The Virgin Media Television thread

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

The soap will by all accounts be made on a shoestring and will probably end up been cancelled after a year or so if it survives that long. Its a pity really noone likes to see any job losses but UTV seem to be prepared to blow them out of the water by actually working with 2rn and paying the tranmission fees etc whereas TV3 seem content to moan and whinge instead of being proactive.

The 2015 upfronts as tv3 called them looked like a desperate attempt to say to advertisers we have great programmes dont desert us to that foreign station UTV, where we know you will get the biggest audience of the night for Corrie and emmerdale.

The Soap is a bizarre project to start at this stage. They were certain that ITV would sell them Emmerdale and Coronation street at a reduced rate, They never saw UTV coming in and buying the rights. They should have started their own soap years ago while they had the ratings of the UK soaps to support it.

Soaps of this sort take time to settle down (as even TV3 people have said) It could be 18 months before you get the figures you want and that's if everything goes right. A lot of the time soaps fail even if they're half decent.
I would think the soap will get 3 to 6 months and then be pulled (unless audiences stick with it) Blame will then fall on RTE and UTV because they were showing programmes at the same time.

The GAA decision now also makes a lot of sense. It does appear that if TV3 had made a normal offer that the GAA would have stuck with it and not gone to sky (also assuming that they'd go HD of course) However TV3 never wanted it. It would have meant hiring staff on Saturday and Sundays and Making a championship type show during the week.

Now the station can shut down on Friday evenings and basically run automatically until Monday Morning with no Human interaction needed.
Same as having a PVR in your living room, except it's mostly filled with shows that have been on 50 times before.

Elmo wrote: »

You've not seen my PVR :pac:

If TV3 plan to axe the soap you will see multiple episodes at some stage across the week.

I imagine it will be filmed like Ros Na Run, which I believe is filmed over 3 - 4 months in the summer.

You're probably right. However Ros na Run only film 70 eps a year. TV3's offering is supposed to be a year round show. Having said all that, until the show actually goes out I wouldn't be too sure that it will actually happen. It does appear to be an effort of fattening the calf before a sale. They have the HD studio, they have the rugby rights and the new soap is ready to go. Loads of co-productions. Problem here is that there are other broadcasters trying to come up with new formats. It's not an easy Market to break.

The one show that they have sold abroad is the Keith Barry vehicle. To be fair to him he's made a name for himself in other parts of the world. I think the show is sold in spite of being a TV3 show. Having said that it's a bargain bucket show that will air outside of primetime in most markets. There's nothing wrong with that and it's a good way to generate income. However if you were to read TV3 press releases it's only a matter of time before it wins a Emmy.

You might see projects being put back if no buyer shows up over the next few months. The Rugby rights are likely to be sold to someone else next year if no one buys the station. News won't disappear entirely but they'll probably introduce a rip and read service, purchased off of Newstalk or even RTE.

In reality it's hard to know exactly what they're up to. It's a station that's totally without direction at this stage. I can see how they're selling ads because of their ITV shows, but when they go next year, it could be a matter of weeks before they pull the plug. The crazy thing is that if they made an effort they could actually survive and prosper.

Just looking at next Saturday Night on TV3,

Between 5.30 and Midnight there's only one New programme on. It's nearly all repeats of ITV shows. With the Champions league on RTE and UTV I would assume the Market was open for something Different on TV3.
Instead they show a repeat of Britain's Got More Talent: Most Amazing Moments and the Cube followed by Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason which is now 10 years old! The only New show on is Graham Norton at 11.10 and that was on BBC 1 the previous Night.

What gets me is that this is a commercial enterprise. I can't see any of this encouraging an agency to advertise with the station. If you take into account how much has been written off in loans TV3 has lost about 10 million a year every year since it started up. Looking at this schedule no one could be surprised.

Well I've seen it all at this stage. TV3 has no coverage this weekend of the elections. Meanwhile Alan Cantwell has popped up on Irish TV with a 2 Hour Live Special on the elections. It's not polished by any means but it's a real effort and gesture.

Sam Russell wrote: »

The producers for the VB show have quit.

There seems to be a lot of reasons given for this but Vincent has always has a high turnover with his backroom staff, even when he was with RTE.

Having said that, if behind the scenes was tense, constant cuts by TV3 would be the tipping point for many. Hard to produce any show if you don't know what resources you'll have in a few weeks time. At this rate there will be no one left at TV3 by the end of the year, except for their CEO and Martin King!

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

It's widely reported...

http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/shock-for-tv3-as-producers-quit-vincent-browne-programme-30300182.html

I just want Xpose to die a slow, horrible death

Is Dowling the Big Brother bloke?

Sam Russell wrote: »

He was a Ryanair Cabin Steward. Then he won BB, the he has been the camp comedy turn on a few programmes like Wagon's den.

Ahh right.

MOD EDIT: DELETED