channel . for the tv3 group as a whole see tv3 group . tv3 launched 20 september 1998 owned by liberty global via tv3 group picture format 576i 16 9 and 4 3 sdtv 1080i hdtv audience share 8.4 % 31 december 2015 2 slogan we entertain country ireland sister channel s 3e tv3 hd timeshift service tv3 1 availability terrestrial saorview channel 3 satellite sky ireland channel 103 sd hd channel 117 1 channel 273 hd cable virgin media ireland channel 103 channel 119 1 channel 150 hd iptv eir tv channel 103 streaming media horizon go by virgin media watch live ireland only tv3 is a commercial free to air television network operated within ireland . the channel is owned by liberty global and operated through its subsidiary virgin media ireland . the channel launched on 20 september 1998 becoming the country s first commercial broadcaster . contents 1 history 2 tv3 1 3 tv3 hd 4 broadcasting policy 4.1 budget 4.2 product placement 5 irish produced programming 5.1 news and current affairs 5.2 sports programming 5.3 daytime programming 5.4 reality and entertainment programming 5.4.1 1998 2001 5.4.2 2002 2006 5.4.3 2007 2014 5.4.4 2014 present 5.5 drama 5.5.1 soap opera 5.6 youth and music programming 5.7 factual programming 5.8 lifestyle 5.9 imported programming 5.9.1 soaps 1998 2014 5.9.1.1 daytime 5.9.1.2 prime time 5.9.2 1998 2001 5.9.3 2001 2006 5.9.4 2006 2009 5.9.5 2009 2014 5.9.6 2015 present 5.9.6.1 tv3 s views on rt imports 6 on air presentation 6.1 continuity announcers 7 controversies 7.1 lack of original programming 7.2 play tv and brainbox 7.3 health of brian lenihan 7.4 psychic readings live 8 see also 9 references 10 external links history edit logo in 1989 at the irtc announcement of a third channel . in october 1988 the independent radio and television commission irtc was set up to regulate new independent stations . following this tv3 was intended to be the republic of ireland s third terrestrial channel . the original broadcasting licence was granted to a consortium tullamore beta ltd in 1990 some of this consortium made up of windmill lane productions and paul mcguinness . it was originally envisaged that the channel would broadcast solely on cable and analogue mmds but it was later 1990 decided that the channel should broadcast on some terrestrial uhf transmitters similar to other irish channels . initially their signal coverage was much poorer than that of rt but this has been largely addressed since the switchover to digital television . tv3 s broadcast was further delayed when irtc revoked the broadcasting licence due to delays in broadcasting the channel . after a court battle the licence was eventually restored in 1993 . by 1993 an agreement was made to sell 49 per cent of the company to utv to raise much needed cash for investment in facilities . however utv pulled out of negotiations in 1995 after tv3 tried to convince existing mmds and cable television providers to drop utv and replace it with tv3 . cable operators declined to drop utv northern ireland from its line up . in 1997 canadian communications company canwest bought a major stake in the new company . in 2001 granada purchased a 45 % share in the company . by 2006 the group was sold to doughty hanson & co. in 2015 liberty global confirmed it planned to purchase the tv3 group approval to purchase the broadcaster was given on 2 october 2015 by the ccpc . 1 2 tv3 1 edit a timeshift channel tv3 1 launched on 2 december 2014 on upc ireland . 3 the channel was added to sky ireland on 8 april 2015 . 4 however the channel is unavailable to viewers on saorview as tv3 are in dispute with its operator 2rn formerly a subsidiary of rt . 5 tv3 hd edit tv3 hd is a high definition version of tv3 both domestic and imported programming is available in hd mainly sporting content . tv3 hd launched on virgin media ireland and sky ireland on 11 august 2015 . 6 7 it is anticipated tv3 will utilize its existing tv3 sony hd studios in ballymount where a number of its shows already broadcast from such as ireland am xpos tonight with vincent browne and tv3 news . the service is currently unavailable on saorview . broadcasting policy edit tv3 broadcasts a wide range of programming which in its early years depended heavily on international acquisitions . in 2008 the tv3 group produced a three year strategy to increase the amount of homegrown productions on the channel . under its contract with the broadcasting commission of ireland bci tv3 is required since 2008 to have 30 % of its programming coming from ireland though tv3 now produces 40 % irish produced content most of this content comes from in studio productions such as ireland am and xpos . in 2010 tv3 announced a target of 50 % irish programming by 2012 . tv3 has also confirmed its plan to build a major new studio in 2011 which will be fully hd capable with audience capacity . 8 the company has a small staff of 200 employees to run two television channels and one on demand online service . on average tv3 spend about 10 million on internal productions which are generally for daytime viewers . it does not have a history of strong prime time content ; generally its home produced programmes consist of at least one independently produced programme e.g. the apprentice a number of internal documentaries such as ireland undercover and a number of bci licence fee funded independent products such as school run diary of ... and modern ireland . as of october 2009 tv3 claims to be the most watched television channel by people aged 15 24 years old . this group was previously captured by rt one . 