Kent CC has defended its decision to refuse Freedom of Information (FOI) requests over its new broadband TV service. The Kent Messenger media group has called on the information commissioner to force Kent CC to disclose details about Kent TV, after two FOI requests were turned down. A council spokesman said: ‘Kent CC commissioned considerable research before going ahead with the project. This is still commercially valuable to us. Other councils which have expressed an interest in following Kent TV may well want to buy it. We do not see why, having done the research, we should then make it freely available.' West Sussex CC has condemned plans by ITV bosses to merge local news programme Meridian Tonight with two other regional programmes. Mark Southgate, managing director of ITV Meridian, said the plans were subject to approval from Ofcom and would not be implemented before 2009. ‘ITV Meridian is planning one well-resourced edition of Meridian Tonight serving the South and South East, which will carry the most important stories and reflect the life of the entire region.'