TV3 don't broadcast in HD

A 6.0 Mbps HD channel on Saorview carries a multiplexing tariff of approx €2.2m. The tariff is paid to RTÉ as the multiplexing contractor, not 2RN. RTÉ in turn has a distribution and transmisssion contract for 2 mutiplexes with 2RN.

The tariffs are regulated and reviewed by Comreg.

2RN is the trading name of the RTE transmission network and is a subsidiary of RTE.
As for the cost, its even worse than I thought..

Subsidiary yes but separate board, separate accounting and separate debt.

Sky 116 it is... not perfect but the best they could have hoped for.

For Now... When TV3 either close or downsize (now looking more and more likely) UTV will probably end up on 105 or even 103... It's like watching a wolf hunting in slow motion.

Yes - at some point this may happen. But, in the mean time the way that TV3's debts have been parked means that its much more expedient to cobble along. A liquidation of TV3 will require Doughty Hanson and the liquidators of Allied Irish Bank to contemplate the write off of €100m worth of debt.

SoarView (/RoI Sky) 3/103 and 5/105 are valuable properties, but realising them against the enormity of TV3's debts is difficult without contemplating a massive write-off.

They're not sellable assets. Obviously they would be handy if someone actually bought the station. But anyone who wanted to enter the market would be mad to do so. It would only cost a fraction to start a brand new operation with none of the negative vibes that TV3 has for so many.

It also makes logical sense for TV3 to hobble along as you say, but within weeks viewing figures will probably drop through the floor. The Soaps will go and that will have a knock on effect on their 9.00 offerings. (which usually have a very low audience anyway) Plus the big hitter of X factor will have disappeared until next September. Profits on Turnover were only just over a million last year (They did have a exceptional item on the books this year that made things look more respectable) However, it's never been a big profit maker even when the Celtic Tiger was around. Now things are tougher and they have real opposition for the first time. A loss of 5 million next year would be a good result but if that's happening Doughty Hanson will try to cut their losses as soon as possible.

I presume it won't be available on Sky for viewers in NI?

Gets 'Public Service' status.

http://www.c21media.net/utv-ireland-...5cd7-292248905

No the MD of UTV last night confirmed UTV NI is for the North and UTVI is for the South end of - I would assume it will be encrypted on sky and the only way to watch North of the border will be Saorview.

Screen shots from the UTVI looped promos on satellite http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showp...&postcount=244

It will leave the Irish sky EPG looking like this -

101 RTE One
102 RTE Two HD/SD
103 TV3
104 TG4
105 3e
106 Sky 1
107 Sky Living
108 Sky Atlanic
109 Watch
110 Gold
111 Dave
112 Comedy Central
113 Universal Channel
114 Syfy
115 RTÉ Two HD/SD
116 UTV Ireland HD/SD

Indeed, irishfeen, and all because of the expensive rights issue which is understandable. Although it won't be on NI's Freeview service, there is actually quite a large Saorview overspill area so many NI residents will get to see UTV Ireland after all: http://maps.techtir.com/images/rte-all-dtt.gif

Our friends in ROI get the best of both worlds because they'll get both UTV Ireland and UTV NI (free to air) and it will be interesting to see how much actual programming overlap there is between the two channels once UTV Ireland starts broadcasting.

Yep, we have UTVI HD on 116 and UTVHD via added channels on sky... the vast majority of the north will also have access via overspill as you say - depending on its success down south there could very well be an all-Ireland version of UTV some time in the future... If its a success then we could very well see UTV's main base switch from Belfast to Dublin.

UTV MD on his blog today confirmed UTVI will be in HD and will appear on the EPG running promos later this week.

I don't see that happening. It is 2 separate channels operating in 2 separate countries and as a result UTV would have to essentially buy the exact same programming rights as ITV for Ireland. There's not a hope of this happening as other channels here would be going for some of those rights too.

UTV Ireland after launching on Irish sky EPG this morning (116/267) reportedly encrypted as expected.

On UPC tv

TV3 will gain sports viewers for live champions league games between Feb 2015-may 2015
and Rugby 2015 world cup in sep 2015-oct 2015

TV3 will also gain viewers for britains got talent, 'the x factor' broadchurch, downton abbey as they are non ITV Studios content

has the champions league contact for live games in Ireland been desired for 2016-2020? i know BT sport have it in the UK , could UTV Ireland go for this?

It is nuts that UTV Ireland's launch will mean increased viewing figures on TV3 for Britain's Got Talent and Champions league and perhaps Broadchurch. ]

However, I will say that outside of Cable areas anyone into their football will just switch to ITV1 HD or UTV Ulster HD, which is what they do right now. TV3 really don't seem to understand that HD matters when it comes to Sport and more and more ordinary TV shows. Those with UPC do have a problem with less choice now available when it comes to picture quality.

I'm not entirely sure what will happen with X factor and the Rugby World Cup as the next 9 months will be very long for TV3.

The only rule is that bidding is restricted to FTA broadcasters, and given UTVI's platform coverage, they would be fine in that regard (Setanta can only acquire second games on each match night). That said, both RTE and TV3 are utterly dependent on the competition for their midweek offerings, so couldn't see the newcomers having deep enough pockets!

Is it confirmed as being HD on Saorview though?

We will probably find out the results of the Irish Champions League bidding process this week or next - the window for tendering closed last week and on past announcements it will be very soon..

UTVI could of course have bidded for rights but I doubt it - we could very well see the status quo remain - with BT replacing sky sports with multi screen options.

Nope, appeared this morning on Saorview in 544x576!

But it just has a few weeks till it launches