The RTÉ Television Centre is a television studio building which is owned by Ireland's national
public service broadcaster . It is part of the RTÉ campus located at
Donnybrook in South Dublin. The building houses the main production studios for
RTÉ Television
RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), Ireland's public service broadcaster. Its first channel was Telefís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RTÉ Television has added chan ...
, the control rooms for all RTÉ's TV channels, and
RTÉ's main newsroom. Along with a number of other buildings on the campus, it is included in Dublin City Council's Record of Protected Structures (Ref. No. 8888)
History
When plans for an Irish national television station were developed in the late 1950s attention quickly turned to a suitable location for the new television studios and adjoining offices. By September 1959, a 25-acre area of land on the Stillorgan road
in
Donnybrook became the favoured site for the new television production centre.
On 3 October 1960, the new
Radio Éireann Authority signed a £500,000 contract for the construction of the television centre and offices at the proposed location. A few hours after this the contractors began to move in. The contract was awarded to Messrs. E. Stone & Sons Ltd. from Thorncastle street in Dublin, one of four firms invited to tender. The building when completed in 1962 contained the first purpose-built television studios in Ireland, as existing studios in Belfast had been set up in converted buildings.
At the beginning of "
The Troubles
The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
" in Northern Ireland, a bomb damaged the front of the building early on the morning of 5 August 1969. The
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group based in Northern Ireland. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former Royal Ulster Rifles soldier from North ...
(UVF) claimed responsibility, this being the first bomb that they had ever planted in the Republic of Ireland.
The bombing took place during the protest campaign by the
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA; ) was an organisation that campaigned for civil rights for Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Formed in Belfast on 9 April 1967,[1969 riots
1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...]
.
The building
Design
The Television Centre, designed by the Scott-Tallon-Walker firm of architects in Dublin, is 30 feet high with the tops of the main studios rising a further 15 feet above the roof line. In all there are eight television studios in the building, four main production studios; 1, 2, 4, and 5, a news studio; 3, and three presentation studios; 6, 7, and 8, as well as a small studio for radio news bulletins.
Studios
There were only three studios in the original building completed in 1962, however, since then a number of new studios and sound stages have been added to the existing complex.
From the early 1970s all the studios were gradually converted to colour operation starting with Studio 3, the news studio, and finishing with Studio 1 in 1976. Since January 2019 all of the studios have been upgraded to
High Definition standard.
In the late 1970s RTÉ's schedule was increasing and expanding, especially with the launch of Ireland's second channel
RTÉ 2
(; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...
in November 1978. There was also a growing need for a new larger television studio, as Studio 1 was seen as being too small for many productions.
Studios 4 and 5 were constructed towards the end of the 1970s. Studio 4 measures ,
making it the largest purpose-built television studio in Ireland. From the early 1980s onwards it would be home to the majority of RTÉ's large audience based shows.
In 1995 Studio 4 was redeveloped to better cater for audiences, and a new permanent seating rostra was built into it that can accommodate audiences of up to 300. Today Studio 4 is one of the busiest studios in the Television Centre, accommodating ''
The Late Late Show'', The Ray D'Arcy Show and ''
Prime Time
Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
'' all in one week.
As well as the studios the building also houses the control rooms for the various channels,
MCR (Master Control Room), technical areas for video playout, edit suites, graphics area, scene dock, dressing rooms, green rooms, makeup area, wardrobe, a radio news studio, and RTÉ's main newsroom.
In an adjoining building there are also two sound stages which are used for dramas, soaps etc. such as RTÉ's flagship soap ''
Fair City'', and the award-winning drama ''
Love/Hate''. The sound stages are named A and B and both measure .
Studio 1
Completed in 1962, Studio 1 was originally the largest studio in the television centre and was originally designed for variety shows, dramas and musicals. The studio can comfortably accommodate an audience of 120. It is currently home to many of RTÉ's game shows, including ''
Winning Streak
A winning streak, also known as a win streak or hot streak, is an uninterrupted sequence of success in games or competitions, commonly measured by at least three wins that are uninterrupted by losses or ties. In sports, it can be applied to te ...
'' and ''
Know The Score''.
Former programmes recorded or transmitted included:
Studio 2
Studio 2, the second of the original studios, was designed for interviews, panel games and current affairs programmes.
Programmes recorded or transmitted included:
Studio 3
RTÉ's main television news bulletins are aired from Studio 3. The original studio was extended and equipped with unmanned robotic cameras in 2009. During December 2018 and January 2019 the studio was refurbished and upgraded to High Definition working to coincide with a relaunch of RTÉ News presentation on Monday 28 January 2019. The refurbishment of the studio and news presentation was part of a €1.7 million revamp.
Studio 4
This is the largest television studio in Ireland and it can accommodate audiences of up to 300. The studio is home to programmes such as ''
The Late Late Show'', ''
The Tommy Tiernan Show'' and ''
Claire Byrne Live''.
Studio 4 was completed in 1982 but did not enter full operation until 1986 when the popular weekday afternoon talk/entertainment show "Live at 3" was produced from the studio.
The studio was completely overhauled and refurbished in the summer of 1995 which saw it gain a permanent audience rostra installed which could accommodate audiences of up to 300 if required. The long running Late Late Show and other key audience based entertainment shows moved into Studio 4 from Autumn 1995.
Studio 5
Built in the late 1970s, Studio 5 was the first studio in the television centre to be upgraded to
High Definition. Programmes broadcast from the studio include ''
Prime Time
Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
,''
''
The Sunday Game
''The Sunday Game'' is RTÉ's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ2 every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ2's longest-running shows, having been on air since 1 ...
'', ''
Soccer Republic'', ''
Against the Head
''Against the Head'' is a weekly rugby magazine programme, broadcast on RTÉ Two and presented by Joanne Cantwell with regular panellists Shane Byrne, and Irish Times rugby correspondent Gerry Thornley with various other guests throughout th ...
'', as well as RTÉ's coverage of the
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
,
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
,
UEFA European Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...
and
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...
. Studio 5 was used as the main election studio for RTÉ's
2020 general election coverage in February 2020, supported by Studio 3 and the RTÉ Newsroom.
Studio 6
Studio 7
Studio 8
Stage A
Stage B
Green Screen Stage
Gallery
Image:RTÉ Television Centre (2).jpg
Image:Studio 1 (RTE T.C.).jpg
Image:Studio 4 (RTE T.C.).jpg
Image:Scene dock (RTE T.C.).jpg
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:RTÉ Television Centre
Buildings and structures in Dublin (city)
Commercial buildings completed in 1961
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Television studios
20th-century architecture in the Republic of Ireland