TV3 to retain 'Coronation Street' money spinner until next year

Media&Marketing Emmet OliverTV3 has informed advertisers that its top-rated shows like Coronation Street and Emmerdale, which bring in significant advertising revenue for Ireland's second biggest station, will be retained until the end of 2007.

Both shows are ultimately the property of ITV, but it now looks like it will sell its 45 per cent stake in TV3 within weeks. This has raised questions among many advertisers about whether TV3 would be able to retain its primetime ratings without such shows. Coronation Street is the jewel in the crown for TV3, both financially and in terms of ratings. For example, during several periods last year, it picked up an audience of more than 400,000 adults. This would have put it among RTÉ's top 20 programmes. While Emmerdale is not remotely as important, it is still a programme TV3 would like to retain.

Its now six years since Coronation Street left the RTÉ stable and moved to TV3, which is owned by Canadian media group CanWest Global, ITV and a small group of Irish investors.

At that point many people speculated it could be an almost fatal financial wound for RTÉ. This has not proven to be the case. Doughty Hanson, a private equity group, has lodged a bid for TV3 and unless ITV activates its pre-emption rights and agrees to match this bid, TV3 will end up owned by Doughty Hanson.

Steve Bone, head of Doughty Hanson, recently told The Irish Times he was confident ITV would maintain a business relationship with TV3 in future. But it is unclear how TV3 will bind in ITV in the period after the current arrangements run out. RTÉ, which is in rude good health, has recently been showing an aggressive streak in buying in new programmes and new presenting talent.

The broadcaster has recently concluded deals for the rights to the rugby Six Nations and English Premiership, and signed up established broadcasters like Eamon Dunphy and Gráinne Ní Seoige from Sky. With its profits and turnover at their highest levels in recent memory, the station would be well positioned to win back Coronation Street in two years time. TV3 will meanwhile be depending on the loyalty of ITV.

Ads on 'Wall Street'

The US newspaper the Wall Street Journal, often described as a paper "read by the rich and the powerful", has decided to sell advertisements on its front page for the first time in decades.

The new adverts are available every day in the paper in the "jewel box" position, which is located in the lower right-hand corner of the front page. There will also be a banner ad running along the bottom of the page, said a spokesman for the Dow Jones, the publisher of the paper. He said the 117-year-old Journal used to run front-page adverts more than 50 years ago, but had dropped them, along with most other major US newspapers.

"As we and marketers have reviewed the role of different media, it's clear that there is no more powerful medium for brand and product marketing than high-impact print advertising," said L Gordon Crovitz, executive vice-president of Dow Jones.

Many papers across the US still do not permit advertising on their front pages, but the threat from online alternatives is forcing traditional titles to come up with more imaginative ways to bring in advertising revenue.

Christian radio

While Mass attendances have fallen sharply over recent years in the Republic, they are still among the highest in Europe. Based on this, one would expect there to be a broad range of television and radio services serving those with a Catholic faith and other denominations.

But so far, the number of religious services can be counted on one hand. On radio, Spirit FM has a temporary licence that allows it to broadcast from several cities, but there is no national or local TV service.

Yesterday, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) placed advertisements in the national press which should clear the way for the Republic's first quasi-national Christian service.

The service will be broadcast primarily on the AM band. It will have a broad format and will focus on "general religious and Christian affairs of relevance to listeners in the 15-plus age group in the State", says the BCI. A 10-year contract will be awarded to a successful bidder.

Previous attempts to get Christian-oriented radio services on air have failed. A few years ago, Solas AM was given a licence but never made it to the airwaves. Solas was awarded a special-interest licence in principle by the BCI on April 30th, 2001. It found it difficult to locate a suitable place to broadcast from. Religious stations find it hard to attract advertisers and are usually funded by subscriptions and donations.

One wonders how the applicants for the new licence will interpret the licence terms. For example, a growing segment of the population is non-Christian: will the licence holder be required to provide programming for foreign nationals in Ireland who may be Muslim or Hindu?

Emmet Oliver can be contacted at eoliver@irish-times.ie