The following is an extract from the forthcoming book on Irish television history outside the broadcasts and programming of the State broadcaster RTE. The book 'The Flickering Images Beyond Montrose' will be published in late 2021 and will explore the history of television reception in Ireland, community television such as Cork Community Television and NVTV, Irish satellite broadcasters like Buzz TV and Setanta Sports, regional stations like the City Channel network in the early 2000's, internet stations like An Lar TV and Scrogall TV and of course pirate television.
There has been some interest recently online regarding pirate
television stations that have gone on air in Ireland. For those viewers hooked on
satellite television, Netflix or Amazon boxsets, pirate television broadcasting
on analogue seems to be from a forgotten era but in 2021, we will be
celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the first broadcast from a pirate television
channel in Ireland. This is part one and will concentrate on the brief but
eclectic history of pirate television in Ireland. RTE began broadcasting on
December 31st 1961 and for nearly two decades the fledgling station dominated
the airwaves alone. Cities like Dublin were being cabled removing the thousands
of rooftop aerials that doimated the skylines. Dublin with its population of
almost a million people was the location of RTE’s main studios but the stations
served an entire nation and as pirate radio stations were now clearly leading
the airwaves battle for ratings and generating millions of pounds in
advertising revenue, the next logical step was for a television channel. The
first attempt at providing a community television channel for Dublin began as
an official channel but fears from the Government of the time that it would
break RTE’s monopoly and that they could not control an independent media.
If you want to support my work in preserving and presenting the history of Irish radio and archive as much broadcasting history as I can, then for the price of a cup of coffee (takeaway these days) you can financially support the work at - https://ko-fi.com/irishbroadcastinghistory
BALLYFERMOT COMMUNITY TELEVISION
In 1973 Phoenix Relays the TV cable company negotiated
with the Ballyfermot Community Association prior to installing their piped TV
system in the area. They agreed that they would provide the means to establish
a local community television channel. At that time there were over 5000 houses
in the Ballyfermot area so it was of a significant size and highly organised as
a working-class community. The main directors and owners of Phoenix Relays had
worked previously in RTE and were directly involved in establishing the
national station. They left the state company with the intention of cabling the
wider Dublin area. This provided a unique opportunity to establish an
alternative TV channel and this was clearly part of their intentions at the
time. They almost achieved this ambition in the mid 1970’s and the
participation of the Ballyfermot Community Association provided the basis for
this attempt.
The installation of the piped system took approximately one year to complete. Incidentally, the initial cost of the piped TV service was £12.50 for a year in 1973 compared to £100 now. The local television station was inaugurated for community week in September 1974. An out side broadcasting station was hired by Phoenix Relays for the week with full colour and editing equipment. A studio was provided in the main shopping area over the Phoenix Relays office. The technical crew was made up by staff from Phoenix Relays. All of the production, presentation, research, interviewers, make up and programme control was provided by local people. Phoenix ensured that the programmes were recorded and broadcast but had absolutely no involvement in determining the content or scope of the programmes produced. The station was organised and run through two local groups, the Ballyfermot Community Association and the Ballyfermot Arts workshop. Both had core full time staff of three people and hundreds of voluntary activists. The area was organised on the basis of local street committees with about twenty-six different street committees at that time. These provided the local promoters of the service and the news and information for broadcast.
The BCA also formed a TV sub-committee who provided the
day-to-day monitoring of the station. All of the committee were also involved
in the production so had direct participation in the activity. Among the local
people involved in the central team were John Sweeney who was president of the
BCA and chairman of the TV sub committee, Maureen Gaffney studio controller,
Mary Farrell producer, John Hammond presenter, Pat Callen research, Willy Kane
entertainment, Marie MacCowan make-up and Gerry Fitzgerald MD of Phoenix Relays
The first broadcast was of the opening parade for the community week. Over two
thousand local people took part in the parade with a wide selection of floats
from the street committees and sports, leisure and cultural groups from the
area. The President, Erskine Childers officiated. The inaugural broadcast was
at 8pm on Saturday 3rd September 1974. The highlights of the opening day were
broadcast. In order to alert people to the broadcast Phoenix cut in to the
advertising breaks on UTV.
