Staff at the station were informed late last week that "ve of the sixstrong management team at the station had taken up Doughty's offer following its 265m acquisition of TV3. Acting chief executive Rick Hetherington, who is due to leave the station at the end of the year to continue his executive role with TV3's previous part-owners CanWest, was not included in the offer.

The six offered a chance to invest in the station were: director of programming Matthew Salway, director of news Andrew Hanlon, director of operations and technology Peter Ennis, director of sales and marketing Pat Kiely, and legal and regulatory affairs director David McMunn.

A TV3 source said "ve of the six had taken the opportunity to invest.

The identity of the non-participant was not disclosed nor was the extent of the stake taken by the "ve station executives. A spokesman for Doughty Hanson con"rmed the new shareholding arrangement but refused to give any further details.

The private equity group recently completed a drawn-out 265m takeover of the station. It acquired Canadian broadcaster CanWest's 45% stake in TV3 last May and later agreed to purchase a further 10% stake held by the station's founding shareholders, including U2 manager Paul McGuinness and "lm producer James Morris.

The remaining 45% shareholder, ITV, held out for almost three months, however, exercising preemption rights which allowed it a 90-day grace period in which to make a counter-offer in the event of a takeover.

With the deal wrapped up, TV3 got back to business as usual last week, unveiling its autumn schedule. The line-up includes the station's most popular shows, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, both of which it receives under a content deal with ITV. TV3 is also set to air youth soap Hollyoaks for the "rst time later this year and has unveiled plans for a "reality quiz show" called The Box, hosted by exBoyzone member Keith Duffy.

Jonathan Joyce, TV buying director with media buyer Universal McCann, said the reaction to the schedule in the advertising industry had been positive. Joyce said the schedule was strong overall but that it "still relies quite heavily on the soaps". TV3 would face a tough battle for viewers and advertising spend against an equally strong line-up from RTE, he said.