TV3 ANNOUNCES AUTUMN SCHEDULE DOMINATED BY NEW IRISH PROGRAMMES

TV3 GROUP RELEASE
IMMEDIATE: Thursday 20th August 2009

TV3 Announces Autumn Schedule Dominated by New Irish Programmes

1900 hours of Irish programming in 2009/10 season, over one-third of airtime

New Irish drama, factual and entertainment shows complete three-year transition to new schedule

Builds on ratings momentum as TV3 closes the gap on RTE1 and increases its strong lead over all other Irish and UK channels

TV3 today launched its autumn 2009 schedule at the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin, completing a three-year plan to create a new roster of programmes for the channel. The new schedule is dominated by Irish programming accounting for over a third of TV3’s airtime with 1900 hours output over a twelve month period.

Standouts in the schedule include the second series of The Apprentice followed by the new The Apprentice: You’re Fired show hosted by Brendan O’Connor in front of a live audience; The Forgotten Irish, a landmark two-part programme on Irish emigrants in London; Donal MacIntyre’s new six-part TV3 series Ireland’s Crime Capitals; a feature-length drama special, TV3’s contemporary take on Oscar Wilde, Laura Windermere’s Bag; the Irish Deal or No Deal in association with The National Lottery presented by magician Keith Barry; TV3’s first two-part drama series The Guards; a weekly business show Business Matters fronted by Ivan Yates; a major prime time current affairs show Midweek hosted by Colette Fitzpatrick and the return of live UEFA Champions League with anchor Matt Cooper.

TV3’s production unit, launched last year, will produce over 180 hours of peak time programmes, with new series including Nick’s Restaurant (the opening of Nick Munier’s Dublin venue), Healers (the world of alternative therapies), One Night in A&E, The Cosmetic Surgery Show and The Big Fat Diet Show; and the return of the award-winning Undercover Ireland series. It will also produce a range of one-off specials such as The Boyzone Story, The Westlife Story, Facing Death and Surviving the Recession.

To maintain TV3’s ratings momentum, as the station gains share on all its rivals in 2009, a select number of the best acquisitions on Irish TV return: family shows such as The X-Factor, I’m a Celebrity and America’s Got Talent; and the best UK and US dramas, The Tudors, Fringe, Coronation St., Emmerdale and All Saints. New acquisitions are led by the top shows from the 2009 LA Screenings; V (a remake of the classic series); Glee (part comedy, part drama, part musical) and the highly praised new US comedy Modern Family.
The schedule is anchored by TV3’s daily studio output, the most on Irish TV. Ireland AM – the show twice voted Favourite Irish TV show by viewers - is ten years old; The Morning Show with Sybil & Martin, TV3’s recently launched personal advice show; Midday which will adopt an all-female line-up with regular guests such as Amanda Brunker, Fiona Looney, Jules Fallon and Mary O’Rourke joining Colette Fitzpatrick; the News at 5.30 with anchor Alan Cantwell; Xposé (including new presenter Sean Munsanje) and Tonight with Vincent Browne.

Commenting today, David McRedmond CEO of TV3 said,

“We have stuck to our guns through the recession to deliver what we believe is the best schedule on Irish television. This is thanks to 200 of the hardest-working, most creative people in Irish media who, despite redundancies and pay-cuts, are delivering two channels and an online service, 1900 hours of Irish programmes and a growing share of the market. They have built a remarkable franchise of viewers and are delivering for the future with this totally modern slate of programming.”

TV3’s Director of Programming, Ben Frow said,

“We know what our viewers like – they like well made, intelligent programming - and this year we have produced a schedule that delivers this in abundance across all genres. We are taking risks with comedy, campaigning with our documentaries, experimenting with new ways to make drama and our entertainment shows are bigger than ever.

“It has been a fantastic year for TV3. I am proud and confident that this schedule signals a new standard for TV3 and reflects even greater things to come”

ENDS.

For more information on all the above programming and more please contact Maureen Catterson on +353 1 419 3430 / 087 780 0737 or Teresa Murray on +353 1 419 3428 / 085 174 4279, or email publicity@tv3.ie.

Photographs taken at the launch are available from Dave Cullen Photography 01 453 3303 / 087 2618192 or dave@davecullenphotography.com.

Notes to Editor

TV3 Group’s (TV3 and 3e) share for both Adults 15+ and Adults 15-34 is greater than BBC and UTV combined

TV3 Group’s (TV3 and 3e) share for both Adults 15+ and Adults 15-34 is greater than RTE2 and TG4 combined

TV3 is the only Irish terrestrial channel to increase its share amongst Adults, Housekeepers and Adults 15-34. Share of viewing amongst Adults 15-34 has gone up by 4% to 11.4. Adult share now stands at 11.8, meaning TV3 has strengthened its position as the second most watched channel in the country.

TV3’s audience is getting younger - there is a greater proportion of Adults 15-34 and Adults 35-44 amongst TV3’s audience in 2009 than in 2008.

Viewing to TV3’s Live GAA coverage was up 29% on 2008’s average. Overall, TV3’s Live GAA coverage in 2009 pulled in over 2.2m viewers to the channel.

The introduction of new home-produced shows such as The Morning Show and Midday has helped boost daytime viewing on TV3. The channel’s share of weekday daytime (Monday-Friday 0700-1759) for all Individuals has gone up to 13.1.

35% of TV3’s output in July was home-produced, which included sport, documentary, travel, entertainment, news and lifestyle programming.

Examples of successful home-produced shows this year include Living With Murder, which averaged 198,000 viewers per episode, and Ireland’s Top Ten, which posted a 15% share of Adults 15-24.

Nightly News with Vincent Browne has been an even bigger success in 2009 than it was last year. The programme averages 119,000 viewers per episode at 11pm and takes a 12.1 share of Adults ABC1.


*AGB Nielsen Media Research Ltd. figures based on January to July data.