RTÉ One

RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''RTÉ'' in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ 1 upon the launch of RTÉ 2 in 1978. It is funded partly by the government's licence fee; the remainder of the funding is provided by commercial advertising. Because RTÉ is funded partly by the licence fee it shows considerably fewer advertisements than most other channels available in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

RTÉ One is available to 98% of the Irish population in HD on the Saorview DTT service. It is also available in Northern Ireland via Saorview, Freeview, Sky, and cable provider Virgin Media. The channel is also available online through RTÉ Player.

History

RTÉ One began life as ''Telefís Éireann'' in 1961. It was renamed simply as ''RTÉ'' in 1966, upon the renaming of the Radio Éireann Authority as Radio Telefís Éireann, and became ''RTÉ 1'' upon the launch of RTÉ 2 in 1978. Originally the station broadcast in black and white throughout the country using the European 625-line standard, as well as on the 405-line television system in the northern and eastern parts of the country; since the mid-50s, many people in these areas already had 405-line TV sets receiving BBC and UTV/HTV transmissions from Wales and Northern Ireland. A standards conversion unit was used to provide the 405-line service, but when this electronic device failed, optical conversion was used, reportedly by directing a 405-line camera at a 625-line monitor. The first programme to be pre-recorded for the new television service was The School Around the Corner, an interview/quiz show created and presented by Paddy Crosbie and produced by James Plunkett.

PAL colour transmissions began in 1968, and the first programme made and transmitted in colour was "John Hume's Derry." The first outside broadcast in colour for RTÉ Television was the 1971 Railway Cup Finals (Gaelic Athletic Association), and soon after that, the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 from Dublin.
In the 1970s the studios in RTÉ's Television Centre started being equipped for colour, the first was the news studio in 1974, studio 2 in 1975 and finally studio 1 (the largest studio, used for productions such as '' The Late Late Show'') in 1976.

RTÉ was also the sole Irish TV channel until 1978, when RTÉ 2 (known as Network 2 between 1988 and 2004) was created. The Irish language station TG4 began in 1996 as Teilifís na Gaeilge (TnaG). Since 1998 RTÉ One also competes with Virgin Media One (formerly known as "TV3").

Since it began broadcasting, RTÉ One has competed with BBC One and UTV from Northern Ireland and in the 1980s RTÉ began competing with other satellite and cable channels that are widely available across Ireland through cable subscription services due to the high take up of cable TV from pan-European and UK channels since the 1960s, and the continued roll out of MMDS and satellite during the 1980s and 1990s.

From 1961, RTÉ Television would only broadcast from 17:35 until around 23:30 during Winter months. In 1975 this changed slightly with transmission starting at around 15:30 and concluding around midnight (00:00). 24-hour broadcasts began in the late 1990s. In 1988, RTÉ One launched a schedule with a new news bulletin at 13:00. Currently, RTÉ One does not offer "breakfast television", but from 2013 to 2014 the station aired an early morning current affairs show called ''Morning Edition'', which was also simulcast on RTÉ News Now. Virgin Media One is currently the only indigenous broadcaster in direct competition for this early morning market with ''Ireland AM'' since 1999. RTÉ One during the Olympics and special breaking news or election coverage, will provide a special bulletin in the mornings.

On 6 July 2017, RTÉ One extended its on-air hours, starting at 6:00am as opposed to the later 6:20 am as previously.

RTÉ One HD

RTÉ One HD was launched on 21 October 2013—originally in upscaled HD—following the launch of a new Saorview multiplex. Native HD broadcasts began on 16 December 2013.

RTÉ One is now broadcast solely in High Definition (HD) on the national DTT service Saorview, with the Standard Definition simulcast ending on 2 April 2014. However RTÉ still provides a Standard Definition (SD) output of RTÉ One to pay television operators on cable and satellite, for those subscribers who still have equipment that does not support HD.

RTÉ Television decided to launch the new HD service just before the Christmas period to draw audiences attention to the new service available to viewers. RTÉ have started to convert their main production studios to HD, the first being studio 5 in 2012, which is used mainly for sports productions. Any programmes still made in standard-definition are upscaled on the channel and it is intended that the vast majority of the channel's output will be in high-definition in due course. RTÉ One in SD continues to be available on Virgin Media Ireland until more of their customers have upgraded to HD.

