broadcasting founded 1 june 1960 headquarters donnybrook dublin ireland area served republic of ireland and northern ireland worldwide via internet key people glen killane managing director of television products television owner raidi teilif s ireann website http www.rte.ie tv rt television is a department of ireland s national broadcaster raidi teilif s ireann rt . the first channel to broadcast was telef s ireann which began broadcasting on 31 december 1961 . 1 since the 1960s rt television has rapidly changed to include further television channels and provide television services with the latest digital technologies . contents 1 channels 1.1 suggested forthcoming channels 2 history 3 studios 4 budget 5 scheduling 6 2012 2013 season 7 2015 2016 season 7.1 returning series 8 availability outside the state 9 online content 10 presentation 11 rt television genres 12 logos 13 see also 14 references 15 external links channels edit rt one hd launched in 1961 as telef s ireann then rt from 1966 on 16 december 2013 launched hd service rt 2 hd launched in 1978 known from 1988 to 2004 as network 2 hd in october 2011 rt news now launched 12 june 2008 rt jr launched on 27 may 2011 rt one 1 launched 27 may 2011 proposed channels rt 2 1 rt ireland 2 rt arts & culture iptv only 2 rt comedy iptv only 2 rt sport iptv only 2 rt lifestyle iptv only 2 rt young adults iptv only 2 rt education iptv only 2 rt business iptv only 2 suggested forthcoming channels edit republic of ireland with the launch of digital terrestrial television in the republic of ireland saorview will give rt the opportunity to offer viewers greater choice . in the republic of ireland and northern ireland rt aspire to provide viewers with additional channels which will include a high definition channel rt two hd 3 rt plus 4 a combined offering of rt s children s services which includes rt jr and trt and rt aertel digital which will include an enhanced digital teletext service . 3 existing services include rt one rt two and rt news now . northern ireland it has been announced that both rt and irish language public broadcaster tg4 will launch a digital multiplex on freeview in northern ireland . 5 the multiplex has gained approval from the broadcasting authority of ireland and ofcom where both authorities concluding that it would not interfere with competition regulations within the territory . the multiplex will be based in the republic of ireland and will be available to over 90 % of homes in northern ireland from digital switchover day on 24 october 2012 and will be operated by multiplex broadcasting services n.i. limited a joint venture between rt and tg4 . worldwide rt international has been put forward for the last number of years . the department of communications energy and natural recourses would like to see the roll out of this service in the near future however rt s main area of international broadcast has been to provide their services via their website and rt player . initial plans it was initially proposed that rt three would be part of the forthcoming services as details of this channels were provided to the broadcasting authority of ireland bai with rt nl s application for the commercial dtt muxes with upc ireland under the name easytv . 6 history edit in terms of radio ireland was one of the first countries in europe to embrace this medium of communication but was a relative late comer to television . unlike its european counterparts the government of ireland did not utilise the medium of television until 1961 . countries such as the united kingdom 1922 france 1935 and italy 1954 embraced television before ireland . prior to the launch of the republic of ireland s national broadcaster rt television services were available though limited from northern ireland through bbc northern ireland and utv . however the irish government considered television to be a luxury and refused to allow radio ireann to set up a television service for several years . in the late 1950s a television committee was formed ; their goal was to set up an irish television service with as little financial commitment from dublin as possible . it initially recommended setting up a service along the lines of itv plus five mountain tops as transmission sites which were also equipped for fm radio transmission . however since amon de valera was somewhat wary of television nothing more of consequence was done until se n lemass succeeded him as taoiseach in 1959 . a year later radio ireann was converted from an arm of the department of posts and telegraphs 7 into a semi state body and given responsibility for television . eamonn andrews was appointed as the new chairman . telef s ireann began broadcasting at 19 00 on new year s eve 1961 . 1 it was originally supposed to go on the air on christmas of that year but andrews gave the radio ireann staff time off for christmas . the opening address by president de valera described the benefits and disadvantages of the new medium ; he went on to say that like atomic energy it can be used for incalculable good but it can also do irreparable harm . there were other messages from cardinal d alton and lemass ; following this a live concert was broadcast from the gresham hotel in dublin . the show which was a countdown to the new year was hosted by andrews with appearances by patrick o hagan the artane boys band and michael o hehir . television opened up a completely new world to the irish people . topics which were hitherto not discussed in ireland such as abortion contraception and various other controversial topics were now being openly discussed in television studios ; the late late show which began in july 1962 and continues to run on rt one . 