The Virgin Media Television thread

icdg · 22-02-2022 12:16am

RTE isn’t (yet). The BBC is. There is I think a presumption that RTE will follow in order to retain the simulcast with BBC One.

Its a risky move for the BBC - I don’t think either it or ITV have ever scheduled soaps against each other before. Apparently the feeling is that even if live ratings tank people will catch up online. The other issue is that they were running out of places to put it where it wouldn’t clash with an ITV soap and still go out before the watershed - it was either 5:30pm (too early for Eastenders) or 7:00pm (and axe the popular One Show while they were at it).

RoTelly · 22-02-2022 12:21am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118670482#Comment_118670482

BBC are in a better position because they air EastEnders on BBC THREE, but RTÉ in a more difficult position from a "Live" Broadcast perspective as RTÉ ONE +1 will clash with Coro Street on Monday and Wednesday.

Coro St and Emmers have ITV2 and VMTV TWO as back up, as such.

iseegirls · 22-02-2022 10:59am

From Monday the 7th March, looks like this is when the Emmerdale and Coronation Street move happens. On Digiguide, it looks like News At 8 will be an hour earlier and becomes News At 7. (Ignore Digiguide's mentions of TV3, it oddly seems stuck with that name for the 5.30 news)

Small bit of history regarding 7pm news bulletins. The News@7 ran from April 1999 to December 2000 - after the split from News @ 6 to News @ 5.30/First Edition & News @ 7. January 2001 is when Emmerdale arrived, and the News went to 6:30pm.

After UTV Ireland became be3, News At 7 ran from Jan 2017 to Aug 2018. When the rename and revamp of channels, the News At 7 was axed in favour of a News At 8 bulletin on VM1.

RoTelly · 22-02-2022 1:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118671731#Comment_118671731

You missed when the axed the 6:30 news and replaced it with Xpose which aired at 6pm. I am not sure when the 8pm news started either, on the start up of UTV Ireland or the start of The Seven O'Clock show?

Did they not retain News @10 on be3 with News @7 on 3e at one point?

iseegirls · 22-02-2022 4:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118672509#Comment_118672509

Here's a bigger view of news changes on TV3/VM:

Afternoon News:

2013: News At 12:45

2015: The 12:30

2017: 3News At 12:30

2018: Virgin Media News At 12:30

2019: News: Live At 12

2020: Virgin Media News At 12:30

Early-Evening News

1998: News @ 6

1999: News @ 5.30/First Edition, News At 7

2001: News @ 5.30, News @ 6.30

2008: News @ 5.30

2009: News @ 5.30 & 3e News (3e)

2010: News @ 5.30 & fyi. (3e)

2013: The 5:30 & fyi. (3e)

2015: The 5:30

2017: 3News At 5:30

Sep 2018: Virgin Media News At 5:30

Later Evening News:

2015: News At 8 (TV3)

2017: 3News At 7 (be3), 3News At 10 (be3)

2018: Virgin Media News At 8 (VM1), Virgin Media News On Two/At 10 (VM2)

2020: Virgin Media News At 8

2022: Virgin Media News At 7

Late News:

1998: News Tonight

2009: Nightly News / Nightly News With Vincent Browne

2012 onwards: Tonight With Vincent Browne; The Late Review, The Tonight Show (not really news bulletins no longer)

dublinman1990 · 23-02-2022 1:02am

I've just seen new adverts for a new Irish series called Holding for ITV in the UK. Is this new show going out here exclusively on VM1.

EDIT: This is a 4 part series is based on Graham Norton's 1st book. It was filmed down in West Cork last year.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-40811811.html

RoTelly · 23-02-2022 11:18am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118676254#Comment_118676254

I think it is RTÉ that have this show.

Part funded by SI/FÉ and the BAI.

My mistake it is Virgin Media Television

political analyst · 23-02-2022 8:11pm

Does the deal between Virgin Media Ireland and ITV Studios mean that VM1 can't show the first broadcast of an Emmerdale episode earlier than ITV does?

icdg · 24-02-2022 3:16pm

We don’t know. The terms of such deals are not typically published.

It is unusual for producer-broadcasters to allow foreign broadcasters to broadcast their own productions before they do - particularly where there is overspill from that foreign broadcaster into their own coverage area. Not totally unknown though, it might happen in instances eg where the original network has preempted the regular slot of that programme for live sport or suchlike.

RoTelly · 28-02-2022 5:05pm

RTÉ and VMTV will follow suit. I was hoping that either might consider their schedule.

Even if RTÉ moved Fair City to Tuesday and Thursday nights 7pm and 8pm to rap around Eastenders.

8 news on VMTV moves back to 7.

RoTelly · 08-03-2022 4:37pm

Big write up for both RTÉ and VMTV in the SBP this weekend.

VMTV article mainly about sport. The possible sale by Liberty Global. That Ireland AM at the Weekend is up 26% since Elaine move over, TSOCS up 35%, Claire Brock on Tongiht show "has been absoulutely outstanding and the numbers show that", streaming up 31%.

Most surprising is ad revenue at €83 million. He just can't afford drama only to be co-producer, with dramas costing upwards of 9million. Red Rock cost was nothing like 9million for 40 episodes, but sure Soap is dead, unless its Coro St and Emmers!

iseegirls · 10-03-2022 10:58am

The drama Holding (from Graham Norton, and based in Cork) which was recently hailed as a jewel in Virgin Media's recent 2022 launch will seemingly be shown on ITV first - on Monday 14th March. Even though it's a co-production with Virgin Media - they somehow have let ITV have first screening of it. It's not even scheduled for VM1 yet.

icdg · 10-03-2022 11:06am

Might not be a question of “let”. He who pays the piper calls the tune.

political analyst · 11-03-2022 12:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118761491#Comment_118761491

Given that VMI's terrestrial channels don't have significant overspill into the UK (and that includes NI, obviously!), why would ITV be hung up about the idea of VMI broadcasting that new drama at the same time?

lertsnim · 11-03-2022 5:20pm

If it is starting in the UK this Monday then what are VM waiting for?

Digifriendly · 11-03-2022 10:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118767556#Comment_118767556

They do have significant overspill into N. Ireland as Saorview can be received by c70% of the population.

RoTelly · 12-03-2022 1:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118770699#Comment_118770699

So? NI is just a tiny proportion of the UK population, I never understood why any of the commercial operators have a difficulty with competition from RTÉ, TG4 and VM. RoI broadcaster rarely complain about the over reach of the big UK broadcasters. Both UTV and BBC NI have a significate advantage to almost all other broadcasters due to their local news output, none of the RoI channels have the same local approach.

I always thought UTV Ireland messed up not having a second channel that was available to both the RoI and NI. As such replace their +1 service with a mixed services that would serve both sides of the board. Or why RTÉ and VMTV don't have a similar mixed channel that could serve both sides of the boarder.

As for this production... Its part funded by the Exchequer via Screen Ireland & Section 481, so VMTV should get it either with ITV or before IMO.

political analyst · 12-03-2022 2:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118773013#Comment_118773013

You think UTV Ireland should have had a 2nd channel?! Yeah, because UTV Ireland itself worked so well for UTV Ltd's former owner, didn't it?(!)

political analyst · 12-03-2022 2:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118769121#Comment_118769121

It's not like it would be the first ROI-based drama to be broadcast in the UK first, e.g. Ballykissangel.

odyssey06 · 12-03-2022 3:36pm

If they even aired it later in the week they would get more buzz etc because the media and papers will be talking about it this coming week...

RoTelly · 12-03-2022 3:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118773179#Comment_118773179

You sure it didn't work out so well? 7% of the audience plus 1% share from UTV, nearly 8%. There were problems but much of it came from the media who were anti-UTV Ireland from the out.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118773186#Comment_118773186

BallyK was a BBC production no involvement from either RTÉ or the IFB/BSÉ at the time.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118773517#Comment_118773517

As RTÉ did with Normal People.

political analyst · 12-03-2022 4:32pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118773592#Comment_118773592

There were justified negative comments about UTVI published in the press, i.e. UPC customers losing access to UTVNI. For example, the Ireland Live News service didn't stand a chance - with RTÉ TV on air since the early 1960s and TV3/VM1 having been in operation since 1998.

