The Virgin Media Television thread

Brock Turnpike · 25-08-2021 8:03am

Would love to know who at the station thinks that pretending to have someone reporting live from the Dept of Health every morning is a good idea.

iseegirls · 26-08-2021 3:44pm

https://www.virginmedia.ie/about-us/press/2021/virgin-media-television-launches-its-new-season-schedule/

New Season launch today.

Nothing said about new presenter of The Tonight Show

iseegirls · 27-08-2021 11:28am

https://twitter.com/VirginMedia_TV/status/1431182155846197251?s=19

More home produced programming being dropped in favour of ITV programming.

Also odd that Loose Women will be shown 2 and half hours after it's been broadcast on ITV.

Karen Koster and Muireann doing a swap, whereby Karen now copresenting with Martin King on the Six O Clock Show, and Muireann will present Ireland AM Mon-Thu.

Elmo · 27-08-2021 12:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117810051#Comment_117810051

Problem with TV3 home produced in-house programming is that they never explore different types of content. Elaine was the same thing day in and day out, would it have been better if they had tried Jeremy Vine or a Victoria Derbyshire type show.

Delta2113 · 27-08-2021 1:09pm

Loose Women should never have been taken off. Sure they even took off This Morning. Elaine won't be missed. Loose Women is a far better show.

It should however be shown at the same time as Itv.

Let's face it Virgin Media Ireland Customer's would love to have Utv back (or even dream and get ITV 1 London on).

Biggest loss ever was Utv. Loosing the BBC channels would only top it.

Delta2113 · 27-08-2021 1:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117800341#Comment_117800341

They are very formulaic but it's cheap when the presenter just records a report the night before. I actually do like the paper review on Ireland Am and watch most mornings. I replay the show and just skip through it to items I like.

iseegirls · 27-08-2021 1:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117810521#Comment_117810521

Virgin Media would never have UTV and ITV2 back, due to the fact that most of their programmes appear on VM1, VM2 and VM3. I'm even surprised they've left ITV3 and ITV4 there, as that is what VM3 is effectively these days.

Pre-UTV Ireland days, you had a pretty ok-ish TV3 and decent 3e, and weren't over reliant on ITV programming. UTVi came along, which meant UTV disappeared for VM customers. UTVi at least showed newer and close to UTV/ITV episodes of The Chase, and other dramas. TV3/VM bought UTVi, and stripped the channel of any valuable assets, and turned it to be3/VM3 and is now just a wasteland of 00s ITV dramas like Morse, Heartbeat and The Royal. And at the same time VM1 has now changed itself into a mini ITV, with This Morning, Loose Women and The Chase taking up the schedule between 10am-4pm.

So, in hindsight, if there was no UTV Ireland channel, we probably still would have had TV3, 3e and UTV. 2 strong channels and a younger/fun channel. Instead we have 1 strong channel (although it's so diluted with UK shows), and 2 channels that don't even know what audience they're aiming for.

You could even go back further, and say that TV3 destroyed Channel 6 - ripping any home produced programming and replacing it with Midday, Morning Show and Ireland AM repeats. Or alternatively, Channel 6 were in over the heads and showing old US TV series like Buffy, Charmed, Party Of 5, Scrubs, 24 and others was not going to work, and TV3 saved it and changed it to something more feasible.

Elmo · 27-08-2021 3:29pm

I would disagree with you on Channel 6, I think it was in trouble due to accessibility. By the time it was re-branded 3e it had a 1.9% share of the audience. 3e benefited from the launch of Saorview, having see its share drop on the re-brand, and its move 105 on Sky.

Channel 6's line up still remains 10 times better than 3e's or VMTV2's, they also benefited by the move of I'm A Celeb and Love Island to the channel for a number of years.

Virgin Media would have the 17% share it currently has without the arrival of UTVi. Unfortunately VMTV is doing well and their is no need to change its line up, except for their in-house Irish programming, which are slowly being eroded, but perhaps there were too many of them in any case.

VMTV are realizing they don't need well know people to host their shows. Still no word on who is taking over from Matt Copper on the Tonight show.

icdg · 27-08-2021 4:14pm

I think the reality is that outside of this forum, and perhaps those directly involved in the station, you’d be pushed to find many people who remember Channel 6 even existed never mind what programmes it showed. It’s been nearly 13 years now. I’m not terrifically nostalgic for it tbh, it showed mostly the kind of the stuff you’d see on Sky One or E4 at the time and there are plenty of places for reruns of US programmes now.

Elmo · 27-08-2021 4:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117811625#Comment_117811625

I agree with those who do remember it, but I would still feel that the line up was better, not just from a re-run point of view but also from the new shows that they were broadcasting at the time and their own programming. Nothing wrong with having an Irish TV station that is sky showcase-esq or E4-esq, as much as it is to have 3 channel largely pumping out the same ITV soaps and quizzes that are coupled with ITV programming from 2 decades ago.

roadmaster · 29-08-2021 10:39am

The broadcasting staff that worked on elaine what happens them? Do they get gate or would they be working on the news and ireland am aswell

Delta2113 · 29-08-2021 11:42am

Another horrible big D.O.G. on screen. Claire Brock taking over Tonight - I think she is pretty good.

30-08-2021 4:37pm

Do we believe that Matt Cooper really left volunteeringy or is it so his contract wasn't renewed ? Seems like he has been replaced by Cheaper option. Id imagine the show doesn't get half the viewers as the VB days

Elmo · 30-08-2021 6:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117824039#Comment_117824039

IMHO

Vincent Browne and Mark Cagney were brought in to bring viewers to their respective shows. Both had had a relatively good run on RTÉ radio, though Mark Cagney was a few years out of Radio before he start (or he's just not a DJ I knew).

