New UTV boss has eye on opportunities in Republic

Ulster Television's new managing director is considering expansion in the Republic, where the channel is already the most popular after RTE 1. Mr John McCann, who is taking over from Mr Desmond Smyth, has said UTV is monitoring the progress of the Broadcasting Bill with interest.

Mr McCann also said there was a possibility of another special dividend for shareholders - last April, UTV gave more than £18 million sterling (€28.28 million) back to its owners.

The company announced interim pre-tax profits of £2 million sterling (€3.14 million) yesterday, down on the £4.5 million recorded for the same period in 1998. UTV said operating profits rose 53 per cent to £5.4 million, but that pre-tax profits had fallen because of a £4.2 million restructuring cost.

Peak-time viewing share for the period, during which ITV moved its main evening news out of its prime-time 10 p.m. slot, rose to 44.4 per cent from 41 per cent.

"Our plans are to consolidate the cost savings which we have brought about through this restructuring, to get our digital channel up and running, and to take advantage of any opportunities which might arise in the Republic," Mr McCann told The Irish Times.

He said UTV was already the second-most popular station in the Republic, and that the company received as much advertising revenue from the South as from Northern Ireland.

"There is this Broadcasting Bill which is currently in the House, and, depending on how that gets enacted in the next number of months, there may be some opportunities opening up for us there in the digital front. We are digital terrestrial in the North and on analogue," he said.

Digital television has taken off slowly in the North, but the company said it was confident of the long-term future of TVYou, UTV's version of the ITV2 channel.

"It is at present available only to the relatively small number of viewers with the appropriate reception equipment, but we expect that a progressively increasing number of viewers will convert to digital over the next few years," said UTV's chairman, Mr John McGuckian.

Mr McCann said that, while there were no plans for another special dividend for shareholders, he would not rule it out.

"What we were essentially doing was taking the money that was in the coffers and distributing it to the shareholders. We are unlikely to do that again unless there are sufficient funds available," he said.

"Now, we have a holding in Societe Europeenne des Satellites (SES), which is the Astra satellite system, and we have made no secret of the fact that it would be our intention not to be long-term holders of that. And if we do dispose of it, we will distribute that money back to the shareholders - unless there are other opportunities for us to invest in."

Mr McCann said that, by the end of the year, when UTV's restructuring is due to be completed, 35 out of 185 full-time employees will have left through retirement or voluntary redundancy.

Some 30 per cent of UTV is owned by CanWest Global, the largest shareholder in the Republic's TV3.