RTE has held a press conference to assert its continuing dominant position in the Irish television marketplace just 10 days after the independent television station tv3 went on air.
"We are unique among our colleagues in Europe. Not only are we holding our own, with 45 per cent of the total audience available, but we have recently increased that figure", Mr Joe Mulholland, RTE Television's managing director, told journalists yesterday.
"For example, last Sunday we had an average of 60 per cent of all viewers, and 56 per cent for the prime time of after 6 p.m. TV3 had 7 per cent, apart from the movie Bad Boys. They got 16 per cent for that. No way is there any panic or undue concern in this organisation about tv3."
However, Mr Pat Kiely, director of sales with tv3, pointed out that they had set a target of only 6 per cent of all adults by the end of their first year, plus 8 per cent of those aged between 15 and 44 whom they had identified as not being served by RTE. They were delighted that they had exceeded this in the first week, with 6 per cent of adults and 9 per cent of their target group watching tv3.
"We're deliberately introducing the schedule slowly over a sixweek period to allow for growth and development", Mr Kiely said. "We still have good programmes to slot in."
He pointed out that their target share was based on a potential audience of 100 per cent, yet at the moment only 75 per cent of homes were tuned to tv3. "So the actual percentage of those who could receive us is higher. The football match on October 10th will get more tune-ins. No one argues that RTE is bigger. Threequarters of our audience we're taking from non-RTE channels. It's about growing the local market. Our advertisers are delighted. We never got into a knocking situation with RTE and we don't intend to."
Mr Mulholland and Mr Kevin Healy, RTE's director of public affairs, emphasised that that they were not attacking the new station. "We are learning to coexist with tv3", Mr Mulholland said. However, he went on to compare the percentage audiences tv3 had obtained for its most popular films with the much greater percentages RTE had for its flagship programmes.
"If we wanted to compete headon with tv3 and reduce their share we would put movie up against their movie. We are not going down that road . . . tv3 is not the real challenge. That is the hundreds of digital channels around the corner and the might of BBC and ITV. We will not be driven downmarket by competition, from wherever it may come. We will present quality programmes while also showing the best of series like ER and Friends and the best movies available."
Referring to tv3's news output, Mr Healy said: "It is the first national TV news competition and we are paying attention to it. But the Irish viewing public have voted with their zappers in favour of RTE."
Mr Mulholland also made clear that Network 2 would now be going after the 15-44 audience. "There is a comedy programme starting on it next week with Tommy Tiernan, who won a prize at Edinburgh. We showed Trainspotting last Thursday. What was new about that was that we scheduled it against the 9 o'clock news and Prime Time. There will be complementarity of scheduling."