Monday 22nd September 2014: Ireland’s leading TV, broadband and communications innovator UPC has welcomed the first broadcast of Ireland’s first fully-fledged, dedicated parliamentary channel, Oireachtas TV which is being carried on UPC Channel 207.

UPC has been instrumental in promoting Oireachtas TV on its cable TV services where it was the first digital TV operator to broadcast Oireachtas proceedings as a pilot on UPC in November 2011.

Oireachtas TV will now provide unfiltered access to the parliamentary process to over one million households nationwide including debates, committees and other proceedings from both houses of the Oireachtas.

Since its launch on UPC, Oireachtas TV has grown from strength to strength, increasing its viewership by 20 per cent following its move to channel 207, having previously being broadcast on channel 801. Now available alongside mainstream news and current affairs channels, the Oireachtas TV channel is regularly viewed by 55% of UPC subscribers.

Ceann Comhairle, Sean Barrett, TD said “This channel ensures the citizens we serve can see for themselves and judge for themselves, first hand and unfiltered, the performance of their parliament and parliamentarians. By providing instant, accessible, factual, objective and impartial coverage of Oireachtas Éireann, I hope that it will improve citizens’ understanding and perception of the work of our parliament and parliamentarians.”

Magnus Ternsjö CEO of UPC Ireland said “UPC was the first cable TV operator in Ireland to broadcast Oireachtas TV as a pilot channel and since its inception has being delivering this service at no additional cost to the Houses of the Oireachtas or the taxpayer.

“We have worked in partnership with the Oireachtas team to continuously improve the delivery of the channel and as a consequence we gave the channel greater prominence among our news and current affairs line-up. In parallel we have continued to carry out annual usage surveys and the most recent findings indicated an increase of viewership by 20% on UPC Channel 207.

“I congratulate the Ceann Comhairle for his foresight in promoting this fully fledged parliamentary channel. Providing a dedicated channel for the public to access and follow Oireachtas proceedings is a great way of linking citizens with local and national democracy through the medium of television.”

ENDS

 

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UPC Ireland

UPC is Ireland’s leading TV, broadband and communications innovator. Its fibre power network reaches over 857,000 Irish homes, following from UPC’s investments of over half a billion euro in its network. UPC is the market leader in triple play services for digital TV, superfast broadband and phone services. It has over 336,700 digital cable TV customers nationwide