ONE DIRECTION RECORD 1ST PROGRAMME IN TV3?S SONY HD STUDIO

TV3 GROUP RELEASE
IMMEDIATE: Friday 12th October 2012

World’s biggest boy band visit Sony’s HD Studio Dublin to record an exclusive programme for TV3

Glenda Gilson gets the 1st interview with the band, which will air on tonight’s Xposé at 6

The world’s biggest boy band, One Direction, today arrived at TV3 to record an exclusive programme – One Direction: Our Story So Far at TV3’s new state of the art studios (Sony HD Studio).

The famous five sat down with Xpose’s Karen Koster to discuss how their lives have changed beyond their wildest dreams since One Direction were put together on The X Factor. Karen talks to the teen-idols about the incredible journey that has led them to become the biggest boy band on the planet, and asks them how it feels to be taking the world stage by storm. The boys also open up about their relationships with each other, their fans, and their upcoming album launch.

Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik also took some time out to chat to Glenda Gilson for an exclusive Xposé interview, which will air tonight at 6pm on TV3, and will be the first interview with the band to air since the boys touched down in Ireland. Throughout the exclusive interview, Glenda finds out exactly what One Direction have been up to over the past couple of months and asks the boys what they have in store for their fans.

Sony HD Studio’s Dublin will be officially opened towards the end of the year, but One Direction will go down in TV3 history having just completed the first ever recording to take place in the studio.

TV3’s new studio, Sony HD Studio’s Dublin, was completed in July 2012. At 500 square metres, it is not only a state-of-the art purpose built facility but also Ireland’s biggest purpose-built TV studio. The design of the studio was based on best international practice by broadcasters such as the BBC and SKY. The studio completes the upgrading of TV3 Group’s facilities following the installation of a HD transmission suite and infrastructure in 2010. TV3 Group has invested several million euros in the studio build, and has also agreed a multimillion euro deal with Sony.

The Sony HD Studio, Dublin will be used by TV3 to enhance its current studio output. It will also be used to produce and create a raft of new shows for the TV3 schedule as well as for the international market. The facility will also be available for independent producers in Ireland, and international broadcasters and producers.

One Direction’s Exclusive Xposé interview - Tonight at 6pm on TV3

One Direction: Our Story So Far – Thursday 18th October at 8.30pm on TV3

Brian McEvoy has sent the exclusive images to your picture desks and can be contacted at 086 250 9393 or brian@picturesinpublicity.com

ENDS.

For further information:
Maureen Catterson/ Ciara Byrne
TV3 PRESS OFFICE
+353 1 419 3430/ 329
+353 87 7800 737/ +353 87 319 9732
Maureen.catterson@tv3.ie
Ciara.byrne@tv3.ie
publicity@tv3.ie
www.tv3.ie

Notes to Editor

About TV3
TV3 Group is Ireland’s only free-to-air commercial TV broadcaster reaching over 3 million viewers every week across TV3, 3e and 3PLAYER. Our flagship channel TV3 is the second most watched channel by Irish Adults and watched by more Irish people than BBC One, BBC Two and UTV combined. 3e is Ireland’s number one digital channel with a focus on younger audiences and is continuing its fast pace of audience growth. Our multi award winning website TV3.ie is one of the country’s leading entertainment sites and home to 3Player which is our catch-up service. TV3 is the only national channel in the UK and Ireland to grow its audience share every year for the past three years which has resulted in TV3 becoming the number one channel for advertising to Adults under the age of 45. This audience growth has been driven by our increased focus on production with 40% of TV3’s schedule now produced in Ireland. This increase in production has also seen our content distributed internationally with our programmes sold to 31 countries in 2011 alone. With the launch of the Sony HD Studio Dublin, TV3’s capacity to produce more quality Irish programming is significantly increased which is an important element for the Group’s continued success. We look forward to welcoming other television producers to this world class facility which can support the development of a vibrant television sector in Ireland which can enhance the viewing for both Irish and international audiences.

About Sony
Sony is the leading supplier of AV/IT solutions to businesses across a wide variety of sectors including, Media and Broadcast, Video Security and Retail, Transport & Large Venue markets. It delivers products, systems and applications to enable the creation, manipulation and distribution of digital audio-visual content that add value to businesses and their customers. With over 25 years’ experience in delivering innovative market-leading products, Sony is ideally placed to deliver exceptional quality and value to its customers. Sony's Professional Services division, its systems integration arm, offers its customers access to the expertise and local knowledge of skilled professionals across Europe. Collaborating with a network of established technology partners, Sony delivers end-to-end solutions that address the customer's needs, integrating software and systems to achieve each organisation’s individual business goals. For more information please visit www.pro.sony.eu . Follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/sonyproeurope