Community broadband television channel, Hebrides.tv is on the lookout for locally generated footage to showcase when it launches next year.
Hebrides.tv will give Western Isles residents, community groups and businesses a platform for publishing video and other related content which can be viewed by anyone with a computer and internet access. In advance of the full scale launch, the hebrides.tv pilot website will run during 2006-2007 and feature a diversity of video created in the Outer Hebrides.
Funded by LEADER+, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Western Isles Enterprise, Hebrides.tv will be a web-based virtual channel. The project will be managed by Stornoway company, ReefNet. They have worked with a range of clients including The Community Channel, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Hebridean Celtic Festival.
Reefnet are currently gathering in potential content for the site. A spokesperson for the project said: “If you have video footage relevant to Western Isles communities that you would like to see online please get in touch. This could be local events, drama, activities, sports, concerts, public meetings, cookery or craft demonstrations, business information or documentaries – at the moment we want to find out what is out there and what people want to see.”
Hebrides.tv may also be able to offer assistance with access to equipment for people who would like to film specific material.
It is planned that Hebrides.tv will carry news, information and footage about the islands. How it develops will be largely driven by the views of users and the type of content that is made available.
The appeal to the local community and budding movie makers in the Isles will help gauge what potential content already exists as well as the type of programming that is in demand. This could be local events, drama, activities, sports, concerts, public meetings, cookery or craft demonstrations, business information or documentaries.
The audience for Hebrides.tv has been defined as communities within the Western Isles and expats around the UK and worldwide. The role the community broadband project will play is essentially that of a platform for local communication and information. In addition, it is hoped Hebrides.tv will help promote the best of the environment, produce and culture of the islands to the outside world.
To find out more about the Hebrides.tv pilot, contact ReefNet on info@hebrides.tv
