Saorview Launch Date??

mackersdublin

With May 2011 only a few days away, is there a specific date in May when Saorview will be officially launched

Channel 7 is stil in Test mode

The Cush

RTÉ indicated May 11th at a Saorview trade event in Dublin in early April. The information was posted by Black Briar who attended the event - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=71545328

I don't think content on epg 7 and 8 would be a prerequisite for the official launch.

Trevord

Looks like RTE jr will start broadcasting next week. Could mean RTE1+1 might start as well.

RTE Radio News at One had a promo today for an animated series to be "broadcast on RTE jr from May 3rd"

The Cush

Trevord wrote: »

Looks like RTE jr will start broadcasting next week. Could mean RTE1+1 might start as well.

RTE Radio News at One had a promo today for an animated series to be "broadcast on RTE jr from May 3rd"

They could also be referring to the RTÉjr section on RTÉ 2. The programme goes out on RTÉ 2 at 1025 and 1345 next Tuesday according to DigiGuide.

Podcast here - http://www.rte.ie/news/news1pm/player.html?20110428,2949826,2949826,flash,257

This from the Irish Times Blog

Punky, a cartoon heroine for the Saorview age
Laura Slattery

...

After several phases of development, it was decided that Punky would be aimed at the discerning preschool audience. The 20 episodes, each seven minutes long, will be broadcast twice a day on the RTÉjr programming block of RTÉ 2, before finding another home later in the summer on the dedicated RTÉjr channel on Saorview, RTÉ’s free-to-air digital terrestrial television (DTT) service.

“To have a dedicated children’s channel is an amazing thing,” says O’Rourke, as RTÉ 2 pushes RTÉjr off the air whenever the Olympics or the European Championships or the World Cup is on – “anything that is more important than children’s programmes basically and the children’s programmes get bumped.”

RTÉ 2 also attempts the tricky task of catering for kids ranging in age from two to 15, which means that during school holidays, the preschool programmes often give way. The RTÉjr Saorview channel will mean there is a home purely for younger kids’ programming, while the older kids’ shows (styled TRTÉ) remain on RTÉ 2.

“By having these long schedules, RTÉ is obviously going to need more content. They can acquire programming, but the onus will be on them to support more home-produced content,” says O’Rourke. “So [DTT] is for us very much something that will drive our business over the next few years.”

Much of this optimism depends, however, on the frequency with which RTÉjr chooses to repeat programming blocks. Early reports about the channel suggested it would run the kids’ shows on a tight loop rather than making a major extension to its schedule of new programming. But if the broadcaster does find the resources to avoid a parent-torturing level of repeats, it will find a home animation industry with the talent to produce low-cost original content – content that can become cultural exports via industry sales events like Mipcom Junior at Cannes and New York’s Kidscreen Summit.

...

irishtimes.com - Posted: April 13, 2011 @ 12:58 pm
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/thei...-saorview-age/

‘Punky’ and ‘Gumball’ Arrive on TV Screens - IFTN http://www.iftn.ie/broadcast/BroadcastNews/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4283842&tpl=archnews&force=1

Trevord

Yes your's is a more likely explanation alright

My lack of knowledge of kids' tv scehules has caught me out.