RTÉ Radio 1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| RTÉ Radio 1 | |
 |
|
| Broadcast area | National - Ireland |
|---|---|
| Slogan | We've got the nation talking |
| Frequency | 88.2-90.0, (87.8 northeast) MHz FM and 252 kHz LW Digital terrestrial television DAB |
| First air date | 1 January 1926 |
| Format | Mixed network |
| Audience share | 23.2% All Aged 15+ (February 2009, [1]) |
| Owner | Raidió Teilifís Éireann |
| Sister stations | RTÉ Choice RTÉ Radio 1 Extra |
| Website | http://www.rte.ie/radio1/ |
RTÉ Radio 1 (Irish: RTÉ Raidió 1) is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The station is a rare modern example of a mixed radio network, broadcasting a mixture of music and speech programming.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Department of Posts and Telegraphs opened 2RN on 1 January 1926, the first Irish radio station.[2] Station 6CK, a Cork relay of 2RN, joined the Dublin station in 1927[3], and a high-power transmitter at Athlone in County Westmeath opened in 1932.[4] From the latter date the three stations became known as Radio Athlone, later being renamed Radio Éireann ("Irish Radio") in 1937. Like most European national stations at that time, Radio Éireann attempted to satisfy all tastes on a single channel. It broadcast a mixed schedule of light entertainment and heavier fare, Irish language programming, and talks. Sponsored programmes, which also featured in the schedule, tended to be lighter in tone and more popular than the programming made directly by Radio Éireann itself.
Run as part of the civil service until 1960, the Broadcasting Authority Act 1960 transferred the station to a statutory corporation, also called Radio Éireann, in preparation for the launch of its sister television station.[5] The name of the corporation was changed to Radio Telefís Éireann in 1966. As a consequence, the station was renamed RTÉ Radio. The station also began FM transmission in 1966. When, in 1979, RTÉ established a new rock and pop station under the name of RTÉ Radio 2 (now RTÉ 2fm), the original RTÉ Radio channel was renamed once again and became RTÉ Radio 1.
In 1973, the Gay Byrne Hour began, becoming The Gay Byrne Show in 1979.[6] This anchored the stations daily morning schedule until 1998. On 3 November 1984, current affairs programmes Morning Ireland and Today at Five began broadcasting.[7] The former is now the flagship programme of RTÉ News and Current Affairs on radio while the latter has evolved into the current Drivetime programme.
[edit] Funding
The total budget for the station in 2008 is 14.1m[citation needed]
[edit] Programmes
Radio 1 broadcasts a mixture of news, current affairs, features, arts coverage, drama, sport, music (from popular music favourites through country and traditional to world music and jazz), and general entertainment. Major weekday programmes include:
- Morning Ireland - the station's flagship news programme, on air from 7.00 to 9.00.
- The Tubridy Show - talk-based entertainment with Ryan Tubridy following the news at 9.00.
- Today with Pat Kenny - a lively current affairs magazine, broadcast between 10.00 and 12.00.
- The News at One – a round-up of all Irish news and sports, from 13:00 to 13:45
- Liveline with Joe Duffy - phone-in discussion from 13.45 until 15.00.
- Drivetime - rolling news and talk (sport, popular culture, music and arts) between 17.00 and 20.00.
Its sports coverage includes Drivetime Sport with Des Cahill Monday to Friday 18.30 to 19.00, Friday Sportsnight ended on the schedule in early 2009 due to financial reasons, while changes where introduced to Saturday & Sunday Sport in February 2009. Saturday Sport is now presented by Andrew O'Connor and John Kenny from 14.00 to 18.00, while Sunday Sport is hosted by Con Murphy and Jacqui Hurley (Hurley becoming the first female presenter of Sunday Sport).
[edit] Reception
Today RTÉ Radio 1 is available in Ireland on 88-90FM and 252 kHz LW. The LW signal can also be received across the United Kingdom. It is also available on the web and from the Astra 2D, Eurobird 1 (which are co-located at 28° east) and Hotbird satellites and at nighttime also on the mentioned medium- and longwave frequencies in Europe. Listeners outside Europe can hear a selection of RTÉ Radio 1 programmes on the WRN service.
The FM versions of the station differ from those broadcast on longwave, with significant additional sports coverage on the latter, as well as other changes. The MW and LW versions are also known as RTÉ Europe. Both versions of the station are carried at 28E (as is the case with the similar split of BBC Radio 4), and only the longwave version is carried on Hotbird. Both versions are available in the UK and Ireland on Sky Digital, RTÉ Radio 1 on channel 0160, and RTÉ Europe on 0142, with RTÉ Europe also being carried on Virgin Media cable in the UK.
DAB broadcasts of the station began in the east of the country (on the Clermont Carn and Three Rock Mountain high power transmitters via the RTÉ DAB Multiplex) on 1 January 2006.
RTÉ Radio 1 has been carried on shortwave in DRM during specific events, including the All Ireland finals
The station's tuning signal since 1936 has been the air O'Donnell Abú,[4] although since the advent of 24-hour broadcasting in 1997, the tune has been played just once a day, as a prelude to the start of the day's live broadcasting at 05:30 each morning (between 02:00 and 05:30, apart from the hourly news bulletins, Radio 1's output is made up of selected repeats from earlier programmes).
252 kHz was formerly used by a radio station called "Atlantic 252".
[edit] Closure of Medium Wave frequencies
The Medium Wave transmitters of RTÉ Radio 1 were shut down at 15:00 on 24 March 2008. The main transmitter was based at Tullamore and broadcast on 567kHz. A lower powered relay in Cork at 729kHz was also in service. Before 1975, the 567kHz service originated from Athlone.[8] AM transmissions continue on Long Wave 252kHz from Summerhill, Co. Meath. Since the closure, Second Helpings programmes at the weekend have been limited to digital broadcasts only.
[edit] References
- ^ "RTÉ Radio Sales" (in English). RTÉ Radio. http://www.rte.ie/radio/advertising/. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ^ "2RN and the Origins of Irish Radio" (in English). Four Courts Press. http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/product.php?intProductID=571. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ^ "Irish Public Service Broadcasting - 1920s" (in English). RTÉ Libraries and Archives. http://www.rte.ie/laweb/brc/brc_1920s.html. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ^ a b "Irish Public Service Broadcasting - 1930s" (in English). RTÉ Libraries and Archives. http://www.rte.ie/laweb/brc/brc_1930s.html. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ^ "Broadcasting Authority Act, 1960". Irish Statute Book. http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1960/en/act/pub/0010/index.html. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ^ "Irish Public Service Broadcasting - 1970s" (in English). RTÉ Libraries and Archives. http://www.rte.ie/laweb/brc/brc_1970s.html. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ^ "History of Irish Public Service Broadcasting - Timeline" (in English). RTÉ Libraries and Archives. http://www.rte.ie/laweb/brc/brc_timeline.html. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ^ Linton, Andy. "Athlone transmitting station" (in English). http://homepage.eircom.net/~totalbroadcast/athlone2.html. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
[edit] External links
- RTÉ Radio 1 — official site
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
