www.thepost.ie/post/text/story.asp?document_id=26477&ca -
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Published on: 9/9/2007
Last Visited: 9/9/2007
Pat Donnelly, co-founder and chairman of Channel 6, has spent the past 18 months battling more adversaries than the cast of Heroes, the US drama that is his television station's star performer.
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But whereas the crew of Heroes have superpowers, Donnelly finds himself playing the part of an underdog struggling against bigger rivals.Since the station went on air last year, Donnelly has taken on everyone, from competing stations to industry regulators.
He has argued that the Nielsen ratings system is not accurate and has lashed out at overseas channels for dumping cheap content on the Irish market.
He has threatened to report Sky to the Competition Authority, claiming the global giant is abusing its market position and distorting competition.
He is also engaged in a separate dispute with Sky, over its decision to give Channel 6 a ‘‘crap" placing on its digital platform.
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The main reason for this, according to Donnelly, is the station's dispute with Sky over its placing at number 190 on the company's digital platform- a considerable distance from the other Irish stations, which start at 101.
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An Irish channel at 190 targeting four million people has a much smaller chance of survival," said Donnelly.
Donnelly said he had hired a team of lawyers, who had informed him that Sky's decision was illegal under Irish law.If necessary, he said, he would pursue the matter through the British and Irish courts.
Sky is claiming it is governed by Ofcom, the British television regulator, whereas Donnelly maintains its Irish activities should be regulated by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI).Following correspondence between the two regulators, the board of the BCI last week agreed to take responsibility for governing Sky's Irish platform.
Just how willing Sky will be to play ball with the BCI remains to be seen, however.
‘‘They don't want to be regulated in Ireland.They want to duck between the cracks and avoid being regulated," said Donnelly.
The placing issue is not Donnelly's only gripe with Sky, however.
He is threatening to report the broadcasting giant to the Competition Authority, claiming it is distorting competition by selling advertising rates at knock-down rates, a practice known as ‘dumping'.
He said Sky was offering discounts that were inappropriate to its market share. ‘‘They are practically giving advertising slots away," he said.
Donnelly should know, as his background is in advertising.
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Murphy runs the station on a day-to-day basis, while Donnelly is responsible for developing commercial opportunities.
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I did not anticipate the amount of obstacles we would have to overcome," said Donnelly.
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According to Donnelly, that ,14 million is intended to last three years, at which stage it is intended that the station be cash-flow positive.
To date, some ,11.5million of the money has been spent, and Donnelly said he expected the remaining cash to see the channel through to the end of next year.
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It does not look like a television station," said Donnelly.
‘‘Ironically, one of the things that we have discovered is that it is probably better, in terms of economies of scale, to do some of the stuff in-house.This will give us more flexibility and allow us to be a little bit lighter on our feet."
Donnelly said the station had no intention of abandoning its ‘pure entertainment' ethos, or reducing the amount of US content.He said the station had the right model and would prosper if it could obtain the right distribution on the Sky platform.
‘‘One of the most common criticisms we get is that Channel 6 is the same as all the others.People say this as a put-down, but I take it as a compliment.If our little station is the same as channels that are costing billions to run, I will take it as a compliment and go off and have a glass of red wine for myself," he said.
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