RTÉ this week announced that over thirty new home-produced series and documentaries will come to air this February, March and April to add to the eleven new and fourteen returning home-produced series that were announced for January. Amongst the Irish programmes to be broadcast are the 2010 Irish Film and Television Academy awards, Conor McPherson’s, ‘The Eclipse’ and a new Craig Doyle- fronted light entertainment series.
Programming like the critically acclaimed ‘The School’, with an average audience of over 460,000; ‘The All Ireland Talent Show’, with audiences of over 600,000; ‘Dealers’, attracting 470,000 in a 7pm slot; ‘Operation Transformation’, averaging so far at 512,000; Anna Nolan’s documentary retracing her time in a convent, ‘O Sister Where Art Thou’, which attracted 408,000 viewers; ‘Katherine Lynch’s Single Ladies’ attracting 330,000 on average; ‘No Frontiers’ which has attracted audiences of over 590,000 and ‘Fair City’ which has been delivering noteworthy audiences of over 700,000, alongside record figures for both ‘Six One’ and the ‘Nine O’Clock News’ and ‘Prime Time’, have all delivered a successful first half of January for the broadcaster.
Noel Curran, MDTV, said: ‘We’ve had a very strong January so far. Our channel share is up in all audiences: national peak, multi-channel peak and digital peak. To be up 2.9 percentage points in digital is particularly gratifying as that is the most competitive measure given that 62% of TV households can now access hundreds of digital channels. We’ve attracted more than a third of all viewers to our channels – across all measures in January so far – and over 40% in national homes. The slate of programming we’re unveiling today further bolsters this offering and will, I believe, keep us in this prominent position.”
Steve Carson, Director of Programmes for RTÉ TV, said: “This spring, we’re offering a broad slate and variety of programming across all genres. We’re continuing to refresh and renew the schedule – very conscious of the audience’s appetite and demand for home-produced programming of quality and range. There are familiar and brand new series and documentaries here and I’m confident that there is indeed something for everybody in the audience!”
The programming that audiences can look forward to seeing in the coming months includes brand new factual programming lending insights into subjects as diverse as pre-earthquake-hit Haiti to a reunion of remarkable ex-pupils from Derry’s St Collumbs College; from a new instalment of ‘Dragons’ Den’ in which all our dragons return to pledge their euros for fledgling and ambitious Irish businesses to a two-part documentary on the genesis and lifetimes of the PDs.
Where entertainment is concerned, the 7th Annual Irish Film and Television Awards will broadcast live from Dublin’s Burlington hotel on Saturday, February 20th from 9.30pm. New entertainment shows include a brand new light entertainment show for Saturdays after Easter presented by Craig Doyle; ‘Fame The Musical’ a search for stars who will ultimately perform in a musical staged at the Grand Canal Theatre and subsequently tour nationwide, to be judged by Erica Gimpel herself (Coco in the original television series, Fame), Simon Delaney and Robert C Kelly; and a new series of ‘The Republic of Telly’.
Furthermore RTÉ audiences will see a new series of ‘Arts Lives’, including documentaries on artist Seán Scully and popular musician Gilbert O’Sullivan, Diversity projects including a new series, ‘An Cór’, a nationwide choral competition as Gaelige to be presented by Fiachra Ó Braonáin (Hot House Flowers) alongside a new series of the acclaimed ‘Teens in the Wild’, presented by clinical psychologist, Dr David Coleman, which brings a group of girls, this series, to the wilds to address and teach coping strategies to make the most of their teenage years.
Lifestyle series which will come to air between February and April include a new series of ‘Off The Rails: The 8 Ages of Women’, in which Sonya Lennon and Brendan Courtney offer the ultimate guide to celebrating all stages of womanhood, in sartorial terms. ‘The Health of the Nation’ will also broadcast and will see Dr Mark Hamilton and new presenter Dr. Nina Byrnes travel the country meeting the public to discuss and diagnose medical conditions and trace regional patterns of illness. New series of ‘Fleadh Ceoil’, ‘The Restaurant’ and ‘Eco Eye’ will cover traditional music, celebrity cooking and environmental matters respectively while in ‘My Showhouse’ Neville enables homeowners themselves to refurbish their own properties.
Home-produced drama continues throughout with the four-times-weekly instalments of Irish soap, ‘Fair City’ and the premiere of the RTÉ-commissioned ‘The Eclipse’, a supernatural love story starring Aidan Quinn (Evelyn), Ciarán Hinds (Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day) and Iben Hjejle (Cheri), directed and co-adapted by Conor McPherson. St Valentine’s Day will be marked by a season of suitably romantic movies including ‘Gigi’; ‘An Affair to Remember’; ‘Shadowlands’ and ‘Serendipity’, amongst others.
Young People’s looks to deliver dedicated programming for young people in this island and introduce two new series: ‘Quizone’, the popular activity and general knowledge quiz and a brand new animated series for pre-schoolers, ‘Happy Valley’. RTÉ Sport launch extensive coverage of the RBS 6 Nations competition, including Ireland’s 6Nations under-20s matches against Italy, France, Wales and Scotland, complemented by ‘Against the Head’, presented again this series by Joanne Cantwell. Champions’ League coverage will continue on Wednesday nights and there wil also be Pro-Box coverage – including the next generation of Irish Boxers showcased in the Yanjing Fight Night at the National Stadium in Dublin.
For more information visit www.rte.ie