It was too risky to interfere with RTE broadcasts as the
BCA TV was an illegal broadcast. On the following day, Sunday, we recorded and
broadcast an interview with the local Fine Gael TD Declan Costello who was also
Attorney General. This was intended as an extra security, if the Government or the
Department of Posts and Telegraphs decided to take action against us. Among
other interviews of people taking part in the community week activities we
interviewed a local Sinn Fein representative who had arranged a visit from a
GAA team from Ballymurphy and a band from Turf Lodge in Belfast . Although this
was in contravention of Section 31 of the Broadcasting act we decided that we
should not censor local community activity. Very many of the events organised
during the week were filmed and broadcast each night from the studio on
Ballyfermot Road. These included traditional concerts, variety shows, make and
model competitions, darts competitions and coverage of local street events. An
hour long programme was prepared and broadcast each night at 8pm. There was an
immediate impact on participation in the daily events as local people began to
watch the nightly programme. Each of the pubs were asked to switch to the local
channel at 8pm, although this caused some tension when sports events were on
the TV. Very quickly people learned to re-tune to the BCA channel. Every house
received a copy of the programme of events for community week with details of
the events that would be filmed for broadcast. The final Saturday there was a
live broadcast from the community centre of a local chat show with John
O’Donohue of RTE as guest presenter. This proved technically very difficult
with limited equipment but was very successful.
After the opening week it was decided to continue to
broadcast on a weekly basis each Wednesday night at 8pm. The OB unit had to be
returned, so initially black and white equipment was rented by Phoenix Relays.
The basic equipment allowed us to use our local studio where the programmes
were recorded on the Wednesday evening for broadcast at 8pm. Within six months
Phoenix Relays had obtained good quality colour equipment. There was no
shortage of news items of interest locally as many groups and street committees
provided information and participants for the programmes. The local community
newspaper the "Ballyfermot People" was also produced through the Arts
workshop, so there was local experience in news production and research. The
television station also provided a great boost to the work of the community
association in highlighting important local issues and helping to organise the
area. Different programmes covered local houdsing issues, protests against the
planned motorway, the forced closure of the corporation refuse dump by local
residents, the elections, demands for a new community college, the scale of
unemployment in the area and important community issues. The weekly programmes
also provided a stage for local musical talent and invited guests. A wide range
of local musicians were presented. These included artists such as the Keenans
and Furys as well as Christy Moore, Brendan Grace, Dana, Alvin Stardust, Sonny
Knowles and any other well known names that we could get for free. However the
main thrust always was to run the station as a local community based activity.
The weekly broadcast also allowed the BCA to introduce a
very successful non-stop draw for fundraising purposes. This was organised on a
street basis with the street committees acting as sellers and keeping part of
the proceeds. The weekly draw was carried out live on BCA TV at the beginning
of each programme by picking numbered balls from a drum. This draw enabled the
association to clear all debts within a year and continued for ten years as a
main source of funds with thousands of members. While the channel proved very
successful locally it proved difficult to obtain publicity in the national
media. This was illustrated when President Childers died shortly after the
Ballyfermot community week and RTE declined our offer to allow them to
broadcast the tape of one of his final public appearances. RTE only once
covered the fact that a second channel existed, in a "Seven Days"
programme on access to public broadcasting. The Minister of Posts and
Telegraphs, Conor Cruise O’Brien TD refused to issue a broadcasting licence and
the Department took a legal action against Phoenix Relays for illegal
broadcasting. This went to the high court and was defeated by the barristers
for Phoenix Relays with the help of the Ballyfermot Community Association. Our
defence was that Phoenix Relays were using a micro wave receiver dish which was
hidden on the roof of the church with the assistance of the local clergy. We
won on the technicality that the charge was for broadcasting illegally when we
were actually receiving in the area. We campaigned locally in a bye-election in
1975 for two basic demands- a new community college and a public broadcasting
license. With the help of our local television and newspaper, and the level of
organisation of the street committees, we were able to ensure that everywhere
the Government candidates and ministers went in the area they were confronted
by these two demands. The Minister for Post and Telegraphs, C. Cruise-O’Brien
announced the licence two days before the election and the Minister for Education
Dick Burke announced the new college on the day before the election. With the
new license Phoenix Relays attempted to interest advertisers in the second
channel which had the capacity to be broadcast throughout the Dublin area. Our
weekly programmes were put on the wider network and could be viewed in any area
where the Phoenix cable system had been installed. The facility to broadcast
was extended to other communities in Dublin. It proved almost impossible to
obtain steady advertising revenue that was needed to sustain the TV channel.
