With a name like Gilhooly it is only a matter of time before the director of corporate development of CanWest Global Communications, the Canadian company that controls TV3, checks out his Co Leitrim ancestry. For the moment, though, Greg Gilhooly (34) is putting the finishing touches to the corporate ownership of TV3 before it is granted its permanent licence by the Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC). He comes from Winnipeg in Canada, the corporate headquarters of CanWest, the broadcast company which has taken a 45 per cent stake in TV3 - the maximum allowed by the IRTC under EU legislation. A further 20 per cent is held by Windmill Lane Studios, U2 manager Paul McGuinness and accountant Ossie Kilkenny, while ACT Venture Capital emerged this week as the owner of the final 35 per cent.
CanWest is disappointed at the restriction on ownership. "We, as TV broadcasters, sometimes do not see the logic in legislation restricting ownership," he says. "We see ourselves as bringing the majority of the risk capital to the project."
But CanWest will be holding the reins: as part of the agreement with the IRTC, it retains the right to nominate a majority of the directors on the new independent television channel's board. Mr Gilhooly is enthusiastic about the returns the Irish venture will bring and CanWest's presence in what he describes as "the leading economy in Europe". "The opportunity speaks for itself," he says. "There are not that many national terrestrial TV licences left."
Being involved with TV3 means that with the advent of the digital television age, additional services will be allocated to the independent channel. "If the experience around the world is any indication, the national terrestrial channels are given primacy on digital services," he says.
TV3 has prepared for that day, broadcasting the present analogue system on a digital platform. "We are digital from a flip of the switch," he says.
He sees nothing small about the venture, although the channel will be seen by no more than four million people. "No transaction that makes sense is by definition too small, so long as it fits in with our broad corporate development plan," he says. Launching a privately-owned television station in a state dominated by stations from its larger and richer neighbour is nothing new for CanWest. It has fought off the US networks and the Canadian public networks to establish its own niche, broadcasting eight TV channels to 26 Canadian cities through its subsidiary, Global Television Network. "As a result, we operate with an inordinate amount of competition," says Mr Gilhooly. CanWest has also moved to another peripheral market - New Zealand - after that country's first privately-run station floundered. "We got involved through banking relationships to assist the receiver," he says. CanWest now operates two channels there, TV3 and TV4. That relationship with Westpac Bank enabled CanWest to move into Australia, acquiring a 57.5 per cent interest in Network Ten, although the Australian Broadcasting Authority has ruled that it must reduce its voting interests in the company to 15 per cent.
Mr Gilhooly says that the lessons of these ventures is to pay attention to market needs and "not necessarily assume that because it has been done this way before, that that is what the market wants". The publicly-quoted company, with a turnover of $331.6 million (£237 million) made its first venture into the European English-speaking market last year, acquiring 7.4 per cent of UTV, and it has increased that twice since: first to 8.4 per cent and then to 29.9 per cent.
"We looked at New Zealand before we looked at Australia," Mr Gilhooly says, "We are looking at Ireland , both in the Republic and in the North, and trying to get it right. We have a stated corporate development interest in the UK."
The company's commercial outlook will bring a new dimension to indigenous Irish TV although audiences have been well prepared by exposure to UTV and Channel 4. "We try to deliver programmes that the audience wants and that the advertisers want," says Mr Gilhooly. "We have been in the business for 20 years trying to perfect that approach. Our hope is that what we have learnt elsewhere will operate the same way in the Irish market."
In an environment where audience ratings drive advertising revenues, TV3 will target the fickle but high-spending 15 to 44-year-old age group.
News coverage will reflect the dynamic image the station is anxious to create for itself and TV3 has recruited bright, young types for its sports and news anchors.
"There is nothing wrong with delivering news in a manner that excites, informs and entertains," he says.
The effective dumping of older viewers may appear overtly commercial for viewers used to public service broadcasting, but he points to the "repositioning" of Network 2 and the BBC channels as they follow where the privately-owned channels led. "All of the networks in this region are trying to do what we have tried to do elsewhere. That means it is a crowded marketplace, but it also means that there are opportunities," he says. TV3 has received "solid support" from advertisers which does not surprise him. "Access to TV advertising has been difficult and limited," he notes.
He also suggests that CanWest will further increase its interests in Ireland through acquisitions "related to our core business". He points to the radio market saying that Ireland has a similar sized population to the greater Toronto area but has only one national private radio station, Today FM. "I would ask you why there are not 10. . . radio is a natural tie-in to TV," he says.
