The Virgin Media Television thread

Mention of a new news studio to open in April in today's Irish Times.

icdg wrote: »

Mention of a new news studio to open in April in today's Irish Times.

Looks like Virgin Media are going all out to challenge RTE. Hopefully this will mean more HD content on all three channels and possibly TV3 HD making an appearance on Saorview. It will be interesting to see what the new studio will be used for.

JDxtra

...another new studio? Is that because they used the last "HD studio" that they kept banging on about so much? /sarcasm

[Deleted User]

JDxtra wrote: »

...another new studio? Is that because they used the last "HD studio" that they kept banging on about so much? /sarcasm

I wonder why they dont use UTV Irelands studio,its only 2 years old!

deezell

Royalty Limited Bellows wrote: »

Looks like Virgin Media are going all out to challenge RTE. Hopefully this will mean more HD content on all three channels and possibly TV3 HD making an appearance on Saorview. It will be interesting to see what the new studio will be used for.

Not with sub sd picture quality. They use the same quality on their sky sd feeds, so the only challenge will be sky hd subscribers who get Tv 3 in HD. Tbh, a lot of the old repeats are just about sd in their original format, stuff more than 5-6 years old, and old US NTSC video is really poor. 3e or be3 ideal for an oldies channel or a shopping channel.

zorro2566 wrote: »

I wonder why they dont use UTV Irelands studio,its only 2 years old!

They are planning a new news set, they must be upgrading their old studios for this. I think they want to move as far away as possible from UTV but I agree you'd drop TV3's current news set straight away.

Also I assume that UTV was renting their news studios or that they are currently owned by the current owners of UTV Radio/Wireless Radio Ireland

Theyve made clear that they are vacating Macken House in early January.

political analyst

icdg wrote: »

Mention of a new news studio to open in April in today's Irish Times.

If TV3 wanted its news operation to be a serious rival to RTÉ News then surely it would reinstate weekend and bank holiday evening news.

Just browsing through the Xmas RTE Guide I must say TV3s Xmas schedule for the three channels is very disappointing. They are showing a lot of movies from the 80s,90s and the odd early 2000s. I was hopeing to highlight one or two movies I would watch over the holiday period but to be honest there was nothing worth watching. As for 3e the same old rubbish repeats afer repeats. UTV Ireland has a couple of movies but most of the schedule is the same. I wasn't expecting much from 3e and UTV Ireland with the rebrand around the corner but TV3 could have at least bought in some decent movies not the same movies they have been shown for years.

[Deleted User]

What was the deal with UTV Ireland not showing movies, very unusual for a mainstream tv channel?

iseegirls

political analyst wrote: »

If TV3 wanted its news operation to be a serious rival to RTÉ News then surely it would reinstate weekend and bank holiday evening news.

Sorry, but what is the obsession with weekend news?

There's very little Irish news out there on weekends and bank holidays. Even channels like Channel 4 have seriously reduced their output on weekends. It's basically a main headline, international filler news, weather and 15 minutes of sport on RTE.

TV3 made the decision to stop weekend news probably due to the fact it cost too much money, and the ratings weren't there. UTV Ireland didn't have weekend news for their 2 years too.

political analyst

iseegirls wrote: »

Sorry, but what is the obsession with weekend news?

There's very little Irish news out there on weekends and bank holidays. Even channels like Channel 4 have seriously reduced their output on weekends. It's basically a main headline, international filler news, weather and 15 minutes of sport on RTE.

Channel 4 still has a 15 to 30 minute bulletin on Saturdays and Sundays and a 5 or 10 minute bulletin on bank holidays. By the way, in the UK and Ireland, sports news is considered as part of the overall news agenda.

iseegirls wrote: »

TV3 made the decision to stop weekend news probably due to the fact it cost too much money, and the ratings weren't there. UTV Ireland didn't have weekend news for their 2 years too.

How can a mainstream channel that doesn't have news bulletins at weekends expect to be taken seriously with regard to news coverage?

UTV Ireland, unlike TV3, started with no weekend news coverage. That is different from starting with weekend news and then dropping it. If a serious news event takes place at the weekend then anyone who has been watching TV3 and not RTÉ at all would be unaware of it.

zorro2566 wrote: »

What was the deal with UTV Ireland not showing movies, very unusual for a mainstream to channel?

UTV Ireland made the mistake of completely relying on their ITV studios content and Irish News and Current Affairs. AFAIK the movies they did have access to were large from ITV Studios. In other words they not ready and did not understand that people want a mix of programming on a mainstream channel, which includes sport, US TV and film.

