Zinc Media Regulatory News (ZIN)

28 Oct 2005 11:07

Ten Alps PLC28 October 2005 For immediate release 28 October 2005 Ten Alps Plc Change of Auditors; First Report on Teachers' TV TV company Ten Alps Plc ('Ten Alps') announces a change of auditor to GrantThornton and the first report by the independent board of governors on theTeachers' TV channel. 1) AUDITORS Ten Alps has engaged Grant Thornton UK LLP as its new auditors. They willimmediately commence work on the group's interim results to September 30, 2005,which are due to be released in early December. A precise date for the resultsrelease and an accompanying analysts' briefing will be made available nearer tothe time. The board of Ten Alps would like to thank previous auditors Bright, Grahame,Murray, for their work over the past four years since the flotation of thecompany by reverse takeover - and indeed for their work on the accounts ofOsprey Communications PLC before that. 2) TEACHERS' TV REPORT The independent board of governors, appointed by the Department for Educationand Skills to supervise the Teachers' TV channel, which is managed by a company70%-owned by Ten Alps subsidiary Brook Lapping, has issued its first report onthe channel's performance. The governors' press release for that report iscopied below. Their full report can be downloaded by visiting the governors'website, www.ttvboard.org, and going to the Annual report section. Teachers' TV secures 21 per cent digital audience reach in first six months In its first Interim Report to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills,published today, the Teachers' TV Board of Governors announced that, based onindependent research, the new digital channel Teachers' TV has achieved anaudience reach of 21 per cent of school staff who have cable or satellite.Members of the schools workforce (teachers, assistants, heads and governors)watch about 540,000 Teachers' TV programmes on television each month and inaddition over 55,000 programmes are downloaded or viewed via the channel'swebsite, www.teachers.tv. The channel has been watched by between three and six per cent of all digitalviewers in the UK, depending on their digital platform. The figures show thatevery month an estimated 280,000 people are watching Teachers' TV programmes. The Teachers' TV Board of Governors is an independent public body that upholdsthe editorial independence of Teachers' TV and monitors the performance of thechannel supplier, Education Digital (a consortium which includes Brook LappingProductions, ITV and the Institute of Education). Commenting, Sir Paul Judge, Chair of the Teachers' TV Board of Governors, said:"We are delighted to be able to publish this report which provides solidresearch information illustrating that Teachers' TV has had a positive impact onthose in schools. Since the channel launched in February, we have received verypositive feedback from teachers, assistants, parents, governors and many othersinterested in education. It is clear that the channel is a welcome addition tothe resources available to school staff, not least because it provides these ina very cost effective way". According to the report, over 700 original programmes have been commissioned andproduced by Teachers' TV, including programmes aimed at professional developmentfor school staff, news and topical programmes covering key schools relatedpolicy and video resources for use in the classroom. Highlights from the firstsix months of broadcast include an interview with Tony Blair, electionprogramming featuring education spokespeople from across the political spectrum,the 'Big Behaviour' debate chaired by Jonathan Dimbleby, and the "Ted Wraggmeets..." series with guests including David Bell, Chief Inspector of Schools. The Interim report was based on national research completed by independentmarket research company, Ipsos UK, between February and July 2005. Additionalfindings include: * Of the school staff watching for five minutes, 69 per cent on Sky and Cable and 67 per cent on Freeview go on to watch for at least 30 minutes in the month. This means that every month 58,000 individuals watch the equivalent of at least two programmes on the channel. * A core of around 25,000 school workforce viewers watch at least four programmes per month. * The total television and website viewership by the schools workforce is estimated to be 600,000 programmes per month. With Teachers' TV costing approximately £1.6 million per month, the average cost per viewer, per programme watched is £2.70. This means that Teachers' TV is a highly cost effective way of delivering resources and information to support CPD for the schools workforce. For comparison, it typically costs £300 to take one teacher out of a classroom for a one-day CPD course. Research also found that Teachers' TV had a significant impact on the behaviour,motivation and practice of the schools workforce: + Teachers' TV has encouraged over four in ten viewers to undergo some kind of CPD + Over half of viewers claim that they are likely to implement the content of Teachers' TV programmes in their schools + Eight of ten viewers claim that Teachers' TV programming has affected their personal motivation Teachers' TV press enquiries Kirsten Smart/Natalie Orringe on 020 7400 4480 norringe@mediastrategy.co.uk. www.teachers.tv Ten Alps press enquiries: Jacqui Graves 0207 153 1486 jacqui@binnspr.co.uk www.tenalps.com -ENDS- This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange