This is a timeline of the RTÉ Television channel in Ireland. In its early years, the channel was called Telefís Éireann (Irish: "Television of Ireland")
1960s
1960
6 April – The Broadcasting Authority Act, establishing a new television service for the Republic of Ireland, is enacted.
January – First broadcast of the weekday topical news magazine programme Broadsheet on Telefís Éireann.[1]
12 January – First broadcast of the long-running religious and social documentary series Radharc.[1]
February – The BBC relays commentary of the Friendship 7 space flight which sees astronaut John Glenn become the first American to orbit the Earth.[1]
April – Telefís Éireann staff move to the Montrose studios in Donnybrook following the completion. Until then they had been in temporary accommodation in Dublin city centre.[1]
12 February – Director-General McCourt announces the transfer of responsibility for Seven Days to the RTÉ News Division, a decision which leads to industrial unrest and the suspension of several members of the production team for "blacking" the programme on air. The dispute is finally resolved in March.[1]
16 March – Thomas P. Hardiman replaced Kevin McCourt as Director-General of RTÉ, and is the first Director-General to be appointed internally within the organisation.[1]
1969
February – RTÉ opens a studio in Belfast, and subsequently becomes an important international provider of coverage relating to events in Northern Ireland.[1]
20 July – Telefís Éireann, which normally stopped broadcasting by midnight during the 1960s, transmitted its first all-night programme when the first men landed on the Moon at 9.17 pm, Irish time. The moonwalk began at 3.39 the next morning and ended at 6.11. The entire broadcast was hosted live by Kevin O'Kelly, working alone in front of the camera, and he won a Jacob's Television Award for his performance.[3]
11 November – The Irish government establishes a judicial tribunal to investigate the content of an edition of Seven Days that investigated money lenders. Among the issues examined are complaints by members of the Garda Síochána (police) that they were misrepresented. In 1970 the tribunal concludes that the programme did not present sufficient evidence to support allegations that the Gárdaí had failed to do enough to stop money lending.[1]
Unknown – Live relays from the Oireachtas to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the first Dáil Éireann.[1]
Undated – The limit on the number of households that can be connected to high-specification aerial is abolished. Furthermore, it is agreed that RTÉ will receive a percentage of gross rental income from television aerial contractors by way of compensation for the estimated loss of advertising revenue RTÉ will experience due to competition with other television stations.[1]
Undated – The cable television company RTÉ Relays Ltd (later Cablelink) is established.[1]
1975
6 January – RTÉ Television begins broadcasting News for the Deaf, the first daily broadcast of news for deaf people.[1]
23 September – Going Strong, a series for the elderly presented by Bunny Carr and Ann O'Dwyer is first aired.[1]
January – The controversial secondary school drama The Spike goes on air. It was removed from the schedule following a nude scene in Episode 5 which sparked criticism from Irish conservatives, and has never been retransmitted.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
2 November – Ireland's second television channel, RTÉ 2 goes on air.[1] The opening night features a variety gala performance from the Cork Opera House and the 1968 film Bullitt.[10]
November – The UK soap Coronation Street is aired for the first time on RTÉ 2. It had previously only been available to those who could receive UTV or HTV Wales.
1979
January – RTÉ establishes an internal working party to investigate the representation of women in news reporting. Their findings are published in April 1981.[1]
1980s
1981
11 November – RTÉ Television begins airing the Irish language adult education programme Anois 's Arís.[1]
Unknown – RTÉ is given special government permission to broadcast two television programmes that are part of a series jointly produced with the BBC titled The Troubles. The programmes include interviews with organisations banned from the media by Section 31 of the Broadcasting Authority Act.[1]
31 October – RTÉ Television airs the drama The Ballroom of Romance, a drama based on the novel by William Trevor. The programme is a joint production with the BBC).[1]
1983
11 September – The rural drama series Glenroe is first aired on RTÉ Television.[1]
1–4 June – RTÉ presents live coverage of U.S. PresidentRonald Reagan's visit to Ireland. RTÉ sends twice-daily newsfeeds to Eurovision for world distribution during the visit. The coverage includes an interview with Reagan recorded in Washington for the programme Today Tonight and a special edition of Newstime which is broadcast on U.S. television.[1]
The first teletext pages are shown during the afternoon on RTE2 as part of experimental tests for the forthcoming launch of RTE's teletext service Aertel.[11]
22 June – RTÉ Television's Aertelteletext service is formally launched after two years of test transmissions.[1]
1988
September – RTÉ 2 is rebranded as Network 2 as part of a major overhaul of the channel.
1989
18 September – Irish television soap Fair City is first transmitted.[1]
1990s
1990
25 June – A season 4 episode of American sitcom ALF is deferred due to an extended broadcast of the football match between the Republic of Ireland and Romania at Italia '90. The episode due to air was the season's 20th; "Mr. Sandman". After a scoreless draw, the Irish side advanced, winning the penalty shootout 5 goals to 4.
21 January – RTE goes on strike. Around 1,600 staff at RTE from three unions (SIPTU, NUJ and ETU) had gone on strike over staffing levels at RTE. The dispute began on 21 January 1992 when two person camera crews were introduced without the agreement of the SIPTU union. For nearly four weeks, all live home produced programming on both RTE One and Network Two were axed, with RTE filling its schedules with already recorded home produced shows along with a large amount of imported new programming and archive programming from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, USA and Australia, along with many films. RTE News output on television was reduced to short news summaries. It ended on 17 February 1992 with a resolution reached between the unions and RTE management.[12]
28 December – The Irish language drama serial Ros na Rún is first aired on RTÉ Television as a series of 15-minute episodes.[1]
6 May – CableLink, the cable television company which is part owned by RTÉ is sold to NTL Communications for more than £535 million.[1]
Summer – Helen O'Rahilly is appointed as the first female Director of Television at RTÉ. She left in 2000 to take up a position at the BBC in London.[13][14]
1 October – Despite airing in Northern Ireland and several parts of Ireland with access to UK television networks since its television debut in 1963, the long running UK science fiction series Doctor Who finally airs in the Republic of Ireland for the first time ever on TG4. The series will be paired up with the 1940 film Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe as part of the Sci-Fi block Back to the Future. However seeing as Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe won't be broadcast for the first two weeks, a double bill of Doctor Who will be shown instead to fill the hour slot. Spearhead from Space the very first serial of the seventh season and the first serial to star Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor will be the very first Doctor Who serial to be shown in Ireland.
31 December – RTÉ presents Millennium Eve: Celebrate 2000, coverage of the turn of the millennium from 31 December 1999 into 1 January 2000. The programme is part of the international strand 2000 Today to celebrate the occasion.
January – RTÉ announces plans to launch a channel with the working title of RTÉ International, designed to offer programmes from RTÉ One, RTÉ Two, and TG4.[19]
1 April – The RTÉ Irish language channel, TG4, becomes a separate entity. Previously it had been operated as a subsidiary of RTÉ under the name Telefís na Gaeilge.[20]
2008
12 June – RTÉ News Now is launched as an online service.
27 July – For the first time, the annual Reek SundayMass on the summit of Croagh Patrick is broadcast live worldwide by RTÉ. It is celebrated by Bishop Michael Neary, who speaks of consumer values that he feels are seducing society.[21]
2 November – RTÉ postpones the planned launch of RTÉ Entertainment, citing financial circumstances. The broadcaster had written to Eamon Ryan during October claiming that it would be "unwise" for it to continue with the plan. RTÉ said it intended to honour the commitment in the 2007 Broadcasting Act and hoped to launch the station by the end of 2009. A spokeswoman for Eamon Ryan says the decision to postpone the launch of the channel is "a reflection of the financial realities in Ireland and worldwide". She adds that the minister is committed to the idea of "RTÉ International" and that it could be a "brilliant product" similar to BBC World News.[22]
December – RTÉ News moves out of its usual Studio Three in RTÉ Studios in Donnybrook, Dublin,[23] and relocates to a temporary studio while work is carried out Studio Three for a relaunch. The new look is unveiled on the One O'Clock News programme on Monday 9 February 2009.[24]
21 September – RTÉ Television relaunched The Angelus broadcast before RTÉ News: Six One, featuring seven different editions, with seven respective people for each one.[25][26]
2010s
2010
19 September – Long running children's television block The Den gets axed after being shown on Irish television for over 24 years on RTÉ Two.
28 September – Launch of RTÉ Two's block of programmes for children, TRTÉ.
29 October – RTÉ News Now launches as a free-to-air channel on Saorview.
November – RTÉ News Now's iPhone app wins Best Media app, Best Apple App and the Grand Prix awards at 'The Appy's 2010 with The Carphone Warehouse'.[29]
TV50, a series of special events throughout 2012, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the launch of RTÉ Television, then known as Telefís Éireann, on 31 December 1961.[32]
17 January – RTÉ agrees to scrap its advertising "share deal" scheme from July following an investigation by the Competition Authority. Rival broadcaster TV3 had argued the practice, in which RTÉ offered a discount to any advertiser which committed a percentage of its budget for television advertising to them was anti-competitive.[33]
17 March – Debut of RTÉ's #HowToBeIrish, a programme made entirely of clips sent in by viewers explaining what being Irish means to them.[34]
6 April – RTÉ breaks with the Good Friday tradition of not sounding the Angelus bells by broadcasting them as usual on television. They are also heard for the first time on Holy Saturday, a move contrary to Catholic practice which is for them to be silenced to mark the period between the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. RTÉ argues that the daily prayer belongs to everyone rather than a single faith.[35]
2 May – RTÉ reaches an agreement with Equity and the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters' Guild to allow them to make their soap Fair City available on RTÉ Player and RTÉ One + 1.[36]
24 July – RTÉ subsidiary company RTÉ Transmission Network Ltd (RTÉ NL) is to be rebranded, and located away from the Donnybrook campus as part of an ongoing restructuring at the broadcaster.[39]
22 October – RTÉ Director of News and Current Affairs Kevin Bakhurst rules out a breakfast television programme for the broadcaster on cost grounds.[40]
2 April – RTÉ Two announces the launch of The RTÉ Two New Voices Award, in conjunction with the National Student Media Awards, which will give students an opportunity to compete for a summer work placement at the station.[42]
11 September – RTÉ Two reveals its new schedule, and confirms a rebranding back to its original name of 'RTÉ 2'.[44]
22 September – RTÉ2's rebranding takes effect. New programming includes a revamped news programme, News Feed, presented by Carla O'Brien.[45]
5 November – RTÉ announce the axing of their morning news programme, Morning Edition, which the broadcaster says will not return to the schedules in the New Year.[46]
2015
4 March – RTÉ launches RTÉ Player International, an online service making the broadcaster's content available to international viewers.[47]
30 May – RTÉ announces plans for a €20,000 revamp of its daily Angelus slot, and will invite film makers to suggest new ideas for the 6.00pm broadcast.[48]
4 September – Sky and RTÉ announce the signing of an agreement that will make more of RTÉ's content available on Sky's platform. It will also enable the addition of RTÉ One + 1 and RTÉ News Now to the Sky lineup.[49]
19 October – RTÉ announces that it will revamp its daily Angelus slot, introducing a new set of short films featuring ordinary Irish people pausing to reflect during the Angelus. There will also be a People's Angelus on Fridays where viewers will be invited to submit their own footage. RTÉ says the new look Angelus will give people "of all faiths and none some quiet space in a hectic day-to-day world".[50]
5 November – RTÉ announces RTÉ 1916, a series of programmes and events to mark the centenary of the Easter Uprising, which will feature drama, documentaries and street events about the events of 1916.[51]
2016
RTÉ announces plans to move children's programming to independent producers. It states this is not a cut to programming, however young people's content sees the funding drop by 25%
2019
19 February – Launch of the timeshift channel RTÉ2+1.
26 June – RTÉ Does Comic Relief is held. The event is broadcast live on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player for over four hours with over €5 million raised for charities.[54]
22 June – RTÉ admits that they under-reported paying its top presenter Ryan Tubridy €345,000 more than publicly declared between 2017 and 2022
26 June – Outgoing Director General, Dee Forbes, is suspended following the revelations, she then resigns from her position.
7 July – Director of Strategy Rory Coveney resigns from his position with immediate effect following a meeting with the incoming Director General Kevin Bakhurst.[58]
10 July – The RTÉ Executive Board is replaced by an Interim Leadership Team.
11 October – CFO Richard Collins resigns from the organisation. [59]
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