EMBARGO UNTIL MIDDAY THURSDAY 5th FEBRUARY 2004
PRESS
RELEASE
NEW
COMMUNITY TV STATION FOR BELFAST LAUNCHES
ON
MONDAY 9th FEBRUARY at 5.00 pm
A new TV station for Belfast, launching on Monday 9th February, aims to enable community groups and individuals in the city to be seen and heard through making and broadcasting programmes that directly reflect their voices and views.
The new station, called NvTv, has been set up by Northern Visions, a Belfast-based not-for-profit media centre which has been involved in community media and arts projects since 1986.
"While the local output from BBC and UTV is of a very high standard, we aim to widen viewers choices by providing a range of alternative programmes that are made with and by all the various communities in Belfast" said David Hyndman, Community Media Development Director at Northern Visions.
Initially, NvTv will begin by broadcasting at least one hour of pre-recorded programming each day, repeated throughout the day, with a compilation of the week’s broadcasts at the weekend. Test transmissions, to allow the public to tune in, continue until Monday 9th February at 5.00 pm, when the first programme kicks off with "The School Trip", an inventive and quirky exploration of what the future might hold for a young person with a disability on leaving school. The film was made by young people at Fleming Fulton School in Belfast in association with Open Arts.
Programmes currently scheduled for the first month include "Quality Control", a regular showcase of unsung local talent from the world of music and film, "The Artery", produced by Royce Harper, a regular series featuring interviews with Jim Sheridan, Martin Lynch, writer and director Tim Loane and artist and poet Jack Packenham "In Focus", produced by Paul Barnes, documenting Zimbabwean political refugees who have found themselves in Belfast after fleeing their families and homeland because they dared to speak out in favour of freedom and democracy, "Houl yer Horses", a portrait of Bertie Hanna, one of a group of expert plough men who have kept the art of ploughing alive and "Pathways for Change", a series giving a voice to community groups in response to the recently released government document on resourcing the voluntary and community sector.
Said David Hyndman: "Our initial number of broadcasting hours reflects how most of the community TV stations in the UK have started, including the successful Channel 9 station in Derry, plus others in Manchester, Oxford, Leicester and Cardiff".
"We aim within a reasonable timescale to extend these hours, though this will depend on funding and the availability of suitable programming", he added.
Northern Visions gained a four year licence from Ofcom – the UK broadcasting regulator – following a consultation process which showed that 200 local groups in Belfast wanted a community TV station to be started in the city.
Said David Hyndman: "The survey showed that 49 per cent were interested in helping with or directly making programmes, and 82 per cent said programme production would be of interest to their organisation.
"All of this clearly demonstrates that communities see the new station as being helpful in reflecting and enriching the diversity of the Belfast community by expanding the variety of viewpoints that can get on the air".
He added: "We also want to encourage active participation in the making of programmes so that groups and individuals can have their voices heard.
"To assist this process, Northern Visions will shortly move into a state of the art media access centre, including a television studio, at Exchange Place in the Cathedral Quarter, from where we hope it will be possible to do some ‘live’ broadcasting."
"NvTv will make programmes in several ways, including using our team of community TV journalists who will be out and about in the city covering events and working alongside groups to produce programming".
"We also have a scheme for volunteers, many of them new to TV, to make programmes, plus showing programmes already made by community groups and local independent filmmakers".
But how will the success of the NvTv be measured? Said David: "Traditionally this is done through audience figures, and while not ignoring this yardstick, we think there are also other factors for judging success.
"For example, there will be the level of volunteer involvement, the number of partnerships we create with communities, the number of new faces we bring to the screen, plus participation by under-represented minorities and also exploring issues not usually tackled on the existing stations", he added.
The new station is only licensed to use a low-power transmitter "which means there will be parts of the city that can’t get good reception, although we’re hoping to give better coverage through time with extra transmitters, the pattern followed in Derry by Channel 9" said David.
The new station is broadcasting a terrestrial picture, so a conventional TV aerial will be needed, with TV sets tuned into Channel 62 (Frequency 799.276MHz).
Northern Visions, 4 Donegall Street Place, Belfast BT1 2FN.
Telephone 028 90 245495, Fax: 028 90 326608,
Email: info@northernvisions.org
Schedules posted on web site from Saturday February 7th on
Contact: David Hyndman
Available for interview from
midday Thursday 5th February at Northern Visions
Volunteers new to television who have completed their first programmes:
Royce Harper: Producer/Presenter of "The Artery" a regular series featuring the arts in Belfast. Interviews with Jim Sheridan, Martin Lynch, David Byers of the Ulster Orchestra, Fintan Brady, community theatre practitioner, artist and poet Jack Packenham, the writer and director Tim Loane and Vivienne Gleeson, "the most notorious housewife in Belfast".
Darren Carson: Producer/Presenter of "Divine Issues", programmes with a Christian ethos. Features interviews with George Hamilton IV and Sandy Kelly, Aled Jones and Charlie Landsborough.
Paul Barnes: Producer/Presenter of "In Focus", whose first film documents Zimbabwean refugees living in Belfast.
PLUS
Community Television Journalists: The community journalists’ task is to initiate and produce a wide variety of community videos and programming with emphasis on building capacity with marginalised community groups/communities of interest in Belfast.
Gerard Stratton – as an experienced filmmaker, Gerard’s most recent credit was as Director/Camera for the Ambulance series on BBC NI "Frontline". He has worked with all the main broadcasters. Extensive portfolio of community arts and media literacy work with communities including North Belfast Communities in Action, Fleming Fulton School and Multi Cultural Resource Centre NI.
Patricia Lynch – before taking up a post with Northern Visions, Trish was responsible, as an experienced camera person, for studio work for all TV3 Network output including news, sport, current affairs, music, arts and live and pre recorded programming. Trish has also worked in RTE, as well as in the independent video production sector where she was extensively involved in scripting, shooting and producing programmes for voluntary and corporate groups such as St. Vincent de Paul and Texaco.
John Comerton – an experienced filmmaker with a wide experience of community and youth arts projects, video workshops in primary schools and charity events. John has directed documentaries on Channel 4, music videos and live studio work for Belfast’s own Fanta Academy of Performing Arts. With a background in commercials and corporate videos and performance events, John is looking forward to bringing new Belfast faces and local stories to NvTv.
PLUS
David Hyndman: Community Media Development Director at Northern Visions who spearheaded the Belfast bid for the 4-year License.
Nathan Kripz: Presenter of NvTv’s inaugural programme "The School Trip" made by young people from Fleming Fulton School in Belfast.
Further information including a
video clip will be available
on Thursday 5th
February from midday.
NOTE TO EDITOR:
What is Northern Visions? It is currently based off Donegall Street, where over 200 community-based organisations plus a growing number of individual artists and filmmakers use the group’s programmes and services each year.
Northern Visions is funded by Belfast City Council, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the NI Film and Television Commission to undertake training workshops, educational seminars, youth production and support for individual artists.
Funding for NvTv, however, has come from Northern Visions’ surplus from making commercial and corporate films for companies and broadcasters. The community journalists’ posts are funded under Measure 2.3 of the EU Peace II programme: Skilling & Building the Social Economy by the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland.
Directions to Northern Visions: Northern Visions is situated at 4 Donegall Street Place. We are one block down from St. Anne’s Cathedral, Waring Street direction in a courtyard between the John Hewitt and Unemployed Resource Centre. The John Hewitt is opposite the entrance to the North Street Arcade.
ends