There was a right ruallie buaille in the broadcast world (they pretended they were all fine, but c'mon lads, we're not silly now) earlier this year when UTV revealed plans to set up a new Irish channel and claimed the exclusive rights to Emmerdale and Coronation Street from 2015 but it seems as though they won't be getting their paws on the TV talent shows.

TV3 has just revealed that it has secured the exclusive Irish rights to broadcast the likes of The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, Family Fortunes, Take Me Out, X Factor USA, American Idol, America’s Got Talent and a brand new series of Through the Keyhole until 2016. Let's all breathe a collective sigh of relief for those who are still on the Cablelink or SaorView now, shall we?

Y'see, the station has a deal with Freemantle Media, the production company which brings us these, errr, televisual gems. Contrary to popular belief, they're not actually made by ITV, just bought in by the broadcaster.

TV3 Group's Director of Content Jeff Ford is only delighted, so he is, and couldn't contain his joy when speaking to members of the Irish advertising industry. "I am delighted to announce to you today that TV3 has secured the rights to broadcast both The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, as well as other popular shows like Family Fortunes and Take Me Out, which are all part of the Fremantle Media family, for a further three years, taking us up until the end of 2016", he said.

"Both The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent are huge ratings winners for TV3 so it is a fantastic result for us to secure the rights to these family oriented shows. They play a very important part in complementing the rest of the TV3 programming schedule." So much for having 'all that money' to spend on homegrown productions then, eh Jeff?

In fairness though, they probably will save a fair few euros when they're not paying for Corrie and Emmerdale any more.