VIRGIN MEDIA TELEVISION has launched its spring schedule for 2022, with the broadcaster promising brand new Irish content, top drama and premier live sport.

The broadcaster announced the new lineup of shows today, detailing how the station would be home to Graham Norton’s Holding, which is based on his best-selling novel and the crime thriller Redemption.

Bill Malone, Director of Content at Virgin Media Television said that 2021 was a “stand out year” for the broadcaster, with the station recording a “record share” of viewing for adults and younger viewers (15-44-year-olds).

“2021 was also a year when our free Virgin Media Player broke all previous records with over 45.5 million streams with box sets of top drama, reality and true crime proving particularly popular,” said Malone.

The schedule

Among the shows announced by Virgin Media today is the new drama series Holding, based on the best-selling novel by Graham Norton.

The series itself was filmed in Cork, and stars Oscar-winner Brenda Fricker (My Left Foot, The Field) and Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones).

The crime thriller series, Redemption, will also be broadcast. It tells the story of a Liverpool detective Colette Cunningham (Paula Malcolmson) who returns to Dublin to uncover the truth of the death of her estranged daughter Kate.

Both Redemption and Holding are co-produced by VMTV and ITV Studios, in association with Screen Ireland.

A new documentary, The Criminal Assets Bureau, will also appear on VMTV this spring. The programme, detailing the work of investigators who are responsible for seizing assets of some of Ireland’s most notorious criminals.

The Guards: Inside The K will also return this spring, alongside Crash Scene Investigates, which will tell real-life stories of some of Ireland’s car crashes.

Irish dating show, Generation Dating is also back on VMTV, with the series being given its first series commission. The show pairs up singletons in their 20s with people over 65 to run each other’s love lives.

In sport, the Guinness Six Nations will return, alongside Women’s and Under 20′s tournaments being shown for the first time on VMTV. The Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League will all return to VMTV in February.

Nine games in the UEFA European Qualifiers Play-off Finals will also be broadcast from 24 March.

On the Virgin Media Player, the classic 90s show Baywatch will be entering onto the platform as a box set, with the first three seasons set to be made available this month.