"IrishTV" channel launching May 1st

The Cush

Article in The Sunday Bussiness Post Magazine on a new channel launching May 1st called "IrishTV".

IrishTV will be available across Britian, Ireland and Europe on Sky Channel 191, Virgin, Freesat, UPC and Eircom, and in the US on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

The channel started testing under the name "MayoTV" in early 2011.
Pierce O'Reilly and Mairéad Ní Mhaoilchiaráin are the couple behind the venture and its main shareholders.

They plan to make 50 home-produced programmes per week. Each county will have it own 30-min programme per week called County Matters.

http://www.irishtv.ie/

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

This channel has allready launched on sky channel 191.I've been watching irish tv on Sky channel 191 since it launched and I must say it has the potential to become a very good channel. I noticed they are repeating their programmes a lot at the moment but hopefully this will change as they build up their library of programmes. As per usual no mention of a Saorview launch. No doubth carraige fees on Saorview are a major issue still.

Elmo

Is this not just showcase/information tv or is irish tv taking over the full schedule?

ftakeith

another tv channel not to watch

watty

Pay TV only?

greasepalm

well "holy god" as miley would have said

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

Elmo wrote: »

Is this not just showcase/information tv or is irish tv taking over the full schedule?

Yes it is still Showcase TV but irish tv has taken over most of the schedule. I guess they don't have the funds to buy out the full epg slot.

Elmo

watty wrote: »

Pay TV only?

No, they are on FreeSat / FTA Satellite. Not available on FreeView or Saorview. It looks like they are taking over from Showcase TV (Information TV).

natashaob6 wrote: »

Yes it is still Showcase TV but irish tv has taken over most of the schedule. I guess they don't have the funds to buy out the full epg slot.

So its just another channel thinking that 24/7 is more important than content. Good Luck to them with it but it needs to be done professionally. IMO.

Charles Slane

watty wrote: »

Pay TV only?

Free to air on satellite and I presume it'll stay that way.

radiowaves

Charles Slane wrote: »

Free to air on satellite and I presume it'll stay that way.

It would hardly appear on Freesat behind a paywall

icdg

natashaob6 wrote: »

As per usual no mention of a Saorview launch. No doubth carraige fees on Saorview are a major issue still.

True, though in this case I'm not sure this channel is even aimed at people in Ireland - seems to be more of a "diaspora" channel? Anyway RTE carries this piece this morning:
http://m.rte.ie/news/touch/2014/0414/608694-irish-tv/

watty

Even with cheap FTA Satellite carriage they will go bust unless content improves to attract audience and thus advertising revenue.

Of course it will be for UK, x20 bigger market.


It begs the question as to why Tara TV closed and why RTE's UK channel (so called RTE International) has never launched. Are costs to do stuff in RTE out of control (Tara went bust as they they owed RTE too much)? Surely RTE could even have launched RTE News Now on Freesat with very little content change. I think RTE lacks imagination and vision, as evidenced by waste of money on DAB instead of a Basic UK Irish Satellite Channel. RTE 1 LW Radio is currently Ireland's only serious "external" broadcasting.

Elmo

Seem to have backing of millionaire and also it will have RTE news and current affairs.

Elmo

Interview here

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0414/608694-irish-tv/

Onthe3rdDay

Well if it has some RTE News and Current Affairs and Financial Backing I can actually see this one succeeding. It's not my cup of tea, it's basically 32 editions of Nationwide a week!

However, the Market is there in the UK. Country and Irish Music has a large following and there is money to be made in that area, but Irish Media generally ignores it because it isn't sexy.

If they have the backing to keep going for a few years they should survive. I do think the 32 shows will be slimmed down to something smaller fairly quickly.

The US market is a different Matter however. The Irish diaspora in Britain are a very different Market to the Irish diaspora in the US. That will be a far harder market to crack, Plus there is already competition in the states.

While I do think they have a real shot at success, I doubt they'll get many viewers who are under 45 and were born in Ireland. They'll continue to access the content they want on the internet and aren't really the market for this vision of the country.

Charles Slane

Elmo wrote: »

Seem to have backing of millionaire and also it will have RTE news and current affairs.

That's interesting, although I haven't seen where it says it will have RTE news and current affairs. Have I missed something?

Elmo

Charles Slane wrote: »

That's interesting, although I haven't seen where it says it will have RTE news and current affairs. Have I missed something?

Sorry, It said something about RTÉ online content in one of the articles, not RTÉ News and CA

Though it's hard to tell what this new station will do?

