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UTV Ireland launches Jan 2015


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Old 21-08-2014, 22:36
JAS84
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No they don't, they look like ITV itself... minus Downton Abbey and the two big talent shows.
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Old 22-08-2014, 00:39
cuttysark
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[i]"UTV Ireland would also appear to be starting on Monday 5 January 2015.
Source = http://www.u.tv/Entertainment/UTV-Ir...a-a3fd8d524310
The news programme starts on 5th January. If you read the whole article it states "UTV Ireland will launch on 1 January 2015, with further details about the schedule to be announced in the coming months."
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Old 22-08-2014, 00:47
cuttysark
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Pls delete, duplicate post 8 minutes later
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Old 22-08-2014, 21:09
irishfeen
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They'd want to have a much stronger line up of programmes than they've listed so far in order to become Ireland's second most watched channel. At the moment, they look more like ITV4 or something.
They will easily become Ireland's 2nd channel with Emmerdale and Coronation Street - there is literally no programme on TV3 to draw people away from RTÉ or UTVI.

A very interesting think to keep an eye on is whether UTVNI is removed from UPC or will they run the two alongside eachother... they could easily keep it there and say "Now on UTVI ... and on UTVNI is..." ... that would totally irradiate any TV3 exclusive programming.
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Old 16-11-2014, 13:04
irishfeen
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Only 46 days to the launch, an update on UTVIreland -

- No EPG carriage announced yet for any platform (Sky, UPC, Saorview).
- No HD announcement.
- Mary Regan (formally RTÉ/Irish Examiner) announced as Political Editor.
- Mick McCaffrey (formally Sunday World, Evening Herald) announced as News Editor.
- Chris Donoghue (currently Newstalk) as News Anchor alongside Alison Comyn.
- Paul Colgan (formally RTÉ) announced as Economics Editor.
- Marcus Lehnen (formally RTÉ) announced as Head of News.

This appeared in the Belfast Telegraph yesterday, they are claiming UTV are spening Ł160m .. I fail to see how the numbers could possibly add up to that.

Broadcasting chiefs tuned in for Ł160m switch-on of new channel

A year ago, UTV announced its decision to launch a new TV channel in the Republic. The on-air date is New Year's Day. Don Anderson, who was Downtown Radio's start-up programme controller, knows something of the pressures of starting a new commercial broadcasting venture

It was a very optimistic timeframe from UTV, they are cutting it unbelievably fine now.. anyone know what date Sky usually close for putting new channels on the EPG for Christmas?

The new TV channel for Ireland is to begin in under two months' time and its headquarters in Dublin's docklands won't be ready for occupation until next week.

As deadlines go, this is pretty tight, unbelievably so for an enterprise as complicated as a brand new, fully featured national television station.

Up until now, the staff - many only recently recruited - have been training in temporary premises nearby. New people are arriving practically every day.

So much is last-minute, it's difficult to believe that the present, frenzied activity is the culmination of almost five years' work, some of it delicate. At times, progress was necessarily stealthy, otherwise UTV Ireland would have fallen at the first hurdle.

A few years ago, UTV's relationship with ITV was rough at the edges, because UTV believed it was paying over the odds for ITV programmes. This was an irritation, because ITV provides the backbone of the programming, soaps like Coronation Street, Emmerdale and the like.

Operationally, UTV inserts its own programming into an ITV schedule. Michael Wilson came from Sky to become managing director of UTV television about eight years ago, reporting to long-serving John McCann, group managing director.

One of Wilson's priorities, doubtless at the behest of McCann, was to sort out relationships in London. "I renegotiated the entire relationship with ITV," he told me. "It took four years' hard work, but in the end I established good personal contacts there."

If he had he not nurtured ITV, UTV Ireland would have remained merely an aspiration for McCann and Wilson. The reason was simple.

In Ireland, the TV broadcasters are RTE (the national broadcaster), TV3 (the Republic's first free-to-air commercial channel), Setanta Sports Ireland, Sky Ireland and TG4, the public service for the Irish language.

The important player in this line-up for UTV was TV3, since it held the broadcasting rights in Ireland to the major soaps from ITV Studios.

Having the soaps was the key. UTV had the rights for Northern Ireland, but unless UTV could snatch these programmes for the whole of Ireland, UTV Ireland was a non-starter.

Wilson and McCann put a bold business plan before the UTV board. It was to expand UTV in television to the whole of Ireland.

It already had a strong foothold in radio in the cities and major towns throughout Ireland, so it knew something of the broadcasting advertising market it was aiming at.

Once the board members had given the go-ahead, quietly UTV began exploring whether ITV Studios would release the soaps to a new Irish television station.
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Old 16-11-2014, 23:25
TelevisionUser
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Only 46 days to the launch, an update on UTVIreland -

- No EPG carriage announced yet for any platform (Sky, UPC, Saorview).
- No HD announcement.
- Mary Regan (formally RTÉ/Irish Examiner) announced as Political Editor.
- Mick McCaffrey (formally Sunday World, Evening Herald) announced as News Editor.
- Chris Donoghue (currently Newstalk) as News Anchor alongside Alison Comyn.
- Paul Colgan (formally RTÉ) announced as Economics Editor.
- Marcus Lehnen (formally RTÉ) announced as Head of News.

