RTÉ Specialist Factual
Commissioning Editor, Specialist Factual
T: 01 2082867
E: colm.ocallaghan@rte.ie
Information
The Specialist Factual brief covers any content for linear or on-line that deals with History, Natural History, Wildlife, Environment, Science, Education, Diversity and, on occasion, one-off docs about sport and music.
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Budget: €90,000 - €140,000 per hour for single documentaries
€90,000 - €135,000 per hour for multi-part series
Episodes: One – three episodes
Duration: 50 minutes per episode
TX: 2026 onwards
Submission Deadline: 12 noon, Friday 07 November 2025, strict deadline
In exceptional circumstances if a higher cost per hour is necessary, producers should provide additional information in their proposal providing details and explanations of the reasons for the increased cost.
Full Brief
Taighde Éireann - Research Ireland was established as the national research and innovation funding agency on 1 August 2024. Founded under the Research and Innovation Act 2024, Research Ireland is an agency of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science.
It is part of Research Ireland’s role to promote and support the awareness and understanding of the value of research and innovation to society and facilitate engagement of the public with those carrying out activities in research and innovation. (Functions of Research Ireland (R&I Act 2024).
Part of Research Ireland’s role is to grow confidence in the Irish public to be informed and to influence policy and decisions around societal challenges we face together. Equally, Research Ireland aspires to encourage – and inspire confidence in – Ireland’s young population to pursue skills development and career choices in research, including in the fields of science, engineering and technology.
A key focus of the Research Ireland/ RTÉ Joint initiative is to spark conversations on the role that science and technology play in our lives. Commissioned content should feature pioneering research and the work of researchers in Ireland to tell stories that are realistic and relevant and appeal to broad audiences. Research Ireland and RTÉ are keen to see novel and creative approaches to the telling of these stories and are seeking to co-fund content that addresses and challenges the following questions;
RTÉ highlights within its charter the aim to include coverage from genres including science and technology. Since 2016, RTÉ and what was previously Science Foundation Ireland have shared a Joint Initiative with the purpose of increasing STEM-led content across all RTÉ platforms.
This Joint Initiative has funded annual event-based television strands, several hour-long documentaries and, since 2018, successful event-style strands during National Science Week. Human interest stories have been at the core of this content and all the projects which have been jointly funded have featured in the prime-time schedule on RTÉ One, performing strongly in terms of audience numbers, share and critical reaction. Among them most recently are titles like ‘Futureville Ireland’, ‘Hooked: How Addiction Hijacks Your Brain’ and ‘Game Changer – AI and You’.
The Initiative has also helped to profile science, technology and innovation across all RTÉ platforms. It has supported growth of knowledge and capacity within the media production and science research communities. The audiences reached by the programmes placed in the RTÉ One schedules are significant. The RTÉ One audience skews to older adults but the greater integration of digital and radio programming has allowed RTÉ/Research Ireland co-funded productions to become ‘events’ with larger, more diversified reach over and above linear television broadcast.
Research has always impacted our lives; from medicines and vaccines, new technologies, understanding our behaviours, to informing climate science and policy, and steering life through a pandemic. Sometimes we welcome these impacts, sometimes we are afraid of them, sometimes we are hopeful of what they might signal, but do we discuss them enough? Has the Irish public had an opportunity to understand and discuss the likely impacts [positive and negative] of future research, such as artificial intelligence, the metaverse, genetic modification, geoengineering? Such discussions can help to steer research democratically, maximising the benefits of progress for society, while minimising the negatives. New, creative, innovative ideas might also be identified.
With this in mind, RTÉ and Research Ireland are now seeking a range of proposals:
Proposals intended for Science Week should be for 3x1 hour projects that can be live, pre-recorded or a hybrid of both.
Proposals should ideally be for multi-part, 50-mins documentaries. Single, one-offs are also welcome.
Proposed content should embed research - and its current or potential impact - into all stories. It should be evident in proposals that editorial lines have been developed in collaboration/consultation with leading researchers from a range of disciplines. Research Ireland is happy to facilitate conversations between production companies and researchers to develop concepts.
