Virgin Media Three
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Virgin Media Three, also called Virgin Three,[1][2][3] is an Irish free-to-air television channel owned by Virgin Media Television.
The channel was first launched by Northern Irish broadcaster
History
On 6 November 2013,
TV3's CEO David McRedmond remarked that losing rights to ITV's soaps to UTV Ireland would allow it to reallocate their cost towards domestic programmes.[7] Nevertheless, in January 2014 The Sunday Times reported that TV3 had launched a lobbying campaign opposing UTV's license proposal.[8] On 27 February 2014, the BAI approved UTV's license proposal.[9][10] On 29 April 2014, Mary Curtis became UTV Ireland's first chief.[10] On 1 December 2014, UTV Ireland was granted Public Service Status by Minister for Communications Alex White, allowing it to appear on Saorview.[11]
UTV Ireland launched at 7:25 p.m. on 1 January 2015; its opening night of programmes featured a
In June 2015, UTV Group reported losses of €16.2 million on the channel due to poor daytime and weekend ratings performance, and it was reported that the network was planning a revamp of its branding and lineup within the coming months. Managing Director Michael Wilson defended UTV Ireland's performance, noting that Coronation Street and Emmerdale were drawing larger audiences on UTV Ireland than on previous broadcasters, but admitted that their staff had gone "under the bonnet" to find means of improving the network's overall performance.[15]-
On 19 October 2015,
On 11 July 2016, ITV plc announced that it had sold UTV Ireland to TV3 Group, a division of Virgin Media Ireland, for €10 million. As part of the deal, TV3 Group inherited UTV Ireland's ten-year programme supply contract with ITV (effectively re-uniting these rights with its previous owner). ITV director of operations and strategy Christy Swords stated that "Launching UTV Ireland last year represented a significant achievement by the teams in Dublin and Belfast in challenging circumstances", but that when ITV plc took over the network, they "concluded that bringing TV3 and UTV Ireland together under common ownership offers the best prospect of delivering a strong and sustainable Irish commercial broadcaster, underpinned by a long-term programming agreement with ITV".[19] Virgin Media Ireland had acquired TV3 in 2015, and had begun to make major investments in the broadcaster.[19]
On 22 November 2016 it was announced that Coronation Street and Emmerdale would move back to TV3 beginning 5 December 2016.
In June 2018, it was announced that be3 would be rebranded as Virgin Media Three on 30 August 2018, as part of a rebranding of all three TV3 channels under the Virgin Media brand.[23]
Programming
When branded as UTV Ireland, the channel relied heavily on acquired ITV programming, but also broadcast some Irish-produced programming. Under the be3 brand, the channel was targeted towards women.[24][21]
News and current affairs
Ireland Live was UTV Ireland's national news and current affairs service, airing two programmes at 5:30 and 10:00 p.m. on weeknights, and news cut-ins during Good Morning Britain. The station did not broadcast any weekend news programming, apart from morning weather forecasts.
Following the re-launch as be3, Ireland Live was replaced by the relaunched
Children's
3e's children's strand
Entertainment
In July 2015, UTV Ireland began airing a weekly entertainment news bulletin with the station's weather presenter, Jenny Buckley, called The Pulse. The programme was sponsored by Diet Coke. The feature was extended into a weekly 30-minute magazine show in January 2016.[27] As be3, Xposé moved over to the channel on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
Lifestyle
Two of UTV's feature local programmes in Northern Ireland were adapted for viewers in the Republic. The long running travelogue series Lesser Spotted Ulster, presented by Joe Mahon, was rebranded to Lesser Spotted Journeys to focus on locations within the Republic of Ireland, additionally the agricultural programme Rare Breed was also adjusted to accommodate its audience in the Republic.
Acquired programming
As UTV Ireland
UTV's decision to enter the Republic's market followed the acquisition of broadcast rights to ITV programmes such as
By and large, UTV Ireland replicated the Northern Ireland service, with some variations due to domestic programme rights for programmes not produced by
As be3
be3 airs many of ITV's drama programming and live studio shows, following a 10-year agreement between
Acquired drama series include Wentworth and Bull. It also airs ITV dramas and comedies such as Benidorm, Doc Martin, Endeavour, Birds of a Feather, Midsomer Murders, Prime Suspect, Grantchester and Vera.
References
- ^ "New autumn schedule for rebranded Virgin Media TV". MediaHQ. 23 August 2018.
- ^ "This Morning (Virgin Three)". Sunday Independent (Ireland). 2 December 2018. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
- ^ "Virgin Three Actual Frequency Info - Internet Satellite Database". iSatDB - Internet Satellite Database.
- ISSN 0021-1222. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
- Communicorp. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
- ISSN 0791-5144. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
- ^ "Corrie, Emmerdale moving to UTV Ireland". Digital Spy. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
- ^ McCaughren, Samantha (12 January 2014). "TV3 will oppose UTV Irish licence". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
- ^ "BAI Signs Content Contract with 'UTV Ireland'" (Press release). Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ^ a b "UTV Ireland Appoints Mary Curtis as Head of Channel". Irish Film and Television Network. 29 April 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. 1 December 2014. Archived from the originalon 6 December 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014 – via archive.today.
- ^ Irish Mirror. Dublin. 1 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ Kemp, Stuart (5 January 2015). "UTV Ireland becomes Republic's first new commercial broadcaster since 1998". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ISSN 0021-1222. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- ^ "UTV Ireland plans channel revamp". RTÉ News. 28 June 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ Cambell, John (19 October 2015). "UTV Media agrees sale of TV stations to ITV for £100m". BBC News. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ISSN 0307-5664. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- ISSN 0791-5144. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
- ^ ISSN 0791-5144. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ^ Murray, Sean (22 November 2016). "The rovers return: TV3 is getting Emmerdale and Corrie back". TheJournal.ie. Dublin: Distilled Media. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ ISSN 0791-5144. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ^ Ó Fátharta, Conall (9 January 2017). "UTV Ireland broadcasts for the last time amid rebrand". Irish Examiner. Cork: Landmark Media Investments. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
- ^ Woods, Killian (28 June 2018). "TV3 is officially changing its name - to Virgin Media One". TheJournal.ie. Dublin: Distilled Media. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ^ a b "TV3 group to launch new-look 'be3' channel on January 9". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ "TV3 appoints Mick McCaffrey as head of news". Irish Times. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ "Coco Television to produce Pat Kenny series". UTV Ireland. 9 December 2014. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014.
- ^ "UTV.ie - News, Views, and Articles". Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.
- Independent News & Media. Retrieved 5 March 2017.