9 this is an important group to capture as it is often these viewers whom advertisers wish to target . 10 in reaction to this press release from tv3 rt rebutted its claims stating that rt one outdoes tv3 in far more demographic categories and that tv3 s press release in terms of the selective audiences focussed upon by tv3 in their release it s clear this is a recent phenomenon and only pertains to a narrow sub demographic of young viewers in this country . by contrast the year to date equivalent 1 january 20 october all day national share sees rt one with a 16.2 % share of the 15 24s ; tv3 with a 13.3 % share . 11 budget edit in 2009 tv3 had revenues of 54 300 000 . 12 in the previous year 2008 tv3 received 62 million in advertising revenue . increases in programme cost during 2008 included new sporting contracts with the gaa and uefa the first renewal of its contract with the british broadcaster itv for shows such as the x factor and coronation street a small but significant increase in programmes commissioned from independent producers . it also increased investment in online technology with its online service earning a profit for the first time . in 2008 tv3 received 3 million in funding from the licence fee for independent productions on the channel . in 2009 two rounds of redundancies reduced tv3 staff to 213 people . staff savings have been augmented by agreed reductions in wages . the 200 staff working in tv3 now provide seven hours of live television five days a week an increase of two hours and a staff reduction of 50 since 2007 . in february 2012 the irish bank resolution corporation ibrc restructure tv3 s outstanding loans to the bank . the owners of tv3 doherty hanson & co. have loans of 140million with the bank . 51million will continue to be repaid over the next 5 years while 81.1 will be frozen until a liquidity event according to the ibrc this is in the event of a sale of tv3 . 13 product placement edit product placement within irish produced programming had previously been banned by broadcasting authorities in ireland though in the past irish viewers have been used to product placement as seen on us television and film productions . due to an eu ruling made in 2007 irish broadcasters can now place products within programming mainly entertainment shows though excludes programming which is deemed mainly news and current affairs and programming aimed at children . on 15 august 2011 it was confirmed that tv3 would become the first official broadcaster to implement the new broadcasting terms . kenco 14 reportedly paid tv3 group a six figure sum 15 to place its branding on two key early morning television shows mainly the morning show and midday from september 2011 . similar to rt and tg4 broadcasters will have to air the logo pp at the beginning and end of the show to inform viewers that products will appear on the show . rt television has previously used product placement on its series the late late show . irish produced programming edit see also list of programmes broadcast by tv3 ireland tv3 programming has often been criticised for having no distinctive clearly irish identity . 16 in spring 2008 a major effort was made by the station to change this situation . in general tv3 spends around 10 million on its irish productions each year . in 2008 it significantly increased the number of prime time shows produced in ireland . under current broadcasting legislation tv3 is required to use 15 % of its total irish production budget for independent productions . since 2004 independent productions for tv3 have been able to avail of the bai s sound and vision fund a fund provided to the broadcasting authority of ireland bai from the licence fee . in 2008 independent producers received 3million from the sound and vision fund for programming that they produced for tv3 . news and current affairs edit main article tv3 news tv3 news provides news on a number of different platforms . daily updates run on the channel each weekday with tv3 news bulletins on the hour and half hour from 07 00 until 10 00 . tv3 news also provided a lunchtime update with the 12 30 update and the afternoon update the 5 30 both hosted by the current main news anchor colette fitzpatrick . tv3 news also introduced a new prime time news bulletin at 20 00 news at 08 00 . late night news is provided by tonight with vincent browne which airs monday to thursday at 23 00 since 2008 . at the moment it doesn t provide a weekend news service . tv3 news updates are also available online through tv3.ie news video on demand through virgin media on demand and through 3player available online on mobile and on tablet . it is an affiliate of cnn . 17 sports programming edit main article tv3 sport ireland from its infancy tv3 aired a live sporting programme called sports tonight 1998 2009 hosted by trevor welsh . the show would air weeknights from 23 30 until its controversial cancellation on 23 march 2009 . 18 at its launch tv3 secured rights to number of republic of ireland exhibition matches . it joined forces with sky to provide deferred coverage of world cup qualifying games along with a programme dedicated to league of ireland games the soccer show and live coverage of league of ireland games . later those games moved to rt after the government chose to put those games on a live free to air footing . tv3 currently holds the irish broadcasting rights to 2018 for uefa champions league on tuesday nights while rt 2 covers wednesday nights and the final exclusively live . 19 which includes in vision sporting commentary and analysis by tv3 sport presenters and crew . coverage is presented by tommy martin