8 its original host gay byrne pioneered many of these discussions and has been credited with being a major influence in the changing social structure of ireland . pat kenny presenting the world s longest running chat show in 2009 the late late show rt was the first broadcaster to have public system i 625 line transmissions in 1962 two years before the launch of bbc two in that format . the broadcaster made its first official colour transmissions in 1969 although a mistake in standards conversion may have transmitted the 1968 wimbledon men s finals in colour . the first programme made in colour by rt was the documentary special john hume s derry under the 7 days banner . since 1969 rt could transmit programmes made in colour which were imported from uk & us which were shown on rt television . the next phase was outside broadcasts in colour and the first was ireland s hosting of the eurovision song contest 1971 & railway cup finals 1971 the first of many such productions by rt . the first studios at rt s headquarters in donnybrook went into colour in 1972 . this was followed by the news studios in 1974 . all of rt s studios at donnybrook dublin were equipped for colour broadcasts by 1976 . the last studio in rt to go into colour was studio 1 the then home of ireland s flagship talkshow the late late show . in 1977 a new government came to power and as one of its many promises the government quickly authorised a second channel to be run by rt . rt 2 s remit was to provide alternative television . as a consequence the original rt 2 schedule had many live relays of british programmes ; however there was also some original rt 2 programming . the new television channel went on the air on 2 november 1978 and the opening night featured a gala variety show from the cork opera house . in 1987 rt 2 was renamed network 2 with the revamp intended to revive flagging viewership ratings with many preferring to watch bbc northern ireland or utv both accessible within much of the republic . all sports coverage was transferred to the newly renamed channel along with all children s programmes . the few irish language programmes provided by rt were now broadcast on network 2 although rt one now also broadcasts irish language programmes . on 15 april 1989 network 2 s sports stadium aired live coverage of the english fa cup semi final tie between liverpool and nottingham forest at hillsborough and the unfolding disaster as the pens in the terraces became overcrowded and fans began to spill onto the pitch . 96 people died as a result of their injuries in the tragedy . in 1992 rt became a shareholder in euronews . the 24 hour pan european news channel operated by members of the european broadcasting union . although irish language programmes such as news bulletins nuacht and the long running documentary series l argas insight have been an integral part of the schedule a new irish language tv service teilif s na gaeilge now tg4 began broadcasting in 1996 . ahead of the 50th anniversary of rt television john bowman wrote a history of rt television called window and mirror . rt television 1961 2011 which was launched by taoiseach enda kenny at the national museum in dublin on 23 november 2011 . 9 tv50 was launched by rt on 26 december 2011 . 10 in december 2011 rt launched tv50 which will celebrate 50 years of irish life on television throughout 2012 beginning on 1 january 2012 . studios edit rt s main studio complex is the television centre at donnybrook in dublin the only other production studios being in cork . rt cork opened in 1995 and became a huge success it is also a large contributor to network output on both radio and television . there are also a number of news studios around the country the largest of which is in belfast . budget edit the following figures were issued by rt as part of their annual report 2012 . 11 income type rt one rt two other channels tg4 support licence fee 56 139 000 53 456 000 1 752 000 7 764 000 commercial income 65 351 000 30 007 000 n a n a total income 121 490 000 83 463 000 1 752 000 7 764 000 expenditure 129 737 000 91 313 000 1 752 000 7 764 000 profit loss 8 247 000 7 850 000 0 0 includes digital radio services scheduling edit rt television provides 5 scheduling strands . rt one is aimed at a mainstream audience and is the main broadcaster for news current affairs and original drama . rt 2 provides the majority of entertainment comedy children s programming and sports . rt one 1 airs from 7pm and is timeshift service to rt one s main schedule it timeshares with rt jr which begins at 7am each morning with programming aimed at pre school children . rt news now provides rotating news broadcasts of the main news programmes airing on rt one . hours rt one rt two rt one 1 rt jr rt news now early morning 05 00 06 00 euronews euronews returns at 19 00 returns at 07 00 euronews morning 06 00 07 00 lifestyle repeats trt rt jr 07 00 09 00 rt jr pre school programming morning ireland 09 00 11 00 morning edition morning edition daytime 11 00 13 00 lifestyle repeats repeat clips from rt news and current affairs with live news from rt one 13 00 13 30 rt news rt news as rt one 13 30 15 30 soap operas repeat clips from rt news and current affairs with live news from rt one 15 30 16 00 trt 16 00 17