Overseas Property TV useful tool or just a platform to showcase MacAnthony real estate

Overseas Property TV – Sky Channel 287
After the soft launch on the 14th of August the Overseas Property TV channel is due to go fully live on the 1st of September 2006. MacAnthony Realty International (MRI) have secured a 5 year contract with Arqiva’s Satellite Media Solutions division to showcase overseas property in many countries including the USA, France, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, the Bahamas and Turkey, notably the company’s complete collection of real estate locations.

The Producer’s Pitch
The overseas property channel is pitched as a lifestyle channel dedicated to providing buyers with information, advice and knowledge to buying property abroad. Panels of travel and property experts will feature on a range of shows discussing tips and advice on the many aspects of buying property abroad.

Overseas Property Show TV3 Ireland
TV3 has released its plans for a new show set to launch Autumn 2006 aimed at Irish overseas property buyers. A series of half hour TV programmes spread over 8-10 weeks will include ideas on new and second hand homes for sale in Europe as well as longer haul destinations. The show wants to offer properties that are attainable and aims to offer something of interest to everyone, from basic entry level units to a dream home abroad.

The Producer’s Pitch
The visual style of the programme will be a mixture of MTV’s Cribs with an element of the Holiday show.

All of these new property shows and channels enter the market in direct competition with the already established Real Estate TV (Sky Channel 279) and Cyprus Direct TV (Sky Channel 679) as well as more mainstream programmes such as A Place in the Sun and ITV’s I Want That House.

It is worth noting that Majestic TV set up by the large Spanish agent recently stopped broadcasting highlighting the fact that it takes sustainability and extensive marketing to keep a TV channel running and more importantly profitable for the parties involved.

In all of these instances when TV advertisers are ultimately paying the editorial wage there is always that lingering thought as to how independent the property advice given can be. News that Ryanair is to sponsor the Real Estate TV show The Next Big Thing, is interesting especially if the next best thing coincidently promotes Ryanair’s latest new route destination.

I would question how large the audience for a dedicated property TV channel really is and does it fall into the world of QVC? I would argue that the Internet audience actively searching for property investments abroad is significantly larger and online formats such as blogs and forums offer much more interactivity when compared to the age old viewer phone-in.

So why not put it to the debate and vote in our online poll below:
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What are your thoughts on the strengths or weaknesses of all these different sources of information in terms of how independent they are? To leave a comment click on the ‘Make a Comment or Ask a Question’ link below.