Radio Telefis Eirann (RTE)
www.rte.ie
press@rte.ie

TV3
www.tv3.ie
sales@tv3.ie

Ireland (population 3,900,000) 

RTÉ (Radio Telefís Éirann) started life in the 20s, and is still the nation’s favourite broadcaster to this day. RTÉ-1 is dedicated mainly to current affairs coverage and news programming, with Network 2 a much better vehicle for eSCape tv product. TG-4 (Telefís na Gaelige) appeared in 1996, and broadcasts for six hours in Irish out of eleven, daily. See www.tg4.ie for more information here. eSCape tv’s Internet URL is one of very few internationally which carries an Irish Gaelic welcome page and sporadic content elsewhere in Irish. We shall be exploiting this USP in 2005, and a version of eSCape tv with Irish subtitling might well prove to be the carrot we need to dangle in this case.

TV-3 is a commercial channel, which has been on air since 1998, having spent ten years deliberating on the best moment to launch. Ireland’s four million population probably holds the key here, especially since British TV is also on offer. TV-3 has been co-owned (45%) by Granada Media since 2000. Granada Media produces roughly half of all new TV output in the UK. A further 45% was already owned by CanWest Global, of Canada, which holds a 30% stake in UTV (Ulster Television), across the border. UTV is also Eire’s second station. 

TV-3 is populist and entertainment-oriented, and is unlikely to be impressed by eSCape tv’s current format.

Irish cable covers all British terrestrial channels except for Channel 5, and MMDS (multipoint microwave distribution system) offers British output to 70% of households. Cable and MMDS are governed predominantly by NTL and Chorus. NTL also operates cable stations in Northern Ireland, the rest of the UK and Paris. Satellite-wise, Sky and Sky Digital are also available.

Public

RTÉ-1             28%

N-2                  8.9%

TG-4               1.8%

Private

TV-3                10.3

UK

UTV                            15.4%

C-4 Channel 4           4.5%

Sky One (satellite)     3.4%

Sky News (satellite)  1.5%

BBC-1                                    10%

BBC-2                                    4.8%

Other                           9.2%

Source: Loughrey, 2001.