Anner Media to set up TV channel for Irish Americans

Anner Media Group, the company owned by former DJ Andy Ruane, is set to invest an initial €20 million in setting up an Irish-American TV channel.

The group yesterday announced plans to set up the station, the Irish Channel America, at a television industry fair in Cannes in the south of France.

The Irish Channel America will be aimed primarily at the 35 million Irish-Americans living in the US. The company plans to offer a mix of 75 per cent Irish programming and 25 per cent locally generated material.

The business will be based in Ireland and reach its US audiences via cable and satellite. It will employ 50 people.

Mr Ruane said yesterday that the company planned to be on air by the end of June.

A spokesman said that Anner will spend €20 million on establishing the service but added that this could grow to €100 million as the channel was rolled out across the US.

It will fund the initial investment from its own resources.

Anner has the rights to the Lyrics Board game show, which it has franchised to television producers around the world.

The group also operates a number of other television businesses, including a news channel that broadcasts live Dáil and Seanad proceedings.

Anner will launch the service on cable and satellite in New England on the east coast of the US in June. This region includes Boston, which has one of the highest concentrations of Irish Americans in the country.

The next phase will involve rolling out the service to New York, New Jersey and Chicago, three other cities with strong Irish links. Eventually it will be expanded to take in the whole of the US.

Mr Ruane said yesterday the 2000 US census showed that there were 35 million Irish Americans.

He added that they had an estimated annual household income of $750 billion (€580 billion), "which makes it a very attractive proposition for advertisers".