Plans for an Irish property TV channel have been shelved until "late 2009", according to reports.

Business to Business (B2B) publisher Commercial Media has reportedly postponed the launch of the channel amid growing difficulties in the property market.

However, the group has also deferred the launch date for a women's TV station until 2010.

Commercial Media was granted licences for both channels by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland in 2006.

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The Property Channel was scheduled to go on air this year, followed by the women's network, dubbed WTV.

However, Commercial Chief Tony Cantwell has revealed to a national paper that the group are giving the housing market a chance to settle down before debuting the specialist station.

He said: "We are still confident about the Property Channel, but we're going to wait until late 2009 to give the market a chance to settle down.

"If you look at Real Estate TV and the other international channels there's still a market for the channel and the interest hasn't abated, but the ad money is key to all this so we have to get the timing right."

As one of Ireland's largest business-to-business publishers, Commercial Media has an annual turnover in excess of €3m.

The TV market is the latest venture undertaken by the media group, who has indicated intentions to deliver more digital projects.

(PR)