The Ireland Live 10 o'clock bulletin underscored the failure - because UPC customers, who were no longer able to see ITV News on their TV screens, simply joined the legion of ROI viewers who got British and foreign news at 10 o'clock from the BBC or Sky.

As for BallyK, I said it was based in the Republic but I never claimed RTÉ had any involvement in its production.

RoTelly · 12-03-2022 4:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118773720#Comment_118773720

Are they justified, because all of the above could be applied to TV3/Virgin Media one now

None of the ITV channels available on any EPG in RoI. Virgin Media's move of the Tonight show to 10pm and their continued broadcast of the 10pm news for a number of months.

Not airing programming as UTV/ITV/STV .... such as the New Irish Drama starting next week on UTV/ITV/STV!

You could call out VMTV one for not airing Ant and Dec's Limitless Win or RTÉ for not simucasting it. (I you are not up arms as the 9 news gets postponed every Saturday night)

You won't hear any of these complaints in the press!

political analyst · 12-03-2022 8:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118773824#Comment_118773824

But weren't there such complaints in the press at the time of UTV Ireland's existence?! As for your reference to the RTÉ 9 News, it's often shown some time before or after 9 on Saturday nights - on the night of the Eurovision Song Contest final, it wasn't shown at all!

Going back to UTV Ireland, the programming it had (other than the soaps and other ITV Studios productions) was, for the most part, abysmal, i.e. Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris, which was ITV Studios' attempt at an American equivalent of Saturday Night takeaway and which was axed after only one series) and the obscure Canadian comedy Republic of Doyle. UTV plc didn't understand that there's a big difference between running an ITV region and running an Irish national TV channel. UTV Ireland proved the naysayers right.

At least TV3/VMTV was already settled-in well before UTV Ireland's launch.

RoTelly · 12-03-2022 9:37pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118775530#Comment_118775530

Yes there was, it was wall to wall, oh we can't watch GMB anymore, oh we don't have half the programmes as we had before (even though TV3 own most of the other shows).

Both The Chase and This Morning wouldn't be part of VM's line up only for UTV Ireland. TV3 took a significant dent.

I agree UTV Ireland missed out on Sport and Film, IMO it would have survived if it hadn't spent so much on news.

Yes IMO there were problems with UTV Ireland, could never understand why they didn't use their local radio stations for news, instead the spent money on a brand new newsroom, which has pretty much replaced TV3's newsroom.

Ireland Live at 6

Newsreader introduces local and national news from UTV Radio and UTV NI, along with international news stories from ITN/ITV, have on for an hour. Debate show at 10 with news headlines. Nothing expensive. Sorry gone of topic.

With 83m I still don't understand the cuts to content VMTV has made. (Just to bring this back on topic).

political analyst · 12-03-2022 10:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118775765#Comment_118775765

Given that VM3 is the former UTVI (it was be3 before the VM rebrand), it's not necessarily off-topic. I acknowledge that some good came from UTVI, i.e. the VMI deal for broadcasting of ITV Studios productions, including Poirot, Morse etc, as well as the soaps.

mackersdublin · 13-03-2022 5:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118773824#Comment_118773824

ITV3 & ITV4 are on the Virgin Media Ireland EPG - https://www.virginmediatv.ie/en/tv/tv-guide.html

ITV2 was removed shortly after UTV Ireland rebranded to VM Three if memory serves me right

iseegirls · 18-03-2022 6:59pm

Virgin Media More coming soon to Virgin Media TV customers (channel 100) no major press releases about it anyway, looks like shows like The Serpent will be on it, along with Bellator.

https://twitter.com/VirginMedia_TV/status/1504827464039632896?t=zeqEEqbwLuYPT5is6PJrkg&s=19

channelsurfer2 · 18-03-2022 8:09pm

Is it their version of sky Atlantic without all the programs..basically just holding back releases for this channel instead of vmtv1 etc..hardly worth subscribing to virgin for

Delta2113 · 19-03-2022 12:48am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118622459#Comment_118622459

Virgin is not getting out of sports broadcasting.

The Virgin Media Television thread

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