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TV3 Ireland
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TV3 Ireland is a television channel in Ireland, and was the country's first commercial broadcaster. TV3, along with other properties are a part of the TV3 Group - which also owns TV3's sister channel 3e. It launched on 20 September 1998.. The main studios of TV3 are located in Ballymount, Dublin. The channel broadcasts from 06.00 to around 02.00 each day.
History
Initial idea and setbacks
TV3, which was intended to be Ireland's third terrestrial channel, took almost ten years to bring from initial planning to debut.
Discussion
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Encyclopedia
TV3 Ireland is a television channel in Ireland, and was the country's first commercial broadcaster. TV3, along with other properties are a part of the TV3 Group - which also owns TV3's sister channel 3e. It launched on 20 September 1998.. The main studios of TV3 are located in Ballymount, Dublin. The channel broadcasts from 06.00 to around 02.00 each day.
History
Initial idea and setbacks
TV3, which was intended to be Ireland's third terrestrial channel, took almost ten years to bring from initial planning to debut. In October 1988 the Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC) was created to regulate new independent stations. The original TV3 licence to broadcast was granted in 1990 to a consortium including members of U2 and the owner of the Windmill Lane Studios where the group had made many of their records. Because of delays in setting up the station, the licence was revoked by the IRTC. After a court battle, the licence was eventually restored in 1993.
At this stage, an agreement was made to sell 49% of the company to UTV, the ITV franchise in Northern Ireland, to raise much-needed cash for investment in facilities. However, as TV3 were trying to convince Irish cable and MMDS carriers to replace UTV with their channel, the new shareholders pulled out in 1995. Given that UTV had the third largest audience in the Republic, the carriers declined to drop them in favour of TV3. The result was that the project was on hold again. In 1997, CanWest, decided to step in and buy a major stake in the new company.
Launch and development
TV3 finally took to the air on 20 September 1998 at 17:30. A preview of the station's programming formed the first half-hour of transmissions, followed by the first TV3 News at 18:00.
TV3 was the fourth national station to be launched in Ireland; after RTÉ One in 1961 (as Teilifís Éireann), RTÉ Two in 1978 and TG4 in 1996 (as TnaG). It was the first station which was not publicly funded, by tax or licence fees. TV3's initial on-air branding referred to the station as 'tvthree'. Although this is still part of the corporate logo, it no longer appears on screen. The Schoolhouse Rock! song, "Three Is A Magic Number", is the station's theme tune, played every day during start-up and close-down; this same tune was also used by BBC Three as its theme tune.
In September 2000, Granada Media plc (a predecessor company of ITV plc which then owned six ITV franchises) agreed to acquire 45% of the company from the original TV3 consortium. This was part of deal which gave TV3 the right to simulcast with ITV certain Granada programming. The Granada plc shareholding was taken over by ITV plc upon the merger of Granada with Carlton on 2 February 2004.
In early 2001, the station officially launched threetext, the teletext service, much of the content from Thomas Crosbie Media. Test transmissions of this service commenced in late 2000, but as early as 1999 limited programming content was provided. However, in 2004, the news and sports were dropped as part of a rebranding to an 'entertainment portal'.
On 16 January 2006, Canwest announced to TV3 staff, that it was selling its stake in the channel, in an effort to reduce its debt, resulting in it leaving the European market. A purchaser for this stake for (for €103 million), rights to buy ITV Plc's stake (for €103 million), and the remaining 10% (for €59 million) was announced on 19 May as Doughty Hanson & Co, a venture capital firm. The channel began broadcasting in widescreen format on Sky Digital from 6 March 2006 and subsequently on UPC in 2007.
The TV3 Group
TV3 purchased digital satellite station Channel 6 in summer 2008. Following this the channel was rebranded in January 2009 as 3e, with a logo and schedule designed to compliment that of its parent channel.
In November 2008 tv3.ie website was rebranded, with the intention to develop it into an entertainment portal. Catch up facilities, as well as exclusive content is available for TV3 programming as are news, weather, sport and entertainment updates. A dating section has also been established on the website.
With the launch of the website and rebranding of Channel 6, TV3 as a television channel became part of the TV3 Group in January 2009.
Analogue rollout
When TV3 went on the air in September 1998 they were broadcast only from the existing RTÉ main transmission sites and from three relays serving Cork and Limerick cities. Since then they have not added any rural relays to their network. This results in widespread "pockets" throughout the country being unable to receive the channel. These pockets can include large towns, such as Youghal, Co. Cork and Castlebar, Co. Mayo. Local community TV broadcasters have mitigated this situation somewhat by including TV3 in their service, but due to their low power these transmitters are unable to cover each and every pocket.
Prime time schedule
- The weeknight late night schedule consists of Sports Tonight starting at 23:30 and US Imports such as Huff, Strong Medicine and Standoff.
- The prime time schedule also consists of TV3 News Updates at 21:00 each weeknight.
- TV3 have bought a selection of ITV shows as part of the sale of TV3 to Doughty Hanson, this contract will expire in 2013. Many of the show are simultaneously broadcast on TV3 and the ITV Networks.
Irish Produced Programming
TV3 programming has often been criticized for having no "distinctive, clearly Irish identity". In spring 2008, a major effort was made by the station to change this situation. €10 million was invested by the station in Irish produced programming for its autumn 2008 schedule.
News and current affairs
Ireland AM has been on air since 1999 and is the only live breakfast television programme in Ireland. Broadcast on weekdays from 07:00 to 10:00, it includes regular news updates on the hour and half-hour, but is mainly features and lifestyle based. The show is currently presented by original presenter Mark Cagney and Sinead Desmond.
