What a night for television audiences. I think some 20 million people tuned in to watch the final of this year’s X Factor and what a finale it was with the favourite Joe McElderry taking the honours.

Right now the Local Government Channel is involved in its own talent search. We’ve teamed up with the Local Government Association to run the Local Government Leadership Challenge.

Based very loosely on the concept of the Apprentice, ok I’ve got my shows a little mixed up here, the idea is to set two teams of individuals from councils throughout the country a number of challenges to revitalise their communities. There are various of these ranging from promoting local libraries and other services to giving a boost to the local high street.

And we’ve got off to a flying start. The contestants have been chosen, the challenges set and everything kicks off in January. We’re going to be filming every one of them and posting the results on our web site. So be sure to tune in to see how the candidates are getting on.

A little light hearted but with a very serious message. Our attention is often drawn to high profile talents on a national and international stage. But very often there’s some excellent work being done on our own doorsteps and it is high time we recognised it!

So how did you watch the television coverage of “Super Tuesday”? I have to admit I was riveted to ABC News but not on a television as in previous years but on-line. The quality and reliability of the transmission really took me aback.

The excitement surrounding this election is clearly intense. Senators Clinton and Obama are going head to head and right now there is no way of knowing who is going to win. And Americans are witnessing history in the making with the first woman and African American man running for the Oval Office.

This election year it’s about staying informed and in tune with the positions your candidates stand for - and online video is a critical tool to help keep up with the latest topics around the election. I am inspired by their methods of engagement and will be dedicating several posts over the coming months to highlight what role online video plays during the upcoming presidential election.

The way I see it, IPTV enables political action: it allows communities to become better informed and it opens channels of communications to discuss what’s happening at both a local and national level. That’s why WebsEdge created the Local Government Channel, to help educate communities on local government issues that affect them.

As the election ramps up, there is an invaluable opportunity for online sources to get the message across using IPTV. Over the next several months, I will share my insight on solid examples of how the candidates are utilizing online video to help boost their campaigns within various communities. In the meantime, take a look at what CSPAN has for online election coverage. I think that once you’ve reviewed the site, you’ll feel inspired to stay connected and engaged to learn about issues each candidate is highlighting in their campaign.