Virgin Media Four became the third new channel to join Ireland’s free-to-air digital terrestrial TV service Saorview in the past 12 months.
The latest channel offshoot from Virgin Media Ireland launched earlier today on Saorview channel 7.
Virgin Media Four features a range of home produced and international content, including weekly NFL American Football coverage and the first TV broadcast of The Group Chat with Zara King, Gavan Reilly and Richard Chambers’ take on major news stories.
Three-part documentary series, Two Sides, gets its Irish TV premiere on the new channel. The behind-the-scenes documentary looks at the British & Irish Lions rugby tour and explores what transpired in the opposing camps in South Africa last year.
Daytime schedules include episodes of The Hotel Inspector, Posh Pawn and Storage Hoarders.
In addition to Saorview, Virgin Media Four is available on Virgin Media Ireland channel 110. But the channel is not available on Sky Ireland at launch.
The past 12 months has seen a gradual increase in the number of channels available on the digital terrestrial service Saorview after a static few years. Sky News and UCB Ireland radio joined the platform late last year, which is broadcast over two multiplexes available across the vast majority of the Republic of Ireland.
As a result of the new Virgin Media channel, RTÉ Jr’s Saorview slot has moved to channel 17.
Viewers in Northern Ireland
Freeview users who can also receive overspill signals from the Republic of Ireland may find the channel in the 800 channel range after a retune. A small number of receivers may still put Virgin Media Four on channel 7, as this Freeview channel number is currently unallocated outside of the Greater Belfast area.