''Newsbeat'' was a
Telefís Éireann television current and regional affairs programme presented by
Frank Hall and broadcast in Ireland live on weekday evenings from 1964 until 1971.
Background
''Newsbeat'' was created by Telefís Éireann as a replacement for the station's flagship current affairs programme ''
Broadsheet
A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...
''. The programme was originally broadcast live from Monday to Friday between 6:01pm and 6:40pm. It was the first television programme by Telefís Éireann to be jointly produced by the News and Programming divisions of the new station.
Content and style
The programme opened with a ten-minute summary of the news and, unlike ''Broadsheet'', concentrated on more off-beat and light-hearted regional filmed reports and unscripted interviews from around Ireland. Frank Hall, as well as being editor of the programme, was also the main presenter. He was assisted in reporting duties by
Michael Ryan and
Cathal O'Shannon
Cathal O'Shannon (9 June 1890 – 4 October 1969) was an Irish politician, trade unionist and journalist.
Early years
Charles Francis Shannon was born in Randalstown, County Antrim, he was the third child of Charles and Alice Shannon. As a chi ...
.
''News'' and ''Newsbeat'' were subsequently split into two separate back-to-back programmes before the latter found a regular 25-minute slot weekdays at 7:00pm. ''Newsbeat'' was broadcast for the last time on 11 June 1971.
[''The Irish Times'', "Inside the Newspapers", 14 June 1971]
Presenters
Frank Hall later went on to present the satirical programme ''
Hall's Pictorial Weekly
''Hall's Pictorial Weekly'' was an Irish satirical television series broadcast on Raidió Teilifís Éireann from 1971 to 1980. Regarded as RTÉ's flagship comedy show, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories, politics and pop ...
'' while Michael Ryan went on to present ''
Nationwide'' until December 2011.
References
{{RTÉ News and Current Affairs
1960s Irish television series
1970s Irish television series
1964 Irish television series debuts
1971 Irish television series endings
Irish television news shows
RTÉ News and Current Affairs
RTÉ original programming