Sky Ireland launched the channel on 14 December 2015, as part of a new long-term partnership with RTÉ, however the channel is not available on Sky UK's Northern Ireland EPG. In response to queries, RTÉ currently advises Northern Ireland Sky subscribers to contact Sky on the matter whereas Sky replies that it's an issue for RTÉ as to whether they make their HD channel available.

RTÉ One +1

A timeshift channel for RTÉ One (RTÉ One +1) was launched on 27 May 2011 and shares channel space with RTÉjr. The channel was made available on Saorview from its launch, UPC Ireland replaced City Channel with RTÉ One +1 on 13 March 2012. Reeling in the Years does not broadcast on this channel due to music rights restrictions.

It was referred to as RTÉ One Deferred in the Easy TV commercial DTT multiplex application, Easy TV was made up of RTÉ NL and UPC Ireland. RTÉ had also plans to create a third channel called RTÉ Three along with RTÉ One Deferred as reported in the Sunday Business Post in May 2008.

RTÉ Three was dropped for the alternative RTÉ Plus/RTÉjr. RTÉ Plus would have initially been a time shift channel for RTÉ One's prime time schedule, starting each night at 19:00 after RTÉjr ends for the night. This "Phase 1" of RTÉ plus was to begin broadcasting in May 2011. "Phase 2" of RTÉ Plus was to be made up of an entirely different schedule to that of RTÉ One, RTÉ had hoped that this would be made available in May 2012. Minister Pat Carey gave the go ahead for RTÉ One +1 for a maximum of 4 years at which point it will be reviewed. He did not give permission for the second phase in the channel as he was advised by the BAI that it may cause problems for commercial service providers such as TV3.

As part of a new long-term partnership with Sky, RTÉ One +1 launched on Sky channel 115 on 14 December 2015, moving RTÉ2 HD down to 278. On 1 May 2018, the +1 channels and the Entertainment & Documentaries channel sections were moved to 201 - 299 to coincide with the non +1 channel. For example, RTÉ One is on channel 101, and RTÉ One +1 is on 201.

When launched, RTÉ One +1 broadcast from 19:00 to approximately 02:00. On 15 February 2019, RTÉ One +1 began broadcasting 24 hours a day to coincide with the launch of RTÉ2 +1.

Budget

References

The following figures were issued by RTÉ as part of their Annual reports 2008 and 2012

Income

Total Costs

Profit and Loss

Breakdown of Irish Productions

The table below outlines RTÉ One's total in-house and commissioned programming by genre in 2008 and 2012:

Programming

2015/2016 season

On 13 August 2015, RTÉ One revealed its 2015/2016 line-up. As part of the new schedule two new dramas will debut on the channel these include the four-part drama series '' Clean Break'' (2015) and five-part drama series ''Rebellion'' (2016). The 2015/2016 schedule has a stronger focus on documentaries and a lesser focus on domestic drama when compared to previous seasons.

RTÉ One airs a variety of programmes each week, both homegrown programming and imported programming. A typical week of programming on RTÉ One would be as follows: On Sunday night RTÉ's flagship talent show ''The Voice of Ireland'' airs at 18.30, with the results show following soap opera ''Fair City'' at 20.30. ''Dragon's Den'' airs at 21.30 on Sunday nights. On Monday nights at 21.35, there is a questions and answers style show called ''Claire Byrne Live '' hosted by Claire Byrne. The long running chat show '' The Late Late Show'' hosted by Ryan Tubridy airs Friday nights from 21.35, it is the longest running chat show in the world. On Saturday night, game show '' The Million Euro Challenge '' airs at around 20.15, ''The Saturday Night Show'' airs at around 21.45, similar to '' The Late Late Show'' it has a variety of celebrity guests and music performances. Irish soap opera ''Fair City'' airs four times a week on ''RTÉ One'', it airs Sundays at 20:30, Tuesdays, and Thursdays at 20.00, and Wednesdays at 19.30, ''Fair City'' is similar to the British format for soap operas such as ''Coronation Street''. ''RTÉ One'' also airs British soap opera ''EastEnders'' weekly at the same times as ''BBC One''. RTÉ One also air a host of films throughout the week including the midweek movie on Wednesday at 21:30 and the big big movie (usually a children's film) Saturdays at 18:30. RTÉ One also air news coverage throughout the week including a 13:00, 18:00, and 21:00 news broadcast every day.

News and current affairs

''RTÉ News and Current Affairs'' provides all of RTÉ One's News and Current Affairs Programming.

