Dublin's TV3 Goes HD

A new studio capable of being used for high definition television is to be added to TV3 existing facility in Ballymount, Dublin.
The 500sq m studio will cost between €4 million and €5 million and will be part of an adjacent building which will also house a number of independent production companies.
TV3 Chief Executive David McRedmond said the new studio, which will be ready towards the middle of next year, would be critical in ensuring the station reaches the goal of producing 50% of its own content and will allow TV3 to host programmes in front of a live audience and screen programmes in high definition.
The new studio will be located in a building adjacent to its present premises in Ballymount and amounts to a significant investment by Doughty Hanson, the venture capital company which paid €230 million for TV3 in 2006.
As an additional bonus, Mr McRedmond anticipates the studio will be heavily used by independent production companies and will allow them to export many of their programmes abroad.
He told the Irish Times that the model of a major studio attached to a commercial television station was well-established elsewhere, he said, citing Granada studios' attachment to ITV as an example.
(BMcC)