ITV 3

Forgive me if this had already been posted - with it being a big story I'd imagine someone's mentioned it, but I couldn't find it anywhere!

ITV to launch new channel

When they say pay-tv do they mean a digital channel, or if it isn't pay does this mean it will be terrestrial.

Reported before, but this is the first time it's been on ITV.com.

Must be posted there to promote the ITV News relaunch and the forthcoming merger.

Anyway, it sounds good. Glad it's definately going ahead then, if ITV themselves have it online.

It won't be on analogue terrestrial as there's no space. However, it may appear on a digital terrestrial multiplex (for example, Freeview).

It mentions something about ITV's late evening news, but personally I feel that this new ITV3 should show a News at Ten style programme every weeknight which is simulcast on the ITV News Channel. Could be presented, for example, by Andrew Harvey, but I doubt it will.

Looking forward to this channel anyhow, if it shows some documentries in peak time as well as older shows then it's just what ITV needs.

What about all the programmes they have lost to Channel 4 and BBC2? Can they get back the rights to show them?

However, I do wonder if this might actually be a repackaged Granada Plus (or Plus TV as it's now atm) rather than a new channel. They've already said that they are trying to end the GSkyB operation with the hope of bringing Plus into the new ITV PLC fold, and then that it will be subsequently relaunched under the ITV brand. That channel was widely dubbed 'ITV Gold', it sounds to me like this might be what ITV3 is. In which case, NO IT WON'T BE APPEARING ON FREEVIEW.


Assuming that the existing News at Ten won't see the light of day under the new ITV News look, does that then mean that the 1999 set is going to plod on for quite a while yet then? Using the term 'before the end of this year' in January suggests that it's not going to happen in the next 6 months.


Pure marketing spin. A £1M new set is no good if ITN's ITV News is still grossly underfunded. And how do they know that Sky's imminent new look won't have an even larger videowall? And again, what good is having a set with 'the largest videowall in the country' going to do if you've still got a shoestring run, increasingly tabloid news agenda appearing on it?


I thought that's what the 1999 launch was all about, by actually calling the news service ITV News instead of ITN News. How now then do they intend to 'more clearly brand' something which is allready called ITV News as ITV News?

What is all this about using ITV3 to relaunch the new evening news? Presumably that now means that a THIRD channel will simulcast ITV News?

Is this new ITV3 channel as well as or instead of ITV Gold?
I hope we do get an ITV Gold channel, I want someone to show 1970s episodes of Coronation Street!

And in the running to be head of ITV Digital Channels looks to be Paul Robinson, outgoing VP of Disney UK and ex Radio 1...

As far as I can tell, ITV3 is ITV Gold.

You've got a bit muddled there. Firstly, the article says ITV3 might not be pay tv (although it probably will be...).

Secondly, they didn't say they were using ITV3 to relaunch the news. It's bad wording in the article. I think what they meant to say was:

ITV is launching ITV3.
The channel [itv] is also relaunching the news.

I don't think i have got muddled. My quotes were directly from the article. They wrote an entire article about ITV3, and then said 'The channel will also relaunch the late evening news'. If that isn't tied to ITV3, then to say the article as badly worded is the understatement of the year.

Anyway, you might at least have quoted my entire comments before making your point. It is well known that Granada no longer want their joint venture with Sky, and they want to use the merger with Carlton as a time to get rid of it. It's also well known that once GSkyB no longer exists and that little empire (only 2 channels though now of course) is into the ITV fold, that they want Plus (don't know about men and motors though) to take on an ITV branded name. It was widely plugged that ITV Gold would be that name. Other industry people are now plugging ITV3 as being ITV Gold, and since many of the programmes mentioned are transmittable by G Plus (and specifically, that for ITV PLC to set up separate a channel broadcasting programmes also seen on Plus TV, would effectively create a situation where ITV is competing with itself), it's a very reasonable assumption that ITV3 will be little more than a relaunched Granada Plus

I definitely think that the quote is talking about ITV1. Firstly, the article was probably not written by somebody at ITV (probably somebody at ITN). I'm saying this based on the way it was written.

This bit:



links with this bit:



It suggests to me that they've written an article about ITV3 and then added "...ITV is also relaunching the news, with the main bulletin at 10:30" as a bit of extra publicity.

It makes little sense to have the ITV News at 10:30 on ITV3, ITV1 and the ITV News Channel. Also, as ITV3 is digital only, there's absolutely no need to simulcast the news as all digital platforms now receive the ITV News Channel.

I agree that 'plus' will probably vanish before ITV3, but I doubt that ITV3 will just be a relaunched 'plus'. Elements of it will probably exist, but if it was more or less a simple name change they'd have done it by now, surely?