RTÉ News and current affairs television programmes include:

''News programming''
*''Morning Edition''
*'' RTÉ News: One O'Clock''
*'' RTÉ News: Six One''
*'' RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock''
*'' RTÉ News: Headlines (broadcast at regular intervals in the morning, early afternoon and at night)''
*''Nuacht RTÉ''
*''RTÉ News with Signing''

''Current Affairs Programming''
*''Prime Time''
*''Prime Time Investigates''
*'' Claire Bryne Live''
*''The Week in Politics''
*'' Nationwide''
*'' One To One''
*''Oireachtas Report''
*'' Euro Report''

RTÉ News and Current Affairs coverage of all major political events such as General Elections, Budgets, Local and European Elections and Referendums. Since 2000 RTÉ has covered the US Presidential Elections live. It also covers major political stories from the Northern Irish Assembly, including elections.

Diversity

RTÉ as a public service broadcaster is committed to providing awareness about the diverse communities found within Ireland. RTÉ aims to providing access to different groups through different mediums.

RTÉ Diversity provides awareness of Ireland's multicultural society. From 2002, RTÉ produced a weekly multicultural show called Mono. The show aired between 2002 and 2005 and had a similar format as ''Nationwide''; but focused more on multicultural issues and had reports from all parts of the country. The show was produced by Kairos Communications for RTÉ and was presented by Shalini Sinha.

RTÉ Diversity commissions a monthly show for individuals with hearing impairments or deafness. '' Hands On'' (originally called ''Sign of the Times'') airs every Sunday morning. The show is presented using Irish Sign Language. The show is also subtitled using Irish or English subtitles. In 2009, the number of ''Hands On'' programmes were reduced by 60%, from 20 to 7.

Diversity has also been showcased on RTÉ Dramas: The Riordans and Glenroe featured several characters from the Irish Travelling Community. Fair City and The Clinic have showcased a broader range of diversity which includes members of the Roma community, LGBT movement, African heritage, Eastern Europe and other ethnic minorities groups in Ireland.

In April 2010, RTÉ revealed a new multicultural programme which will air from March 2011. The show has a budget of €45,000 per episode.

Cláracha Gaeilge

RTÉ produced the television series ''Buntús Cainte'' in 1967, which together with the corresponding series of books, aimed to promote the learning of the Irish Language. The television series was presented by Máire O'Neill and Aileen Geoghegan.
In the early 1990s, they produced a similar show with BBC Northern Ireland called ''Now You're Talking'' which used the Ulster dialect of Irish.
In they early 2000s, they produced a new series called ''Turas Teanga'', which was presented by newsreader Sharon Ní Bheoláin.

During Seachtain na Gaeilge (Irish Language Week), continuity is provided through the Irish Language. During this week they also have a range of shows that promote the learning or use of the Irish language. In 2010 they produced An Cór with Fiachna O Braonáin.

RTÉ also produced the highly successful Irish Language documentary strands Leargás, Scannal and CSÍ, which were first shown on RTÉ One with repeats on TG4.

Nuacht RTÉ provides a round-up of the day's events at 17:40 each weekday.

RTÉ has a dedicated commissioning brief inviting proposals for new Irish-language programming.

Education

In the early years of Teilifís Éireann most of the educational shows were aimed at children such as ''Dáithí Lacha''. In more recent years they have produced literacy programmes for adults such as '' Read, Write, Now'' presented by Derek Mooney.

Regional

'' Nationwide'' is RTÉ's main regional programme, in 2010 Gala began sponsoring the show. The shows average audience for 2009 was 400,000 viewers. The show began airing in the early 1990s. In 1999 RTÉ tested opt out for Dublin, Cork and Galway on UHF signals, however Chorus (a Dublin cable operator at the time) aired the Galway edition, while NTL (the other Dublin cable operator aired the Dublin version). RTÉ do not provide local opt-out or regional news. However RTÉ Cork produces a number of other Irish shows. '' Capital D'' was a programme for Dublin (similar in style to Nationwide), presented by Anne Cassin, it took a look at issues in Dublin. The programme did not return in 2012. ''Ear to the Ground'' is a farming magazine show. ''Nationwide'' is produced by RTÉ Factual while ''Ear to the Ground'' is produced by Independent Films for RTÉ.

