My opinion on a London 'local TV' opinion poll - it proves nothing

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2013/jan/23/local-tv-polls

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I hope the backers of the Channel 6 consortium bidding for the London TV licence don't get too carried away by an opinion poll released today, which found that nine out of 10 Londoners want their own TV station.

Channel 6's PR outfit proclaim it to be a "striking" finding. But the answer to a question that asks "would you like something you don't have" tends to be positive.

Similarly, the survey cannot be said to be entirely independent. It was held by streetlife.com on behalf of Channel 6, whose bid it supports. And despite the claim to have been carried out among streetlife's 40,000 users, only 875 actually responded. Striking indeed!

So I'm sceptical about the enthusiastic response to this so-called "overwhelming finding" by Channel 6's chief executive, Richard Horwood. He said: "This comprehensively gives the lie to those cynical national media pundits who constantly assert that there's no public demand for local TV." (That includes me, of course).

Horwood continued: "I've lost count of the number of times I've heard self-appointed experts casually assert that Londoners don't identify with London as whole, supposedly attaching themselves only to their neighbourhoods like Battersea or Bow.

"I'm a Londoner, and of course I love my immediate neighbourhood otherwise I wouldn't live there. But, like every other Londoner I know, it's London that I happily claim as home when anyone from outside London asks. And it's being a Londoner – with all the overtones of capital-city living – that helps define me."

Well, it's possible to agree with Horwood on that point without believing that a London TV station will secure an audience.

According to today's press release, streetlife.com also found that 93% of its users care about what their local councillors get up to while admitting they don't actually know what they do and assume they do a good job.

Horwood comments: "That's why improving local media is so important, especially public service broadcast local media… Unlike the snippets of regional news on BBC1 and ITV1, our 'LondonTV' station has committed to broadcast thousands of hours a year to explore London's happenings and issues."

For the record, the Channel 6 consortium is admittedly impressive. It includes London's three main local newspaper groups – Archant, Tindle and Trinity Mirror. It has also secured "strategic partnerships" with Sony Pictures Television; streetlife.com; the National Council for Voluntary Organisations; and Creative Skillset.

The London TV franchise is expected to be awarded next month.