On weekdays TV3 News consists of three main bulletins - Midday, News @ 5.30 and Nightly News. The news team includes Alan Cantwell, Colette Fitzpatrick, Elaine Crowley and Vincent Browne, as well as weather presenter Martin King.
Airing at 23:00 on Friday, The Political Party is a politically-themed chat show, hosted by TV3's political editor Ursula Halligan.
From the stations launch, a 30 minute 5.30pm news bulletin was broadcast at weekends. However in December 2008 these weekend bulletins were reduced to five minutes, this cut blamed on a downturn in advertising revenues. According to the Sunday Business Post, TV3 had to cut 15 jobs and 15 freelance jobs in the company to save money.
Sports
TV3 produces a sports round-up programme called Sports Tonight which is broadcast at 23.40 on weeknights. Other original sports programming includes match analysis and commentary for the UEFA Cup matches that the station broadcasts. In 2008 the station began broadcasting a selection of GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship matches, as well as a weekly preview show called Championship Throw In. The station also aired coverage of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. It has also gained the rights for Tuesday night games in the UEFA Champions League from the 2009-10 season.
Entertainment
Xposé, hosted by Lorraine Keane, began airing in April 2007. It is an entertainment and celebrity focused show airing weeknights at 18.00. Beauty tips, fashion segments and celebrity interviews are the main components of the show.
Midday, is a live weekday chat show and takes a lighter look at the everyday issues of viewers, with a mixture of round table discussion with guests and interaction with viewers. The show was launched in September 2008 and is hosted by Alan Cantwell, Colette Fitzpatrick and Martin King with guests from Irish and UK TV, radio and the media.
Earlier efforts into Irish made television include the short run The Dunphy Show (2003), fronted by Eamon Dunphy, which was built up to be a contender with RTÉ's The Late Late Show. In spite of the flurry of media attention, The Dunphy Show's failed to perform to expectations, and was cancelled a few weeks before the initial season was due to conclude. For the Autumn 2005 season, TV3 announced a new midweek talk show which was hosted by Brendan Courtney, which lasted for only one series.
Popcorn, which regularly billed itself as "Ireland's favourite movie show" ran for 5 years and over 200 episodes before the axe fell - giving an irreverent look at the movie releases, both at the cinema and on DVD.
Reality Television
TV3's first attempt at reality TV was Haunted House. It started in May 2002. Haunted House started out with about 26 contestants who would be ultimately voted out of the Haunted House by the public. The tasks where similar to that of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.
It would not be until 2006 that the station would attempt reality television again. The Box, fronted by Keith Duffy, debuted on Monday 9th October, 2006.
The Apprentice is a localised version of the original Donald Trump reality series, the first series of which was broadcast in autumn 2008. The show is likely to return for a second series in autumn 2009, this will be the first time that a prime time TV3 show will be renew following the first season. The Apprentice would go on to win the Best Entertainment Category at the 2009 IFTA awards. TV3 snubbed the ceremony due to their concern over the number of RTÉ staff in the Academy.
Drama
School Run was a one-off drama, made in Ireland for TV3. It was the first original Irish drama produced by the station and aired at Christmas 2008. The Tudors is made in Ireland for Showtime, but shown by TV3. Another series, Rock Rivals, was filmed in Ireland for ITV in the UK and shown by the station in early 2008.
Factual
In early 2008, TV3 made a serious effort to produce more Irish programming in response to critism of its schedule. Factual programmes launched as part of this change included Me and The Big C, charting different people's struggle with cancer; Inside and Out, a makeover show hosted by Sinead O' Carroll; Dirty Money: The Story of the Criminal Assets Bureau, a crime documentary fronted by Paul Williams and Diary of... which followed six people as they went through life-changing events.
The autumn 2008 schedule continued this trend, with several Irish produced series including Now Then: How the Irish Have Sex, CCTV Cities with Donal MacIntyre, Living With Murder , presented by Maura Derrane, and Corrupt - examining corruption in Ireland. Crunch Time was a three part documentary exploring Irelands property crisis.
Imported programming
In its early years, the station aired a large amount of US programmes such as Sex and the City, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Just Shoot Me. Current (as of February 2009) US programming aired on TV3 include Dexter, House and America's Next Top Model.
Following its aquistion of a 45% share in the station in 2000, Granada allowed TV3 to simulcast several of its programmes including soaps like Coronation Street and Emmerdale as well as drama series such as Bad Girls and Footballer's Wives. TV3 also simulcast EastEnders from 1998 to 2000. ITV reality shows including The X Factor, Dancing on Ice, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and Britain's Got Talent are also simulcast on the station. American Idol has been broadcast on TV3 quite close to its American airing for several years now.
With regards to its daytime schedule, TV3's programming mainly consists of repeats of Coronation Street and Emmerdale, as well as UK lifestyle shows such as What Not to Wear, How Clean is Your House? and The Jeremy Kyle Show.
Criticism
Many media commentators have criticised TV3 for the lack of original programming on the station, although a major effort has been made in 2008 to deal with this criticism. The view of many commentators such as Stephen Price of The Sunday Times and Tom McGurk of The Sunday Business Post is that TV3 need to differentiate themselves in the growing Irish multi-channel market by making more original programming than at present.
See also
- 3e
- List of Irish television channels
- List of TV3 Ireland television programming
Sources
External links
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