Drama and comedy

1960s

In 1961 as Teilifís Éireann got ready to begin broadcasting it appointed Hilton Edwards as head of Drama, he was heavily involved in Irish theatre at the time. At this early stage they produced many international and local plays for television audiences such as ''Antigone'', ''The Wild Duck'', '' The Fire Raisers'', ''The Government Inspector'', ''The Physicists'', ''Martine'', ''The Well of the Saints'', '' Candida'', ''The Man of Destiny'', '' In the Shadow of the Glen'', '' Church Street'', '' The Field'', ''The Plough and the Stars'', ''The Shadow of a Gunman'' and '' The Hostage''. Both of Edwards' successors Jim Fitzgerald and Chloe Gibson would continue with stage play adaptations but would also look for original dramas for television. Hugh Leonard adapted James Joyce's ''Dubliners'' under the title Dublin and in 1966 he wrote ''Insurrection'', an 8-part real-time series which depicted the events of the 1916 Easter Rising which was broadcast on Easter Week on the 50th anniversary of the rising, it was RTÉ biggest drama production of the 1960s, involving on location filming and the Army. In its first ten years on the air RTÉ produced 103 plays of which 66% were Irish and 50% began life as stage plays. Half of the drama produced came from serials such as the Dublin based urban soap ''Tolka Row'' which began broadcasting in 1964 and finished in 1968. In terms of population RTÉ was one of Europe's biggest producers of television drama.

In 1965 ''The Riordans'' began broadcasting, this would begin the Wesley Burrowes trilogy of Irish Agrisoaps (Agricultural based dramas), it was followed by ''Bracken'' in 1978 (and was aired on RTÉ One) as Gabriel Byrne's character (Pat Barry) moved from Kilkenny to Wicklow and in 1982 two of ''Brackens main characters Dinny and Milie Byrne moved to Glenroe which ran until 2001.

1970s

In the 1970s RTÉ produced several urban dramas set outside Dublin. ''The Burke Enigma'' began in 1975 and was RTÉ's first police procedural something that they did not return to very often. ''Partners in Practice'' was RTÉ's first medical drama and was loosely based on successful TV formats from abroad such as ''Emergency Ward 10'', ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'', ''Marcus Welby M.D.'' and ''Dr. Kildare''. ''Partners in Practice'' was set in the new sprawling suburban Dublin in the fictional town of Sallybawn. Sallybawn was based on the new 1970s sprawling developments such as Tallaght. The series was set in the fictional Sallybawn Health Centre. It ran for one season in 1972 and was written by Carolyn Swift. In 1978 Louis Lentin became head of RTÉ Drama having produced Uncle Vanya (1970), King of Friday's Men (1967) and King of the Castle (1977). He started ''Thursday Playdate'', these were once of plays which dramatized current events and current affairs in Ireland. He would also be responsible for ''The Spike'' a controversial drama that was to run for 10 weeks only to be taken of the after the fifth episode. Problems surrounded both the content (A very critical look at the VEC system in Irish Education) and poor scriptwritting to deal with major issues.

1980s

RTÉ One had a major success with 1980s '' Strumpet City'' based on the novel by James Plunkett about the 1913 Dublin Lockout. It was successfully sold around the world to various countries including the USSR. ''The Year of The French'' was a major follow up period drama with twice the production budget as ''Strumpet City'', however it was not as successful. ''The Year of The French'' was one of the many co-productions that RTÉ produced during the 1980s, it was co-produced with the UK's Channel 4 and France's FR2.

In 1983 RTÉ produced a World War II drama titled ''Caught in a Free State''. The four-part series was set against the backdrop of Irish Neutrality during the Second World War. It surrounded the true stories of German Spies in Ireland. The series was a co-production with Channel 4. Other Channel 4/RTÉ co-productions from the 1980s include ''The Irish R.M.'' and '' Echoes''.

In the mid-1980s RTÉ developed a sitcom called '' Leave It to Mrs O'Brien'' which centred on the housekeeper of a Parish Priest. It is often quoted as one of the comedies which shows that RTÉ cannot produce good comedy. The series was a critical and audience failure. RTÉ would not produce another sitcom until the mid-1990s, while being criticized for not commissioning another series that featured a Parish Priest Housekeeper.

In 1989, RTÉ returned with a new drama series based in Dublin city called ''Fair City''. In 2010, the show has celebrated its 20th anniversary since it first broadcast. The show continues to air four nights a week on RTÉ One.

1990s

In 1993, RTÉ One began to broadcast TG4's soap ''Ros na Rún''. The show initially broadcast for a short season each year. The show no-longer airs on RTÉ One, but instead airs each night on TG4. The show also airs on television in Scotland and America. In 1994 RTÉ broadcast ''Family'' by Roddy Doyle, a co-production with the BBC
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