Good Friday Committee Welcomes UTV Announcement

The Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement has welcomed an announcement that UTV is to establish a new all-Ireland channel based in Dublin.

The new channel will have an additional newsgathering and reporting presence in Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick.

It is thought 100 jobs will be created in the in the process.

UTV plans to have the new channel on air in early 2015.

Deputy McHugh said: "I warmly welcome the statement of intent by UTV this morning to apply to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland for a licence for a TV station and create 100 new jobs. UTV already have very substantial investments in a variety of local radio stations south of the border and this morning's announcement is a practical example of how a successful company is realising the potential of the all island economy. UTV have indicated that the new channel will have a significant news and current affairs component, and these ambitious plans of a key player on the Irish media landscape are to be welcomed."

John McCann, Group Chief Executive, UTV Media plc said: "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.

"UTV Media already has a very strong presence in the Republic of Ireland employing more than 300 people in our various businesses including our market leading Irish radio stations. We look forward to building on that success with the launch of a new Irish TV channel.

"After incurring start-up costs in 2014 we expect the new channel to breakeven in its first full year of operation and then move into profit from 2016."

Michael Wilson, Managing Director, UTV Television said: "UTV was the first commercial TV channel in Ireland when it launched as part of the ITV Network back in 1959 and for many years the only place where you could watch Coronation Street and the hugely popular ITV network programming.

"We intend to introduce UTV Ireland in early 2015 utilising the existing UTV winning formula of combining high quality news, current affairs, entertainment and drama."

(IT/CD)