The costs to Phoenix Relays of providing the facilities in Ballyfermot proved
too expensive and we ended our broadcasts in 1976 over two years after the
introduction of the first and only community television station in Ireland. We
had insisted that the new community college when it was built should include a
fully equipped television studio. This provided the basis for the development
of media education in Ballyfermot community college. There was a subsequent
attempt by the college to re-start the Ballyfermot television channel but this
was without the participation of the local organisations and community
activists who had been involved in the original station and proved
unsuccessful. The overall experience of introducing and developing the first
local community television channel in Ireland was very positive. It achieved a
significant impact on the community in Ballyfermot. Hundreds of local people
participated in the production of programmes. It helped in developing community
solidarity and provided the means to promote a positive image and identity in
the area. It proved that local broadcasting had significant potential. The fact
that the national media and especially RTE were antagonistic to the idea and
our achievement is a serious reflection on their attitudes and on their
capacity to ensure local control and participation in broadcasting and other
media. Unfortunately for Phoenix Relays they were almost twenty years too early
in promoting the idea of an alternative to RTE and the possibility of a
sustainable Dublin channel. The Flood tribunal investigation into the issuing
of the national broadcasting licences is providing us with some insight as to
why this lucrative area was kept so firmly under central political control.
According to the Dáil Éireann records - Volume 290 - 28 April, 1976
Written Answers. - Community TV.
51. Mr. Dowling asked the Minister for Posts
and Telegraphs if he is aware that the Ballyfermot community television
programme will shortly cease to operate because of conditions imposed by his
Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Minister for Posts and Telegraphs (Dr.
Cruise-O'Brien): I am not so aware. The position is that about 12 months
ago I approved the relay on the local cable system of programmes produced by
the Ballyfermot Community Association subject to certain conditions. There has
been no change in those conditions. Some time ago the association in common
with a number of other community associations asked for permission to have
their programmes relayed over a large area of Dublin city and suburbs and that
the venture be financed by commercial advertising. I was not prepared to agree
to this pending detailed consideration of its implications for the future of
community television, which I was the first to encourage, and for Irish public
service broadcasting. On hearing this, the cable company who had been providing
production facilities for Ballyfermot Community Association announced that they
were not prepared to continue to do so as from the end of April.
My Department pointed out to the firm in question that
the notice given for cessation of production facilities—a little more than a
month—was far too short to enable the question of alternative methods of
servicing community television to be explored. The company have now intimated
that they are prepared to continue to service community television but
only on a modified and considerably less costly basis. I understand that a
meeting between the interests concerned is being held on 30th April. I hope
that these discussions will result in an acceptable solution.
52. Mr. Dowling asked the Minister for Posts
and Telegraphs why, apart from the commercial aspect, the editorial rights of
community associations which he has licensed to make television programmes are
less than those conferred on ITV and BBC in respect of programmes on the cable
system.
53. Mr. Dowling asked the Minister for Posts
and Telegraphs the proposals, if any, he has to allow open cable television in the
same way as he has allowed open broadcasting.
