TV3 announces its ?most ambitious schedule ever?.

TV3 PRESS RELEASE
IMMEDIATE: Wednesday 7th May 2014

 

·         Spend on originated programming exceeds 60% of content budget.

·         New soap drama with working title ‘Red Rock’ will air in January 2015, employing over 100 people.

·         Major entertainment co-productions to appeal to national audience and international market.

·         New talent includes comedian Jason Byrne and economist and broadcaster David McWilliams.

·         TV3’s IPU doubles output to over 100 hours in 2015.

TV3, Ireland’s most successful commercial broadcaster, today updated the media industry on its programming plans and strategy into 2015 at an ‘Upfronts’ launch in the Shelbourne Hotel. For the first time, TV3’s programming spend on originated content exceeds its spend on acquisitions. The focus on originated content follows the opening last year of the TV3 Sony HD Studio and TV3’s growth in Irish programming in recent years.

 

Jeff Ford, Director of Content, announced a 2015 schedule built across six genres;

 

Soap; Under the direction of Element Pictures Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe, Company Pictures, soap guru, John Yorke and writer Peter McKenna, TV3 will launch its first originated soap drama with the working title “Red Rock” which will be broadcast twice weekly from January 2015.

 

Entertainment co-productions; TV3 will launch two major entertainment co-productions; Sitting On A Fortune with Zodiak RDF, and Algorithm with Soshefeigh Media, both of which will be filmed in the TV3 Sony HD Studio. Returning to TV3 will be the hugely successful game show The Lie, co-produced by 3Studios and STV. Separately, it was today revealed that TV3 has bought the rights to create an Irish version of Channel 4’s hit show Gogglebox.

 

Key acquisitions; Top acquisitions from 2015 exclusive to TV3 are X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent while TV3 has secured Downton Abbey for life of series.

 

Sport and Events; TV3 will air the largest ever sport’s event on Irish TV, the 2015 Rugby World Cup, for which TV3 has exclusive rights to the whole tournament. 2015 also sees the return of UEFA Champions’ League and Europa League football to TV3 and 3e.

Originated factual; TV3’s Independent Production Unit will double its output from 50 to 100 hours in 2015. New factual series from the IPU will be Paramedics (following such successes as Children’s Hospital and Midwives), Islanders filmed on the West Coast of Ireland, 24 Hour Shelter and Lazy Chef, hosted by Simon Lamont.

 

The Great Irish Bake Off returns alongside co-productions such as Ireland’s Oyster Empire based in Co. Louth and Paul Kelly’s Masterclass, presented by the Great Irish Bake Off judge.

 

Also returning to TV3’s schedule from 2015 will be Keith Barry’s wildly successful Brain Hacker. To date, Brain Hacker has been sold in over 76 countries including New Zealand, Poland, China and across South America.

 

New talent; New talent announced today included comedian Jason Byrne alongside crime reporter Donal MacIntyre and economist, author and broadcaster David McWilliams. Jason will host a new chat show/stand up series in 2015 while Donal will present a new investigative series called Donal MacIntyre Investigates.

 

Full details of the 2014/2015 schedule will be presented at TV3 Group’s autumn launch in September 2014.

 

David McRedmond, CEO, confirmed Q1 2014 as the best quarter’s trading for TV3 Group since 2008, with revenues up 5%, including a 60% year-on-year increase in digital revenues. This follows the successful long-term re-financing of TV3’s debt in 2013 and an increase in the number of TV3’s employees to 267, the most ever employed by the company.

 

TV3 Group CEO David McRedmond, said: “2015 is TV3’s most ambitious schedule ever. Since 2007, TV3 has committed to developing a schedule based predominantly on home-produced programming. Last year we opened the TV3 Sony HD Studio. Now in 2015 originated content will account for the majority of TV3’s programming spend. This is a schedule which meets the vision of TV3 from its foundation: a unique broadcaster providing choice for Irish viewers and an engine for the sector in Ireland.”

