TV3, the independent commercial station due on air this autumn, has announced the appointment of a commissioning editor, Ms Jane Gogan, responsible for Irish-originating programmes, along with a number of other posts.
Ms Gogan has worked in the film and television industry since the early 1980s and was an independent television producer.
Other appointments include Mr Michael Murphy as director of programmes. Mr Murphy, who was with the independent production company, Elmsdale Media, has worked for 14 years in the Irish and international television programme markets.
Mr Andrew Hanlon has been appointed director of news and information programmes. Mr Hanlon began his career with RTE. He is a former head of news at 98 FM and was managing director/editor of Independent Network News, which supplies national and international news to the independent radio sector.
The company has also appointed three group sales managers. A trade launch is expected in June with advertising sales beginning in the last week of June. Some programmes have already been acquired. These include a deal with Hallmark, a distributor of US network television features and mini-series. The station has also bought C15, The Professionals, starring Edward Woodward, a follow-up to the 1970s British TV drama, The Professionals. It also has the latest Australian teen soap, Breakers, and Love Boat - The Next Wave, the sequel to the US soap, Love Boat.
Promotional advertising is expected to come in four parts, with the initial campaign concentrating on getting viewers to tune their sets to the new station.
This will be followed by a campaign dealing with the broad spread of programmes and a campaign promoting the station's news coverage and then selling the merits of individual programmes. Breakers will be central to the schedule, running five days a week to bring in a young audience.
TV3 has placed heavy emphasis on its news coverage, where it hopes for an Irish flavour, given that only 15 per cent of the overall output of the station will be Irish-produced. News will account for 10 hours a week, 85 minutes a day. Already the company has decided to limit the amount of sports it will carry because of the increasing cost of acquiring sports rights.