In February 2014 Ofcom announced that UTV s Channel 3 broadcasting licence had been renewed for 10 years beginning 1 January 2015.

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1 UTV PERFORMANCE REVIEW OF 2014 This Review has been produced in accordance with the requirements of the Communications Act and the guidelines issued by Ofcom. This document is UTV s own assessment of how we fulfilled our Public Service remit in In February 2014 Ofcom announced that UTV s Channel 3 broadcasting licence had been renewed for 10 years beginning 1 January UTV looks forward to providing the audience with the same high standards of news, current affairs and programming that reflects the people and issues of Northern Ireland in the future. Overall Strategy / Major Themes UTV s strategy in our Annual Statement last year was to deliver to Northern Ireland a strong Channel 3 service. UTV is the market leader in Northern Ireland. We have achieved that by delivering high quality news, current affairs and a wide range and depth of non-news programming to reflect the diverse communities we serve. Viewer appreciation of UTV s programmes remains very high. In 2014, UTV s share of peak time viewing held up exceptionally well at 24.7%, more than four times the audience of our nearest commercial competitor Channel 4 which achieved a 5.7% share and well ahead of BBC NI s 18.6%. The top performing programmes in Northern Ireland were dominated by UTV which took 52 places out of 100, including 5 for UTV produced regional programmes: In 2014, UTV broadcast: The most watched soap Coronation Street The most watched drama Downton Abbey The most watched regional news UTV Live Significant Changes UTV did not materially alter the character of the service in Innovation, experiment and creativity UTV continues to take advantage of the latest technology and production techniques to deliver the best possible service to viewers. In support of this, in 2014, we introduced an extensive training programme for our operations and production teams to maximise the potential of recently introduced and maturing technologies in news gathering and location production. As Northern Ireland s leading television broadcaster it is increasingly important to have a strong online and mobile presence. All local programming and news is available through digital platforms including our website, mobile website and a news app for Apple and Android devices, which has been downloaded around 120,000 times. We regularly cross-promote on UTV to our digital platforms. UTV also has a significant social media presence, driving more than 25% of the traffic to our digital platforms.

2 UTV s online channels have received more than one million unique users every month since the start of 2014, with an average of 80,000 unique users visiting the site every day in We will be rolling out a new responsive website in the New Year. Ahead of our site re-launch, significant investment has been made in VOD technology to strengthen our on-demand free, ad-funded service. The new UTV Player, which became available in 2014, re-invented the whole user experience with a clean, contemporary and robust design, also introducing mobile device compatibility. The UTV Player app for Apple and Android devices allow users in Northern Ireland to catch up on their favourite UTV programmes, for up to 30 days after broadcast, on the go. The App has been downloaded more than 45,000 times in the four months following launch this summer. UTV has made substantial investments throughout our technical infrastructure upgrading our ingest and server playout facilities which now utilise the latest file-based technologies and workflows. Additionally, to support the increasing complexity associated with file based workflows, UTV has embraced automatic monitoring across the playout infrastructure to assist rapid assessment and to ensure quality control of our station output. We have also invested in new facilities in support of our HD strategy, and have further developed station automation control which has resulted in a more robust playout service. We have substantially upgraded our satellite connectivity and have replaced aging satellite dishes and SD downlink equipment with state-of-the- art HD equipment. We have also improved connectivity with our North West Studio utilising high speed fibre technology. UTV has installed and commissioned new HD subtitle inserters which will further improve our subtitling service. Tier 2 Arrangements UTV exceeded all minimum licence requirements set by Ofcom. News Non-news 4 hours per week 2 hours per week (Includes 30 mins per week of Current Affairs) In 2014 we achieved more than 98.52% of local programming subtitling against a regulatory requirement of 90%. As part of ITV Network, we have targets of 10% of output being audio-described and 5% visually signed. We have over-delivered on both of these requirements. Programme Review Content UTV s portfolio of local programmes offers a diverse range of high quality news, current affairs, and non-news content which, in 2014, attracted some of the highest audience shares in television across the UK. (Source: BARB). Two years after the digital switchover, in a market more competitive than ever, this is a remarkable performance. News A commitment to high quality news and current affairs is at the heart of UTV output.