RTÉ and Research Ireland may also decide to use funding from this Joint Initiative to support future proposals to the Sound and Vision scheme, hosted by Coimisiún na Méan.
Proposals can be authored or presenter-led and should, in all instances, reflect the contribution of research, particularly science and technology, in contemporary Irish society.
Proposals must be scientifically sound and should name independent science professional[s] either in advisory roles or as direct collaborators from the outset of the development phase. Proposals should clearly indicate the name[s] of the scientific, technological or engineering expert/ collaborators on the projects, the role[s] they will play in the project and confirmations of their involvement.
Budgets are set at €140,000 for single documentaries and at €135,000 per hour for multi-part strands. All proposals should indicate specific production models. Please note that budget ranges are indicative only and proposals that can achieve lower costs per hour will be particularly attractive.
We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the e-commissioning system Login | RTE (rtegroup.ie) under the programme category "Factual Specialist - Research Ireland, RTÉ One - 2026" Please also note that proposals should be submitted to RTÉ for consideration not later than 12 noon on Friday 07 November 2025.
Information
Budget: €90,000 - €135,000 per hour
Episodes: Three parts
Duration: Series of 50 minutes.
TX: September 2026 onwards
Submission Deadline: Friday 07 November 2025, 12 noon, strict deadline
In exceptional circumstances if a higher cost per hour is necessary, producers should provide additional information in their proposal providing details and explanations of the reasons for the increased cost.
Full Brief
RTÉ Content consistently carries detailed coverage and analysis of the issues of climate change and extreme weather events, which it believes to be among the most pressing and important issues facing global society.
From short, inserted material into magazine strands like Ear to the Ground and Nationwide to dedicated pre-watershed series like Heated and It’s the End of the World with Martin Beanz to specialist, one-off documentaries like Will Ireland Survive 2050 and policy-based factual strands like Rising Tides: Ireland’s Future in a Warmer World, RTÉ Content covers the topic in a far-ranging and tonally diverse manner.
The environmental impact of climate change also underpins much of RTÉ’s Natural History and Wildlife output and this has been seen recently in blue-chip multi-part strands like Kerry: Tides of Time, Ireland’s Wild Islands and Dolphins: Wonders of the Ocean.
RTÉ is now seeking proposals for a dedicated, three-part series that covers the topic of climate change in an Irish context and that can play prominently in the post-watershed schedules on RTÉ One in 2026.
Proposals can be authored, presenter-led or presenter-less. They can be first-person, essay-driven, position-based, or argument-led but must be rooted in scientific and factual accuracy.
Against a backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis, a national housing shortage, ongoing issues in health and education and international political turbulence, we’re looking for a series that is informative, stylistically fresh, entertaining, narratively challenging, and capable of playing to large audiences across a wide demographic range.
All proposals should indicate specific production models. Please note that budget ranges are indicative only and proposals that can achieve lower costs per hour will be particularly attractive.
Proposals should also include outline plans for cross-media additionality and potential collaborations with other RTÉ platforms.
We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the e-commissioning system Login | RTE (rtegroup.ie) under the programme category "Factual Specialist - Climate Change, RTÉ One - 2026" Please also note that proposals should be submitted to RTÉ for consideration not later than 12 noon on 07 November 2025.
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RTÉ is now seeking proposals for Coimisiún na Meán Sound & Vision 4 – Round 58 – Open Round, to support the production of culturally valuable broadcast content, including content in the Irish language.
Full Brief
RTÉ is now seeking proposals for Coimisiún na Meán Sound & Vision 4 – Round 58 – Open Round, to support the production of culturally valuable broadcast content, including content in the Irish language.
Closing date for submissions to be considered for RTÉ support in Coimisiún na Meán Sound & Vision 4 – Round 58 is Friday 17 October 2025 at 12.00 noon (strict deadline).
All submissions must include the full production budget, proposed RTÉ funding and other funding in RTÉ’s eCommissioning system.
