The ITV Thread

formerly scottish paddy

Feels like an aeroplane caught in a fatal nosedive with the pilot desperately trying to pull it up

iseegirls

Charles Slane wrote: »

Oh dear....

http://www.thejournal.ie/utv-new-look-rebrand-2328469-Sep2015/

"The new on-screen branding shows people such as farmers, tattoo artists and designers with the newly evolved strapline “YOU TV”."

Unsure what a tattoo artist or a designer would even watch on UTV Ireland. Peter Andre's 60 Minute Makeover or Loose Women?

hotmail.com

I don't mean to be harsh but some of the UTV Ireland's news reporters and presenters are just terrible. Alison Comyn and their political editor Mary Reagan both seem nervous, awkward and out of their depth. It's been months now and Mary can barely string a few sentences together during a live package and Alison only seems comfortable when reading off an autocue.

Crimsonforce

Seriously this must be a joke with their new branding? They understand they have received some uninspiring comments about their branding but to change it to remove the u (Ulster) to You just seems like they went with the first idea in the brain storming session. They should hire an outside company to do this and stop doing it internally..

Kurn

Crimsonforce wrote: »

Seriously this must be a joke with their new branding? They understand they have received some uninspiring comments about their branding but to change it to remove the u (Ulster) to You just seems like they went with the first idea in the brain storming session. They should hire an outside company to do this and stop doing it internally..

And end being called U - like eircom:D:D

EdmondShiels3

Why not just rebrand the channel to a different name and start again.

channelsurfer2

I wonder will it be just ITV with an opt out if ITV does buy it? No real need to retain it being called UTV IRL.

Kurn

EdmondShiels3 wrote: »

Why not just rebrand the channel to a different name and start again.

if they did this at the start, I think people would not dislike them so much. At least in UPC areas they are associated with taking away UTV - with a completely different name they could take a proper run at things and work at getting decent programs, but too late now...

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/for-itv-s-60th-birthday-it-wants-a-u-and-a-tv-please-bob-1.2353863

Elmo

Kurn wrote: »

And end being called U - like eircom:D:D

In fairness it didn't cost 16m and was produced in house

Sam Russell

Elmo wrote: »

In fairness it didn't cost 16m and was produced in house

It has cost €7 million so far. Why change now just before a sale of the channel - it will require a rebrand after ITV get hold of it?

Their main problem is that they are not picking the gems that ITV Studio have in their catalogue, and what they do choose they put on at daft times.

Their news coverage is not too bad, but the presenter puppets are not great.

If I ran a TV station, I would ban auto-cue devices. It leads the the reeeeadeeer gettinnng the phraaasinnng wrong, and their body language lags the audio.

icdg

The sale is not yet done (three weeks after the Belfast Telegraph pronounced a "done deal") and the fact that it wasn't announced the following Friday when the results were announced suggests there's more than haggling about the price going on.

Until a deal is done, UTV have to run the channel as if there is no sale happening.

gordongekko

The fact they seem to be introducing the tag line you.tv may suggest itv won't be purchasing it and they are preparing for a future without u.tv

icdg

I wouldn't read anything into that - UTV have used variations on it for two decades (most famously "UTV is yoUr TV" during the 1990s).

icdg

icdg wrote: »

I wouldn't read anything into that - UTV have used variations on it for two decades (most famously "UTV is yoUr TV" during the 1990s).

http://hub.tv-ark.org.uk/dsplus/m.php?p=ulster1993a.rm

I remember it well.

Souriau

Karsini wrote: »

http://hub.tv-ark.org.uk/dsplus/m.php?p=ulster1993a.rm

I remember it well.

Link doesn't work

Souriau

Souriau wrote: »

Link doesn't work

Hmm, so it doesn't! It's on this page anyway.

http://www2.tv-ark.org.uk/itv_ulster/idents.html

donaghs

Lots of people pissed off tonight that the new season of Downtown Abbey won't be on their "irish" UTV.

If it's one of the few shows you actually watch on UTV, yet another reason to switch to free service.

political analyst

donaghs wrote: »

Lots of people pissed off tonight that the new season of Downtown Abbey won't be on their "irish" UTV.

If it's one of the few shows you actually watch on UTV, yet another reason to switch to free service.

It's on TV3 on Tuesday at 10.

lertsnim

donaghs wrote: »

Lots of people pissed off tonight that the new season of Downtown Abbey won't be on their "irish" UTV.

If it's one of the few shows you actually watch on UTV, yet another reason to switch to free service.