3 UTV Live at Six is by far the most watched regional news programme in Northern Ireland regularly achieving an audience of more than 40%. In 2014, UTV Live achieved an average share of 35.4%. These figures compare to BBC NI s Newsline average of 29% and regionally the ITV Network News at 6.30 achieved an average share of 21.6%. In 2014, UTV broadcast four hours additional programming to cover the local government and European elections. We used new technology for the first time to deliver enhanced, comprehensive coverage from across Northern Ireland. Our broadcast was anchored in Belfast using two sets, in a split studio setting, integrating this with significant social media and online streaming on a council by council basis. UTV covered some of Northern Ireland s major events and issues across news, sport, tourism and culture. The news agenda gave extensive coverage to some of the most significant developments in 2014 including the opening of the Historical Abuse Inquiry, dealing with child sexual abuse in children s homes and state institutions while sporting highlights of the year included the Giro d Italia, with coverage from across Ireland on its impact and the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race/ Maritime festival in Londonderry/Derry. The challenges facing the health service, following budget cuts, has been a recurring story, illustrating UTV s ability to deliver exclusive content on issues that matter to its viewers. For example, we carried a series of exclusive interviews with mothers who lost their babies in tragic circumstances. When the Stormont Government announced a series of budget cuts and welfare reform in the Autumn, UTV was first to obtain an exclusive interview with the Prime Minister eight days before our competitors. During the year, UTV also broadcast special reports on the death of former First Minister, Ian Paisley. UTV went on air with the first of a series of four news specials that afternoon later followed by a one-hour obituary documentary, A Man with a Mission. Current Affairs UTV has increased its investment in UTV Live Tonight, a dedicated nightly half-hour news and current affairs programme at 10.30pm. During 2014, this has increasingly been used to develop our current affairs output, with additional investment in special investigations. UTV Live Tonight is developing a growing reputation for delivering exclusive content. For example it was the only media outlet, print, radio or TV, to broadcast an interview from Cork with the mother of the two young boys killed by their older brother who then took his own life. Other exclusive investigations included new revelations surrounding the murder of a mother of eight in the Ballymurphy massacre of 1971; the sexual abuse cases at Rubane House with exclusive interviews with two brothers who were first to enter the home; plus the first interview with Ian Paisley Junior following the death of his father. During 2014, the programme also marked two significant anniversaries. UTV produced a series of reports dealing with the 20 th anniversary of the IRA ceasefire and its legacy. On the 20 th anniversary of the loyalist ceasefire, former reporter Ivan Little who covered the original announcement, produced an extended special report with analysis and studio discussion. UTV Live Tonight also has an important campaigning role. To mark the programme s fifth anniversary, and at the height of a series of racist attacks in Northern Ireland, UTV Live Tonight carried a series of reports examining daily life through the voices of ethnic minorities and how they integrate into Northern Ireland, supported by in-studio discussion.

4 Both UTV Live Tonight and UTV Live reported extensively before, during and after the Scottish Referendum in September, with special programming from Edinburgh and Glasgow, fronted by our political team, Ken Reid and Tracey Magee. UTV recognises the level of investment and positive indicators demonstrated in the Northern Ireland business sector. As a result UTV has significantly invested in a dedicated nightly business section on UTV Live Tonight, covering key business issues and stock-market review. UTV Live Tonight strongly outperforms the network slot performance, underscoring the calibre of the programme and the importance our audience places on the debate and insight offered. In addition to direct new programming, The Issue, chaired by Yvette Shapiro, offered lively and incisive debate on a wide range of topical issues impacting on life in Northern Ireland. The series delivered more than 9 hours of content, attracting an average audience of 43,000 viewers and a 12.5% share, beating the ITV Network slot average of 8.7%. Other Programmes Performance of UTV s non-news programming typically is amongst the highest across UK broadcasters. UTV supports and works closely with the independent production sector in Northern Ireland and consequently our programme offering is a mix of in-house and independent production. Just over half of our non-news programmes are delivered by independent producers. Rare Breed. The return of this 12-part series, produced for UTV by Crawford McCann, proved highly successful attracting a series average share of 25.4%. The series, narrated by Mark McFadden, followed a number of farming families over the course of a working year, sharing in the highs and lows they experienced as the challenges of running a modern farming business unfolded across the seasons. After Joe Mahon s celebration of Derry-Londonderry's year as City of Culture with Lesser Spotted Culture, Lesser Spotted Ulster returned in 2014 for 20 programmes and its 15th series. In his travels, Joe Mahon introduced characters and showcased beautiful surroundings throughout the province of Ulster. The ever-popular series attracted an audience share of 25.5% regularly beating EastEnders scheduled in the same slot time on BBC NI. The Magazine with Sarah Travers was an engaging, lively, topical magazine about the people, the places and topics making life in Northern Ireland interesting. The programme broadcast 28 episodes in 2014 including 23 half-hour weekly programmes, 3 summer specials and 2 Christmas specials. The series attracted an average audience of 100,000 viewers and a 15.4% share average. Series 3 of The Troubles I ve Seen provided a fascinating insight to reporting The Troubles through the eyes of some of the best known and most highly respected local and network journalists. Narrated by veteran broadcaster Denis Tuohy, the series proved popular with the final episode attracting a peak audience share of just over 31% and the series achieving an average of 22%. The story of Oscar Knox grabbed both the attention and the hearts of the public and UTV followed his story closely through the ups and downs of little Oscar s battle against two extremely rare diseases. In The Oscar Knox Story UTV paid tribute to Oscar and his