54. Mr. Dowling asked the Minister for Posts
and Telegraphs (a) when the study group will be set up to examine community
television (b) how the group will be selected (c) its terms of reference (d)
when is it likely to report and (e) why he has waited so long to have the study
group set up.
Minister for Posts and Telegraphs (Dr. Cruise-O'Brien): I
propose with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 52,
53 and 54 together.
I do not propose at present to allow open cable
television if by that phrase the Deputy means permitting the wide distribution
over cable networks of programmes produced by local community associations for
their local areas.
No editorial rights have been conferred on ITV and BBC in
this State. Licensed cable television operators are, of course, permitted to
relay all television services which are available off air in the area they are
serving.
Community television is still at the experimental stage.
The present approved arrangements were settled on the basis that community
programmes would be confined to programmes originated locally and
acquired material of an educational and
informational character only. The associations are required to comply with the
same standards as regards objectivity and impartiality as RTE.
I hope to set up a study group soon to consider what
research would be desirable in the field of community television, who should
undertake such research and how it might be financed. The composition of the
group has not been decided yet. I cannot say at this stage when a report can be
expected. The Department had already carried out a certain amount of research,
particularly in regard to developments in community television elsewhere. After
it received the views of a number of community associations it consulted the
Departments of Education and Local Government and the Dublin Corporation on the
matter. Consideration of their replies indicated the desirability of setting up
a special study group of the kind referred to above. Because of the recent
request by the community associations for a radical change in the existing
arrangements, I have decided to set up the study group and to ask them to
report at an early date.
There were two follow ups to Ballyfermot Community Television when Harold’s Cross Television and Tallaght Community Television came on air through the capital’s cable systems.
In 1981, pirate radio was becoming mainstream, exiting
bedrooms and attics in to Georgian houses and flooding the airwaves with music,
local programming and community news.
CHANNEL D
Channel D was Ireland's first pirate television channel
when it began broadcasting on April 25th 1981 under the title Channel 3. The
station changed name to Channel D and much of its programming consisted of
broadcasting movies except on Saturday when it broadcast local programmes. The
station was originally located in the Camelot Hotel, Malahide but under Garda
pressure moved to the State Cinema in Phibsboro.
The station's directors were Don Moore, who had been a founder and stalwart of the pirate radio station ARD (Alternative Radio Dublin and Michael Tiernan who led the National Independent Broadcasting Organisation and they claimed in newspaper reports that they had secret financial backing for the station.
Some of the first films shown on the station were 'Silent
Night, Bloody Night', 'Joe Panther' and 'No. 1 of the Secret Service'. The
local produced programme was originally called 'Weekend Dublin' but this was
changed to 'Dublin Profile' and was presented by Brian Dick and Joan Lowe. All
programmes were pre-recorded on video and fed through the transmitter.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076475/ (No 1 of The Secret Service)
When launched first the station was only available in colour within a three mile radius of the transmitter but with the installation of an ex-BBC transmitter in July 1981, the stations radius was extended to fifteen miles.
The transmissions were in vision on 61.75mhz and sound on
67.75mhz. As transmissions progressed the channel planned Breakfast time
programmes, the first in British Isles to provide such a service but technical
problems and authority haressment curtailed these plans. 'Dr Don' Moore once said that he got word that the station
was about to be raided one particular night so he sneaked up to a nearby corner
and peaked down at the State Cinema (TV TX and video player location) to see
some suspicious cars parked across the road waiting for him to go in and turn
on. He decided not to bother and the station never broadcast again.
There were immediately rumours of pirate television channels opening in big cities like Limerick, Cork and Galway but it was the County Louth town of Drogheda that would see the arrival of pirate television and RTE would do everything in its power to starve the station of success.
