Irish and British boyband One Direction are the first occupants of TV3’s new Sony HD Studio, having recorded an exclusive programme for the commercial broadcaster in its new state-of-the-art premises earlier today.
The boyband chatted to ‘Xposé’ presenter Karen Koster on their hectic work schedules and phenomenal success for the TV3 programme ‘One Direction: Our Story So Far’.
The show was recorded on brand new Sony HD equipment, which has decked out the 500 sq metre studio located at TV3’s Ballymount studios.
One Direction, made up of Mullingar teen Niall Horan and English boys Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik, were catapulted to fame in 2010 after coming third in TV3 singing contest ‘The X Factor’. They have gone on to sell millions of records both in Europe and the US, reaching number one in the UK charts with their debut single ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ and topping the Billboard Hot 100, a record for a non-American artist.
While in Dublin today, the five-piece also chatted to ‘Xposé’ presenter Glenda Gilson for an interview due to be aired on TV3 at 6pm this evening, making it their first Irish TV interview of the season ahead of their appearance on tonight’s ‘The Late Late Show’ on RTÉ One.
The Sony HD Studio Dublin was completed in July 2012, and is expected to be officially open for business at the end of November, according to TV3’s director of sales and marketing Pat Kiely, who exclusively spoke to IFTN at the studio’s unveiling last month.
It is expected ‘Tonight with Vincent Browne’ will move to the new premises and introduce a new audience format, while TV3 formats which are currently shot off-site, such as ‘Take Me Out’ and ‘Alan Hughes’ Family Fortunes’, will be transferred to Ballymount.
TV3 signed a landmark deal with Sony earlier this year which sees the camera company kit out the entire studio for a minimum of three years, in what is the first deal of its kind for Sony and an Irish-based company. Dave Cheesman, country sales manager at Sony Professional, says the media company is looking into inking similar deals in Ireland in the future.
Watch One Direction’s exclusive interview on ‘Xposé’ on TV3 tonight at 6pm, and catch them on ‘The Late Late Show’ on RTÉ One at 9.30pm.
‘One Direction: Our Story So Far’ will air on on TV3 on Thursday October 18 at 8.30pm.
