TV3 focused on ‘generating original content’, says chief executive David McRedmond

TV3 will be focused on original programming in the coming years because broadcasters can no longer survive on buying in expensive imports, the station's chief executive David McRedmond has said. The station will lose two of its most popular programmes, Coronation Street and Emmerdale , to UTV which is setting up a separate television station in the Republic.

After the announcement that TV3 had acquired the exclusive rights to show the rugby World Cup in Ireland next year, Mr McRedmond said broadcasters who depended on acquired content were "dead" in the long term because of the way the industry was changing.

TV3 will shortly unveil its new soap, which will be the cornerstone of its schedule. The twice-weekly drama, produced by Element Productions and Company Pictures, will generate between 80 and 100 jobs and is the biggest project in TV3’s history.

Mr McRedmond said TV3 was now focused on original programming through its new HD studio which has generated such shows as The Lie , Crossfire and Keith Barry , which has been sold in 74 counties. "The new studio is starting to come through. It's working both for us on air and it is also working in international sales and that really matters," he said. "Getting the studio to work was the risky part for us. Then the rest becomes more straightforward."

The new soap will start filming in late summer and will be shown from the start of 2015. “It’s not about compensating for what we have lost with ITV,” he explained. “Our strategy all along has been on originating programme.”