BOYNESIDE TELEVISION
Boyneside Television began broadcasting on November 2nd 1981 from studios located in Donaghty's Mill, Drogheda, Co. Louth. The station was operated by Boyneside Communications and Eoghain McDowell who were the parent company of Boyneside Radio. The channel broadcasted entirely locally produced programmes, as they feared to break copyright laws.
Initially the station broadcasted at weekends only but expanded to go on air every night. The first programme to be broadcast on the station was a report on a local religious festival. Boyneside Television received excellent reviews from the local press for their coverage of the 1982 General Election. In 1982, while broadcasting on Channel D, the stations signal was jammed by a RTE transmitter based in a plain van in a public carpark near the station but public pressure forced RTE to stop the jamming.
https://pirate.ie/archive/northeast-series-boyneside-television/
CAPITAL TELEVISION
Capital Radio was a Dublin pirate station broadcasting from the Milltown area of the city and in 1982 they began pirate TV Test transmissions broadcasting on UHF Channel 23 and these tests consisted of an on-screen clock. These tests lasted five days.
RADIO TELE DUBLIN
The next attempt to get onto the television airwaves was
by the long running pirate radio station Radio Dublin from its headquarters on
Sarsfield Road in Inchicore, this station went on the air with test card
transmissions on March 8th 1983. The test card consisted of the Radio Dublin
logo and the radio stations programming piped on the sound channel.
Broadcasting on UHF, the station never passed the test card stage and
disappeared from the airwaves.
MALLOW TELEVISION
For rural Ireland, unable to take advantage of cabling though companies like RTE Relays and later Cablelink, entrepreneurs and technicians began setting up receiving stations on high grounds around town and villages and rebroadcasting via pirate transmitters signals from British channels including BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Because of the porous law, the 1926 Wireless Telegraphy Act, which pirate radio had exposed loopholes allowed these pirate deflector systems to proliferate. But not alone did these community deflector systems carry British programming, they produced their own programmes and interupted the broadcasts of Channel 4 to carry local programming, thus becoming pirate television channels in their own right. There were many of these illegal rebroadcasters, one such being Mallow Community Television in County Cork.
The issue was at the
heart of local politics to the extent that in Donegal Tom Gildea was elected a
member of Dail Eireann (Parliament) on the back of the issue of deflector TV.
The arrival of satellite broadcasters including SKY TV spelt the end of these systems and they closed one by one and in 2012 the introduction of the digital Saorview service meant multi-channel TV reception was now accessible to the vast majority of the country.
Mallow television began broadcasting in November 1983 to
five hundred homes in the Mallow area of County Cork. The station was run by
Alan Wilson and together with recorded programmes from the four British
channels, BBC 1 & 2, ITV and Channel 4, the station broadcasted live
locally produced programmes. The transmitter was located at the top of a nearby
mountain and the station survived on local donations and subscription as no
advertising was carried.
In February 1984, the station was raided by The
Department of Posts and Telegraphs and the Gardai and over £2,000 worth of
equipment was confiscated putting the station off the air.
According to a newspaper report at the time,
‘The country's first private television station
was closed down last week by gardai and post office officials. The station,
with live broadcasts and videoed programmes taken from the four English
channels, beamed to 500 householders in the Co. Cork town by video expert Alan
Wilson and his wife Margo for the past four months. "It was solely, a community television station
giving Mallow people the chance to see multi-channel programmes they
have no opportunity of seeing now, Alan said last night. "we weren’t doing
anyone any harm since we didn't look for advertising. We weren't taking any
revenue away from RTE. "We also did live broadcasts of local community
interests, such as interviews with councillors and other well-known figures in
the area. "As we didn't want to hurt the local cinema, we didn't show any
films." said Alan. "Local people loved the station and they are very
angry now that we have been closed down. There is talk of a petition to allow
us to continue." For years Alan Wilson was general manager of an oil
drilling company in the Middle and Far East and Australia. Re returned_,
to Mallow, where his wife comes from, last year and they decided to
start their community station. "We had a transmitter on a nearby mountain,
beaming programmes from Mallow to the mountain and back to the town.
