The ITV Thread

icdg

Elmo wrote: »

Strange that UTV Ireland has been included in the announcement I wonder if they will just rebrand UTV Ireland as ITV?

Seemingly, there will be no change to UTV Ireland, though I wouldn't be surprised if they get the new "tv" sometime along the way.

Elmo

icdg wrote: »

Seemingly, there will be no change to UTV Ireland, though I wouldn't be surprised if they get the new "tv" sometime along the way.

It just shows how unimportant branding really is, I don't think UTV brand has cashe in RoI, I give them a year for it to be ITV

Gonzo

they should have just had 'utv' in the circle, would have looked identical to the itv branding but still reads utv. But I suppose they went with the massive 'U' to keep the U theme going which is very much liked in NI.

political analyst

I remember having a glance at an Ireland Live bulletin on the UTV Ireland player last year at the time of the Charlie Hebdo killings. The reporter was Jack Parrock, who works for an agency called Feature Story News (FSN).

http://featurestorynews.com/

FSN, according to the Wikipedia page about it, broadcasts radio bulletins 24 hours a day - Monday to Friday. That coincides with the fact that UTV Ireland doesn't have news bulletins at weekends - except for days on which election and referendum votes are being counted - when special programmes are broadcast, as in this year's general election.

Why did UTV Ireland chose FSN, not ITN, as a source for international news? Is it the case that RTÉ has exclusive Irish rights to contact with ITN journalists (Channel 4 News correspondent Alex Thomson is heard from time to time on RTÉ Radio 1 and I also recall that, on the News at One, Audrey Carville spoke to ITV News Europe Editor James Mates during the early stage of the migrant crisis)?

icdg

That I don't know. It may also simply be a question of cost. Now that ITV own UTV Ireland, it would be a matter of frustration if they couldn't take news from their own 40% owned news provider and I suspect that will change at some point down the road.

To illustrate a practical example, earlier on in the week we had the tragedy in Bruselles. Because ITV's coverage came from Good Morning Britain, UTV Ireland were able to carry it. Had they switched at 9:25am to ITN (as they would have done, back in the days when the ITV companies had no stake in the breakfast franchise), UTV Ireland would have had to break away, because they have no relationship with ITN.

formerly scottish paddy

Elmo wrote: »

It just shows how unimportant branding really is, I don't think UTV brand has cashe in RoI, I give them a year for it to be ITV

I would probably think it has less than a year. ITV will quickly realise that people here watch UTV Ireland for the ITV programmes not UTV's attempt at "Irish" programming. Re-branding as ITV Ireland would probably benefit them if it corresponded with a move to more closely follow the ITV schedule.

icdg

Some of the posts from the other UTV thread moved here

channelsurfer2

They didn't show Lorraine today for some reason beyond their control. It was on utv though.

icdg

There were problems with ITV Breakfast alright due to a fire, but not sure why they wouldn't have been able to air the pre-taped programming.

Elmo

formerly scottish paddy wrote: »

I would probably think it has less than a year. ITV will quickly realise that people here watch UTV Ireland for the ITV programmes not UTV's attempt at "Irish" programming. Re-branding as ITV Ireland would probably benefit them if it corresponded with a move to more closely follow the ITV schedule.

This will see the slow demise of ITV. The problem UTV Ireland has is that even with big ITV dramas Irish viewers are not tuning in, it purely for the soaps and reality TV. If ITV continue to only broadcast ITV programming the channel will continue to wilt.

Gonzo

Elmo wrote: »

This will see the slow demise of ITV. The problem UTV Ireland has is that even with big ITV dramas Irish viewers are not tuning in, it purely for the soaps and reality TV. If ITV continue to only broadcast ITV programming the channel will continue to wilt.

i think the main problem with UTV Ireland is huge holes in its broadcasting, no news at the weekends, an attempt to try and make the channel look 'Irish' from UK media perspective, too much green, the lack or non existence of sport and very few if any movies and far too many repeats of the same soaps over and over.