This appeared in the Belfast Telegraph yesterday, they are claiming UTV are spening Ł160m .. I fail to see how the numbers could possibly add up to that.
Well, irishfeen, I can make a few predictions:

1. UTV Ireland will be on Saorview in ROI;
2. It'll be on UPC cable;
3. It won't be on Saorsat;
4. It will be on Sky but only as part of the paid-for base level pack like RTE One, TV3 etc;
5. There won't initially be an HD variant of the channel.
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Old 16-11-2014, 23:35
stv viewer
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Well, irishfeen, I can make a few predictions:

1. UTV Ireland will be on Saorview in ROI;
2. It'll be on UPC cable;
3. It won't be on Saorsat;
4. It will be on Sky but only as part of the paid-for base level pack like RTE One, TV3 etc;
5. There won't initially be an HD variant of the channel.
I think it will be in HD as Utv in Northern Ireland is in HD
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Old 17-11-2014, 00:23
chinamug
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Only 46 days to the launch, an update on UTVIreland -

- No EPG carriage announced yet for any platform (Sky, UPC, Saorview).
- No HD announcement.
- Mary Regan (formally RTÉ/Irish Examiner) announced as Political Editor.
- Mick McCaffrey (formally Sunday World, Evening Herald) announced as News Editor.
- Chris Donoghue (currently Newstalk) as News Anchor alongside Alison Comyn.
- Paul Colgan (formally RTÉ) announced as Economics Editor.
- Marcus Lehnen (formally RTÉ) announced as Head of News.

This appeared in the Belfast Telegraph yesterday, they are claiming UTV are spening Ł160m .. I fail to see how the numbers could possibly add up to that.
There has been no announcement from UTV on Carriage or HD plus a lot of other details are still missing. However, UTV have held their cards close to their chest since the first day of this enterprise. I would presume they know exactly what they're doing.

The figures are Belfast Telegraph Figures and are nuts. Start up Costs are between Ł15 and Ł50 million in year one depending on what you're counting and not counting,
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Old 17-11-2014, 13:32
sat-ire
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I think it will be in HD as Utv in Northern Ireland is in HD
This channel is for the Republic (different and/or extra carriage costs).
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Old 17-11-2014, 14:25
Howard_Gilpin
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This channel is for the Republic (different and/or extra carriage costs).
I presume then it won't be on Sky for NI viewers.
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Old 17-11-2014, 16:50
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I think it will be in HD as Utv in Northern Ireland is in HD
I fully agree it will end up with an HD variant at some stage but they don't seem to have yet indicated that there'll be an HD version right at the start. I guess we'll have to wait and see on that one.
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Old 17-11-2014, 18:47
Paul_Culloty
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So far, RTE and TG4 have HD channels, but not TV3, but if it's a UTV priority, then one presumes the Dublin channel will be HD-ready.
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Old 17-11-2014, 19:03
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I would have thought launching in HD would be easy Utv NI is HD and most of the shows are going to go out at the same time in NI and ROI. The only 3 big shows that wont be on the two channels will be BGT, X Factor and Downton Abbey
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Old 17-11-2014, 20:51
irishfeen
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Well, irishfeen, I can make a few predictions:

1. UTV Ireland will be on Saorview in ROI;
2. It'll be on UPC cable;
3. It won't be on Saorsat;
4. It will be on Sky but only as part of the paid-for base level pack like RTE One, TV3 etc;
5. There won't initially be an HD variant of the channel.
Would agree with everything there User - I would expect a major announcement over the next 2 weeks - they are moving into their offices in Dublin this week so I expect a big press photo-op sooner rather then later including details of carriage deal and EPG Nos.
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Old 17-11-2014, 20:53
irishfeen
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I would have thought launching in HD would be easy Utv NI is HD and most of the shows are going to go out at the same time in NI and ROI. The only 3 big shows that wont be on the two channels will be BGT, X Factor and Downton Abbey
It would be very interesting to know if UTVI has secured full rights to ITV Studio material including back catalogue - if they have they could build a very decent schedule to rival RTÉ and TV3 during the weekend primetime.
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Old 17-11-2014, 22:17
stv viewer
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It would be very interesting to know if UTVI has secured full rights to ITV Studio material including back catalogue - if they have they could build a very decent schedule to rival RTÉ and TV3 during the weekend primetime.
I think it has. They also have the itv daytime line up which is relatively strong.

They are meant to have

Lorraine and
This Morning
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Old 18-11-2014, 17:17
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The UK has BARB to measure TV ratings but over in ROI, it's TAM - Television Audience Measurement.

The big three channels by audience popularity are currently RTE One, TV3 and RTE Two. What will be interesting is how UTV Ireland will fit in and what effect it will have.