There are 1,800 households hi the town and nearest cable is 20 miles
away," he said. Six men called with a warrant last week and confiscated
£2,500 worth of television equipment. Said Alan ‘We’ll certainly be
applying for a local TV community licence when they are seeking applications."
L.T.V. 1 & L.T.V. 2
In February 1984, in the West Cork town of Macroom, Local Television (LTV) made its first broadcast. Their first broadcast was of a Corpus Christi procession through the town. The broadcast was well received and the station went from strength to strength and began twice weekly regular broadcasts on Wednesday's and Sunday's. The station covered a variety of local events from religious events to soccer matches. LTV produced their own six part drama serial 'Strangers'. LTV was the brainchild of Dan Kelleher who launched the station on borrowed equipment but as the station blossomed, he was able to purchase new equipment. The station had a radius of fifteen miles and could be received on the outskirts of Cork City.
While LTV served the community of Macroom with local programmes, a new serve originated from Millstreet and was called LTV 2. Sean Radley led the team that covered events in an around Millstreet and they continued to broadcast through their mountain based transmitter until 2018 when the station moved to online broadcasting.
NOVA TELEVISION
The most audacious attempt at pirate television and one that threatened the authorities more than any other was Nova Television. Radio Nova from the time it began its illegal radio broadcasts in June 1981 revolutionised Irish radio. Within a year it was reaching forty percent of the Dublin listening public daily as opposed to the national pop channel RTE 2’s 15 percent. In May 1983, as station owner Chris Cary threatened to expand onto longwave and aim its programming towards the UK, it was raided but was quickly back on the air after a brief absence. With advertising revenue rolling into his two stations Radio Nova and Kiss FM, television was the next media to be conquered. Nova Televsiion or NTV went on the air on Sunday December 4th 1983 broadcasting on Channel 60 with a power of 100watts and located in studios at 19 Herbert Street, Dublin 2. Following a bar test card on that day, programming began at 9p.m. when Sybil Fennell came on the air to introduce the station. Following the introduction, a Jane Fonda workout video was aired and the station reverted to their test card. The following night the station was back on air with Ms. Fennell informing its viewers of the aims and future plans for the station including plans for franchising Breakfast and Afternoon programming.
On Tuesday December 6th, following pressure from RTE and the Government, station owner Chris Cary pulled the plug on the station. On Friday December 9th, Gardai and Post Office officials raided the station and seized equipment worth an estimated £170,000. For what was to be an experiment in independent television in Ireland it was short lived with the Government fearing that such a pirate station could have found the same success as Radio Nova.
Nova owner Chris Cary always believed that there was an
opening in Ireland for Independent television as there had been for independent
radio. In December 1981, barely six months after launching his commercial radio
venture he announced plans to set up a cable television station in Dublin. The
station he announced was expected to broadcast from seven p.m. to midnight. The
signals from the station would be scrambled with a decoder costing the viewer
initially sixty pounds and a further thirty pounds per month for the service.
He had planned to show movies that were currently showing in Irish cinemas but
the cinema owners objected fearing lost revenue and job cuts and this was one
of the main reasons that this service never got passed the planning stages.
Despite his failure to get a cable station on the air he
pursued the idea of independent television. Nova Television went on air on
Sunday December 4th 1983. Broadcasting via a one hundred watt transmitter, the
station broadcasted on Channel 60. The channels studios were located at Nova
Park along with the transmitter. A coloured bar test card appeared with the
sound channel carrying Radio Nova. At 9p.m. Sybil Fennell came on the air to
introduce the station. The Jane Fonda Workout Video was then aired before the
station reverted to a test card with the letters 'NTV' written across the
bottom of the screen.
The following day the channel was back on the air again
with the test card followed at 9p.m. with Sybil Fennell who read the news and
continued by introducing the station to the Dublin viewing public.
