TV3's new celeb show may be a case of bad timing

Media & Marketing:This week TV3 launched its new nightly entertainment show, Xposé. Presented by the station's entertainment correspondent, Lorraine Keane, the show airs week days from 6pm to 6.30pm. The objective is to increase the number of people watching the station in this slot from around 75,000 to 90,000.

Over the years, TV3 executives have been scratching their heads to come up with a scheduling formula to hold on to the 180,000 viewers who tune in to the station's 5.30pm news bulletin. Their problem is the popularity of RTÉ's Six One news bulletin.

Until recently, TV3 was content to run the B-grade soap Hollyoaks against Six One but with Xposé they've decided to pull the finger out.

For weeks prior to the launch, TV3 secured many column inches for Xposé by presenting Keane and her colleagues at various photocalls, dolled up in glamorous dresses and strappy sandals like they were the cattle at the local mart. But despite an outdoor poster campaign and the high profile PR push, Xposé's debut audience was just 60,000, or a 6.8 per cent share of the available viewing audience. This improved to 76,000 on the second night of broadcast and is sure to improve as viewers sample the snappy programme.

Xposé's stated target audience is women aged 16-44 but some media buyers wonder if the thirtysomething and fortysomething women have the time to watch TV just after the Angleus. Martina Stenson, managing director of ad agency Universal McCann, suggests that if TV3 had positioned Xposé against a weak spot in RTÉ's schedule, they may see more success.

"The 6pm slot is a tricky slot as many people are not even home from work at that time," she said. "Delivering 2½ hours of showbiz news and features a week will be a challenge and TV3 must ensure that they really deliver in the first few months in order to build an audience."

Realistically Xposé is more likely to attract a younger 16+ female audience. Audrey Clarke, head of broadcast at Vizeum, says that traditionally TV3 has achieved a viewing share of 9 per cent for adults aged 15-34 and 11 per cent for young women in the same age bracket.

"If TV3 can maintain the high profile celeb interviews and keep the content in line with the 15-34 younger demographic, I believe the ratings and shares will improve," said Clarke.

With Hollyoaks now moved to 6.30pm, TV3 has dropped the repeat screening of its early evening news. So there's no net increase to TV3's home produced output, which currently stands at 26 per cent of total programming.

However, Andrew Hanlon, director of news and information programming at TV3, promises the station will be ramping up its home content over the next two years.

"It is abundantly clear that Irish audiences want more home produced programmes," he said.

But don't expect a move into Prime Time territory. If Xposé is anything to go by, the new ownership of TV3 has not heralded a move upmarket. TV3 is now run by private equity group Doughty Hanson, who paid €280 million for the privilege.

The ITV Lite formula has proved to be commercially successful for the station, with sales of €54 million last year. Profits before finance costs this year are expected to top €23 million. And in fairness to TV3, it doesn't have the financial crutch of the licence fee to indulge itself.

Tiernan on air

Some months ago, during an appearance on the Late Late Show, comedian Tommy Tiernan revealed that he had a keen interest in radio and would love to present a radio show.

Dan Healy, former chief executive of Newstalk 106 and now in charge of iRadio, was watching, with the result that Tiernan and his former classmate Hector Ó hEochagáin have been lined up to co-present a weekly show on i102-104, the new youth station for the north west, which will be on air this August.

Healy's iRadio, which holds the licence for i102-104, would also like to invest €4 million in a similar youth station for the north east region. However, that depends on winning the beauty parade in front of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland which, incidentally, has recently outlawed radio or TV ads relating to industrial disputes.

Tabloid troubles

The tabloids appear to be suffering in the face of the giveaway competition from Metro and Herald AM. March figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation show an average daily sale of 70,600 for the Irish Daily Mirror, down 4 per cent on a year ago.

The Irish Sun averaged 103,900 copies through March, down 7 per cent on 2006. Bucking the trend is the Irish Star, which recorded an average daily sale of 101,300, up 3 per cent.

Sales of the Irish Daily Mail averaged 69,100 last month compared with 82,800 in its launch phase in March 2006.

Dublin's Q102

In last week's column, the Average Quarter Hour prime time audience for Dublin's Q102 for 2006 was omitted. The actual figure for the period was 15,375 adults.