City Channel

City Channel
Launched	October 2005
Owned by	City Channel Ltd. & Liberty Global
Picture format	PAL I standard
Audience share	N/A (, )
Country	Republic of Ireland
Language	English
Broadcast area	Dublin, Galway, Cork and Waterford
Headquarters	Dublin
Website	[1]
Availability
Terrestrial
Irish analogue	N/A
Saorview	N/A
Satellite
Sky	N/A
Cable
UPC Ireland	Channel 107
IPTV
Magnet Entertainment	N/A

City Channel was an Irish television network that began broadcasting in October 2005, which focused primarily on local and regional television. It operated three stations: City Channel Dublin, City Channel Galway, and Channel South.

Launch

City Channel was given a licence by the BCI (now the BAI) on 31 January 2005 and began broadcasting in October 2005^[1].

City Channel was originally launched on the NTL and Chorus cable services in Dublin, Galway and Waterford, however all four services are available on the digital services of UPC Ireland. The company was also granted a licence for a fourth station called City 7, iwhich would have be targeted at Dublin’s Eastern Europeanpopulation.^[2] City 7 is currently under review and has no launch date.

Programmes

The Evening Show is City Channel's prime time early evening entertainment programme. It is presented by Jimmy Greeley, who also has radio programme on 4fm, and Olive Geoghegan. It is broadcast daily from Monday to Friday at 7pm and covers a wide range of topics.

The Guest List is City Channel's entertainment programme.Presented by Judy Gilroy and Olive Geoghegan, the show features a strong mix of red carpet, fashion and music events.

Gay Nation is tailored specifically to the needs and tastes of the Gay Community. Each episode tackles the big issues affecting everyday gay life in Ireland, from marriage equality to job security. The programme aims to appeal to all sections of the enormously diverse gay population and is presented by Joe Kearney.

The Evening Show: Extra is a compilation of the best bits of City Channel's flagship programme 'The Evening Show'. Presented by Judy Gilroy, this programme takes a look back at some of the most memorable moments of City Channel's flagship show.

Ownership

The company is headed by David Harvey, who also founded the original station and is based in Dublin.

In August 2007, Liberty Ventures, a subsidiary of Liberty Global, purchased a 35% stake in the company, saying that they were looking to expand the City Channel format to Central and Eastern Europe.^[3]

In January, 2010 it was announced that City Channel received €400,000 from its investors. The investment will be used to provide security for any difficult trading that may occur during 2010 for the channel, for a new joint venture with a UK partner and to help their fledgling production company city productions, which currently produces Xccelerate for 3e. It is hoped that such productions can be repeated on City Channel. City channel is the only Irish channel launched in 2006 which has not been through a "major trauma", Setanta Ireland having closed their UK channels, Channel 6 having been bought by TV3 and relaunched as 3e and Bubble Hits closing down.^[4]

In August 2011, City Channel announced they were in financial difficulties and were to begin to look to restructure their business^[5]. In September 2011, it was announced that City Channel will close. Towards the end David Harvey owned 45%, while 35% was owned by Liberty Global owners of UPC Ireland. The channel had hoped to be in the Black by 2008, however the economic climate in Ireland caused problems for the channel since 2009 with advertising sales plummeting by 50%. UPC will continue to broadcast the channel until its closure, and hopes to find a replacement for subscribers ^[6].

The channel ceased all operations on October 14, 2011.

Stations

City Channel Dublin

Main article: City Channel Dublin

City Channel Dublin was the first service to be launched, beginning broadcasting in October 2005. The station carries Dublin-specific programmes such as hourly news bulletins between 16:00 and 22:00 and a number of magazine programmes, in addition to what is available on the other channels.

City Channel Galway

City Channel Galway was launched in March 2006 after the initial success of the Dublin station. For the most part, the station broadcasts the same programmes, with the exception of hourly news bulletins between 18:00 and 20:00, which focus on Galway City and County, and a number of magazine shows.

Channel South

Main article: Channel South

City Channel Waterford was also launched in March 2006, but was expanded and renamed in November 2008 as Channel South, and is now available in Counties Clare, Cork, Kerry, County Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford. The station shares a large amount of programming with City Channel, but also produces a number of its own programmes focusing on the south of the country, such as South Tonight, a daily news bulletin.

City 7

Also referred to as City Channel Eastern Europe, City 7 was to be launched in early 2009 and would have screen programmes aimed at the large section of the Dublin community who are originally from Eastern Europe. The company’s other stations already carry programmes, such as Oto Polska, which is a partial collaboration with the Polish broadcaster Telewizja Polska. Due to cut backs it has been delayed until further notice.

References

1. ^ "New ‘City Channel’ For Irish Capital". iftn.ie. 31 January 2005. http://www.iftn.ie/finance/finance_news/?act1=record&aid=73&rid=968&sr=1&only=1&hl=city+channel&tpl=archnews. Retrieved 16 August 2011. 
2. ^ RTÉ News, 08/12/08: 'New TV channel for Eastern Europeans'; retrieved 2008-12-13
3. ^ Irish Independent, 28/08/07: 'Liberty Global takes stake in City Channel'; retrieved 2008-12-13
4. ^ http://www.independent.ie/business/media/city-channel-gets-8364400k-investment-2013052.html
5. ^ Reilly, Gavan. "City Channel in talks to secure further investment". thejournal.ie. http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/city-channel-in-talks-to-secure-further-investment-198224-Aug2011/. Retrieved 16 August 2011. 
6. ^ HANCOCK, CIARÁN (21 September 2011). "City Channel to close over advertising slump". Irish Times. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0921/1224304483515.html. Retrieved 21 September 2011.