Lack of UK news helicopters

[InvertedBlades]

In the USA news helicopters are very common, why is that not the case in the UK?

Is it solely due to the higher maintenance costs in the UK?

Thanks in advance

[Sir Korsky]

didn't Biggin Hill hellis have a 109 doing ENG 20 years or so ago?

[Two's in]

You misunderstand the word "news".

In the US, the advertisement ridden cancer that masquerades as news is essentially a copy of the police blotter. This means any law enforcement action, from the trivial to the tragic, is reported in excruciating detail. The sole purpose of this exercise is to keep white middle class voters shiat scared and voting for whichever politician promises them "safety".

To achieve this saturation hysterical coverage, the U.S. News channels use helicopters. The typical stories reported by the "eye in the sky" are traffic jams, traffic jams, traffic jams and very, very slow car chases. They also like to show prurient coverage of suicides and accident victims, but these are few and far between. Being a highly competitive market based on advertising revenue, once a local news station acquires a helicopter, all the rival channels are forced to follow. This has the obvious effect of diluting the value of any news story and for example, any major road accident will have at least 2 or 3 news helicopters hovering over it like the proverbial flies on shiat.

So, to answer the question, the reason the UK has few news helicopters is because for today at least, the business of news reporting is not based solely advertising revenue or the need to scare people into voting for corrupt politicians. The shock value of filming dismembered bodies at RTAs has,for the time being, escaped the attention of news desk editors in the UK with their room temperature IQs.

Hope this helped.

[krypton_john]

It's way too difficult to fly around over urban areas in the UK.

[Evil Twin]

You misunderstand the word "news".

In the US, the advertisement ridden cancer that masquerades as news is essentially a copy of the police blotter. This means any law enforcement action, from the trivial to the tragic, is reported in excruciating detail. The sole purpose of this exercise is to keep white middle class voters shiat scared and voting for whichever politician promises them "safety".

To achieve this saturation hysterical coverage, the U.S. News channels use helicopters. The typical stories reported by the "eye in the sky" are traffic jams, traffic jams, traffic jams and very, very slow car chases. They also like to show prurient coverage of suicides and accident victims, but these are few and far between. Being a highly competitive market based on advertising revenue, once a local news station acquires a helicopter, all the rival channels are forced to follow. This has the obvious effect of diluting the value of any news story and for example, any major road accident will have at least 2 or 3 news helicopters hovering over it like the proverbial flies on shiat.

So, to answer the question, the reason the UK has few news helicopters is because for today at least, the business of news reporting is not based solely advertising revenue or the need to scare people into voting for corrupt politicians. The shock value of filming dismembered bodies at RTAs has,for the time being, escaped the attention of news desk editors in the UK with their room temperature IQs.

Hope this helped.

Well said sir, well said! News ins't news anymore it's entertainment and keeping the increasingly voyeuristic populace engaged to deliver them with reasons to spend their money. Here in oz TV consists alomost exclusively of 'News' programmes, reality cooking shows, reality "talent" (sic) shows and reality house renovation shows. It's enough to make you turn off altogether. The F1 race yesterday wasn't even shown live on any freeview channels.

Edited as forgot to mention Police programmes. I think if you counted up the Murders on TV every week you'd top almost 50 with NCIS and all that cr@p.

[farmpilot]

Does London not have Sky News, BBC and Flying TV still?

[wokkaboy]

Does London not have Sky News, BBC and Flying TV still?

Yep - Sky and BBC news with Arena Aviation, and Flying TV with... Flying TV.

[farmpilot]

So two twins and two (?) singles isn't bad for news.

[Romeopapa]

In the USA and Australia there is more interest in the local news and big cities are spread further apart so the national news is not broadcast at the same time.

Big city tv stations sell advertising locally so go for a more tabloid action type of news that focuses on car smashes,police chases and fires.

Helicopter are a cheap and easy way of gathering vision hard to get from the ground where access is usually roped off by emergency services.

In Europe we are a bit more sophisticated in the news we watch.

Just try watching Motorway Cops etc and see how quickly you get bored.

Most of the scrotes caught in those programmes never see a prison cell.

[InvertedBlades]

Thanks for the replies everyone, some interesting and unexpected answers!

[timprice]

Basically the UK uses stealth news helicopters to avoid complaints :8