null | Media Ownership Monitor Ireland

With an audience share of 10.62% (July 2023), Virgin Media One is one of the Ireland's most watched television channels. The station offers a variety of programming, including news, sports, entertainment, and current affairs. It features both original Irish content and international shows. It’s prime time schedule includes soaps such as Eastenders, Coronation Street and Hollyoaks, sitcoms such as Friends, Modern Family, and Glee, and reality TV shows like The Graham Norton Show, Come Dine with Me, and America's got Talent. Virgin Media Ones news output comprises regular bulletins on Ireland AM, a three hour breakfast show which airs daily, as well as 30 minute news broadcasts at 12.30pm, 5.30pm and 7.00pm. Virgin Media One also has an online presence, offering streaming and on-demand services.

The origins of Virgin Media 1 can be traced back to 1998 when it was launched as TV3, the first terrestrial channel that was not operated by the state broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ).

Over the years, TV3 went through several changes in ownership and branding. In 1997, prior to the stations launch, Canadian communications company Canwest bought a major stake in the new company, and in 2001, Granada Media purchased a 45% share. By 2006 the group was sold to Doughty Hanson & Co. In 2015, Liberty Global acquired the channel, and it became part of the Virgin Media Television network. This acquisition marked the channel's rebranding as "3". In August 2018, Virgin Media Ireland decided to rebrand its television channels, and "3" was renamed "Virgin Media One."

Key Facts

Audience Share	10.62%
Ownership Type	Private
Geographic Coverage	National
Content Type	Free
Data Publicly Available	ownership data is easily available from other sources, e. g. public registries etc.

Ownership

Voting Rights	Missing Data
Individual Owner	Robert R. Bennett 3.3 Michael T. Fries 14.2 John C. Malone 33.3

Media Companies / Groups

Liberty Global PLC

Facts

Founding Year	1998
Founder	Tullamore Beta Ltd. Was a consortium of companies and individuals active in Irish media production, which included Windmill Lane Studios, and former U2 manager Paul McGuinness, among others.
CEO	Tony Hanway Has been the CEO of Virgin Media Ireland since 2015. Prior to this, he spent a decade at O2/Telefonica where he held a number of board-level roles including; CEO of O2 Ireland, Consumer Director of O2 Ireland, Consumer Director of Telefonica O2 Czech Republic and Chief Commercial Officer of O2 Deutschland. Between 1995 and 2005 he held a number of senior positions at AOL (UK) where he was an executive board member.
Editor-In-Chief	Mick McCaffrey Has been the head of News and Sport at Virgin Media 1 since January 2017. Prior to this he had been the News Editor at UTV for two years. He has also worked as a senior investigative journalist at the Sunday World, and as the News Editor at the Sunday Tribune. He has been an Irish Times No1 bestselling author on two occasions.
Contact	Virgin Media Ireland Limerick Enterprise Development Park, Roxboro Road Limerick www.virginmediatelevision.ie

Revenue	Missing Data
Operating Profit	Missing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)	Missing Data
Market Share	Missing Data

Headlines	TV3 is officially changing its name - to Virgin Media One (2018), Accessed on 18 September 2023
Meta Data	Audience Share Date taken from July 2023 TV Audience Measurement Ireland report. Within the media industry in Ireland reporting on income levels are generally at group level rather than individual title level. On top of this, overall revenue details for the market as a whole are unavailable. Due to these factors it is not possible to report accurately on market share for individual titles or groups.
Sources	From TV3 to Virgin Media: 20 years of lights, cameras and survival (2018). Laura Slattery, Accessed on 18 September 2023 Tony Hanway, Accessed on 18 September 2023 TV3 appoints Mick McCaffrey as head of news (2016), Laura Slattery, Accessed on 18 September 2023 Granada buys 45% stake in Ireland's fast-growing TV3 (2000), David Teacher, Accessed on 18 September 2023 TV3 Group to rebrand as Virgin Media Television (2018), Accessed on 18 September 2023 TV3 Appoints New Head of News (2016), Laura Brennan, Accessed on 18 September 2023

Headlines

TV3 is officially changing its name - to Virgin Media One (2018), Accessed on 18 September 2023

Meta Data

Audience Share Date taken from July 2023 TV Audience Measurement Ireland report.

Within the media industry in Ireland reporting on income levels are generally at group level rather than individual title level. On top of this, overall revenue details for the market as a whole are unavailable. Due to these factors it is not possible to report accurately on market share for individual titles or groups.

Sources