Irish television channels scheduled 784 films for broadcasts in the last 6 months. A total of 128 title were repeated over that same period. RTÉ One had the lowest number of repeats with just one repeat of the 193 films it scheduled, 3e had the highest number of repeats repeating 53 films over the period, having scheduled 113 altogether. Only 4.8% of all movies scheduled are of Irish origin, while just 2.6% come from outside Hollywood.

UTV Ireland should be welcomed on all platforms. There is no real reason for the Minister to designate it as a Public Service Broadcaster as there are many other laws that could be referenced before a minister would take the step of declaring the channel Public service in nature. It was wrong of TV3 to argue that UTV Ireland should not appear on Saorview, but it is also wrong for a Minister to declare something Public Service in nature to get around such arguments. After all we live in a democracy and really if it is government policy to set up a new Public service broadcaster then they should launch a transparent competition for that service, overseen by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI). It also does not mean that UTV Ireland will pay the same BAI levies as the other radio and TV broadcasters in the country or that UTV Ireland have any requirements for Irish programming.

TG4 will not really be effected by the introduction of UTV Ireland. TG4 from an Irish Language point of view is in a very weak position. It stands alone. Like TV3 its website lacks news, sports and entertainment, it’s basically a corporate website. They are to the fore of the on-demand being one of the first Broadcasters to actually provide such a service. TG4 suffers from its lack of connection with other Irish Language media. CnaG, TnaG and RnaG all have a responsibility to Irish Language media. Surely if as a country we are to support the Irish Language we should have a single broadcaster that can compete in a saturated English Language market. TG4 is a great station, its staff know their audience and can press buttons that other Irish channels just cannot. If TV3 or RTÉ2 took a look west they could push through.

TV3 have the biggest battle in 2015. This battle hasn’t been helped by management decisions to drop Coronation Street and Emmerdale. It’s conceivable that TV3 were playing hard ball in negotiations not expecting anyone to pick up the rights outside of TV3, let’s face it if ITV had approached RTÉ to see the shows return to RTÉ there would have been uproar from TV3 and it is possible that RTÉ wouldn’t have entered such negotiations with ITV. Whatever happened UTV Ireland now have the 2 top soaps from ITV and it is up to TV3 to fight this battle on the air. It is disappointing to see TV3 fail to move ITV programming to 3e over the last year, save for first runs of the soaps on TV3. Instead TV3 have continued to court those soaps including another repeat of The Coronation Street Year, a retrospective on the show.

RTÉ will possibly not be effected by the arrival of UTV Ireland as RTÉ ONE is largely a mainstream channel with a loyal audience, while RTÉ 2 tend to have a younger audience and sports. Unless UTV Ireland win the rights to UFEA Champions League from 2015, RTÉ 2 aren’t to be effected all that much, particularly as it gears up for The World Cup in 2016. Taking a look at the range of channels from RTÉ I don’t see much impact but lack of Drama on both channels will be a challenge for the channel as more and more international companies look to high end home produced dramas. The inability to repeat any Irish drama is also a big issue for fans of Irish Drama, think about it ask any 24 year old if they have heard of or seen Paths to Freedom or Batchelors’ Walk.

Irish TV broadcasters have not future proofed themselves. Over the last 10 years all broadcasters have been put through the mill. In 2006, Irish TV broadcasters had the best year in a decade. 55 per cent of the audience watched some type of TV from an Irish broadcaster. In the 7 years since Irish broadcasters have seen their audience fall to 45 per cent. This doesn’t take into consideration on-demand viewing but it remains a huge drop in terms of audience share, regardless if more people are watching later. The economic downturn is a possible reason for the fall of, but at the end of the day this excuse is used far too much