Here: http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2014/0414/608766-150-jobs-for-mayo-satellite-tv-station/

icdg

Elmo wrote: »

Though it's hard to tell what this new station will do?

This might be of some help....

http://www.information.tv/WhatIsOnShowcaseTv/TheSchedule/

Elmo

icdg wrote: »

This might be of some help....

http://www.information.tv/WhatIsOnShowcaseTv/TheSchedule/

This is a damp squid of a channel. We have no clue as to what TV is in this country.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnXKVY-_i2c

Onthe3rdDay

Elmo wrote: »

This is a damp squid of a channel. We have no clue as to what TV is in this country.

I'd agree with you but it's not really aimed at us, If you watch any of the programmes, they're for an audience in the UK that have a certain view of Ireland. The Country Music shows do appear to work for that audience. As for that schedule I would hope that they tidy it up when they launch on May 1st.

Don't be surprised if you get the oddest feeling you're being sold something if you do decide to watch any of the shows, There appears to be a lot of advertorial.

lertsnim

I remember Tara TV was almost non stop ads for Aran sweaters. They were always on it

Infoanon

Press coverage of Irish TV stated that they would have UPC carriage, that appears to have been wide of the mark.

Antenna

Irish TV Newspaper ad (corner of front page on Examiner) as I saw on their launch day on Thursday says that in addition to satellite (Sky, freesat, FTA boxes) they are on Eircom E-vision on 191 (same number as on SKY). Yes no mention of UPC.

Infoanon

Antenna wrote: »

Irish TV Newspaper ad (corner of front page on Examiner) as I saw on their launch day on Thursday says that in addition to satellite (Sky, freesat, FTA boxes) they are on Eircom E-vision on 191 (same number as on SKY). Yes no mention of UPC.

Other papers eg SBP, included UPC in that list

Elmo

Infoanon wrote: »

Other papers eg SBP, included UPC in that list

Irish tv did state they'd be on UPC I expect that they are in negotiations, they are also talking with the BAI, TAM Ireland and BARB

ftakeith

irish tv is like cablelink community tv channel as the same chef is in this channel

another tv channel to disappear asap

lertsnim

Here Keith, why don't you not watch it and let others who do want to watch enjoy it. One would have assumed a FTA channel would be welcome by yourself.

icdg

play the ball not the man

Mr_Ekan

Elmo wrote: »

Irish tv did state they'd be on UPC I expect that they are in negotiations, they are also talking with the BAI, TAM Ireland and BARB

I think Information TV are on BARB in the UK, but not sure about the Showcase channels, so they might have those figures already?

That said, from what I've seen, it seems seem like they're running any agency ads which are on the rest of Showcase/Info TV. Seems to be solely direct and AFP - they'd want to be careful about the latter as I've not seen any viewer notifications.

Not necessarily my thing, but fair play to them.

Elmo

Mr_Ekan wrote: »

I think Information TV are on BARB in the UK, but not sure about the Showcase channels, so they might have those figures already?

That said, from what I've seen, it seems seem like they're running any agency ads which are on the rest of Showcase/Info TV. Seems to be solely direct and AFP - they'd want to be careful about the latter as I've not seen any viewer notifications.

Not necessarily my thing, but fair play to them.

I've looked Info and Showcase don't seem to be on BARB, at least no Top 10s.

L1011

Top10's are only provided online for stations with over a certain audience. By the looks of things Showcase 2 is on BARB but not the others.

Elmo

MYOB wrote: »

Top10's are only provided online for stations with over a certain audience. By the looks of things Showcase 2 is on BARB but not the others.

You can click into those channels e.g. if you look up Showcase 2 you can see it did not report programmes for the w/e 27/4/2013 but the list doesn't provide any data past or present for Information TV or Showcase.

Showcase 2 has abysmal figures.

Info TV and Showcase aren't listed at all, unlike Ideal World that does not report any data.

Onthe3rdDay

Elmo wrote: »

You can click into those channels e.g. if you look up Showcase 2 you can see it did not report programmes for the w/e 27/4/2013 but the list doesn't provide any data past or present for Information TV or Showcase.

Showcase 2 has abysmal figures.

Info TV and Showcase aren't listed at all, unlike Ideal World that does report any data.

