If and when TV3 starts to make a profit, almost half will go to a foreign investor, Can West, which own 45 per cent of the new station. When the idea of a third, independent channel was first mooted, no one expected it would effectively be controlled by a foreign company. Can West has a string of similar stations in Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Each of these stations is informed by the "low overheads, low audience-levels" principle. That means they remain in around third or fourth position in the relevant country's ratings, not drawing too much attention to themselves or their output, but staying comfortably commercially viable. Can West is the biggest purchaser of Hollywood products outside the US, so TV3 benefits from its economical access to films and TV programmes. .

So is this really a new Irish station at all? Can West effectively controls the interests of the station and occupies the key executive positions. Is this a foreign station with a few Irish accents?

The other 55 per cent of TV3 is Irish owned, but no single shareholder owns anywhere near as much as Can West.