of controversy over Richard Desmond's National Health lottery and now the pressure may be rising after the charity chief executives body Acevo has asked nine supermarkets and major retailers to stop selling its tickets.

The body argues that the Health Lottery gives a lower proportion of its proceeds to good causes than the National Lottery and other lotteries.

In a letter to companies including WH Smith, Asda, Morrisons and Tesco, Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo, says: "There is a very obvious danger that ticket sales for the Health Lottery could detract from sales of the National Lottery and other lotteries.

"Quite simply, this would mean less money going to good causes. At a time when charities are so financially constrained, this would be deeply damaging.
"I would strongly urge you to withdraw your support for the Health Lottery with immediate effect."

Bubb has also written to Richard Desmond saying his adverts for the Health Lottery explicitly compare it to the National Lottery when that is untrue.

The news will come as another blow to the competition launched in a blaze of oublicity last month after the culture secretary said the new lottery could create more harm than good.

Jeremy Hunt told the culture committee that the Gambling Commission would investigate whether the Channel 5 lottery was diverting money away from similar charitable lotteries.

Government's plan B-Turn the country into a tourist park

So the government has decided that as the country is incapable of producing growth through conventional means it has decided that the country will become a tourist park.

David Cameron is to announce later today in New York a new drive to maximise the economic potential of the London Olympic Games and use it to promote Britain abroad as a place to visit and do business.

According to the press release he will say that

the Government was determined to 'seize this unprecedented opportunity' to ensure that London 2012 delivered a 'lasting economic legacy' for the whole country, boosting investment, jobs and growth.



Tourism,adds the release, will be a key part of the campaign, with the Government aiming to attract an additional 4m visitors to the UK over the next four years. Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics.

Media and Sport Jeremy Hunt said: “With the eyes of the world on Britain in 2012, we have a fantastic opportunity to showcase everything that the country has to offer. The GREAT campaign will ensure that we make the most of London 2012 to boost tourism and business, leaving a lasting economic legacy from London’s Games.”