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ITV to buy UTV Media (N. Ireland & Republic)


rkolsen

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UTV Media is selling its television stations, in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland, to ITV Plc. for £100m. UTV currently operates the channel three franchise for Northern Ireland and recently launched a station in the Republic of Ireland in January. The deal needs approval from the UK and Irish regulators.

 

UTV Media will retain their group of radio stations which make 60% of their current profit.

 

Once the deal goes through ITV Plc. will operate the ITV franchises in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. ITV says there are no current plans to rebrand UTV.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-34508529

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Now it's only a matter of time before STV sells their franchises (the former Scottish and Grampian) to ITV plc too...

 

In fact, STV was praised for being the only independent franchise left from ITV. Plus, STV also has STV Glasgow and STV Edinburgh, two of STV's local channels.

 

But what's interesting about this story is that it won't become ITV Northern Ireland like the other regions. Also, it makes sense for UTV Media to rebrand at a later date because it can't remain UTV Media without a TV property. I know this is still developing and we'll see how this goes from here...

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But what's interesting about this story is that it won't become ITV Northern Ireland like the other regions. Also, it makes sense for UTV Media to rebrand at a later date because it can't remain UTV Media without a TV property. I know this is still developing and we'll see how this goes from here...

 

I'm actually surprised by this. It's the end of an era, but they seem like they're committing to (at least for now) keep some of UTV's visual identity separate.

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  • 8 months later...

Thought I'd bump this thread as there's been an update. ITV has sold UTV Ireland to John Malone's (who owns Liberty Media and the majority of Starz!) Virgin Media for $11.1 million. Virgin Media bought UTV Ireland's fellow OTA competitor TV3 last year. The deal includes the rights to ITV produced shows for 10 years.

 

http://variety.com/2016/tv/global/john-malone-virgin-irish-broadcaster-utv-1201811849/

 

UTV, the ITV franchise in Northern Ireland, remains under control of ITV.

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Thought I'd bump this thread as there's been an update. ITV has sold UTV Ireland to John Malone's (who owns Liberty Media and the majority of Starz!) Virgin Media for $11.1 million. Virgin Media bought UTV Ireland's fellow OTA competitor TV3 last year. The deal includes the rights to ITV produced shows for 10 years.

 

http://variety.com/2016/tv/global/john-malone-virgin-irish-broadcaster-utv-1201811849/

 

UTV, the ITV franchise in Northern Ireland, remains under control of ITV.

 

Mentioned in "International Out and About"

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