 

 

TV3 Group Director of Content Jeff Ford said: “2015 will be a landmark year for TV3 that will see the group invest the most it has ever done on home produced originated programming and a number of major entertainment co-productions. Our strategy benefits both the advertiser and viewers in a way that bought-in acquired programming cannot. Wholly owned programming gives advertisers greater control and flexibility and much deeper engagement with their audience than acquired content and a foreign schedule. The viewer also benefits as the content is relevant to them, engaging and compelling. As Ireland’s leading commercial broadcaster, these are exciting times for TV3 and I look forward to fulfilling our strategic goals across our six programming genres that will define us against our competitors in 2015 and beyond; ‘Soap’, ‘Entertainment co-pro’s’, ‘Key Acquisitions’, ‘Sport and Events’, ‘Originated Factual’ and last but not least ‘Talent’.”

 

 

Please see Notes to Editor for more information across the various genres

Photographs taken at the launch are available from Brian McEvoy Photography

086 250 9393 or brian@picturesinpublicity.com

 

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Sharon McHugh

Head of Press and Publicity

+353 1 419 3430 / 087 922 4143

publicity@tv3.ie

 

Ciara Byrne

Press Officer

+353 1 419 3329 / 087 319 9732

publicity@tv3.ie

 

 

Notes to the Editor

 

TV3 SOAP

 

Element Pictures

Element Pictures, which is jointly run by Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe, with offices in Dublin and London, is most notable for successful movie productions like The Guard, What Richard Did and Garage and Palme d’Or winner The Wind That Shakes The Barley. TV Shows include the Gabriel Byrne series Quirke and the upcoming Charlie for RTE. Element also distribute films and own the Light House Cinema in Smithfield. Ed Guiney previously worked on productions like Bachelors Walk and Pure Mule.

 

 

More about Element Pictures

Element Pictures works across production, distribution and exhibition. Upcoming Element productions include Yorgos Lanthimos’ first English language film, The Lobster, due to shoot in Ireland in Spring 2014 and Room, an onscreen adaptation of Emma Donaghue’s award-winning best-selling novel to be directed by Lenny Abrahamson. In post-production is Charlie, a three-part drama for RTÉ with Touchpaper Television, starring Aiden Gillen as Charlie Haughey, and Glassland, Gerard Barrett’s follow up feature to the critically acclaimed Pilgrim Hill, starring Jack Reynor and Toni Collette. Current productions include Abrahamson’s latest film Frank, starring Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson and Maggie Gyllenhaal, which premiered to great acclaim at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and will screen at South by Southwest 2014 in March, and Ken Loach’s upcoming film Jimmy’s Hall, a co-production with Sixteen Films. Other recent films include What Richard Did (Lenny Abrahamson), starring Jack Reynor, which opened to great acclaim at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival; Shadow Dancer (James Marsh) starring Clive Owen and Andrea Riseborough; The Guard (John Michael McDonagh), starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle (currently the most successful independent Irish film of all time); and The Wind That Shakes the Barley (Ken Loach), starring Cillian Murphy, which won the Palme d’Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.

 

Element Pictures Distribution handles all of STUDIOCANAL’s slate in Ireland including The Double, Rush, The Bling Ring and Broken Circle Breakdown, and past films Beasts of the Southern Wild, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Submarine, and Carnage; Element Pictures Distribution also handles direct acquisitions such as Pilgrim Hill, What Richard Did, Silence, Grabbers, The Guard, Parked, Sensation, and Garage.

 

Element also operates an online video on demand platform, Volta.ie, which focuses on the finest of Irish and international films. Additionally, Element runs and operates the Light House Cinema, one of Dublin’s premiere art house cinemas, screening the best of Irish and world cinema, as well as re-runs of classics and special events and seasons, ranging from celebrating the works of the Coen brothers to that of Ennio Morricone. 

Company Pictures

Company Pictures is best known in the UK for hit TV shows such as Skins and Shameless.