5 devoted parents, who fully supported the programme. The response to the programme was exceptional achieving an audience share of 32%. Soul of The Arctic, produced by Evergreen Media, was an ambitious one hour documentary on the extraordinary life and challenges facing Church of Ireland minister, the Rev Darren McCartney and his wife Karen, as Darren became Bishop of the Diocese of the Arctic. Life and events in Northern Ireland were also reflected in other popular programmes such as Saint Patrick s Day, The Twelfth and the inspirational Spirit of Northern Ireland Awards. In The Actors House well-known local artist Paul Yates paid tribute to his close friend Jimmy Ellis, following the death of the iconic actor. Daily coverage of The Balmoral Show, and a one-hour review programme, captured the spirit of the event and gave an authentic voice to the farming and agri-food sectors; and a passionate local interest in motor sport was well served by more than 9 hours of coverage of the Irish Tarmac Rally. Additional matters Cultural and Other Diversity UTV is part of the community we serve and during the year we took viewers on a trip down memory lane with some of their favourite personalities. Our Heritage campaign saw UTV pay tribute to the professionalism and experience of our journalists, weather reporters and continuity presenters with a series of onscreen promotions looking back over their years on UTV. It reminded the audience of UTV s commitment to Northern Ireland by looking at how some of our on-screen faces have changed - just that little bit - over the years. In 2014 we committed to delivering diversity not only onscreen but within our workforce and community activities. This year UTV committed its support for a number of major community run events including the Spirit of NI Awards, Belfast Mela, Dalriada Festival, NI for Kids Awards, Garden Show Ireland, Cinemagic, W5, Grand Opera House and Gaelic games (GAA). UTV fully conforms to the statutory requirements of the Equality Commission. Our Annual Monitoring Return is endorsed by the UTV Board and senior management team and has been fully approved by the Equality Commission. UTV is a member of and proactively engages with a number of community and business organisations. These include, but are not exclusive to, Business in the Community, Employers Forum for Disability, the HR Managers Forum and the Northern Ireland Skillset Academy. Repeats Although UTV has a policy of first run in peak time whenever possible, we occasionally repeat some series. The majority of our local programming was also shown on directly following transmission, allowing viewers to catch up on any programmes they missed, within a 30 day period.

6 Promotion of Media Literacy UTV is committed to the promotion of media literacy in Northern Ireland on air, online and in the wider community. Our audiences respect and trust the UTV brand which has the power to champion causes, support communities and help make a real difference to people s lives. We play an active role in Northern Ireland and regularly open our doors to various community groups, schools and charities for tours of our facilities as well as hosting events on their behalf in our studios. Public Input We engage with our viewers across all platforms and positively encourage their feedback. Our audience interact with news and other programmes through social media, online, by , phone and post. All UTV output is scrutinised by the Religious Advisory Committee. We are proud of the diversity of our programming and the interactivity we enjoy with our audiences across all platforms. Paul Clarke Channel Manager, UTV Television 09 February 2015 *Source for figures BARB/AdvantEdge, Audience: All Individuals. Consolidated 2014.