The channel would do well with a rebrand to ITV Ireland without making it all green. Have a schedule as close to ITV as possible, News at the weekends, add some sport events, add movies and add US TV-Show dramas. Leave the Irish programming to RTE,TG4 and TV3. If the channel seemed like a mixture of ITV and Channel 5/5USA.

irishfeen

I think one of the biggest issues UTV Ireland has is the 116 EPG slot on sky... It just gets lost among the other channels and most nights I don't even see what's on it. Not being on the first page of the EPG is a killer for them.

If they could get 105 from TV3 it would be worth its weight in gold!

channelsurfer2

I see that they are not showing Maigret on Easter Monday. Who would have Irish rights to this?Ealing studios/Maigret productions are listed as the company so not an ITV studios program.

Charles Babbage

Gonzo wrote: »

i think the main problem with UTV Ireland is huge holes in its broadcasting, no news at the weekends, an attempt to try and make the channel look 'Irish' from UK media perspective, too much green, the lack or non existence of sport and very few if any movies and far too many repeats of the same soaps over and over.

The channel would do well with a rebrand to ITV Ireland without making it all green. Have a schedule as close to ITV as possible, News at the weekends, add some sport events, add movies and add US TV-Show dramas. Leave the Irish programming to RTE,TG4 and TV3. If the channel seemed like a mixture of ITV and Channel 5/5USA.

What use is it then? Most people interested in ITV content already have cable/satellite etc.

Elmo

Charles Babbage wrote: »

What use is it then? Most people interested in ITV content already have cable/satellite etc.

TBH that's like saying why bother with regional versions of ITV on Freeview when you have access to ITV London on other platforms. It gives you a choice of platforms.

But in saying that purely relying on ITV's schedule would be detrimental to UTV Ireland. UTV went from 10% share to 3% from 2001 to 2014 largely because Irish viewers view UTV/ITV as an extra channel.

ITV is important to Irish viewers and they will levitate towards ITV proper if they want to and they will view it as an extra channel.

If UTV Ireland fail to provide a mix of Sport, News, some Irish programming and imports (US and Film) then it will continue to get 6% until viewers begin to view it purely as an extra channel and the slow slid back to 3% begins. Slowly many Irish viewers will start to be surprised that Coronation Street and Emmerdale are still on the air.

In relation to News at the Weekend on UTV Ireland, only since Saturday and Sunday AM have TV3 provide news at the Weekend. If your main competitor isn't doing something why would you, I wouldn't say Ireland Live would garner more of an audience just because its on at the weekend.

UTV Ireland should have had a leaders debate. In terms of News from ITN, it should (if possible) use ITN report on Ireland Live and repeat ITV 10 and 6 news at night or during the day, perhaps a lunchtime news comprising of News from Ireland Live, UTV Live and ITN.

If ITV want UTV Ireland to grow it needs to understand the mix of programming required. What Irish viewers want from ITV in order are:-

1. Soaps
2. Reality TV
3. Saturday Night Quiz/entertainment shows
4. Sport
5. Drama

after that if you are an Irish channel they expect

1. Irish News (which can include reports from UK reporters)
2. Some Irish Lifestyle (like Rare Breed or even The Pulse)
3. Sport from an Irish perspective.
4. US programming
5. Film

Gonzo

Charles Babbage wrote: »

What use is it then? Most people interested in ITV content already have cable/satellite etc.

If we had close to 70% of the schedule thats on ITV London etc on UTV Ireland as well as a mixture of US tv-shows/films, some sport and Irish news/programming many would stop watching ITV in other regions as its much easier to press 116 than it is to go through the 'other channels' on Sky plus everything is recordable.

Currently UTV Ireland is missing so much programming that people want to see they just go to ITV London or similar through 'other channels' on Sky.

Richard

[Deleted User] wrote: »

UTV NI's new logo revealed. To be rolled out in the coming months.

http://www.a516digital.com/2016/03/utv-reveals-new-look-as-part-of-itv.html

I see what they've done there.

