TG4, Cula4, TG4 +1

RoTelly

So TG4 are going ahead with the launch of a full children's service under Cula4 and a broadcast launch of their +1 services, they also have a +2 service on their player.

But it looks like they are making efforts not to launch on Saorview. TG4HD still unavailable on their service.

Charles Slane

Interesting! Any information on when they're launching these channels and what platforms they'll appear on?

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118821332#Comment_118821332

TG4+1 and +2 are already available online. Unsure if they have applied yet, NUIG are carrying out research

https://www.tg4.ie/ga/eolas/preas/nuacht-raitis/2022-2/tuairimi-a-lorg-on-bpobal-ag-tg4-ar-bhunu-caineal-nua-cula4-do-phaisti/

https://online1.snapsurveys.com/interview/c0515527-594b-45f5-9c95-793b4e1c6b3d

Survey reads like it wants nothing to do with Saorview.

medoc

Hopefully they put the Cula 4 channel on Saorview and I’d like the +2 rather than the +1. It would be a good opportunity to go HD with the main channel also.

khumbu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118857026#Comment_118857026

Agree on TG4 going HD. Long overdue. Blurovision for rugby & GAA is hard to put up with. Its forcing saorview viewers (with access to broadband who don't have subscription TV service) to stream for better picture. Live stream wasn't working last Saturday night. I wonder is this due to demand overloading servers?

dublinman1990

I see there that the survey link from NUI Galway has closed now. What type of questions were asked about Culá 4 & the commencement of TG4+1?

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118871532#Comment_118871532

Do you think TG4+1/Cula4 would be a good addition?

Do you use Saorview?

From what I can remember, they survey was a general audience survey.

dublinman1990

Culá4 would be a good move to the increase the level of Irish among for young kids who find it a struggle to speak it.

I do use Saorview to access TG4. I don't watch it too often because the picture quality when watching older movies on it tends to be very poor.

Atlantic Dawn

I really hate the +1 idea when a channel isn't in HD already, with online services they can catch up online, people want quality picture first in deciding what channel to watch, TG4 on Saorview is similar to a dodgy web stream of a football match. They must take their audience as being backward idiotic fools watching on 14 inch portables they bought in 1995 with their Christmas savings.

TG4 Player is outstanding though, I will give them that, near zero glitches, puts RTE Player in the halpenny house.

RoTelly

Cula4 got a rebrand today.

https://www.cula4.com/en/watch/

icdg

Think they had that logo all the way back to 1999, when the TG4 rebrand took place. (They were “Culabula” in the TnaG era).

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118914429#Comment_118914429

potentially, would like to see them update Spórt logo also , culabula pre-tg4, not sure when the rebranded, may have been with the TG4 rebrand in 1999.

They have dropped the Cula 4 na nOg for pre-schoolers.

Old v New

political analyst

In the Sindo's Business supplement, under the headline 'Virgin and TG4 to set up new TV channels (See also the VM thread), Samantha McCaughren wrote that TG4 is planning to launch Cúla4 on Saorview in the middle of next year. A spokeswoman said it'll have a similar function to RTÉ Jr and a full schedule for children up to 12 years old and will become TG4+1 in the evenings. TG4's plans are being assessed by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts etc.

icdg

Don’t be holding breath on it launching any day now then.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119472203#Comment_119472203

It will be interesting to see how fast it will happen, guessing the minister isn't going ask for the publics opinions, though she could easily.

Will any of these new TG4 and Virgin channels appear on Sky?

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119488820#Comment_119488820

Sky have said that they voluntarily provide Irish channels on their service. I suspect that they will but I assume both will need to talk to sky. RTÉ2 +1 is on Sky and I don't think it is available on VM.

mackersdublin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119488974#Comment_119488974

Correct. No RTÉ2 +1 on the VM platform

icdg

These new TG4 channels are a while away, I should think. Certainly not at the point where carriage deals are being agreed.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119490248#Comment_119490248

Mid-2023 I suspect they are hoping the department come back to them at that point.

Aidan McCarthy

Yes TG4 plus 1 will be on saorview soon

JDxtra

I'm not a fan of +1 channels on Saorview. TG4 have excellent streaming options which are a good alternative. I'd much rather see the limited Saorview bandwidth used for something new.

That's the issue though - Saorview as a platform just sits there and exists. It doesn't seek or encourage new broadcasters to join the platform to enhance it.