 

Company Pictures is under the direction of John Yorke, previously the Controller of Drama Production at the BBC and Head of Drama at Channel 4 - responsible for, amongst many others Life On Mars, Shameless, Bodies, Holby City, Casualty and Waterloo Road. He was Executive Producer of EastEnders from 2000-2002 where he introduced a fourth weekly episode and was responsible for big ratings winners such as "Who Shot Phil?", Ethel Skinner's death, Jim Branning and Dot Cotton's marriage Trevor and Little Mo’s abuse story, and Kat Slater's revelation to her daughter Zoe that she was her mother.

 

More about Company Pictures

Company Pictures is one of the UK's largest independent film and television drama production companies.

 

Established in 1998 by Charlie Pattinson and George Faber, television production highlights include Elizabeth I (winner of three Golden Globes, four Primetime EMMYs and an Ivor Novello Award), eleven series' of Shameless (Channel 4: BAFTA, RTS, Broadcast, British Comedy, IFTA, Indie, Remark, Mental Health Media and International EMMY awards winner), seven series' of Wild at Heart, seven series' of Skins (E4/Channel 4), seven George Gently films (BBC 1), Generation Kill written by the creators of The Wire (HBO; Gracie and three Creative EMMY awards), The Devils Whore (Channel 4: three RTS and two Broadcasting Press Guild Awards), The Silence starring Maxine Peake and (BBC1: AMI Award for Best Television Drama, two IFTA Awards and a Crime Thriller Award), The Shadow Line starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christopher Ecclestone and Rafe Spall (BBC1: Writers Guild and Crime Thriller awards winner), Beaver Falls starring Samuel Robertson, Arsher Ali and John Dagleish (E4), Secret State starring Gabriel Byrne, Charles Dance and Rupert Graves (Channel 4: nominated for Best TV Movie International EMMY Award), The Village starring Maxine Peake and John Simm (BBC1) and The White Queen starring Rebecca Ferguson and Max Irons (BBC1).

 

In the past Company Pictures has produced The Lakes by Jimmy McGovern, A Young Person's Guide to Being a Rockstar (RTS award Best Serial) for Channel 4 and Warner Bros, Not Only But Always... (Channel 4: BAFTA winner: Rhys Ifans Best Actor) and Life and Death of Peter Sellers (HBO: winner of two Golden Globe Awards for Best TV Movie and Best Actor for Geoffrey Rush and fifteen EMMYs).

Company has made five feature films with some of the UK's leading directing talent including films by Roger Michell, Stephen Hopkins, Penny Woolcock, Shane Meadows and Lynne Ramsey.

 

Amongst its numerous awards Company Pictures won Best Independent Production Company at the 2005 and 2008 Broadcast Awards and the European Producers of the Year Award at the 2004 Monte Carlo Awards.

 

Peter McKenna

Peter McKenna has written extensively for film, television and stage.  Most recently he has completed episodes of BBC One Drama Series Frankie and The Musketeers (Series 1 & 2) - and has just been commissioned by BBC to adapt the crime thriller, The Lost, for television. 

 

In 2010 Peter became the first Irish writer to be selected for the prestigious BBC Writers Academy. This led to him writing regularly for Doctors, EastEnders, Casualty and Holby City.

 

His television pilot, In Vitro, is in development with Company Pictures (London). And Peter has co-authored a romantic comedy Love Gods with Irish writer Brian Lynch, which has been optioned by Grand Pictures.

 

He is currently creating and writing a new soap for TV3 with the working title Red Rock.

 

His other Irish television credits include On Home Ground (Littlebird/RTE), Fair City (RTE), Legend (Ice Box/RTE) and The Clinic (Parallel Productions/RTE), where he was appointed Head Writer and Story Consultant.

 

In 2009 he received both an Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) nomination and Irish Screenwriters & Playwrights Guild Zebbie Award nomination for "Best Television Script".

 

Peter has also written and directed two short films Bovine, and Racing Homer, which won the Irish Film Board "Short Cuts Award". And his critically acclaimed play Missing Football received the OZ Whitehead Award for Best Irish One Act Play.