The Cush

icdg wrote: »

Mention of a new news studio to open in April in today's Irish Times.

A new studio will also be built at TV3’s Ballymount headquarters, which will be used a central hub for news production supplying content across the group. Mr Kiely said the new studio would open “early in the new year”, with sources speculating this could be April.

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/utv-ireland-becomes-be3-as-tv3-group-rebrands-channels-1.2895242

Back in Aug TV3 applied to South Dublin Co. Co. to extend planning permission on Unit 7, Westgate Business Park, Ballymount Road, for conversion of the unit to a television studio and associated uses. Permission was granted at the end of Sept. I wonder if this contain the new news studio or will it be accommodated within the existing structures?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=100680663#post100680663
http://www.sdublincoco.ie/index.aspx?pageid=144&regref=SD11A/0223/EP&type=Applications&dateoptions=any&area=0&keywordtype=Applicant&term=tv3

AwaitYourReply

iseegirls wrote: »

Sorry, but what is the obsession with weekend news?

There's very little Irish news out there on weekends and bank holidays. Even channels like Channel 4 have seriously reduced their output on weekends. It's basically a main headline, international filler news, weather and 15 minutes of sport on RTE.

TV3 made the decision to stop weekend news probably due to the fact it cost too much money, and the ratings weren't there. UTV Ireland didn't have weekend news for their 2 years too.

Virgin Media Ireland now effectively owns and operates THREE TV channels through TV3 Group namely: TV3, 3e and be3 (once UTV Ireland is rebranded in January) with all stations able to benefit from prominent epg channel positions on Saorview/Sky Ireland/Virgin Media, Vodafone, eir Vision etc; digital platforms on the basis that they meet the terms of operating under an Irish PSB licence.

I think it is not unreasonable that ONE of their main channels (i.e.) TV3 should be required to provide some degree of meaningful News & Current Affairs output across Sat/Sun/Bank Holidays throughout the year as they are a significant player in the market here. In the UK, the main terrestrial commercial independent channels are required to provide TV news across Sat/Sun/Public Holidays and I see no reason why the same should not happen in this jurisdiction as we tend to follow similar public service broadcasting guidelines. TV3 have news headline summaries with reports from correspondents during the Ireland AM weekend editions: "Saturday AM" and "Sunday AM" programmes so; much of the groundwork is already done for evening bulletins across Sat/Sun anyway.

RTÉ should face direct domestic competition in news & current affairs and while the news agenda is traditionally quieter at weekends, I think it is unacceptable that a commercial independent broadcaster would be exempt altogether because it costs a lot of money and may not be a ratings winner. RTÉ enjoyed a complete monopoly in both TV+Radio for far too long in this state and we must provide more balance and competition rather than just adding more & more channels as we have now reached saturation point however; the content and output must be closely examined ahead of the issuing/renewal of licences.

That said, we must also address other issues such as TV Licence Fee and not to mention foreign TV channels setting up Irish opt-out channel versions that are no different to their other channels just to exploit commercial advertising from the Irish market but commission/show little or no Irish indigenous content in return. This practise has been very unfair to the likes of: TV3, TG4, RTÉ 1+2, UTV Ireland, 3e and I think it shows a failure in either legislation AND/OR regulation if broadcasters from outside Ireland can get a big slice of the Irish advertising market without having to contribute in some way for the privilege.

AwaitYourReply wrote: »

That said, we must also address other issues such as TV Licence Fee and not to mention foreign TV channels setting up Irish opt-out channel versions that are no different to their other channels just to exploit commercial advertising from the Irish market but commission/show little or no Irish indigenous content in return. This practise has been very unfair to the likes of: TV3, TG4, RTÉ 1+2, UTV Ireland, 3e and I think it shows a failure in either legislation AND/OR regulation if broadcasters from outside Ireland can get a big slice of the Irish advertising market without having to contribute in some way for the privilege.

In fairness to TV3 they not only have AM bulletins but also Agenda, which is in direct competition to the week in politics.

Opt Out are a problem but IMO Irish broadcasters have allowed that to occur over the last 15 years.

Irish broadcasters should be aiming to reach over 55% market share but they seem happy with 45%, and with the merger of TV3 and UTV Ireland and TV3's decision to move all ITV Soaps back to TV3, I imagine that that 45% share could be diminished further to 40%.

As one executive said to me "you can't force people to watch Irish TV" to which I reply "you could try to attract them".