When figures get that low it's hard to actually judge how many are watching. they could be substantially higher or then again literally 20 or 30 people that happen to stop on the station for a few minutes. Showcase 2 Had a reach of 150,000 viewers over the week of 21-27 April. Now if that was accurate (which it possibly isn't.) it's not great if you aren't aiming your programmes at a particular market. However If Irish TV was getting a reach of 150,000 a week I think they'd be happy enough for the moment.

Around in Cork and Kerry there seems to be a good few people watching the Country and Irish Shows. I presume that is the case across the country. These are people that are never going to be on a survey. At the same time they're also people that are never going to buy paragliding lessons. (some of the ads are not fit for purpose)

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

I've been watching irish tv since the beginning of april and they seem to be repeating the same programmes even since the offical launch. I noticed on their launch night show they highlighted only two new shows one was a classical music show and the other a cooking show. Not a lot of new material in their schedule. Would love too see them suceed but my gut instinct tells me it will most likely turn into a teleshopping channel eventually. I hope I'm wrong.

Onthe3rdDay

natashaob6 wrote: »

I've been watching irish tv since the beginning of april and they seem to be repeating the same programmes even since the offical launch. I noticed on their launch night show they highlighted only two new shows one was a classical music show and the other a cooking show. Not a lot of new material in their schedule. Would love too see them suceed but my gut instinct tells me it will most likely turn into a teleshopping channel eventually. I hope I'm wrong.

I watched it once and awhile but it's not to my taste. However, when I'm channel surfing and I come across the station I regular get the same show over and over. I actually thought that they would succeed but looking at their output and scheduling I'm beginning to have my doubts. All these stations that come on air with major backing seem to have 6 to 12 months to show some progress. The clock is ticking!

Mr_Ekan

Wouldn't be the first 'channel' to try and go full time on Showcase TV, won't be the last.
They're going after an audience who are incredibly loyal to their stations, and don't go too far up the EPG. Ask 4FM et al how easy it is to get 45 year olds+ to change from RTE, etc.

And I have to agree ref the ads, the quality is so poor it doesn't do the station image any favours.

Onthe3rdDay

Mr_Ekan wrote: »

Wouldn't be the first 'channel' to try and go full time on Showcase TV, won't be the last.
They're going after an audience who are incredibly loyal to their stations, and don't go too far up the EPG. Ask 4FM et al how easy it is to get 45 year olds+ to change from RTE, etc.

And I have to agree ref the ads, the quality is so poor it doesn't do the station image any favours.

Well they're supposed to be aiming at Irish aboard as their primary Market. I hope that's the case as I had another look at the station today and It was repeating a show from 2013. That wouldn't be a problem except the shows appear dated because they're made as if they're up to date newsy type shows. It's branding is now shocking as the logo from earlier this year is used more than the new logo and the On screen Dog is still the old logo.

The shows themselves are fine for a certain market but They make RTE's Nationwide look like the gritter side of Ireland.

I had high hopes for the station but the launch has been a bit of a disaster. They really need a person to just sort out what material they have, re-edit the old material and stick to one logo. Also change the voice over in the commercials which make the station sound like an old rural Pirate station.

Copyerselveson

In my opinion the real demand outside of Ireland is for RTE, TG4 and original TV3 shows like Vincent Browne. Their home produced material shows promise but constant repeating of the same stuff won't draw casual viewers back to the channel.

If they could carry Irish made programmes from the Irish TV broadcasters in addition to their own programming they might just succeed.

Onthe3rdDay

Copyerselveson wrote: »

In my opinion the real demand outside of Ireland is for RTE, TG4 and original TV3 shows like Vincent Browne. Their home produced material shows promise but constant repeating of the same stuff won't draw casual viewers back to the channel.

If they could carry Irish made programmes from the Irish TV broadcasters in addition to their own programming they might just succeed.

I'd agree with that, However, it's unlikely that's going to happen. I'd also say that it's the main RTE 1 programmes and the sport that matters. I doubt there's anyone weeping aboard for TV3 programmes and getting away from Vincent and his guests was probably a major factor in going!

Elmo

BAI have entered negotiations with the channel.
http://www.bai.ie/?p=55664

Onthe3rdDay

Elmo wrote: »

BAI have entered negotiations with the channel.
http://www.bai.ie/?p=55664

I presume one of the reasons is to make applying for S&V funding in the future a lot easier. A lot of what Irish TV puts out would qualify straight away, much more than TV3 stuff. However, it's incredibly boring TV. It's almost as if they pick the bits that weren't good enough to make Nationwide.