 

 

ENTERTAINMENT / CO-PRODUCTIONS

 

Sitting on a Fortune

TV3’s brand game show Sitting On A Fortune sees players earn money for doing absolutely nothing! Three couples sit in pairs on our iconic seats over three rounds, where each couple must get up off their seats to solve a puzzle – but there’s a catch! As each pair is solving a puzzle, they are against the clock which counts up in euros and cents, increasing the money going to the other players sitting down. The longer it takes a couple to solve a puzzle, the more money the other two couples could win! Once a twosome thinks they have their puzzle cracked they must dash to their seats to find out if they are correct. If not, their chairs will react getting them back onto their feet, indicating that they must return to the game zone to keep trying to crack their puzzle while their competitors look on, smugly raking in more cash. In the final round, the highest-scoring couple must work together to bring home all the cash they have earned.

 

3 Studios / RDF/Zodiak

 

Algorithm

Coming soon to primetime on TV3, it’s the ultimate man versus machine game show!

Groups of families/friends will try and climb the prize money ladder by trying to predict one of their own team member’s answers – a player who’s been sequestered in a soundproof cube on stage.

 

Sounds easy enough if you know your team member inside out but there’s a lurking threat – The Algorithm.  Before the game begins, the isolated team member must answer 100 questions compiled using sophisticated consumer/personality testing systems.  The answers go straight to The Algorithm, now armed and ready to make its own predictions.

 

So, will the family or group of mates agree on how well they know their own player and match their answers correctly?  Or will The Algorithm, with its sophisticated statistical system, beat them out of the game?

 

3 Studios / Soshefeigh Media

 

CONTINUING…

 

Keith Barry: Brain Hacker

Keith Barry: Brain Hacker has captured the imagination of broadcasters worldwide and has now been sold to 76 countries including New Zealand, Poland, China and across South America.

 

The Lie

The Lie is an exhilarating game show hosted by Jonathan McCrea that gives contestants the chance to win big money; all they have to do is survive a nail-biting series of rounds, risking an increasing amount of cash on their ability to spot the lie.

 

The Lie, co-produced with STV, has been sold as a format in France (in a bidding war) and acquired by Endemol for several other EU countries

 

 

3 Studios / STV Productions

 

 

KEY ACQUISITIONS

 

The X Factor

TV3 has locked down the broadcast rights to the X Factor for the next three years meaning we’ve lots to look forward to as the entertainment show gets set to return with Cheryl Cole and Simon Cowell. The Syco produced talent show has been airing since 2004 and ten years later is a ratings winner for TV3.

 

Britain’s Got Talent

Like X Factor, TV3 has also secured the rights to exclusively broadcast Britain’s Got Talent in Ireland for the next three years. Presented by Ant & Dec, it is a search for Britain's next best talent act featuring singers, dancers, comedians, variety acts, and other talents of all ages. Anyone who believes they have talent is encouraged to audition. The winner(s) of the series receives £100,000 and are given the opportunity to perform at the Royal Variety Performance in front of members of the Royal Family, including the Queen. This year, Britain’s Got Talent came to Ireland in search of possible stars.

 

Downton Abbey

TV3 has secured the period drama for its run of life, meaning for however long Downton Abbey continues to be made, TV3 will have the exclusive broadcast rights in the Republic of Ireland.

 

 

MOVIES

TV3 has inked a series of valuable movie deals with Sony, Universal, Warner Bros and Fox.

 

The deals give TV3 the rights to premiere broadcast box office hits like Rise of the Planets of the Apes and X-Men: First Class. It also includes The Simpsons Movie, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Kids favourite Ice Age: The meltdown, as part of its stable.

 

The Fox deal includes a major new drama series, currently airing on TV3, called Crisis. Starring Gillian Anderson (Hannibal, X-Files) and Dermot Mulroney (Enlightened), Crisis tells the story of about an FBI agent swept up in a hostage drama which involves the children of America's most powerful families. It has all the ingredients of a gripping suspense and action fuelled series.

