Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
UTV IRELAND HAVE poached a current editor of RTÉ’s Six One and Nine News to be the head of news at the soon to be launched broadcaster.
After already recruiting former RTÉ stalwart Pat Kenny to their books, UTV Ireland have now added Marcus Lehnen to head up their current affairs programming.
Lehnen has been at RTÉ for the past ten years having spent a further 15 years working at the BBC in London
His capture represents a further sign of UTV Ireland’s intentions to muscle in on the news market. The station, which is slated to begin broadcasting on 1 January 2015, has so far has two confirmed news programmes, Ireland Live and Ireland Live at 10.
“Marcus is an excellent addition to the UTV Ireland team,” head of channel Mary Curtis said today. “His exemplary journalism career includes coverage of major national and international events and the management of news programmes and news teams.”
Lehnen himself applauded UTV Ireland’s ambition as he announced his departure from the national broadcaster.
This is a very exciting time for the broadcast industry in Ireland. UTV is an excellent media group and the news and current affairs plans for UTV Ireland are fresh and ambitious. I am delighted to be joining the channel.
Managing director of UTV Ireland Michael Wilson described the hiring of Lehnen as “a great appointment” saying that the station is “recruiting some of the most talented people in the Irish broadcasting industry”.
UTV Ireland’s news output will be produced from offices in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick and supplemented by UTV’s facilities in Belfast and Derry.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Nothing like a bit of healthy competition, RTE had a monopoly for too long. Time now to spread out the licence money they collect also.
Probably just increase the licence fee to cover the new lads.
Yep, can see them looking to add 5 euro to the license fee to make up the shortfall in advertising they’ll experience when they viewers move to UTV.
Can they not think of a better name than UTV Ireland?
Also, if they are basically just going to be showing ITV programmes, what will TV3 do?
They will do what they are good at import more of the same rubbish.
Never heard of him.
He’s never heard of you.
The entire justification for a tv licence is to ensure unbiased programming free from commercial influences. RTE fails at that hands down by showing ads. RTE is irrelevant. End the tv livence, privatise RTE!
I’m not sure how privatising them will free them from commercial concerns.
It won’t. It will save me from having to pay for their failure to do so.
Considering the absolute garbage that’s contained in the RTE2 schedule (reported on here earlier) – it’s safe to assume that the talent pool , such as it is – will soon be extinct in Montrose. Time to abolish RTE2 and make the best of the carcass that will be left.
rte 2 has the grounds for a good broadcaster , kids tv 6 am to 12 , midday to 6 is a hard market to fill it’s seems only muck tv is needed but rte could fill it with something different , 6 to 7.30 could be ozzie soaps then weekdays(Monday to wednesday) filled with champions league or second captains like shows then Thursday Friday nights with comedy and drama nights the weekends vary vastly but it should be filling the weekend with alternative sports and classic movies at night
Why fill it with sports when almost everyone who is going to be watching those sports shows are watching them on Sky Sports and other sports channels? If they want the viewers they need original shows and exclusives.
I agree danny they need serious fresh blood and what better way than having podcast style chat shows where presenters can interchange and have regular guests , a weekly worldwide sports round up would not cost a fortune and not just sport but music and film and book review shows
They should take after BBC and do some high quality documentaries too
Every try to clear sport archive rights…. It would cost a fortune.
sports round ups can be a discussion based thing and not a clips show based
Second try. Who gives a damn? Nobody pays any attention to who the editor is. Dobson thinks HE is the news. Let’s have a single reader and get the main news points over in five minutes. Six One has long passed it’s sell by date.
Can blame the guy really , he’s entitled to move jobs
I won’t be watching that channel so…
Going from one mainstream media news channel to another…….same script.different location.
Are the numbers telling you anything Frank?
Six One News = 6+1 =7
Maybe he saw the new RTE schedule and did a runner!
Well that’s interesting, all comments referring to the licence fee have been removed! Big Brother at work on the Journal, nice!
RTE will have a new man or woman in at half the cost of him. But then waste it on fair city.
I don’t even have any Irish channels any more. Maybe this will change that
Neither do I. From speaking to others they don’t bother with RTE anymore either.
When it’s a choice between RTE, and Channel 4/BBC/random US channels, RTE loses every time. And it really doesn’t help them to have their only “decent” shows (Love/Hate and Mrs Brown’s Boys) shown on BBC as well. RTE’s days are numbered if they don’t fix themselves.
Surely a title more accurate than UTV/ROI/IRE/? is required as to the best of my knowledge the U in UTV stands for ulster……so will it be 26 county news seen through 6 county eyes?
To be honest can’t see them reporting on events happening in remote rural regions.
Maybe it will be UTVD?
Anyway Rte news was an organ of the govt of the day….had to be as they were all paid by govt.
I’d rather that a national broadcaster doesn’t report on rural regional issues unless they have some kind of national or international relevance.
The people of Northern Ireland will get to hear plenty of news now from far flung counteries such as Syira, Ukraine Libia etc. UTV must be badly stuck for an editor.
He’s been hired for the new UTV channel south of the border.
It certainly is getting the point where RTE should go it alone- this isn’t the BBC we are talking about where quality is high, with a vast archive of quality programming, nature/science docs, no ads etc., and there are loads of other news programmes/website/radio stations to get Irish news from. It should either be stripped right back to 1 station or the license is shared out and it goes commercial.
Or just start putting more money into developing better, but fewer, original shows.
time to shut down RTE why do we need it
There is going to be so much hype about this new station and I bet it’s going to one big let down !
Plus ca change? UTV Ireland have once again missed an opportunity to be original by departing from the stale groupthink in the existing Irish media.
It’s sad. UTV Ireland had a big opportunity to offer something different when they decided to enter the Irish market, instead they are just hiring the same people who ran the old Irish media.
have your say