7 UTV ANNUAL STATEMENT FOR 2015 Overall strategy / major themes for the year This document outlines UTV s 2015 regional programme plans. We will continue to bring quality news, views, sport and entertainment into homes right across Northern Ireland. We welcome the decision by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to renew our Channel 3 licence for UTV in Northern Ireland until the end of UTV is a major supporter of the creative industries in Northern Ireland and we intend to build on that support this year. Significant changes UTV has no plans to materially alter the character of the service as a whole in Innovation, experiment and creativity 2015 will see UTV continue to develop content for use on the increasing array of digital platforms for viewer consumption, including a new website platform launching 1 st January We will continue to provide digital services for both local and network programmes for delivery to a range of new mobile, second screen and connected TV devices. News will remain at the heart of our output in 2015 and we will continue to deliver high quality regional programmes. Tier 2 arrangements UTV s programme plan for 2015 will meet or exceed all minimum licence requirements set by Ofcom. News Non-news 4 hours per week 2 hours per week (Includes 30 mins per week of Current Affairs) Of these requirements, 45 minutes of programming will be in peak time every week and a further 30 minutes in shoulder peak. UTV will subtitle as close to 100% of local programming as practically and commercially possible. Programme Offer News UTV Live at Six will continue to deliver quality, relevant coverage of the most topical and popular events in Northern Ireland, including exclusive reports and analyses. We are actively planning for extended coverage of the Westminster elections, scheduled for May 2015, and have put in place a contingency in the event of an early Stormont Assembly

8 election being scheduled. In 2015, UTV s aim is to consolidate the outstanding ratings achieved in Current Affairs UTV Live Tonight will continue to provide in-depth analysis of news and business in Northern Ireland and remains a popular choice with our viewers. We will build further on current affairs content in 2015 with the return of The Issue, producing 12 episodes plus extended analysis and discussion of the Westminster election. Sport The UTV Sports Department will continue to report on events that show our greatest sports people in rugby, golf, football, GAA and ice hockey. UTV will follow Ireland in the Rugby World Cup as well as providing in-depth coverage from the Irish Open at Royal County Down. Other programmes Rare Breed returns to UTV with a brand new series of 12 programmes in 2015 produced by Crawford McCann. New farms, new families and new stories plus the series will revisit some familiar faces from series one. Filmed throughout 2013 and 2014, we see how 16 families try to survive one of the toughest farming years in living memory. Working hand in hand with nature and the weather we see how young and old share in this seasonal rhythm that brings food from the soil to the kitchen table. We ll discover how our local produce is a now global commodity worth tens of millions to our economy and providing jobs for thousands of people. In Lesser Spotted Journeys the ever-popular Joe Mahon will extend his travels to explore and celebrate history, heritage, culture and characters across Ireland in a new series of 22 programmes. The series is produced by Westway Films. Travelling further afield Paul & Nick s American Food Trip sees the very popular duo of Paul Rankin and Nick Nairn explore the Ulster-Scots cooking tradition in the USA. Supported by funding from the Ulster Scots Broadcast Fund, the series is produced by Waddell Media. In a major new series funded by the BAI and produced by Evergreen Media, The Big House Reborn, follows the lifespan of the extensive renovation of the National Trust s magnificent Mount Stewart heritage property. UTV is delighted to support a unique production by Cinemagic of the feature film A Christmas Star which we aim to simulcast with UTV Ireland and BBC NI. A host of film and television professionals will lend their support to the ground-breaking film production that will engage with hundreds of young people, marking the beginning of a year of Cinemagic s 25th Anniversary celebrations. The Troubles I ve Seen will see a return of the very popular series in the autumn of 2015 which will interview leading reporters and hear of the extraordinary stories of people and events that have shaped Northern Ireland s past. UTV will follow and broadcast a number of one off specials on significant events in Northern Ireland in 2015 including: a thirty minute special on the St Patrick s Day parade in March; a 45 minute special on The Balmoral Show which showcases the strong agri-food sector in Northern Ireland; a thirty minute special in July on The Twelfth parades and celebrations

9 around Northern Ireland; the Spirit of NI Awards in June which will see sixty minutes of the most inspirational local people rewarded for their achievements and endeavours; and, around Christmas-time, Review of the Year will reflect on the year that was Additional matters Cultural and other diversity Across all our content on TV and online we will continue to represent and reflect the communities we serve. Promotion of media literacy We ensure our audience is not shocked, surprised or offended by any of our programming as UTV s dedicated continuity announcers will continue to alert viewers to the nature of upcoming programmes. In addition, both continuity and news presenters frequently promote our website, apps and social media platforms on air so our audience can access relevant support material on chosen programming as well as catch up and archive services. We are committed to promoting media literacy and have built firm relationships with educational organisations, local businesses, charities and social organisations. UTV engages with local schoolchildren through a structured weekly work experience programme in conjunction with Business in the Community and we will offer studio tours to a wide variety of community groups and schoolchildren in Public input UTV welcomes and values interaction from our viewers and all complaints are seen by UTV s senior management. Paul Clarke Channel Manager, UTV Television 09 February 2015