Its flagship programme is the daily evening news from 5.30 pm with Colette Fitzpatrick; other programmes include news bulletins on Ireland AM, News at 12:30 and News at 7.
History
Early years
The service was first launched on September 20, 1998, then branded as TV3 News and later as 3News hosted by Grainne Seoige and Alan Cantwell. Virgin Media News launched its first news bulletin on September 20, 1998 under the TV3 News @ 6 branding airing Monday – Friday for an hour at 18:00, with half an hour bulletins on Saturdays and Sundays. A year later following a failed attempt to compete with RTÉ News: Six One this bulletin was moved to 17:30 and 19:00. Following the TV3 Group's acquisition of content from ITV and a schedule change the 19:00 bulletin was moved to News @ 6.30 eventually being dropped in April 2007. For a time, the 17:30 programme was called First Edition.
TV3 News Tonight, Late Edition or Nightly News was first broadcast on Monday 21 September 1998 at 23:00. It aired at 23:00 each weeknight for 30 minutes. It was hosted by either of its two main anchors each taking alternative nights. In 2008, TV3 News axed the late news in preference for TV3 Nightly News with Vincent Browne which also aired for 30 minutes until 2009 when the show was rebranded as Tonight with Vincent Browne. TV3 Nightly News continued to air on Friday nights until 2009 when it was replaced with The Political Party.
Later years
Following with tradition of other European broadcasters,[clarification needed] the broadcaster began a news service from Monday 30 March 2015.[citation needed] 'TV3 News at 8' has the same format as The 5:30 and The 12:30. Many European broadcasters have a news programme among its primetime schedule.[citation needed] In 2017, €3 million was invested in news output by the broadcaster featuring a "state of the art" studio which launched on 4 September 2017.[citation needed]
Sponsorship controversy
From September 2009, the programme[clarification needed] was renamed Tonight with Vincent Browne, after a deal was signed with Bank of Scotland (Ireland) to sponsor the programme. Due to legislation from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland and similar European Union rules preventing a news programme from being sponsored, it was no longer to be branded as "TV3 News" and officially considered to be an "entertainment/lifestyle" programme rather than news or current affairs.[2] The CEO of TV3 David McRedmond is also a Director of Bank of Scotland (Ireland).[3] The sponsorship was short lived.
Programming
Current Virgin Media News programmes
Ireland AM bulletins hosted by Siobhan Bastible, Geraldine Lynagh or Anne O'Donnell (Virgin Media One)
Virgin Media News at 12.30 with Colette Fitzpatrick (Virgin Media One)
Virgin Media News at 5.30 with Colette Fitzpatrick, Geraldine Lynagh and Caroline Twohig (Virgin Media One)
In house news documentaries include Ireland's Crime Capitals, a sensationalist show that observes crime in Ireland; Gift of Life, a three part special focusing on donor donations; Surviving the Recession, a one-off special looking at life in Ireland and the recession.
CNN on Virgin Media News
CNN, the American cable news channel, often airs on TV3 News when major breaking news stories are taking place, particularly major events in the United States. CNN made its first appearance on TV3 News on 11 September 2001. CNN services have also been availed of during the 2008 election of Barack Obama as President of the United States and the 2009 Death of Michael Jackson. As part of the 2012 United States presidential election, Virgin Media News confirmed that both CNN US and TV3 became media partners in the coverage in Ireland.[citation needed] CNN US reporters will[when?] regularly contribute to Virgin Media News programming.[citation needed]
Former programmes
Agenda was a political magazine show hosted by David McWilliams; it ran from 1998 to 2001 on Sunday mornings and repeated in the afternoon. The series returned as part of TV3's Autumn 2016 schedule however it only lasted a further season. The Political Party was a politically themed chat show, hosted by TV3's political editor Ursula Halligan, which originally aired Sundays at 17:00 before being moved to Fridays at 23:00 in late 2008. However the show was axed in March 2009 due to falling advertising revenues at the station. Both shows were produced independently of TV3.
In 2009, TV3 announced a new business show that would effectively replace the original slot held by both Agenda and The Political Party airing every Sunday at midday. The programme was called Business Matters. The series was hosted by Ivan Yates.[4]Business Matters began on 13 September 2009, but just lasted 19 episodes. The series was produced in house by TV3. In 2009, TV3 also started to broadcast the current affairs show Midweek, which airs weekly each Wednesday night and focuses on the latest political and topical issues affecting Ireland.
Midweek was hosted by TV3 News presenter Colette Fitzpatrick. The show began on 16 September 2009. It was a much more tabloid version of other current affairs shows on Irish television dealing with issues such as mail-order brides, alternative medicine, gangland crime, etc. Midweek aired on Wednesdays at 22:00. In July 2014 it was announced that Midweek would not be returning instead it is to be replaced by a special documentaries unit at TV3.[5]
From the station's launch, a 30-minute news bulletin was broadcast at weekends. However, in December 2008, these weekend bulletins were reduced to five minutes, this cut blamed on a downturn in advertising revenues. According to The Sunday Business Post, TV3 had to cut 15 jobs and 15 freelance jobs in the company to save money.
