Talk about setting the tone. There were no New Year's Day fireworks or giddy studio shenanigans for yesterday's launch of UTV Ireland.
It kicked off with a five minute meet-the-team intro before an hour of Emmerdale (so UTV business-as-usual then) followed by a sober, very corporate looking "we love Ireland" documentary fronted by the station's star signing, Pat Kenny.
The jauntily titled Out with the Old – In with the U saw Kenny on the road, anorak on, out of his more familiar studio setting and standing on various headlands while the wind licked his hair and you couldn't help notice he looked freezing.
To give an idea quite how serious this documentary took itself, in the interview with Hozier (wasn't he just on The Late Show Show?) the on-screen titles read Andrew Hozier-Byrne – a name now probably used only by his bank manager and old head master.
It also read “singer-songwriter” a hint maybe that UTV Ireland isn’t expecting a younger audience, to whom that description would be met with a resounding “well, duh”.
Talk turned to the Wicklow singer's recent performance at the Victoria's Secret lingerie fashion show. It caused some controversy at the time but no mention of that here – this wasn't Kenny in current affairs mode and this film stayed resolutely upbeat throughout.
He also travelled North to interview the usually irrepressible – but serious here – rugby player Tommy Bowe (outdoors, freezing) and south to Kinsale to talk to entrepreneur Seán O'Sullivan (at home, maybe, it wasn't clear), all familiar TV interview faces – safe choices for the station's first outing. Out with the Old - In with the U did look gorgeous though. Fáilte Ireland corporate-video-gorgeous, full of shots of magnificent scenery with traditional Irish music playing softly underneath.
Some of UTV Ireland’s new editors outlined what’s in store for us in 2015 in the arts, politics, economics and sport.
In scheduling terms it’s a choppy, confusing start for UTV Ireland – a safe, familiar looking, albeit beautifully made (by independent production company Loosehorse) documentary doesn’t quite count as an exciting launch.
When the station's news and current affairs coverage starts on Monday, it should be more obvious to viewers that what's on offer is in fact a new station, and that it's not "U" as in Ulster TV.
