Andrew Carey
UTV are to bring a new television channel to Ireland and it is expected to be served by their regional office in Limerick.
Owners of Limerick’s Live 95fm, UTV have announced plans to establish a new television channel thus creating 100 new jobs by 2015.
The company, who has offices in Dublin, Galway, Waterford Cork and in Limerick, said that an application to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) for a Content Provision Contract will be submitted this week.
In a statement, the company said the move follows the signing of an agreement which will give UTV the exclusive broadcasting rights for soaps such as Coronation Street and Emmerdale in the Republic. The new channel will be based in Dublin with additional newsgathering and reporting presence in Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick. UTV plans to have this new channel on air in early 2015.
It said it expects the new channel to breakeven in its first full year of operation and then move into profit from 2016.
“The audience in Ireland has known the UTV brand for more than 50 years through our station for Northern Ireland and we’re delighted to announce our plans for a new dedicated channel for viewers in the Republic of Ireland,” commented the company’s group chief executive John McCann.
