What Are Virgin Media's One, Two and Three Channels?
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We all enjoy sitting back after a long day and tuning into our favourite shows, but when these channels start changing their names and how you access them, things tend to get a little tricky. In this short guide, we will cover what happened to TV3, how they became a part of the Virgin Media brand, and how to access their channels.
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What Are Virgin Media One, Two, and Three?
It is easy to get comfortable with your nightly TV watching routine, sit down, grab the remote, and put on the usual channels to watch the usual shows. Now and then, however, you might find that despite doing everything as you usually would, your TV channel is no longer available, or has been rebranded and moved to another channel number. Virgin Media One, Two and Three is one such example that caused, and still causes, a degree of confusion among their viewers.
Let’s take a little look at how each of these channels has changed, where you can find them now, and what this means for your nightly viewing habits.
What Is Virgin Media One?
Launched as TV3 in 1998 as the third available TV channel in the country, and also became Ireland’s first commercial channel. What defines a commercial channel is that it is sustained by a combination of funding from advertising, and/or paid programming, or in other words, people paying to access the channels in the form of subscriptions.
Fast forward to 2015, and it is announced that Liberty Global will purchase the TV3 Group, followed by an announcement in 2018 that TV3 channels will be rebranded as Virgin Media Television, with TV3 itself changing its name to Virgin Media One. In a similar move, TV3 HD was also rebranded to Virgin Media One HD.
Virgin Media One should still be available in the traditional slot that TV3 held, and can be accessed by inputting 103 on your television remote across Sky TV, and Vodafone TV platforms in addition to Virgin Media’s.
What Is Virgin Media Two?
Virgin Media Two has followed a very similar path to that of Virgin Media One. Originally being a part of the TV3 group under the name of Channel 6, and later rebranded to 3e in 2009, followed by a final change in 2018 as a part of the Virgin Media Television acquisition, when its name finally became Virgin Media Two.
This free-to-air TV channel does not require a subscription and is available to the general public through both cable and Freeview services. Virgin Media Two can be found on channel 104 on Sky TV, Vodafone TV, and Virgin Media services.
What Is Virgin Media Three?
Having its roots in the Northern Ireland's ITV franchise, UTV Ireland (The Republic of Irelands ITV brand) is a relatively new competitor to the home entertainment scene having been launched as recently as 2015. Two years later due partly to poor profitability margins, UTV was sold to the TV3 Group for €10 million, which was at this point owned by Virgin Media.
Shortly after this, UTV Ireland was rebranded as be3, followed by a final rebranding as Virgin Media Three in August 2018, to bring all of the existing channels under the Virgin Media brand name, and is accessible via channel 105. With so many brand changes across the three channels, it is no wonder that it can get confusing keeping track of which is which and who is what.
Are the Virgin Media Channels Free to Access?
Yes! All three of these channels are classed as free-to-air channels. This means that these channels are universally accessible from whichever Irish TV service you use at home. These channels are ultimately funded via advertisements, meaning that though you may have to tolerate ad breaks in your shows, this means that you do not have to pay any additional costs in order to access them.
That being said, viewers may benefit from adding the Virgin Media Player service to their household options in order to unlock additional perks. These functionalities include:
- Accessing numerous live TV and box sets
- Catch up on programs you missed
- Record and store up to 1Tb of shows
- View on the go with the Virgin Media Player app
In order to download the Virgin Media Player, you can find the link on the Virgin Media website. You will be required to create an account and input standard personal data such as your name and email address in order to complete its creation. If you have an existing My Virgin Media account, any paid subscriptions can also be viewed from within your existing account.
Looking to get in touch with Virgin Media? Check out our simple Virgin Media Contact page to find the best option for your query.
Where Can I Find the Virgin Media One Schedule?
Gone are the times of flicking through a paper TV guide magazine, these days it can all be found online within a few clicks. Virgin Media’s TV guide can be found by typing “Virgin Media One Schedule” or similar into your preferred search engine. The first result that appears should lead you to the Virgin Media TV guide. From here simply select your preferred date or categories, and you should be able to browse between live shows and box sets with ease.
If you would prefer just to jump straight to it, then you can find the current Virgin Media Schedule. Additionally, further TV guides can be found on the websites of other channels, such as RTÉ. Make sure that you are viewing the Virgin Media schedule for Ireland! While search engines are useful, it helps to be specific. Adding “Ireland” to your search criteria will help make sure that the Virgin Media guide results that appear for you are correct, and not for another country.
Can I Watch Virgin Media One in the UK?
Unfortunately not. As Virgin Media One, Two and Three are specifically designed to be viewed in Ireland and are hosted by local networks as a part of Virgin Media Ireland, these channels cannot be traditionally accessed by those in the UK.
For those who are still determined to get their TV fix, the only way around this is to use a reliable VPN to alter your IP address in order to get around the regional restrictions.
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Who Are the Virgin Media Channels' Main Competitors?
While the TV3 channels, later Virgin Media One, Two and Three, are firm household favourites, they certainly aren't without competition. As of 2015, Virgin Media has been vying for popularity with both RTÉ One and RTÉ2, generally coming slightly short against their competitors.
Source: Nielsen Media Research (NMR)
Last Updated: 28/03/2023
It is worth noting though that this data is not quite current, and as the acquisition of TV3 was undertaken by Liberty Global (The Virgin Media parent company) in 2015 also, many changes will have since taken place to boost the Virgin Media One, Two and Three viewing figures.
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