Bubble Hits was an Irish

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using Digital signal, digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an ...

music channel owned by Creative Sounds. It broadcast two channels, one for Ireland, and a Pan-European feed which covered the United Kingdom, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Germany. On 13 February 2009, Bubble Hits went off air and was removed from most of TV

EPG Electronic programming guides (EPGs) and interactive programming guides (IPGs) are menu-based systems that provide users of television, radio, and other media applications with continuously updated menus that display scheduling information fo ...

s. The websites, including the official one and social networking versions on MySpace and Bebo were also removed. The closure of the channel was due to the current downturn in advertising revenue.

Location

Bubble Hits studios were located in

Ashbourne, County Meath Ashbourne ()Placenames Database of Ireland
(see archival records) is a town in County Meat ...

, Ireland at the Creative Sounds studios. The channel was broadcast

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...

, therefore viewers did not need to have a Sky

subscription The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century. It ...

to view it. Despite being Irish-owned, it was not licensed by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) but instead by the UK's

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

to " Creative Sounds UK", who are based in Northchapel. This is not unusual amongst Irish channels, as well as those from other countries with restrictive broadcasting legislation, such as Sweden. The decision may also have been due to BCI's requirements that a significant percentage of programming must be Irish-produced.

Advertising

Originally Bubble Hits claimed to be Europe's only music channel without adverts. By February 2007, the channel started carrying adverts. Adverts usually lasted 60 seconds and appeared after 3 song intervals. The station promised to be no more than 60 seconds away from the next song. Commercial breaks appeared to consist of only two advertisements. This was a unique approach to advertising amongst channels within Europe.

Bubble Hits (Ireland)

A specific Bubble Hits channel for the Irish market ( Bubble Hits Ireland) launched on Sky Digital,

UPC Ireland Virgin Media Ireland is Liberty Global's telecommunications operation in Ireland. It is the largest digital cable television provider within the country. the company offers broadband internet, digital television digital (VoIP) telephony and ...

Smart ''SMart'' was a British CBBC television programme based on art, which began in 1994 and ended in 2009. The programme was recorded at BBC Television Centre in London. Previously it had been recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingha ...

, Magnet Networks, SCTV on Monday 19 May 2008. With specific programming and advertising, the schedule featured more localised content including music videos, music shows, chart shows and entertainment news specific to Ireland & it was also localised by Irish advertisements. http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=MEDIA+AND+MARKETING-qqqs=mediaandmarketing-qqqid=24085-qqqx=1.asp bubble hits Ireland closed on the same day as the uk version

Bubble Hits (Pan-Europe)

It was available on satellite, mainly Sky Digital, in the UK. The channel was available

Eutelsat 28A Eutelsat 133 West A (formerly Eurobird 1, Eutelsat 28A, and Eutelsat 33C) is a Eutelsat operated Eurobird satellite, used primarily for digital television. It was launched in March 2001, and after a short period testing at 33°E, joined Eutelsat ...

in Ireland, Germany, Poland, Hungary and other parts of Europe. The channel was localised with UK advertisements. Launched on 16 August 2006 this channel served the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland and Hungary. This channel also served Ireland until the launch of Bubble Hits Ireland on 19 May 2008. On 13 February 2009 the channel ceased transmission.

Former Programmes

*'' Bubble Euro Top 30'' – The official European Top 30 chart, videos selected from 11 European countries. *'' Poptastic Hits'' – The latest pop hits *'' iBubble'' –

interactive Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...

request show *'' Bubble Fresh'' – brand new video show sponsored by

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*'' Pop Pop Pop'' – non-stop pop video show sponsored by

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...

.com *'' Most Wanted'' – daily chart show of the highest requested songs of the day sponsored by Jamster *'' Glenda's Showbiz Gossip'' – nightly entertainment news updates every night from 16:00.

Former Presenters

*'' Glenda Gilson'' *'' Liam McKenna'' *''

Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan (singer), Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s an ...

Ownership

The station was operated by James Hyland and Lee Walsh. The pair were listed as 27th richest under-30-year-olds in Ireland in a TV show entitled, "Young, Irish and Wealthy" broadcast on 28 December 2008 on national Irish television station

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

. However, there has been some discussion and debate as to the accuracy of the list.

Competition

*Bubble Hits was the only independent music channel broadcasting into Ireland or the UK without being owned by CSC, MTV Networks Europe or

EMAP Ascential (formerly EMAP) was a British-headquartered global company, specialising in events, intelligence and advisory services for the marketing and financial technology industries. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was ac ...

. *Bubble Hits was watched by more than

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

in the UK and Ireland. In February 2007 Bubble Hits took 6% of

's audience (16- to 34-year-olds) by May 2007 it has risen to 9%. ource: Irish Examiner (04.08.2007)">Irish Examiner">ource: Irish Examiner (04.08.2007)*Bubble Hits claimed to have more than 2.5 million viewers from both Ireland and the UK. ource: Irish Examiner (04.08.2007)">Irish Examiner">ource: Irish Examiner (04.08.2007)

References

*http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=MEDIA+AND+MARKETING-qqqs=mediaandmarketing-qqqid=24085-qqqx=1.asp

*Irish Examiner Weekend edition (04.08.2007) ' Bubble Up' (article)

External links

*Bubble Hits promises new music channel for Ireland: archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2007/06/03/story24085.asp
Official site
Currently unavailable
Bubble Hits' MySpace page
Now inactive and been removed *http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=MEDIA+AND+MARKETING-qqqs=mediaandmarketing-qqqid=24085-qqqx=1.asp {{Irish Television Channels Television networks in Ireland Television stations in Ireland Music television channels 2006 establishments in Ireland Television channels and stations established in 2006 Defunct music video networks Defunct television channels in the United Kingdom Music organisations based in Ireland