Irish TV roll out on Virgin Media and Saorview

mike2084

According to the blog the on Irish TV website a statement by CEO Pierce O'Reilly says that the roll out of Irish TV on Saorview and Virgin Media will take place in 2016.

http://blog.irishtv.ie/

Quote:

"IRISH TV CEO Pierce O’Reilly said: “2016 is going to be a landmark year with the launch of IRISH TV on Saorview and also the development of our new digital offerings. We hope that our viewers and advertisers continue to support our ethos of giving local stories a global audience and that they reap the rewards of such a targets local audience in every county in Ireland. ”

icdg

Good luck to them, but I fear their primary target audience is the Irish outside Ireland and spending the not insubstantial carriage costs of Saorview to target people actually living in Ireland just might not be worth their while.

Most Irish people in Ireland don't even know this station exists, or might be vaguely aware of its presence on the Sky EPG at best.

Elmo

icdg wrote: »

Good luck to them, but I fear their primary target audience is the Irish outside Ireland and spending the not insubstantial carriage costs of Saorview to target people actually living in Ireland just might not be worth their while.

Most Irish people in Ireland don't even know this station exists, or might be vaguely aware of its presence on the Sky EPG at best.

Saorview will help give it some more promanance.

It'd be nice if it could become a local channel for each of the transmitters on Saorview.

It is great they are doing it but they need to improve and listen to critics.

They also need to get TAM and Barb ratings.

Sam Russell

Elmo wrote: »

Saorview will help give it some more promanance.

It'd be nice if it could become a local channel for each of the transmitters on Saorview.

It is great they are doing it but they need to improve and listen to critics.

They also need to get TAM and Barb ratings.

For them to have a local version for each transmitter would require a re-muxed version for each transmitter which just is not going to happen - all transmitters get the same version.

Even RTE do not try this - although I think they did - a long time ago - but maybe it was just radio.

lertsnim

They tried it with Nationwide IIRC

medoc

Sam Russell wrote: »

Even RTE do not try this - although I think they did - a long time ago - but maybe it was just radio.

lertsnim wrote: »

They tried it with Nationwide IIRC

I seem to remember a regional opt out during part of the Six One news but I don't think they lasted more than a month or two in the 90's.

AwaitYourReply

Sam Russell wrote: »

For them to have a local version for each transmitter would require a re-muxed version for each transmitter which just is not going to happen - all transmitters get the same version.

Even RTE do not try this - although I think they did - a long time ago - but maybe it was just radio.

I seem to recall many years ago around 1986 when RTÉ attempted to broadcast some local TV output from the RTÉ Archives of the day to coincide with 25th Anniversary of RTÉ Television. Programmes went out on air in specific local areas only rather than across the national network. My memory of the output shown here in Cork came under a strand which was referred to as: "TV South-West" and I gather it only went out in parts of Munster such as Cork & Kerry. Perhaps RTÉ had other versions with other relevant names for their own respective local areas. They showed an old programme of "Landmark" which was a popular series on RTÉ TV at the time which covered rural affairs and the episode on "TV South-West" featured footage of the ESB connecting electricity supply for the very first time in remote areas like the Black Valley in Co. Kerry which was around 1977 if I'm not mistaken. I never saw the local service output from "TV South-West" again after RTÉ television's 25th anniversary year had passed.

Two of the old websites quoted regional TV attempts by RTE. Richard Logue's site stated that Mullaghanish was used to transmit a programme called Munster Matters in the 1970s after the main service closed down for the night.

One of the others, I think the old ICDG site, showed some tests from Nationwide in the early 2000s but stated that there were issues with getting the correct version around. Chorus showed the Galway feed in all areas and all VHF transmitters showed the Dublin feed.

icdg

That's essentially correct:

In the late 1990s, RTE tried running three regional opt outs under the title "Nationwide Here and Now". It worked okay on analogue but went array on the embryonic digital tv systems that were in place at the time.

Before that, Six One tried some regional opts in the early 1990s that didn't work out either.

I am told that there were even earlier regional trials, but you are going earlier than my personal knowledge there.

Elmo

Let's just point out that City Channel Munster/cork aired on Chorus areas in North Dublin.

MarkK

From an old thread discussing this.

Paulobrien wrote: »

The 80's "reigonal" TV was just that RTE would take progs eg Kerry winning an all Ireland along with other archive stuff that kad a eg Kerry reference, bang a few hours back to back for 3 hours and broadcast them from Donnybrook.... HOWEVER, the teck heads at the tx sites all around Ireland (except eg Kerry) were told to unplug the feed leads and hence people just picked up a blank black screen for 3 hours! As ever some of the lad forgot and people in Donegal were watcking RTE Kerry TV.

Most of this was RTE heads in a panic about so called "Pirates" destroying them on a local level around Ireland and trying to anticipate future threats 9remember Chnl D TV and NOVA TV.