 

The Warner Bros deal includes a new comedy series entitled Undateable (not to be confused with Channel 4’s The Undateables).

 

SPORT

TV3 announced in April that it has the Irish rights to broadcast next year’s Rugby World Cup. The announcement was made by both TV3 and Rugby World Cup Limited at a press conference in Dublin.

 

Under the terms of the deal, TV3 will manage the broadcast of live coverage of all 48 matches and will also deliver a TV, digital and mobile highlights offering. All of the Ireland matches and final stages of the tournament will be broadcast free to air. TV3, as the broadcaster with the most advanced HD infrastructure in Ireland, is currently in discussion with platform operators to carry TV3 HD from mid-2015. Niall Cogley, TV3 Group director of broadcasting will be the executive producer of TV3s coverage. The tournament takes place in England and Wales from September 18th to October 31st 2015.

 

UEFA Champions League

UEFA Champions League continues. TV3 has the pick of Tuesday’s big matches live, with highlights of the night’s other group games. Tommy Martin is joined by a team of experts to analyse the action over the course of the season.

 

UEFA Europa League

UEFA Europa League continues. Tommy Martin will be joined by a team of experts to analyse the action.

 

 

NEWS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS

 

The People’s Debate with Vincent Browne

This is democracy television. The People’s Debate with Vincent Browne is a monthly, two-hour-long debate style show broadcast in front of a live TV3 Sony HD Studio audience. With a diverse range of hard-hitting, intelligent and probing topics, The People’s Debate with Vincent Browne has no boundaries as it deals with serious, topical matters in Ireland from current affairs and political discussion to economics and the affairs of the nation.  The motion for debate is different every month.

 

TV3 News and Public Affairs Productions

 

Tonight with Vincent Browne

The analytical Vincent Browne continues to win over audiences with his unique style of interviewing. Returning this autumn, Vincent will continue extracting answers out of interviewees with his controversial, argumentative style of questioning. 

 

Midweek

TV3’s hugely popular Midweek returns for a fifth season, delving deep into the major news stories of the week, with recaps, debates, analysis, expert panels and breaking news. Reflecting the human stories behind the headlines at home and abroad, Midweek asks the questions the public want answered.

 

News at 12:30

TV3’s 12.45 News will be extended by fifteen minutes and will now air at the earlier time of 12.30pm – 1.00pm. Presented by Colette Fitzpatrick, this half hour bulletin provides a snapshot of breaking stories and live interviews with all the important information that viewers need for their lunchtime news update.

 

fyi.

fyi. returns to bring you everything you need to know from home and abroad, whether it’s on the streets or on the web. Caroline Twohig and Paul Walsh deliver web and internet stories, top downloads, showbiz news, sport and international news, along with the best of Irish content.

 

 

ORIGINATED FACTUAL

 

Donal MacIntyre Investigates

TV3 will create 8-10 new investigative shows with Donal MacIntyre for air in 2015.

Donal MacIntyre is an award winning investigative reporter and documentary maker whose expertise in crime and the underworld has been broadcast in over 70 countries over the last 15 years. He has won two Royal Television Society Awards and is also, a Sundance selected director, for his cinema documentary feature ' A Very British Gangster' which was part financed by TV3. His investigations and exposes have carried with them real edge and insight. He has worked primarily for ITV and BBC and has worked on three series for TV3 over the last year. Most recently, he presented the acclaimed 'Print and Be Damned', which was broadcast in 2013. Donal continues to work for ITV, Five and TV3 and is a crime specialist for the Sunday World. In addition, he lectures to forensic psychology and criminology M.A. students as visiting professor at Birmingham City University, Applied Centre of Criminology.

 

3 Studios

 

The Lazy Chef

Simon Lamont is the Lazy Chef; he loves great tasting, simple, innovative food and loves finding ways to produce it in an easy, no-nonsense style. He works hard and plays hard, but wants to relax with some quality food that is effortless, quick and most importantly, delicious.