I strongly suspect that the big three will become the big four. We'll get to find out in spring next year since TAM issue their TV audience assessments a couple of months in arrears.

Link: http://www.tamireland.ie/box-clever/...viewing-trends
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Old 19-11-2014, 04:31
chinamug
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The UK has BARB to measure TV ratings but over in ROI, it's TAM - Television Audience Measurement.

The big three channels by audience popularity are currently RTE One, TV3 and RTE Two. What will be interesting is how UTV Ireland will fit in and what effect it will have.

I strongly suspect that the big three will become the big four. We'll get to find out in spring next year since TAM issue their TV audience assessments a couple of months in arrears.

Link: http://www.tamireland.ie/box-clever/...viewing-trends
I think the big 3 will become the big 2 and a half! RTE1 has strong figures at the moment and that will continue. RTE2 is very weak if you take away the sporting events. The relaunch doesn't appear to have had any real effect. However those sporting events do keep the overall audience up (so RTE2 would be the half I'm talking about) However TV3 could be in trouble within weeks. They have very few programmes outside of the ITV shows that get more than 100,000 viewers, and the shows that do have a strong lead in from the soaps. UTV will be the second biggest station in the republic within weeks of launching because of the soaps and the soaps alone.
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Old 19-11-2014, 09:05
malpasc
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TV3 I feel, could end up going down the pan.

Most of its schedule is currently filled with ITV shows which I assume will be moving lock, stock, and barrel over to the new UTV Ireland.

40% of TV3's home-produced content is actually Ireland AM which makes even the worst days of GMTV/Daybreak look slick and professional.

Just what are they going to fill their schedules with come January!?
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Old 20-11-2014, 09:07
yorksdave
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TV3 I feel, could end up going down the pan.

Most of its schedule is currently filled with ITV shows which I assume will be moving lock, stock, and barrel over to the new UTV Ireland.

40% of TV3's home-produced content is actually Ireland AM which makes even the worst days of GMTV/Daybreak look slick and professional.

Just what are they going to fill their schedules with come January!?
TV3 lost the rights to itv Studios programming not itv's, TV3 did a deal which allows them to keep Xfactor, Britains Got Talent and Downton Abbey, they also share rights for some lesser itv Studios programming like the Jeremy Kyle Show.
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Old 20-11-2014, 09:23
PatrickBateman1
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TV3 I feel, could end up going down the pan.
Good riddance if it does
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Old 20-11-2014, 20:40
chinamug
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TV3 lost the rights to itv Studios programming not itv's, TV3 did a deal which allows them to keep Xfactor, Britains Got Talent and Downton Abbey, they also share rights for some lesser itv Studios programming like the Jeremy Kyle Show.
While TV3 do still have some rights, all their big hitters from ITV will be on UTV from the first of January. Xfactor isn't on air again until the autumn and Downton has never been a big ratings winner for TV3 (very poor scheduling which drove half the audience towards UTV). It's possible that TV3 won't exist in it's current form by the time Autumn 2015 comes around.

I do feel sorry for those working at the station who are looking at a very uncertain future from 2015, many have already jumped ship with good reason.

If there was a award for worst managed Media Operation in Ireland or Britain TV3 would be a real contender.
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Old 20-11-2014, 21:12
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While TV3 do still have some rights, all their big hitters from ITV will be on UTV from the first of January. Xfactor isn't on air again until the autumn and Downton has never been a big ratings winner for TV3 (very poor scheduling which drove half the audience towards UTV). It's possible that TV3 won't exist in it's current form by the time Autumn 2015 comes around.

I do feel sorry for those working at the station who are looking at a very uncertain future from 2015, many have already jumped ship with good reason.

If there was a award for worst managed Media Operation in Ireland or Britain TV3 would be a real contender.
So could UTV Ireland end up bidding for the channel 3 licence in Ireland if TV3 fails and goes bust?
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Old 20-11-2014, 21:38
irishfeen
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So could UTV Ireland end up bidding for the channel 3 licence in Ireland if TV3 fails and goes bust?
Well they could apply for a PSB licence from the BAI today - I'm very sure that UTV would be interested in the newly built TV studio though if TV3 were to go bust.
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Old 21-11-2014, 02:43
chinamug
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So could UTV Ireland end up bidding for the channel 3 licence in Ireland if TV3 fails and goes bust?
I'm not sure what advantage that would give UTV if TV3 did go bust. As it is, UTV Ireland looks more like a PSB broadcaster in Primetime than TV3. UTV Ireland will be broadcasting 90 minutes of News between 6 and 11 compared to almost Zero from TV3.

Vincent Browne does fantastic Numbers for TV3 at 11 (for the time of Night that he's on) But Current TV3 Management seem to be allergic to news in Primetime.

If TV3 aren't rescued by a white knight and go off air, it would mean UTV having a clear field for probably a year or so. There could be a lot of money to be made with light touch regulation (luckily UTV regard News as an audience driver.) Why would they take on extra responsibly for no real reward?
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