Growth 'stalls' for UTV Media's new Ireland channel

UTV Media has said its new television channel in the Republic of Ireland will make worse-than-forecast losses in its start-up year.

The company has provided a progress report projecting losses of £11.5m in 2015.

The new channel launched in January but audience growth has "stalled".

Daytime and weekend viewing has been particularly disappointing, according to the channel.

"It is clear the channel will take longer than originally anticipated to become profitable," the company said in a statement.

It added that "an action plan" has been approved to "address the audience shortfall" but this would take time to pay off.

Initially, UTV had forecast a £3m year-one loss.