One-third of UTV Ireland staff facing the axe in merger with TV3
Virgin Media became both stations’ parent company after a buyout in July.
AT LEAST 20 jobs will be cut among staff at UTV Ireland as the station is taken over by a former rival.
Irish commercial broadcaster TV3 – which is owned by Virgin Media – announced today that it has officially completed the acquisition of the startup station.
UTV Ireland was first taken over by ITV in late 2015 after launching at the start of the year. It was sold on to Virgin Media in July of this year for €10 million.
Recent accounts show that it racked up losses of nearly €20 million for the first 12 months after struggling to find an audience for any of its shows, besides the UK soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
In a statement today, Virgin Media said it was undertaking a “restructuring programme” to “consolidate” TV3 and UTV Ireland into one business.
As part of the changes, 40 vacancies were being opened up at TV3 – but there were currently 61 permanent staff at UTV Ireland, which meant the merger “may result in unavoidable redundancies”.
“Where possible, staff will be offered redeployment opportunities within TV3,” the statement said.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny at a TV3 leaders debate
One roof
The company will enter into a 30-day consultation period with effect from 5 December. It is expected that the various steps associated with this plan will be substantially completed by January 2017.
UTV Ireland staff will also be moved from the station’s current base at Macken House, in Dublin’s docklands, to TV3′s headquarters at Ballymount, in the city’s south-west.
TV3 managing director Pat Kiely said the move “strengthens independent television broadcasting in Ireland by bringing together great channels and great conent under the one roof”.
Written by Cormac Fitzgerald and Peter Bodkin