"NTV is expected to start broadcasting a full programme schedule in time for Christmas. We are a local station for the greater Dublin area. We have a radius of about fifteen miles and we don't expect to increase our power to broadcast to areas beyond that. A number of music videos will be included in the programme schedule. We are basically a channel of family entertainment. There will be no pornographic or video nasties. NTV is broadcast from the Nova studios. NTV is on Channel 60, it can be received on any television with an outdoor aerial although pictures nearby maybe received with rabbits ears but the reception won't be as good as with an aerial. We are not available on cable TV, the pipe, at the moment but in the near future that may change. To tune your television, simply select a clear channel on your television perhaps your video button because we have not got a time base corrector although we shall have one within the next seven days. Tune your television set to Channel 60 VHF and that is it. When full broadcasting commences programmes will be transmitted from 6p.m. in the evening to 2a.m. in the morning and the broadcasts of course will be in full colour.
We are open to franchise
offers at the moment for the breakfast time and afternoon programmes.
Broadcasts will be in full colour and full broadcast standards. We are entirely
funded by Radio Nova. The normal responsibility for any company making progress
is to expand, diversify and employ more people and that is exactly what we are
doing at Nova Media Services. Staff numbers will initially be twenty and we
hope to increase that to one hundred in the near future. We will be adhering to
full copyright laws. For the first time in Ireland a teletext service with up
to one hundred pages will also be available as will a full news service
provided by the Independent Radio
News team. You do need a television licence although we do not receive any of
the licence fees. We don't interfere with any of the television station at
present on the air. We are using a channel with an Irish allocation. Our
transmitter power is one hundred watts. Our broadcast range is approximately
fifteen miles according to reception reports we have received so far. Many of
the presenters you know and love from Radio Nova will also be on the air from
time to time. The staff will be mostly Irish. local advertising will be
accepted in due course at rates proportionate to viewing figures. We are trying
to give local advertisers an opportunity. The whole name of the game is
accessibility for the general public of the greater Dublin area. We won't have
the cosmopolitan flavour of Radio Nova because we are as we say a local
community station with no plans to increase power.
NTV is not really expected
to make a profit, we don't even know if we are going to break even at this
stage, the overheads, the equipment and the staffing are very costly. Our aims
are to allow for a local experiment in local television, the first such
experiment in Ireland. The afternoons will be available to the Irish language
groups who we are hoping will take up the franchise option.
We will be broadcasting
music videos, news and local current affairs programmes, Irish programmes,
religious programmes, we will also be showing local Irish talent shows as well
as educational programmes, quiz shows, chat shows and at the weekends
children’s programmes which we hope will be presented by the children
themselves. Basically our idea is to provide family entertainment on a local
Dublin community station. If you are receiving this test transmission our phone number for reception reports is 603228.
Amateur video groups may like to send us their tapes once they own the
copyright to them. That is it for now. I'm Sybil Fennell and this has been a test transmission for Nova
Television broadcasting on Channel 60."
Pressure on the Government from R.T.E. and pressure from
the Government on Nova led to Cary's decision on Tuesday morning December 6th,
to close the station until further notice. This did not seem to satisfy neither
R.T.E. nor the Government. On Friday December 9th, Radio Nova and Nova Television
were raided. Equipment estimated as valued at £170,000 was taken in the raid
along with the television transmitter. As in the May court case, Nova was fined
for broadcasting without a licence and contravening the Wireless Telegraphy
Act. Having been fined and the fine paid, the equipment was returned to Radio
Nova. Cary did not use the television transmitter again and it is believed that
the transmitter was sold to some businessmen from Northern Ireland.
For what was to be an experiment in independent television
in Ireland, it was short lived mainly because neither R.T.E. nor the Government
could allow such a professional operation like Radio Nova with a proven track
record in illegal radio to branch out into television and perhaps repeat the
success that they had on the radio airwaves. R.T.E.'s paronia about such a
television station was obviously in a reply to a question directed at Deputy
Director General Vincent Finn when asked how would fight the television pirates
he replied that,
"R.T.E.
could take a number of measures on a legal front, commercial front, financial
front and technical front."