RE: Licence Fee, while RTE TV takes up most of the fee before it even gets to TV or Radio that directly appears on RTE TV or Radio it goes to the BAI, National Music Groups, TG4 (and RTE also provide news to TG4) and then some to RnaG and RTEjr that do not carry advertising.

All independent broadcaster are allow extra advertising to make up for the licence fee. TV3 lost viewers not because of the licence fee but because of how the run the channel, same for UTV Ireland neither can come running to complain about it.

Sam Russell

I think if RTE were allowed to run their four channels unfettered they might get more viewers, particularly on RTE News Now. RTE 1+1 is just a waste, and should be allowed to be RTE 3 (or RTE plus) and show as much of RTE's archive as they can, plus some of their film stock.

TV3 needs to do something similar with their three channels, not just rely on ITV Studios. TVBe3 could show extensive ITV dramas, but keep TV3 as the prime channel for Irish content, assuming it is worth watching.

Sam Russell wrote: »

I think if RTE were allowed to run their four channels unfettered they might get more viewers, particularly on RTE News Now. RTE 1+1 is just a waste, and should be allowed to be RTE 3 (or RTE plus) and show as much of RTE's archive as they can, plus some of their film stock.

TV3 needs to do something similar with their three channels, not just rely on ITV Studios. TVBe3 could show extensive ITV dramas, but keep TV3 as the prime channel for Irish content, assuming it is worth watching.

Problem is a lot of this should have been done 10 years ago. TG4 could have been given the Irish Film Channel to run.

Elmo wrote: »

Problem is a lot of this should have been done 10 years ago. TG4 could have been given the Irish Film Channel to run.

TG4 is a very well run channel and you are right give them the opportunity to run the Irish Film Channel. Whoever is behind the branding and scheduling of TG4 would do a fantastic job with the amount of irish movie content that's available. I think we all know that's not going to happen.

Elmo wrote: »

Problem is a lot of this should have been done 10 years ago. TG4 could have been given the Irish Film Channel to run.

medoc

Royalty Limited Bellows wrote: »

TG4 is a very well run channel and you are right give them the opportunity to run the Irish Film Channel. Whoever is behind the branding and scheduling of TG4 would do a fantastic job with the amount of irish movie content that's available. I think we all know that's not going to happen.

It would have been good initially at least if TG4 launched their kids strand as a stand alone channel and timeshare it with the film channel. TG4 might have gotten a bit of advertising money on their main channel by replacing the kids stuff with other classic programs and even Irish language repeats from their own archives. Maybe in the future the film channel could have gone 24 hours depending on finances and ratings.

medoc wrote: »

It would have been good initially at least if TG4 launched their kids strand as a stand alone channel and timeshare it with the film channel. TG4 might have gotten a bit of advertising money on their main channel by replacing the kids stuff with other classic programs and even Irish language repeats from their own archives. Maybe in the future the film channel could have gone 24 hours depending on finances and ratings.

Also as it was IFB's plan to use it for sound and vision funding, along with TG4s own short films and feature films and feature docs. (not saying it would be exclusively Gealige but econs of scale for somethings).

I'm abit surprised some of the people behind the running of TG4 haven't been approached by TV3. I'm sure given the propper resources they would make a godd go at making the TV3 bouquet of channels a success.

channelsurfer2

I am lucky that I still have UTVHD on FTA sat. For those on Virgin its a raw deal. They had a good channel as others have said, now its being replaced by a woman orientated channel that will be full of wall to wall repeats once TV3 realize that's the only way they can make money with it.

Moved all the ITV UEFA rights discussion to the ITV thread - nothing to do with TV3

gordongekko

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

I am lucky that I still have UTVHD on FTA sat. For those on Virgin its a raw deal. They had a good channel as others have said, now its being replaced by a woman orientated channel that will be full of wall to wall repeats once TV3 realize that's the only way they can make money with it.

TV3 couldn't even make money out of the rugby world cup despite what seemed to be wall to wall ads.someone will post the correct figures but between TV3 group and utvi the total losses last year were in the region of 30million

TV3 -€16.95 million
UTV Ireland -€19.5 million

Total loss -€36.45 million

Report in the Sunday Times has Channel 6 the company behind 3e earning 4million in profits

Total loss reduces to 32.45million in that case????

medoc

Has there been any cross promotion or trailers for TV3 programs on UTVI or vice versa? I haven't seen any yet. It would make sense to cross promote programs over the Christmas period as I'm sure they will do after it becomes be3.

I'd say they'll wait till playout moves to Dublin, possibly in the first week of January.