Digifriendly

Most annoying thing for me re Saorview is every time I add a new channel and have to do a retune I end up with all these empty placeholders on the mux which transmits the new channel. I then have to delete all these placeholders.

Glaceon

Looking at digitalbitrate.com, it doesn't look like there's much capacity left. Maybe enough on Mux 2 for one more sub-SD channel. They could also replace the test channel on Mux 1 of course.

mackersdublin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119521321#Comment_119521321

So absolutely no chance of TG4 HD ever launching on the platform 😑

StreetLight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119521341#Comment_119521341

Unless a third multiplex is brought into operation. 😉

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119519675#Comment_119519675

They should ad the +2 service rather then the +1

Master Anorak

Do TG4 have enough kids content to fill a kids channel? I guess they could dust off some old Bouli tapes. Are they still milking Afric, almost 20 years since it was filmed?

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119550372#Comment_119550372

I heard they are doing a new drama, they have an announcement tomorrow AFAIK for children's TV.

Bouli and Superted all pre-date TG4/TnaG, not sure if Bouli ever aired on the channel. They dub a huge amount of US shows (for the last 20 years they have aired 3 schedules for children, Cula 4 Na nOg from 7 to 9, and then Cula 4 from 9 to 12 and then from 2 to 5 or so), but also have their own animations and programmes and like you say you can cycle through them, though perhaps not as much as they have with Afric. Also since the 1990s kids TV have had far more repeats and the same schedule on a daily basis.

Though the bigger question might be are kids all that interest in scheduled TV. Irish language and even Irish content has a uphill battle to attract kids away from YouTube.

icdg

Dunno if Bouli ever aired on TG4, but contrary to some popular belief it’s not Irish in origin and was originally produced for what is now France 2. The English dub was knocking about at the same time as the Irish one (but the latter had a bit of a cult status here in the 1990s).

They don’t own the show and couldn’t just “dust it down”.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119551507#Comment_119551507

No it never did, not even in its initial years on the air. I think it is remembered because of the opening titles and kids of that era coming in from school to hear it on THE DEN. "Fear Sneachta Ban sin e bouli 's a cairde Bouli Bouli"

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119552339#Comment_119552339

I prefer the original French titles myself but the Irish ones definitely hit cult status.

Telegael did quite a few Irish dubs in the pre-TnaG days. I remember Baby Follies (another French one) was redubbed as Tír na hÓige.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119552387#Comment_119552387

Also one about Puffin Detectives... I just remember learning that bleachtaire was the Irish for Detective.

iseegirls

Bring back Pop4 with Eoghan McDermott 😉

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119550372#Comment_119550372

Saol Ella (Ella's Life, a pun in Irish Ella's Life and Another Life) is the new Afric starting this autumn

RoTelly

https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/tg4-proposes-to-spend-56m-on-new-childrens-tv-channel-41956058.html

BAI now carrying out their SIA.

No ads according to the proposal. It would be nice if we got to put our 2c into the mix. or even see the proposal.

Master Anorak

I presume if this goes ahead, they'll be able to take Cula4 off the main channel and pump out more episodes of the golden girls, Murder she wrote, the weakest link and heart to heart during the morning and afternoon

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119577798#Comment_119577798

You would hope that they would mix it with a local daytime chatshow, local repeats, archive programmes and improve the mix of classic shows that they air. They've started showing Shark Tank lately.

This would be part of the proposal as to move Cula4 from TG4 would require Ministerial Approval.

Currently

CULA 4 - 7 TO 11:10 (4hrs)

11:10 (Classic/Bought in) Wonder Years, The Golden Girls, Luke Nguyen's Greater Mekong

12:40 (Repeat) Garrí Glas

12:10 (Classic/Bought In) Hart To Hart, Shark Tank

15:00 CULA 4 (2hrs 30mins)

17:30 (Repeat) Bailte

18:00 (Classic) Golden Girls, The Wonder Years

They could produce a 2 hour daytime show that repeats in the morning, much like what RTÉ do. But how much would that 2 hours cost? which would take money away from Prime Time / Quality programming.

Master Anorak

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578409#Comment_119578409

They have pretty much morphed into Daytime RTE One 1997-2004ish with Murder see wrote, Heart to Heart & The golden girls

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578513#Comment_119578513

We just need Dallas and Knots Landing.

there are other problems with the proposal (though having not seen the proposal!)

