User blog:Telco/It's goodbye Virgin Media, welcome back TV3 (The Irish Independent; 19th January 2021)

Virgin Media Television is to disappear from our screens after just two years on air and will be rebranded back to TV3 on Friday night.

The changes will be introduced on January 22nd at 6pm following the recent completion of a €10 million takeover of VMTV by Euro Republics based conglomerate EuroMedia (who also operate The Irish Independent).

TV3 will remain the group’s flagship channel and will be home and is set to boost its home produced programmes including a new Irish version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Gogglebox Ireland, currents affairs shows and the recently returned soaps, Coronation Street and Emmerdale. A new youth strand is also to be launched on the 23rd, designed for 3e viewers as 3e does not broadcast during the day. Movies are also due to get a larger play on TV3, with a weekly movie every Friday at 9:30pm, Saturdays at 6:30pm & Sundays at 8:00pm. The channel will also air a variety of new & exciting series in the 6pm hour following the cancellation of The Six O’Clock Show.

Virgin Media 2 is to bring back the 3e name and will air a mix of home-grown shows, like music show Night Shift & US series, including the return of shows like Family Guy, and U.K. soap Hollyoaks. It is to include of drama including The Flight Attendant, Minority Report, Bless This Mess, Outmatched, The Family, Take Two & Perfect Harmony, along with classics like medical drama ER & Buffy The Vampire Slayer & U.K. drama series It's A Sin & Noughts & Crosses. Comedy on 3e will be spearheaded by chat shows The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Real Time With Bill Maher & Conan, animated series like Duncanville, Regular Show, Bob's Burgers & The Great North, classic sitcoms Friends, Frasier, Mad About You & Two and A Half Men, British series & the adult comedy cartoon Regular Old Bogan. It will broadcast from 7pm to 5am every night.

A new channel, which will timeshare with 3e has also been announced, C3, will broadcast from 5am to 7pm, and will screen a wide range of children’s programmes, as a rival to RTÉ Jr. & TRTE. This channel will air many popular series, such as SpongeBob SquarePants, The Loud House, Adventure Time, The Amazing World Of Gumball, Bob the Builder, Thomas & Friends & Fireman Sam, along with the Irish premieres of the new series of How & The Rubbish World of Dave Spud.

Virgin Media Three is reverting back to be3 and will be more "female focused" and will screen a range of acquired programmes as part of its deal with ITV studios such as Loose Women and Benidorm, while also offering a second chance to see various soaps. It will also become the new home for The Masked Singer U.K., after research found 90% of the show's audience was female.

Virgin Media Sport is to also rebrand as 3Sport, and convert into a free offering on Saroview. Unlike the rest, the content of 3Sport will be identical to that of it's predecessor, and the Extra channels will become 3Sport Plus.

TV3 is also launching a rolling news channel, which will broadcast around the clock from the revamped 3News studio. Unlike RTÉ, who tend to show repeats of the news, 3News will always be live, with no filmed inserts. The channel will also show some other news & documentary related content at weekends.

TV3 is also to step into the pay-TV market for the first time with three new pay-TV channels on Sky, Virgin Media & Eir. The first of which will be entertainment channel 3Gold, which will show classic episodes of TV3 shows, in addition to cult classics like The A-Team & Baywatch. 3Life will air lifestyle shows and air shows relating to homes, gardens, food, DIY & reality TV shows, repeated from 3e. The third will be 3Film, which will air a variety of blockbuster movies from studios Universal, Paramount, Disney, StudioCanal & Lionsgate. Unlike Sky Cinema, which is at a premium, 3Film will be available as part of basic pay packages, along 3Gold & 3Life.

Another big step is their new step into streaming, My3, replacing Virgin Media Player, and will give viewers a more updated and modern interface, and will be available as both a free platform, allowing viewers to watch programmes aired on their channels for 30 days (longer for C3 content) & paid-for option, which will give viewers access to an ad-free service, along with the addition of TV3's pay channels to the service, movies and box sets. The service will also partner with TG4 and BSB to carry it’s channels for on-demand and live streaming (the latter on the paid service).