• Critically acclaimed Irish drama ‘Blood’ returns to Virgin Media One for a second series.

 

• Brand new documentary series ‘The Guards: Inside the K’ gives viewers unprecedented access to An Garda Síochána in one of Ireland’s most challenging policing districts.

 

• Rugby’s greatest championship, the Guinness Six Nations, is back, with Ireland’s campaign kicking off on February 1st against Scotland. In a big year of sport, VMTV is also home to the Heineken Champions Cup, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, as well as the Cheltenham and Aintree Racing Festivals.

 

• Last year’s most talked about TV show is back with the highly anticipated Winter edition of ‘Love Island’ with new host Laura Whitmore.

 

• Across 2020, Virgin Media Television will broadcast more hours of live Irish studio content than ever before, including extensive coverage of Election 2020.

 

 

Thursday 09th January, 2020: Virgin Media Television (VMTV) announced details of its brand new Spring TV Schedule, at a press event held today in The Westin, Dublin.

Series two of acclaimed Irish drama ‘Blood’, starring Adrian Dunbar, will broadcast this February on Virgin Media One. Reeling from the controversial death of his wife Mary, the thrilling crime drama series sees Dunbar’s character Jim Hogan dealing with the shock arrest of his eldest daughter Fiona for murder as his family crumbles around him. Commissioned by Virgin Media Television, ‘Blood’ has been sold in over 60 territories around the world and was recently nominated for a prestigious Writer’s Guild of Great Britain Award.

 

The most talked about TV show is back as we head to South Africa for the launch of the winter edition of ‘Love Island’ on Virgin Media One on January 12th, with new host Laura Whitmore flying the flag for Ireland.

 

Virgin Media Sport analyst Kevin Kilbane and former Love Island contestant Maura Higgins take to the rink as ‘Dancing on Ice’ returns on Sundays to Virgin Media One.

 

‘The Guards: Inside The K’, a brand new documentary series will launch in March. The series will give viewers unprecedented access to the work carried out by An Garda Síochána in some of the toughest scenarios possible. From breaking down doors, to the aftermath of shootings, this series provides a no-holds-barred look at what it’s like to be a guard in Ireland today.

 

VMTV will continue to be the home of top class sport including the best of European football, international rugby, and the biggest and best horse racing meetings from across the water.

 

Liverpool defend their UEFA Champions League title live on Virgin Media Sport as the knockout stages of Europe’s top club football competitions return. Graeme Souness, Niall Quinn, Kevin Kilbane, Keith Andrews and Brian Kerr head up the panel of experts alongside presenter Tommy Martin. VMTV will also be the home of the UEFA Europa League with Manchester United, Arsenal and Celtic all going for glory. All games in both competitions are live on Virgin Media Sport.

 

A new era for Irish rugby kicks off in February and Virgin Media One will have live coverage of every game of the Guinness Six Nations as new Irish coach Andy Farrell and his team look to bounce back. Joe Molloy will present the coverage with expert opinion from Ronan O’Gara, Shane Horgan, Matt Williams and Alan Quinlan. A massive year of rugby on VMTV starts in January with live coverage of the Heineken Champions Cup, including decisive matches in the pool stage and knockout rounds, with the final live on Virgin Media One.

 

Alongside our Guinness Six Nations coverage, ‘The Late Tackle’, a brand new entertainment show with a focus on rugby will launch at the end of the month presented by Muireann O’Connell and Love Island winner Greg O’Shea.

 

Virgin Media One will broadcast the best days of UK horse racing too, including all four days of the eagerly anticipated Cheltenham Festival in March, the Aintree Grand National in April and the best in flat racing including the Epsom Derby Festival and Royal Ascot.

 

OTHER NEW FORMATS & DOCUMENTARIES

 

Virgin Media One will air a host of brand new entertainment and factual documentary series including;

 

‘Prison Breaks’ which launches on January 22nd, follows businesswoman Domini Kemp as she trains prisoners in Wheatfield Prison to become entrepreneurs. For the first time cameras will follow Domini’s prison students in the classroom and around the prison as well as meeting some of her graduates to find out if they stayed on the straight and narrow.

 

In ‘The Great Give Back’ which starts on January 14th, we meet people financially on the edge and those with plenty of cash to spare who are paired with each other and follow the impact both families have on each other’s lives.

 

‘Generation Dating’, starting in February, is a brand new Irish dating show where a young person and an older person, both looking for love, meet and run each other’s love lives in a quest to take the leap and find that perfect date. From online dating to dance halls our pair hunt for love for each other while developing a new friendship along the way.

 

From hanging out with new cubs inside the lion’s cage to tracking monkeys through Madagascar, ‘FOTA: Into The Wild’ starts on the February 2nd and takes animal lovers inside Cork’s Fota Wildlife Park and the incredible work they do all around the world to save animals at risk of extinction.

 

‘The Uneducatables’ brings viewers inside the Life Centre School in Cork where kids with no school left to go to are encouraged to learn in a less conventional setting. We follow a year in their lives as they battle challenges and demons to stay in education.

 

‘You, Me & Surrogacy’ explores the increasingly popular phenomenon of surrogacy through the experience of those using this challenging, expensive and unregulated method as a way to try to become parents.

 

Can you remember your ‘First Love’? In this new show we follow people who yearn to go back and find that first love. We see how they track them down and what happens when they come face to face years after that first flush of romance.

 

VMTV will have extensive coverage of Election 2020 with a leader’s debate. ‘The Tonight Show’ will hit the road and go around the country to discuss election issues affecting people, while the Virgin Media News team will be with every political party and bring viewers all the main stories of the campaign each day.

 

Speaking at today’s press briefing, Virgin Media Television Director of Content, Bill Malone, said:

 

“Virgin Media Television’s new Spring 2020 schedule brings to life our strategy of increased investment in high quality News, Sport, Entertainment, Factual and Drama. Be it on TV or on demand, this year we will broadcast more Irish made programming than ever before.

 

“Our world class studio facilities, mixed with ground-breaking international partnerships means we are ideally placed to take on the challenges of an ever changing media landscape.

 

“A brand new series of internationally acclaimed Irish drama ‘Blood’ and new factual series ‘The Guards: Inside The K’, will sit side by side some of the biggest moments in sport including ‘UEFA Champions League’, ‘Guinness Six Nations’ and top UK entertainment shows, such as the new Winter ‘Love Island’ starting on Virgin Media One this Sunday”.

 

Images taken at the launch will be issued by Brian McEvoy to your picture desk. Please contact Brian on 086 250 9393 or brian@picturesinpublicity.com.

 

ENDS