Richard

I presume that UTV Ireland will have the same logo, with "Ireland" only mentioned by the announcers, in the same way as ITV Wales does now.

icdg

The word is that there will be no change to UTV Ireland for the moment. Too soon after the recent rebrand, you see.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if the logo is quietly updated while keeping the rest of the current package.

Richard

icdg wrote: »

The word is that there will be no change to UTV Ireland for the moment. Too soon after the recent rebrand, you see.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if the logo is quietly updated while keeping the rest of the current package.

I suspect that UTV (NI) might become ITV NI within 2 years but that UTV Ireland won't until all
The rights issues are sorted so that schedules are almost identical. This will take time.

keps

New 'occasional' series of Maigret with Rowan Atkinson starting tonight on the 'old' UTV/ITV which you cannot grt on UPC

But not on UTV Ireland:(

Elmo

keps wrote: »

New 'occasional' series of Maigret with Rowan Atkinson starting tonight on the 'old' UTV/ITV which you cannot grt on UPC

But not on UTV Ireland:(

BBC Worldwide are the distributer ... RTÉ have a deal with them.

keps

Elmo wrote: »

BBC Worldwide are the distributer ... RTÉ have a deal with them.

Strange world with BBC WW distributing what is essentially an ITV production!

Elmo

keps wrote: »

Strange world with BBC WW distributing what is essentially an ITV production!

According to both BBC WW and ITV it's an ITV commission produced by Ealing and maigret productions

Gonzo

ITV will need to do something about UTV Ireland if it's gonna take years for all rights to eventually come around to UTV Ireland as people are still clearly not happy with the channel missing so much content.

1. People in UPC/Virgin media land are still angry and watch other channels.
2. people with Sky & FTA satellite will watch other ITV regions and continue to dismiss UTV Ireland.
3. People with Freeview overspill will watch UTV from Nothern Ireland and dismiss UTV Ireland.
4. The UTV Ireland brand is not in any way liked by people here in the same manner that the UTV brand is to the people of Northern Ireland.

ITV can't let the station continue as is waiting years for rights to eventually come its way. The channel lost a fortune and is the reason why UTV sold their stations to ITV in the first place!

If a full ITV schedule is not achievable for years to come ITV would be better almost completely renaming the channel to something different and building its own identity with more drama, movies, sport and original programming to completely bin the idea that the channel is a poor ITV clone.

Elmo

Largely speaking UTV Ireland has lost money on its Irish content.

In the last 2 months most of ITV dramas aired as ITV proper. They failed to make much ground. But even still they probably broke even with those programmes. Coro St and Emmers clearly are the winners for UTV and prob make most of their profit on their ITV content.

As I have said if UTV Ireland go 100% ITV people will switch off, but in essence UTV Ireland have failed to grasp a good alternative schedule, and people are slowly losing patience.

icdg

keps wrote: »

Strange world with BBC WW distributing what is essentially an ITV production!

Of course, as pointed out above its not an ITV production at all, and if it was UTV Ireland would be showing it.

It's no stranger, I guess, than ITV producing University Challenge for the BBC.

Elmo

icdg wrote: »

Of course, as pointed out above its not an ITV production at all, and if it was UTV Ireland would be showing it.

It's no stranger, I guess, than ITV producing University Challenge for the BBC.

Or even stranger that The Graham Norton Show airs on UTV Ireland.

keps

Gonzo wrote: »

1. People in UPC/Virgin media land are still angry and watch other channels.

Perception is more important than reality at times- and the the perception is among 'ordinary' people with UPC/Virgin coverage is that Maigret is an ITV programme - and that UTV Ireland couldn't be bothered showing it!

icdg

It's an incorrect perception though. Believe me, UTV Ireland would like nothing more than to be able to air the full ITV network schedule, news aside. If they are not airing an ITV programme, 9 times out of 10 it's not that they "can't be bothered" - it's that they don't have the rights.