Paul

This is also how I remember it.
The Dungarvan transmitter relayed both the Mullaghanish and the Mount Leinster broadcasts.

gordongekko

i actually like irish tv. Its like 24 hours of nationwide

Elmo

gordongekko wrote: »

i actually like irish tv. Its like 24 hours of nationwide

It's not really 24 hours of anything. Similar to City Channel. Though in fairness production values are slightly better.

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

I see test channel 12 is showing a blank screen with the word Eireann. Iwonder will it turn up here.

Capt'n Midnight

icdg wrote: »

Most Irish people in Ireland don't even know this station exists, or might be vaguely aware of its presence on the Sky EPG at best.

Also on Freesat 400

Maybe they will have different ads on Saorview ?

Would having another SD channel on Saorview give the others yet another excuse to not move to HD ?

Elmo

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Would having another SD channel on Saorview give the others yet another excuse to not move to HD ?

I have a feeling that RTE will provide them with a shared channel with OTV. :rolleyes:

mackersdublin

Irish TV commenced BARB ratings today
http://overnights.tv/public/content/news.aspx

Elmo

Not I will be disappointed if it has a good audience level and disappointed if it has a bad audience level.

good being over 20,000 for top 10 shows.

The Cush

Irish Independent - O'Reilly's Irish TV close to deal with Verizon and is set to appear on Saorview and Virgin Media

The channel is also close to completing a deal to get on Saorview and Virgin Media's television platform, chief executive Pierce O'Reilly told the Sunday Independent.
...
"We're very close to getting on Saorview and Virgin next month as well. We would be on Saorview if we had a Minister for Communications," said O'Reilly.

gordongekko

Our weekly TV3 story seems to be replaced by a weekly Irish TV story

Elmo

Irish TV taking the designation of it as a PSB a little to stringently, only reason UTV Ireland needed it was because TV3 kicked up a fuss.

Elmo

BARB report no data for Irish TV this week. Does this mean audiences so low they won't report or Irish TV don't allow the report be public?

lertsnim

I really don't see how they can build any kind of an audience with most of their schedule being programmes aimed at specific counties.

icdg

Elmo wrote: »

BARB report no data for Irish TV this week. Does this mean audiences so low they won't report or Irish TV don't allow the report be public?

Afaik they don't get a choice, if they're in BARB.

Elmo

lertsnim wrote: »

I really don't see how they can build any kind of an audience with most of their schedule being programmes aimed at specific counties.

County Matters is purely a cheap way of doing a monthly programme without out it seeming like a monthly programme. AFAIK County Matters is on everyday with a new episode per county. County Matters Dublin for example have a new episode every 32 days.

lertsnim

Cheap yes but its not going to bring in viewers.

Elmo

No longer on BARB?

AwaitYourReply

The Cush wrote: »

Irish Independent - O'Reilly's Irish TV close to deal with Verizon and is set to appear on Saorview and Virgin Media

Denis Naughten TD (Roscommon/Galway) is the new Minister for Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources. I wonder how soon he will be in a position to deal with various issues such as the channel: "IRISH TV" getting on to the Saorview and Virgin Media (Ireland) tv platforms given that the interregnum only finally came to an end last Friday afternoon following the February 26th General Election. I'd say all ministers in the new FG-led government administration will have major backlogs to get through once they take up their new positions. He is apparently the only Galway TD to be given a senior ministry in the new cabinet announced last Friday evening.

gordongekko

AwaitYourReply wrote: »

Denis Naughten TD (Roscommon/Galway) is the new Minister for Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources. I wonder how soon he will be in a position to deal with various issues such as the channel: "IRISH TV" getting on to the Saorview and Virgin Media (Ireland) tv platforms given that the interregnum only finally came to an end last Friday afternoon following the February 26th General Election. I'd say all ministers in the new FG-led government administration will have major backlogs to get through once they take up their new positions. He is apparently the only Galway TD to be given a senior ministry in the new cabinet announced last Friday evening.

He's a roscommon td not a galway td.

AwaitYourReply

gordongekko wrote: »

He's a roscommon td not a galway td.

It would seem that the recent news headline and second sentence quoted from the website of Galway Bay FM radio station (See below article source) is not entirely accurate as outlined in that report. That said, doesn't Galway form part of the Roscommon-Galway constituency of which he was elected a TD and you can see how a Galway based media outlet such as: Galway Bay FM will tend to promote and emphasise his "political links" to Galway a lot more than the Roscommon side. Perhaps, if you had a Galway based TD originally from Galway but also having to represent the same Roscommon-Galway constituency a similar thing may occur whereby Roscommon based outlets/vested interests would claim him "politically" to further their own local interests too.

Source:
http://galwaybayfm.ie/denis-naughten-galway-td-take-ministerial-position-new-cabinet/

gordongekko

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