1. TG4 have €40m per year (they might provide it with more at the budget
2. TG4 spend about €25m on commissions (including Children's)
3. TG4 spend about €3m on imports (including Children's)
4. I could be wrong but dubbing for Children's costs about €2m per year
5. TG4 spend about €3m on Sporting rights
6. TG4 spend about €9m on Broadcast, Marketing, Subtitling and staffing.

Give or take.

1. Will they get more in the budget
2. How much more can the spend on Commissions, if you ad daytime show your taking at least €5m from current commissions, less for drama, less for documentaries and other more expensive content.
3. Could TG4 justify buying in more imports ? I think they have it about right
4. Could TG4 repeat live sports during the day like VMTV MORE
5. How much does broadcast for a 2nd channel cost?

SPDUB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119573522#Comment_119573522

Approved today by the Minister

An extra €7.3m funding is to be provided by the state

Hours of operation 6am to 8pm

https://www.rte.ie/news/nuacht/2022/0928/1325942-cead-tugtha-ag-an-aire-catherine-martin-do-chaineal-nua-cula4

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119678012#Comment_119678012

I think they could put a film channel on from 8pm to 1am, ~3 films a night.

rogue-entity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119519675#Comment_119519675

I place the blame for that entirely upon those responsible for the 2009 Broadcasting Act, upon the BAI and upon the absolutely visionless folks in charge of the whole hot mess.

You get the impression that Ireland only transitioned to digital television because it was pushed on us, we'd be quite happy to live with RTE One, RTE Two, TV3 and TG4 on Analogue PAL. Then they try to market it as a clone of the Freeview platform in the UK but propose conditions that none of the potential commercial operators were willing to accept, conditions that make it impossible for anyone else to use the spectrum and so here we are.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119522213#Comment_119522213

I wonder if the 2009 Act even allows for a third PSB Multiplex, there's no chance of any commercial ones starting up, not even an option for 'minimuxs' or regional ones that might let an operator, say, like VM expand outside cities

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119827562#Comment_119827562

The Act doesn't provide for a third PSB mux but there shouldn't be a major problem with the BAI issuing one of their 4 mux licences for PSB content following the usual consultation and ministerial approval process.

RoTelly

@rogue-entity plenty of people on boards in the 2000s saying that any DTT would largely just consist of RTÉ ONE, N2, TV3 and TG4 and not much more, other were insistant that they had to have BBC 1, 2, UTV and C4! and as it progressed that what we saw was RTÉ ONE, 2, VMTV and TG4, with the addition of RTÉjr and Sky NEWS, you can't consider VMTV 2, 3, 4 and RTÉ +1 channels to be extra channels, same goes for RTÉ NEWS, while they couldn't even get OTV on to the platform.

I can guarantee you that most of those in charge actually think Soarview is a suitable service, with the 3 PSB'ers and the 4 VMTV channels along with Sky News. How did VMTV FOUR or Sky News make it on to the platform?

Several options were put forward to the BAI to examine in terms of new broadcasters, BAI view was that none were ready to go, not that the BAI took the time to pick up the phone or send an email to any of the people that put forward those ideas.

Anyway we prob should be grateful for CULA4 and TG4 +1 at this point in the game.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837763#Comment_119837763

Why would they? We've gone from 4 Analogue channels to 4 Digital Channels with some extras as mentioned already, oh and the addition of Sky News. IMO a failure.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837844#Comment_119837844

And Gay Byrne ... don't forget that the Dept of Comms had to have their own DSO campaign also.

RoTelly

TG4 HD now available on Saorview.

Will this mean the muxs are full

RTÉ ONE, 2 and TG4 in HD with 8 SD channels including Cula4/TG4 +1

https://twitter.com/TG4TV/status/1598633107934019585?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

RoTelly

Cula4 is now starting at 6am on TG4, while it seems they have extended their late night early morning schedule with repeats of prime time TG4 and France 24 now only begins at 5:30

marclt

TG4 SD - on Saorsat looks really washed out. Blacks are grey. Is this intentional? Or is it just they haven’t noticed?

i can’t see TG4 going HD on saorsat, I guess they don’t use it for any transmission back up?

RoTelly

Great to see CINE4 work out so well for TG4, BAI and Screen Ireland. A great project, regardless of the Oscar nod and awards.

It would be great if TG4+1 would be come CINE4, if TG4+1 happens.