Irish broadcasting undergoes a great change tomorrow at 5.30 p.m. with the launch of tv3, the much-awaited and greatly-delayed commercial television station. Time will tell whether the new station will contribute positively to the diversity coming through on our television screens but there can be no doubt that its advent will be welcomed by viewers, by advertisers and perhaps even by its competitors. Telefis Eireann came into existence in 1961 and RTE 2 (now Network 2) is in business for twenty years. Teilifis na Gaeilge, two years old next month, is the only new arrival since 1978 and it is not in direct competition with RTE. Truly, the arrival of tv3 is overdue.
The new station arrives into an arena where the competition is tough and destined to get tougher. That it will lose money for the first two-to-three years seems certain but what will be more important will be the speed with which it can build its viewing figures. Advertisers will be very supportive initially because the two RTE stations are virtually sold out of advertising space and any alternative is to be welcomed. But tv3 will have to prove quickly that it is being watched in sufficient numbers by the people whom the advertisers want to reach.
RTE is not going to make it easy for tv3 - and neither should it. Network 2 has virtually re-invented itself; more funky, more entertaining and shamelessly targeting the younger audience which tv3 needs to capture. The whiff of competition has worked wonders in Montrose, in television and in radio but RTE, to its credit, has not lost sight of its duty to provide quality programming, to cater for minority interests and to reflect the cultural identity of all its viewers. The trouble with RTE is that, on television, it has a monopoly on national news and serious current affairs. It also has a virtual radio monopoly in the same areas, despite the existence of commercial radio. It is indisputably in the public interest that tv3, without delay, establishes its credentials on news and current affairs but it is by no means certain that it will, or that it wants to.
TV3 has said the station "intends to be an important voice in Irish society". But, at the same time, it has proclaimed it will be "an entertainment channel" and, more worryingly, that it will broadcast "bright, breezy, watchable news". This does not suggest a commitment to reportage and analysis of a high order. Neither is there much evidence of an interest in the arts, in home-produced drama, in documentaries and in the Irish language. Such perhaps, is the dilemma faced by commercial organisations in this dumbeddown age of broadcasting. Profitability requires minimised expenditure but maximised viewing. The worry must be that tv3 will not try to compete with RTE or even with UTV but will pitch, in the main, for soap and sports fans and leave highbrow programming to others.
It is to be hoped that tv3 will, instead, endeavour to be responsive to the whole community. It has an understandable imperative to reach profitability promptly but it has, in its shareholders and staff, people of great talent, resourcefulness and tenacity. It is well within its powers to disprove the popular theory that more television means less worthwhile choice. A commitment, if only in part, to adventurous and original programming could establish tv3 as the commercial television station by which others will judge themselves.