 

Over the course of this series, Simon will travel by any means necessary through parts of Ireland, locating fresh produce and meeting some interesting and passionate people along the way. So get the beers out and enjoy the journey as Simon lets us in on a few tips and tricks to help attain his easy-going approach to cooking.

 

(6 x 30) TV3 Studios

 

 

NEW TALENT

 

Jason Byrne

Jason Byrne will work on a new show format with TV3 for 2015. The biggest selling comedian at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Jason Byrne’s inspired, original brand of high-energy intelligent lunacy ensures that there is no other comedian like him and his sell out shows have attracted accolades including the highly coveted Perrier Newcomer Award Nomination and the Perrier Award Nomination.

 

His television credits include Live at the Apollo (BBC One), Comedy Annual (ITV1), Dave’s One Night Stand (Dave), The Channel 4 Comedy Gala (Channel 4), John Bishop’s Only Joking (Sky One) and Anonymous (RTE2).

 

Jason’s radio credits include Just A Minute (BBC Radio 4), And The Winner Is… (BBC Radio 2) and of course, Father Figure (BBC2). He has also hosted three series’ of The Jason Byrne Show (BBC Radio 2), for which he won the Sony Radio Gold Award for Best Comedy in 2011.

 

Donal MacIntyre

Donal MacIntyre is an award winning investigative reporter and documentary maker whose expertise in crime and the underworld has been broadcast in over 70 countries over the last 15 years. He has won two Royal Television Society Awards and is also, a Sundance selected director, for his cinema documentary feature ' A Very British Gangster' which was part financed by TV3. His investigations and exposes have carried with them real edge and insight. He has worked primarily for ITV and BBC and has worked on three series for TV3 over the last year. Most recently, he presented the acclaimed 'Print and Be Damned', which was broadcast in 2013. Donal continues to work for ITV, Five and TV3 and is a crime specialist for the Sunday World. In addition, he lectures to forensic psychology and criminology M.A. students as visiting professor at Birmingham City University, Applied Centre of Criminology.

 

David McWilliams

David McWilliams is one of Ireland’s leading economic commentators and was the first economist to identify the Irish boom as nothing more than a credit bubble, warning of its collapse and the consequences for the country. His objective is to make economics as widely available and easily understandable on as many platforms as possible.

 

He is a writer, journalist, lecturer, broadcaster and documentary maker and has written four bestsellers, presented award-winning documentaries and brought a sell-out, one-man economics stand-up show to the stage at Ireland’s renowned national theatre, the Abbey.  He writes two economics columns a week in the Irish newspapers and is the co-founder of the world’s only economics festival www.kilkenomics.com - an eclectic combination of economics and stand-up comedy, described by The Australian as “Davos without the hookers”.

 

David has just launched his new online economics course – “Economics without Boundaries” – partnering with Udemy and a series of animated economics videos – Punk Economics – viewed by 700,000 people so far. He is also behind Ireland’s “Young Economist of the Year” competition aimed at getting teenagers interested in economics.

Once upon a time he had a real job working as an economist first in the Irish Central Bank and later in the financial markets with UBS and Banque Nationale de Paris. He studied economics at Trinity College Dublin and the College of Europe in Bruges.

 

3e

 

Graham Norton

Now a big part of the 3e stable, Graham Norton is joined by celebrity guests weekly to discuss what's being going on around the world that week.

 

The guests poke fun and share their opinions on the main news stories that have happened. Graham is often joined by a band or artist to play the show out with. And we mustn’t forget the big red chair!

 

Family Guy

The Griffins continue their animated presence on TV3 this autumn, where the surreal adventures of Peter, Lois, Chris, Meg, Stewie and Brian are sure to keep us entertained.

 

American Dad!

American Dad! follows the escapades of Stan Smith, an extreme right-wing CIA agent dealing with family life and keeping America safe, all in the most irrational ways possible.

 

Uploaded

Gordon Hayden returns to continue his journey across the internet! Uploaded is back for season 6 where we can expect the usual array of internet clips. The internet has become a haven for the most bizarre things ever caught on film and Uploaded is here to show you the best of it!