RTÉ has confirmed for IFTN that it will be seeking expressions of interest from the independent production sector for an afternoon programme from September 2010.
The contract for this production is currently held by Green Inc who produce ‘The Afternoon Show’ which, at 8.75 hours a week and spanning 35 hours per month, is one of RTÉ's largest independent contracts.
With contracts of this size, RTÉ tells IFTN it is obliged to engage in a tender process after a minimum of four years.
’The Afternoon Show’ is currently in its sixth season and therefore RTÉ will be seeking expressions of interest for this contract in the next month. This simply means that the competition is opened back up to all independent production companies, including to Green Inc and ‘The Afternoon Show’, to pitch for this. This is simply good business practice, RTÉ affirms.
‘The Afternoon Show’ has been a successful brand for RTÉ Television. The latest season is performing higher than slot average. In January of this year, the series attracted 142,000 viewers on average and attracted a 19% share of the audience looking at television between 4 and 5.45pm on weekdays.
