I rather suspect that if ITV plc ever get their hands on UTV, that the teleco and ISP will be first to be put up for sale. The radio stations would follow soon after. They would be what ITV call "non-core assets".
Dropping the name UTV would be very problematic given that what people call things in Northern Ireland is rather important, plus the brand works equally well in the Republic. I suspect only a straight swap for ITV would fullfill alll the requirements.
Ronan:
"I rather suspect that if ITV plc ever get their hands on UTV, that the teleco and ISP will be first to be put up for sale. The radio stations would follow soon after. They would be what ITV call "non-core assets"."
Yes, I'd say an ITV plc takeover of UTV would probably mirror what happened with Border - they take over the TV franchise and sell off the other UTV group services.
Dropping the name UTV would be very problematic given that what people call things in Northern Ireland is rather important, plus the brand works equally well in the Republic. I suspect only a straight swap for ITV would fullfill alll the requirements.
Yes, it would be hard to shake off the name of a TV channel that has been in use for 44 years, and I'd like to think that the mainly-Carlton-responsible axing of the HTV name will not be replicated. But who knows, all the speculation any of us make won't bring a takeover any closer...
Well, I've just seen the new look (courtesy of the TV Room), and I have to say it looks extremely good. They did a pretty good job of it, and I think it works really well.
From being at work experience last week at UTV, I've gotta say the UTV LIVE studio looking at it from your eye is really nice.. don't know what the TV does, but looking at it in real its bril!
I was in there on Thursday from 4.30 to 6.30 watching it going out live.
Did you know the weather is not live, it took frank to record it 5 times, because it went wrong all the time.
It took only five takes for Frank to get the weather right?!
I thought that UTV would only let whoever is presenting the weather just the one take to get the forecast in the can - anytime Frank Mitchell presents the weather, it seems like he is doing it live, he totally deviates for the script (you can tell by watching the subtitles, which I'm sure is just the autocue!) and always make a joke of never pressing the button on time to move on to the next map.
Functional Aesthetic:
"If/when UTV gets the generic ITV News look, and/or becomes part of ITVplc, what name do suppose the news will have?"
Good question - I suppose it depends whether or not UTV are still called UTV if they go for the full whack generic ITV news look.
If they are still UTV, I'd see no reason why they wouldn't keep the name UTV Live - knowing UTV, they'll probably include their logo in the titles by some means or another.
If UTV ever became ITV1(insert your own name here...), I would suspect the most suitable title would be "Northern Ireland News" or "Northern Ireland Live" - both are practical enough to name on air, list in TV schedules(!) and fit into the opening titles. Or even "NI News" or "NI Live" for the sake of brevity.
Hows about
ITV for the Six Counties or
ITV Ireland
TV3 North
At last, getting a chance to look at the new look UTV Live online, very impressed with the title sequence, looks like the old-style glass panels on the sofa set have disappeared... Tina Campbell's hair looks a lot better since the last time I saw it too.
Whoa, nasty fire on Royal Avenue, didn't realise the true extent of the damage, I had heard the PA's Belfast base was gutted but seeing the pictures is a shock, especially as I spent nearly every day last year walking past the place...
And doesn't John Hume look a lot healthier too now he's taken more of a back seat in politics.
Sorry, I really should be talking about presentation... good to see those news story summary captions have been dropped, I noticed on the broadband internet feed you can see the transparent area where the DOG appears on screen
Still wish I'd be able to see the 5.30-6.00 slot, as I want to see if my mate Michelle Napier has started reporting for UTV Live...