You are pissed off at the wrong channel. TV3 are the ones who have chosen not to show Downton Abbey the same night as ITV.

ftakeith

lertsnim wrote: »

You are pissed off at the wrong channel. TV3 are the ones who have chosen not to show Downton Abbey the same night as ITV.

TV3 can't show DA at the same time as its part of the contract

donaghs

lertsnim wrote: »

You are pissed off at the wrong channel. TV3 are the ones who have chosen not to show Downton Abbey the same night as ITV.

Not a fan of it myself, but just heard so many people complaining. I'm more pissed off with UPC for replacing an ok channel with a worse one in general. Helps build my case for scrapping UPC for a free service.

As mentioned earlier can tv3 show this then? You would think regular TV channels and service providers would be bending over backgrounds to please customers, in this age of freesat, on demand TV, torrents, free streaming, web TV via proxies etc

Chopper Dave

Looking at the twitter meltdown over Downton last night this whole thing just seems to be getting worse for UTVI. I can understand why people are confused - last year you could watch everything on UTV (and for decades previously) but this year UTVI no longer has the rights to show most of the ITV schedule. The average punter just won't understand why this is the case and won't care to hang around while UTVI sorts itself out.

It does really make you wonder what UTV(I) was thinking in setting this station up; particularly if TV3 can't actually show the programme at the same time as another poster says.

Leroy42

While I have no gra for UTVI, what is difficult to understand.

UTVI are not ITV, anymore than it is CBS? Why are people not complaining that RTE aren't showing the Late show? It's a different channel.

Questions need to be asked of UPC as to why they dropped ITV for this much worse offering. No sport, no new drama, nothing really.

But with UTVI it is simple really, don't watch it (which many people seem to agree with). Let UTVI get on with whatever it is they want to do (which I for one cannot even begin to work out what the point of it is) but why did UPC drop ITV from the schedule?

UPC customers now have an clearly inferior channel offering that this time last year.

icdg

According to UTV, it was UPC's decision to drop UTV NI, but they agreed with it. On the other UPC themselves never came out with an explaination. My own view is that UTV did indeed ask UPC to drop UTV NI and that this was part of the carriage agreement. They also save on the royalty payments they had to make to carry the channel.

irishfeen

To survive long term I think they will have to drop the UTV name .. It's linked too closely with the UTV/ITV network schedule... Just take Downton Abbey for instance - UTVI would literally be breaking the law if they broadcast it but people don't understand that.

Had they called this new channels say Channel 6 - part of the UTV family and kept UTVNI on UPC until they bought the rights for the entire ITV schedule then they wouldn't have any major problem.

Leroy42

icdg wrote: »

According to UTV, it was UPC's decision to drop UTV NI, but they agreed with it. On the other UPC themselves never came out with an explaination. My own view is that UTV did indeed ask UPC to drop UTV NI and that this was part of the carriage agreement. They also save on the royalty payments they had to make to carry the channel.

I think this is the nub of the issue.

ITV still exists, UPC decided to drop it. It was probably to do with costs etc but UPC have stayed very quite over this and UTVI are actually taking the backlash of a decision that really have nothing to do with them.

They might well have asked for it, but since they are a new station UPC could easily have refused, and waiting to see the impact of the new channel.

It is UPC that people should be annoyed at. We don't pay UTVI anything, so if they want to waste their own money then let them at it. UPC are taking peoples money and offering a much less service than before, regardless of how they dress it up.

If UPC had kept ITV and offered UTVI as an additional channel then nobody would have minded, they would have kept watching ITV and maybe over time migrated towards UTVI as they got their schedule better.

But instead, UPC ditched one of the main watched channels for a clearly unready offering.

When TV3s contract for ITV content is finished then UTVI will probably be in prime position to snap them up,seeing as they are closely linked to ITV. The ITV buyout which was announced in August and talks are still going on apparently may solve a lot of programing issues.We will either be on a par with the ITV network or ITV will just pull out of ROI!

Elmo

zorro2566 wrote: »

When TV3s contract for ITV content is finished then UTVI will probably be in prime position to snap them up,seeing as they are closely linked to ITV. The ITV buyout which was announced in August and talks are still going on apparently may solve a lot of programing issues.We will either be on a par with the ITV network or ITV will just pull out of ROI!

Those rights have nothing to do with ITV.

TV3 have simulcast Downton in previous seasons.

lertsnim

ftakeith wrote: »

TV3 can't show DA at the same time as its part of the contract

Who said anything about showing it at the same time?