TV3 News aired at the beginning of Midday. As of 2 June 2014 TV3 News no longer airs at the beginning of Midday as the show begins at 11:30.
Friday Late with Vincent Browne appeared in 2011 and was a more relaxed version of the heavy political debate of Tonight with Vincent Browne. After successful ratings of the more easy-going Friday night election specials in the run-up to the 2011 Irish general election, which often featured Marie-Louise O'Donnell as guest, TV3 chose to continue in the same vein with a new spin-off show entitled Friday Late with Vincent Browne, presented from the Ireland AM studio by Vincent Browne, and taking on The Late Late Show, presented by Ryan Tubridy on RTÉ One. Friday Late with Vincent Browne featured guests such as Ray D'Arcy, Linda Martin and Jedward in its first episode. Subsequent episodes featured guests such as David McSavage and Paddy Cole. Browne introduced entrepreneur Norah Casey as "Norah Carey".[6] It was soon discontinued.
3e News broadcast on TV3's sister channel 3e. It was aimed at the 15- to 36-year-old age group. It is presented by Caroline Twohig (News), Paul Walsh (Sport) and Cassie Stokes (Technology). Reports are sourced from the TV3 newsroom, however TV3 state that the news content is entirely different from that of TV3 News at 5:30. 3e News broadcast daily from the TV3 newsroom at 18:00 Monday to Friday.[7]
3e also broadcast regular one-minute news updates. The programme first started broadcasting shortly after TV3 renamed Channel 6 as 3e. The updates last for one minute, and start at 19:00 and broadcast thereafter, every hour, at 20:00, and 21:00. The programme gives viewers a one-minute news summary, with all of the days main news headlines.
3e News was renamed FYI (For Your Information) from 10 March 2010. The show's presenters remain on in their current roles and the format of an interactive news aimed at the 15- to 35-year-old age group remains. It also featured the 'Top 5 Downloads' which are five internet clips at the end of every 18:00 show.[8]
Virgin Media One, also called Virgin One, is an Irish free-to-air television channel owned by Virgin Media Ireland, operated through its subsidiary Virgin Media Television. The channel launched on 20 September 1998, as TV Three, becoming Ireland's fourth television channel and the first commercial channel. It was known as TV3 from 2006, and then as Virgin Media One from 30 August 2018. The channel broadcasts a mix of Irish programming and acquired programming from ITV and other networks.
Virgin Media Two, also called Virgin Two, is an Irish free-to-air television channel operated by Virgin Media Television.
Ireland AM is an Irish morning television show on Virgin Media One. It airs live every weekday from 07:00 to 09:55, and weekends from 9:00 to 12:00. The program features news, current affairs, weather updates, showbiz, fashion, beauty, food, health, home and garden. Its current weekday presenters are Alan Hughes, Muireann O'Connell and Tommy Bowe.
Xposé is an entertainment, fashion and beauty programme that aired on Irish television from 2007 to 2019.
Colette Fitzpatrick is one of the main news anchors at Virgin Media News, since September 2006. She is a native of Holycross, Thurles, County Tipperary.
Virgin Media News at 5.30 is the flagship evening news programme on the Irish television network Virgin Media One. It is produced by the Virgin Media News division. Presented by main news anchor Colette Fitzpatrick, the thirty-minute news programme covers Irish national and international news stories daily.
Tonight with Vincent Browne,, was a news analysis, current affairs and politics programme which was broadcast on Ireland's TV3 from 2007 to July 2017. Its time on air coincided with the premierships of Brian Cowen and Enda Kenny, bookended by the conclusion of Bertie Ahern's premiership and the initial weeks of Leo Varadkar's. The Tonight Show, hosted by Ivan Yates (initially) and Matt Cooper, replaced it in mid-September 2017.
Midweek was an Irish weekly television news magazine broadcast by TV3. Produced by TV3 News, the programme focused more on human interest stories than international and political subjects. It aired Wednesday at 22:00.
The following is a list of events relating to television in Ireland from 2009.
The following is a list of events relating to television in Ireland from 2010
The following is a list of events relating to television in Ireland from 2011.
The following is a list of events relating to television in Ireland from 2014.
The following is a list of events relating to television in Ireland from 2015.
Ireland Live was an Irish television news and current affairs service produced by UTV Ireland. Ireland Live featured national, international and regional news, including extended reports, interviews and sports coverage during its flagship hour-long programme at 10pm on weeknights. UTV Ireland's chief news anchor was Alison Comyn.
The following is a list of events relating to television in Ireland from 2016.
Cassie Stokes is a television presenter with TV3.
The following is a list of events relating to television in Ireland from 2017.
This is a timeline of the history of commercial television in the Republic of Ireland.
Sarah McInerney is an Irish radio and TV presenter and reporter, notable for her work with RTÉ, TV3 / Virgin Media One and Newstalk, and a print journalist, notably having worked with the Sunday Tribune and The Sunday Times. From County Galway and with a degree in journalism from Dublin City University, she co-presents RTÉ's main commute-time radio programme, Drivetime, and RTÉ's flagship current affairs TV programme, Prime Time.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