When asked if that last 'front' would include the jamming
of Nova's signal, the Deputy Director General was non-committal.
TELIFIS NA GAELTACHT
Operating from the community hall at Rosmuc, Co. Galway,
Telifis Na Gaeltacht broadcasted programmes solely in the Irish language. The
station went on air on Friday October 2nd 1987 and on that opening weekend
broadcast programmes specially made for the station by filmmaker Bob Quinn. On
opening night a gala concert held at the Community Hall was broadcast live on
the station. That first Sunday saw the transmission of a special Mass from the
local parish church dedicated to the memory of the late musician Sean O'Riada.
The stations transmitter was built by Dublin man Norbert
Payne and had a radius of fifteen miles. The idea for a pirate station
dedicated to the native language came following a visit by some locals to the
Faroe Islands off the coast of Scotland. This Danish controlled territory set
up their own illegal television station Gothab TV following Copenhagen refusal
to give them a station. Telifis's operators had hoped to emulate the success of
Saor Radio Connemara which led to the setting up of a legal Irish language
station, Radio Na Gaeltachta.
Irish language television did not finally arrive in
Ireland until 1996 when T na G (Telifis Na Gaeltacht) was launched.
RADIO LIMERICK ONE TELEVISION (RLO TV)
When Radio Limerick One lost their franchise from the
IRTC, the station continued to broadcast via satellite and then relayed around
Limerick City and County on an illegal FM transmitter network. In 1999, station
owner Gerard Madden decided to launch a television channel RLO TV. The station
began broadcasting television programmes originally via Sirius 2 but in late
1999 transferred to Eutelsat Hot Bird at 13* via Globecast transponder 94.
The following is a schedule for two days in 1999.
Tuesday October 26th 1999
7a.m. Dr.
John's Diary (Featuring Petals, Destiny & Ellen Street Antiques)
7.45a.m. Play
(Alone It Stands)
10a.m. Repeat
of 7a.m. - 10a.m.
1p.m. U
14 Football. (Capermore v. Adare)
1.45p.m. Hurling
(Old Christians v. Drom \ Broadford)
2.30p.m Dr.
John's Diary
3.15p.m. Mid
West Report
4p.m. Repeat
of 1p.m.
7p.m. Repeat
of 1p.m. & 4p.m.
Thursday October 28th 1999
7a.m. GAA
(September GAA Awards)
7.45a.m. Soccer
(League of Ireland, Limerick City v. Home Farm)
8.30a.m. Mid
West Report (Markets Artists at TSB Bank)
9.15a.m. Let's
Talk Sport (Interview with former World Heavyweight Champ, George Foreman)
10a.m. Repeat
of 7a.m.
1p.m. Mid
West Report (Nurses Strike)
1.45p.m. Hurling
(Croom v. Patrickswell)
2.30p.m. Basketball
(Limerick v. Notre Dame)
4p.m. Repeat
from 1p.m.
7p.m. Repeat from 1p.m. & 4p.m.
After ending transmissions on Satellite, the station was
rebroadcast on UHF through a deflector system installed for the Limerick area.
The ODTR granted the deflector system licence in 2000 to the following,
|
COMPANY
Cliffmount Ltd, |
TX SITES
1. Newcastle West 2. Knockfeerina 3. Woodcock Hill Clare
|
LICENCE AWARDED 14th March 2000 |
CONTACT
Cliffmount Ltd, RLO TV, Norwich Union Hse, 17 Patrick Street, Limerick |
After a raid by the Irish authorities in 2001 the radio
and TV equipment of RLO were seized and the channel never returned.
BBSEE TV
BBSee Television was a
local pirate television station that aired during the Ballinamore Batchelor
Festival in the County Leitrim village. The station broadcast from 2000 – 2003 for
two weeks per year.