TV3 is to start broadcasting on Sunday, September 20th, a day earlier than originally planned. A spokeswoman for the station said the decision to start early was taken because preparations were running ahead of schedule.
TV3 was expected to sign the final contract with the Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC) today, but will now do so later this week. The final contract will deal mainly with the placing of the final 35 per cent of the shareholding.
TV3 has a temporary contract until it is able to satisfy the IRTC of its full shareholding. A number of institutional investors are understood to have expressed interest in investing in the new station.
The largest shareholder, with 45 per cent, is CanWest Global, the Canadian television company with television interests in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It has an interest in UTV in Northern Ireland as well.
The original consortium first granted the licence holds 20 per cent of shares. It includes Windmill Lane Studios, U2's manager, Mr Paul McGuinness, and an accountant, Mr Ossie Kilkenny.
Once the shareholders are in place, the IRTC has to approve the shareholding and a contract will be signed. TV3 can then complete its testing and transmit a test card.
Meanwhile, the studios at Ballymount, Dublin, are being fitted out and the props are due to arrive on Friday. TV3 is still receiving proposals from charities hoping to be chosen for the first advertising, which is being given free to a cause or charity.
Testing of the signal is well advanced, and a test card will be transmitted from September 9th. Cable and MMDS operators will have to carry the new channel. Those who do not receive their signal through cable or MMDS will find TV3 near Network 2 on the UHF band.
A special opening-night programme is being planned, but there will be no launch party. The first three months of transmission will be driven by events programming, including films, mini-series and the Ireland away games in the European Championship, in an effort to pull in an audience and sell the rest of the schedule.
Media sources in the advertising world are confident that TV3 will reached its target of 6 per cent of viewers in the first year without difficulty, although it will have to greatly increase that if it is to be considered part of the mainstream media.
Other features of the TV3 schedule include an Australian soap at 7 p.m. every weekday, an hour-long news programme at 6 p.m. weekdays with a 30-minute update at 11 p.m.