Joint RTÉ/TV3 diaspora channel proposed

The Cush

Interesting idea but will common sense prevail?

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/tv3-proposes-joint-diaspora-channel-with-rt%C3%A9-1.2795613

Liberty Global-owned group is keen to work with its rival on showcase of Irish content

TV3 Group has proposed a partnership with RTÉ to develop a television channel aimed at the Irish diaspora.

TV3 managing director Pat Kiely said a channel that featured the best of its locally produced programmes and the best of RTÉ’s home-produced content would have a strong international appeal.

He made the proposal to RTÉ Television’s acting managing director of television, Dermot Horan, at the Mediacon broadcasting conference in Dublin last week.

Positive sounds from RTÉ's Dermot Horan & Dee Forbes

Mr Horan agreed he didn’t think it was feasible to run an Irish diaspora channel “with one single broadcaster”.

RTÉ director general Dee Forbes told the Mediacon conference she believed RTÉ should form more alliances with its “frenemies”, which might mean working with competitors on co-productions and in making joint bids for sports rights.

David McRedmond, (ex TV3 boss) must be spinning in his swivel chair somewhere in this new era of friendliness between “frenemies”, sharing sports rights / possible diapora channel. What next, TV3 HD/TV3+1 on Saorview and no grumbling over transmission charges, a bridge too far maybe?

lertsnim

Hell must have frozen over

Good to see the new owners are willing to cooperate on things.

Sam Russell

Saorview costs are set in stone, irrespective of who goes HD or SD. The difference is who picks up the tab.

It cost €12m to run the two muxes. RTE pay over 60% of the charges to run four channels (even though they only get ad revenue from two of them) while the rest pay the rest of the costs to run the other 4/5 channels (OTV is the fifth). The unused/wasted capacity is burnt off and no fees are collected for it.

There is room for two or three extra HD channels replacing the SD versions. So there would be a shift in charges - if TV3 are now owners of three channels and were to go HD on two of them and TG4 went HD as well their cost would increase but not by a huge amount, particularly if Saorview increased the bitrate on SD by going 720 by 576.

Maybe TV3 might agree to go 720 by 576 on all their channels.

iseegirls

Interesting move, but doubt we'll see it over the next few years.
Plenty in the back catalogue from RTE, while TV3 would prob mainly provide studio based shows like VB, 7 O'Clock Show and Xpose.
Would BBC be happy if Red Rock was shown? Do Channel 5 still have the British rights to Love/Hate?

Elmo

iseegirls wrote: »

Interesting move, but doubt we'll see it over the next few years.
Plenty in the back catalogue from RTE, while TV3 would prob mainly provide studio based shows like VB, 7 O'Clock Show and Xpose.
Would BBC be happy if Red Rock was shown? Do Channel 5 still have the British rights to Love/Hate?

Drama is an issue regardless, actors require royalties on international services.

Really they just need Ireland 24 and TG4 should also be involved, as should BBCNI and UTV.

But I agree, can't see it happening this year or next and the idea remaining in the news following that, with no movement, suppose it gives RTE a "friendemy"

lertsnim

iseegirls wrote: »

Interesting move, but doubt we'll see it over the next few years.
Plenty in the back catalogue from RTE, while TV3 would prob mainly provide studio based shows like VB, 7 O'Clock Show and Xpose.
Would BBC be happy if Red Rock was shown? Do Channel 5 still have the British rights to Love/Hate?

There isn't a hope Love/Hate or Red Rock would be shown on it.

byte

Yeah, can't imagine any drama, etc on it. But stuff like current affairs, news, maybe documentary. RTE News, TV3 News, Nuacht, Nationwide, Vincent Browne, Lesser Spotted Ireland, etc.

I'm trying to remember back to what Tara TV aired, I'm near sure it used to show Fair City?

lertsnim

byte wrote: »

I'm trying to remember back to what Tara TV aired, I'm near sure it used to show Fair City?

Lots of ads for Aran jumpers

Harry Palmr

Surely if this is a good idea now it was a good idea 10 or 15 years ago. What stopped RTE back then when they were rolling in dough?

Stasi 2.0

Harry Palmr wrote: »

What stopped RTE back then when they were rolling in dough?

Incompetence

icdg

It was a good idea 15-20 years ago, and they did it. It was called Tara TV, Got their hands burned in the end, the station closed with massive debts owed to both RTE and their partner. RTE was not being paid for its programme supply by the end of it.

Oh yes, who was that partner? None other than a certain United Pan-European Communications NV, not yet at that point called Liberty Global.

Harry Palmr

Right so Tara was not RTE owned, just supplied? Hmmm.

icdg

They were a minority partner. UPC controlled the company at the end of it.

Malone's operations in Ireland at the time were still limited to the old Princes Holdings (the pre CMI/Suir-Nore takeover version) which was still co-owned by Independent News and Media at that point.

khumbu

icdg wrote: »

It was a good idea 15-20 years ago, and they did it. It was called Tara TV, Got their hands burned in the end, the station closed with massive debts owed to both RTE and their partner. RTE was not being paid for its programme supply by the end of it.

Irish TV would say it is a good idea.
Maybe RTE or TV3 can't go it alone but would selling some international rights for programming to Irish TV be better than partnering with domestic rival to go head to head with an international rival.

bk

icdg wrote: »

Oh yes, who was that partner? None other than a certain United Pan-European Communications NV, not yet at that point called Liberty Global.

Not called Liberty Global at the time, because it wasn't owned by John Malones Liberty Global at the time! It was around the time of the collapse of Tara TV, that John Malones Liberty Global was taking control of UPC and saved it from bankruptcy.

So the United Pan-European Communications NV of the time that owned 80% of Tara TV, was very different company to the Liberty Global/UPC/Virgin Media that owns TV3 today.

Also a reminder that while RTE took a €2.8 million lose on the closure of Tara TV, while UPC took a €18 million lose.

The Cush

Not going to happen anytime soon according to this report

The head of the Irish broadcaster TV3 has called on its State-owned, TV license-funded, rival RTÉ to join with it in creating a joint overseas channel for the diaspora. But RTÉ has dismissed the overture as speculative and premature.

...

Making joint bids for sports rights in the future, in addition to the establishment of co-productions, is something Ms Forbes will consider, but the prospect of a specific project aimed at the diaspora is seemingly off the table at present.

http://www.theirishworld.com/rte-tv3-diaspora-channel/