Both possibly did that job and when it came to eventual cuts both refused, Cagney pretty much said this for himself and he also mentioned he took at 30% pay cut in around 2009 - 2010 (that's a pay cut few can take).

I didn't read Yeats' Sindo interview this weekend but I am sure he was asked. He pretty much said there was no money in TV, when he launched the Paddy Power chat show, late last year. (though I would take much of what they say with a pinch of salt and we don't have TV3/Virgin Media's side of the story).

I imagine that Cooper and Yates did very little on the show, both being able to work off their respective radio shows before arriving into TV3, this cost for TV3/Virgin Media was probably minimal but looking at the way they are going with in house programming it looks like they are dropping those big names, in favour of their own staff.

The outlier here is Tommy Bowe, who I imagine was brought into bring a relatively well known face into Ireland AM.

I'd would say Virgin Media may have asked Copper to change his contract, and I assume he refused, but you could be right perhaps there was nothing on the table.

Elmo · 30-08-2021 6:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117818094#Comment_117818094

I have a feeling that most of the TV3 staffers are working across multiple brands, Elaine was pre-recorded FWICS, not sure how long before its airing, I imagine sometime between Ireland AM and the News at 12:30 or just after the News at 12:30. It would be interested to know if this is the case.

icdg · 30-08-2021 10:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117824039#Comment_117824039

I might ask that there be no further answers to the question posed here unless there is information published in the media.

CH3OH · 30-08-2021 11:26pm

Just switched on Virgin media one.

How do they think it is acceptable to have such a huge Digital On screen Graphic (DOG)?

The BIG deal ONE hd

5 days to go

Totally distracting

Delta2113 · 30-08-2021 11:35pm

Under no circumstances would I watch a Movie with any D.O.G. but with this one even watching Coronation Street is a struggle. They really know how to alienate an audience.

Elmo · 31-08-2021 5:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117825699#Comment_117825699

I don't know how successful The Big Deal will be, have these types of reality shows not had their day?

lertsnim · 01-09-2021 7:59am

Vogue Williams presents so I will be running a mile away from it.

lgs 4 · 01-09-2021 4:55pm

I have said this many times before. Good Tv comes from having good program commissioners with the budget to commission good programming. Virgin is quite happy to piggyback on ITV. Because it's cheap. There's Ardmore Studios in Bray which is on power with Elstree Studios in London. It's used by international tv production companies and RTE. On till some other media company takes Virgin over and is willing to invest the capital that is needed to make home-produced programming. Which then can be sold to the international tv market .eg. Dermot Bannon is on Ch5 .

Mickey Mike · 01-09-2021 8:16pm

VM need to go HD on saorview if its to grow its audience, bad enough watching with big DOG on screen but with a fuzzy picture to go with it makes it unbearable to watch.

lgs 4 · 01-09-2021 8:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117834689#Comment_117834689

I agree! the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is dragged its heels on Virgin not being in HD on Saorview. I don't watch Virgin channels at all. All the there programs are in HD on ITV 1 or ITV Hub.

icdg · 02-09-2021 7:18am

Not the BAI’s fault, they are the content regulator not the technical regulator.

Comreg are the technical standards regulator but they would need to insist on HD for all licensees and they won’t because their own policy has made HD uneconomic on Saorview for everyone except RTE.

This comes up about once a week on this thread and to be honest it’s a done to death topic at this stage.

Elmo · 02-09-2021 9:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117836394#Comment_117836394

If TG4 when HD on Saorview tomorrow Virgin Media wood happily take a cut in their transmission costs, and a further cut if TG4 +1 made it to Saorview, seems to me that a station with 3 channels on Saorview could easily introduce a HD channel and have transmission fee cut on their other channels, and could even add their +1 channel with little extra cost. Perhaps I am wrong.

iseegirls · 04-09-2021 4:16pm

Piece in the Irish Times the other day. Not much to report in it really, I doubt they ask any hard questions. Excuse to bring back Loose Women was that they had a few enquiries from viewers about it to come back. Why wasn't the question asked why it couldn't be put on VM2/3 at 12.30 instead, and then leaving Elaine as is.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/virgin-tv-targets-2019-revenues-as-it-vies-to-keep-love-island-audience-all-year-round-1.4663394

Elmo · 04-09-2021 5:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117846474#Comment_117846474

They would never ask those types of questions. Even a straight forward question would be : what are the audience figures for Ireland AM and what were the audience figures for Elaine. It just Ireland AM suffered because of Covid! Elaine Crowley had being saying "The swap has also given Elaine a big jump in ratings. She said: “I am a bit shocked, it is actually flying. It was doing really well in the last slot and now it’s after going higher again."

https://www.irishmirror.ie/showbiz/irish-showbiz/social-media-column-elaine-crowleys-21137605

Delta2113 · 04-09-2021 8:24pm

Give it another few years we might get Lorraine. I have no problem with them basically relaying the Itv schedule, as the better alternative that we actually get back Utv is not going to happen.

Elmo · 04-09-2021 8:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117847642#Comment_117847642

TBH They could put all of ITV's morning on to VMTV THREE and have their own morning content on VMTV ONE.

Delta2113 · 05-09-2021 9:02am

They won't cannibalize VMTV ONE as they would see it doing that, that's why they would never show Good Morning Britain for example up against Ireland AM.

Platform's like Sky, Virgin Media Ireland, Eir etc. should not be allowed own channels but that's for another thread. If Irish people want to watch Good Morning Britain let them have the choice. In fact that was the whole idea off Cable Tv and letting people have access to BBC1,BBC2,Utv,Htv - you get the idea.

The Virgin Media Television thread

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