[andy_m]

I think where it falls down is in the fact that "community" is no longer really based on geographical location - especially in our towns and cities, most of which are wonderfully diverse.

More appealing, commercially, would be channels which cater specifically for the needs of individual communities, but they would perhaps merely serve to entrench community divisions rather than encourage integration. And besides, they already exist. Local tv wasn't, rather isn't, supposed to be commercially attractive - it's partly funded for that very reason - it's supposed to provide what the BBC is seriously failing to provide, which is proper local public service broadcasting. Unfortunately it's come about just as televisual viewing habits are slowly starting to change.