However, they have an audience and good luck to them

Elmo

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

However, they have an audience and good luck to them

Good Luck to them but I wonder what their audience is, I put it to channel 1 on satellite for my Mam, everytime I am over she complains, what did you put that on their for? followed by It reminds me of City Channel and its ads.

Like all linear channels it needs a schedule and it needs to be more inventive about the names it gives programmes County Matters for nearly every programme and do they make one episode for all 32 counties per week or per month?

If they have the investment they need something more even if it were to buy in Westerns and old TV programmes to pad out the channel.

channelsurfer2

the biggest rating programme on that channel must be Ireland West music tv and thats not even part of Irish TV.

Onthe3rdDay

Elmo wrote: »

Good Luck to them but I wonder what their audience is, I put it to channel 1 on satellite for my Mam, everytime I am over she complains, what did you put that on their for? followed by It reminds me of City Channel and its ads.

Like all linear channels it needs a schedule and it needs to be more inventive about the names it gives programmes County Matters for nearly every programme and do they make one episode for all 32 counties per week or per month?

If they have the investment they need something more even if it were to buy in Westerns and old TV programmes to pad out the channel.

I agree with this, it's nuts that almost every show is called County Matters and it can be hard to find out what county they're actually on about. Then when you do turn it on it appears to be a new show every week they're aiming for but you constantly see footage from last year or 6 months ago being broadcast as if it were recorded today.

They have the investment, and they also do have some sort of audience, but I can't see them lasting long term without a proper structure being put into place. The very first thing is that they should change the shows to Cork Matters, Westmeath Matters etc, then point out if it's a repeat from last month or last year. The footage is still good but it has to be put into context.

RTE were at this as well Last week when they were showing the fleadh from Derry in 2013 but no real indication that it was last years rather than this years. Only those with a real interest would know. The casual viewer with some interest would get confused.

Onthe3rdDay

Plus there seems to be no viewing figures available whatsoever at the moment. It's obviously being backed on a hunch as much as anything else. That's not a bad thing necessarily. Sometimes figures don't give the true picture, and many companies that do survey after survey go broke.

However, it could also be that they want to build up audience numbers before they enter into any Metering service because figures are so low at the moment.

Elmo

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

RTE were at this as well Last week when they were showing the fleadh from Derry in 2013 but no real indication that it was last years rather than this years. Only those with a real interest would know. The casual viewer with some interest would get confused.

Particularly when TG4 were carrying the Fleadh live

Charles Slane

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

I agree with this, it's nuts that almost every show is called County Matters and it can be hard to find out what county they're actually on about.

On the Sky listings and Digiguide listings they actually do specify which county it is (ie programme names are Leitrim County Matters, Waterford County Matters etc).

I don't know how long they've been doing this, it cetainly wasn't always the case.

Elmo

Season launch for the channel today at the shelbourne.

I notice that they are also running ads for some big brands.

Though do they think the channel looks good in 4:3?

Onthe3rdDay

http://www.businessandleadership.com/marketing/item/47268-new-presenters-unveiled-as/

So they did a big launch for Autumn today at the Shelbourne Hotel. They appear to have a few decent programmes plus the usual 32 episodes a week of County Matters.

I had the fortune/misfortune of watching some of their shows over the last few days and I will say that a lot of them are top notch production wise. Others aren't too bad, but the quality of the County Matters shows really vary from half hour to half hour.

The content itself is terribly boring. You'd need to be from the county and actually have a interest in the feature to watch. I can't see too many casual viewers to those shows.

However, on a Interview with Pat Kenny today the CEO said that 51 percent have heard of the station and 20 percent of the population here have tuned in.

It does appear that the person funding this has very deep pockets but I can't see it continuing like this if it wants to make a profit. They go on about how they can be seen around the world on the Internet, but I can do exactly the same thing with Youtube or Daily Motion in about 15 minutes. Their internet site is poor and their blog doesn't seem to be updated properly.

However, if they get the time (I reckon 2 years) They might just have a viable product moving forward. At least it's an honest attempt at something different, and they're not complaining about all the ways they're being held back (looking your way TV3)

Elmo

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

However, if they get the time (I reckon 2 years) They might just have a viable product moving forward. At least it's an honest attempt at something different, and they're not complaining about all the ways they're being held back (looking your way TV3)

No but they are also not rushing to go on Saorview.

channelsurfer2

I do like Ireland West Music TV but thats not part of IrishTV as they rent the tranmission tv time from showcase directly. Other than that I cant say i watch much on it but at least they are making an effort.