New Year fireworks displays in major cities tailored for marketing value

The shows at Edinburgh Castle and the London Eye are being handled by Kimbolton Fireworks whose display director, Darryl Fleming, is quoted by Sky News as saying: "The displays are as important for the TV audience as much as the live crowd.

"At the end of the day, both cities want to advertise and create that brand of London and Edinburgh around the world in the montage of 24-hour rolling news programmes.

"So we're making sure that the sky is filled; we also need to ensure that the right colours are used because of the definition of the cameras.

"While HD television has brought a lot of improvements, the weaker colours are difficult to see. We're looking to get that very wide shot of concentrated fireworks going off to give us that shot that will be broadcast around the world."

A six-minute firework display will provide the centrepiece of Edinburgh's three-day Hogmanay party, as 2011 becomes 2012.

Organiser Pete Irvine is quoted by Sky News as saying: "TV's very important to us in little old Scotland because it puts us on the map globally and we know that we're seen in 150 countries and that's more than any other event that Scotland lays on, sporting or otherwise.

"This is a rare chance for us to feature, however briefly, and to present a defining picture of what we are."

A crowd of 80,000 is expected to attend the Hogmanay street party in Edinburgh’s Princes Street.

They will see 5.5 tones of fireworks fired from 43 different locations around the castle during the six-minute display.