CnaM Sound & Vision Rd 58 – dates for RTÉ supported programmes
RTÉ call-out opens: 17th September 2025
RTÉ call-out closes: Friday 17 October 2025, 12 noon (strict deadline)
RTÉ decision on successful applicants: Friday 31 October 2025
CnaM Rd 58 closes: Thursday 27 November 2025, 12 noon
The Specialist Factual slate is a wide-ranging one and encompasses several genres, among them History, Natural History and Science. The slate takes a lateral view to form and content and will continue to champion new and emerging talent in front of the camera and behind it.
Specialist Factual has a strong track-record of co-production with Coimisiún na Meán in many genres and funding through Sound and Vision has enabled us to resource numerous high-end, landmark productions.
Recent notable co-productions with Coimisiún na Meán/Sound and Vision include Hell for Leather, Dev: Rise and Rule, Dolphins: Wonders of the Ocean and Kerry: Tides of Time.
For Round 58, Specialist Factual is seeking projects and proposals in the fields of popular natural history that isn’t first-person led and factual documentary that is under-pinned by science, data and research. Consideration will be also given to documentaries that mark the contribution – historical, cultural or political – of the Irish abroad.
Producers and production companies are asked to carefully consider the importance of additionality – how can core content be re-skinned or re-imagined for use on digital platforms? Dev: Rise and Rule is a recent example of how the producers, working with RTÉ, successfully constructed a production matrix that incorporated numerous non-linear aspects.
Specialist Factual has long partnered with numerous co-producers: the slate is currently working with several state agencies, other broadcasters and editorial partners. Projects that come with third party funding already attached are welcome.
All proposals to the upcoming round should be targeted at key slots in the linear schedule on RTÉ One. In particular Sunday nights at 6.30 and Monday and Wednesday nights on RTÉ One at 9.35.
We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the eCommissioning system: Login | RTE under the programme category “Factual Specialist - CNM Round 58”, before the above closing date and time.
The RTÉ timelines are designed to give supported applicants ample time to prepare and submit detailed applications to Coimisiún na Meán. For more information, please visit www.cnam.ie.
Please ensure you are fully registered on the eCommissioning System well before the closing date, as registrations can take up to 48 hours to process. Late submissions due to late registration will not be accepted.
Information
Budget Range: €100,000-€140,000 per hour (If fully funded by RTÉ)
Duration: 50 minutes
Broadcast: TBC
Channel: RTÉ One & RTÉ2
Budget Range: €90,000-€135,000 per hour (If fully funded by RTÉ)
Duration: 25 minutes (number of programmes typically 6 to 8)
Broadcast: TBC
Channel: RTÉ One & RTÉ2
Full Brief
Home-grown Natural History and Wildlife content is core to the RTÉ brand and notable recent projects in this space include The Island [New Decade], Ireland’s Wild Islands [Crossing the Line Films], and North Atlantic [Sea Fever Productions]. We will continue to prioritize proposals that explore Ireland’s unique physical landscape, both above and below ground.
Our output in these areas performs well both on linear and on catch-up and via streaming on RTÉ Player.
Upcoming projects include Wild Connemara [Crossing the Line Films], a multi-part series set in the West of Ireland, and another multi-part series in County Kerry from the producer of The Burren: Heart of Stone [Silver Branch Films]. Gambit Pictures are currently producing a strand based on the book ‘An Irish Atlantic Forest’ while another long-term, multi-year project traces the evolution of life in rural Ireland.
Our Natural History content can be scheduled on Sundays, either before or after the watershed, and on weekdays before the watershed. These can be half-hour segments or, when suitable, one-off hour-long specials.
We will continue to support innovative perspectives and formats, including ambitious live events that attract family audiences and projects that encourage mass viewer participation. Natural History and Wildlife content often tends to be costly and time-consuming: co-production and multi-agency funding will be key to all prospective projects in this genre.
Producers are invited to submit their ideas through the RTÉ eCommissioning system under the category Factual Specialist “Natural History & Wildlife”.
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Budget Range: €100,000-€140,000 per hour (If fully funded by RTÉ)
Duration: 50 minutes
Broadcast: TBC
Channel: RTÉ One & RTÉ2
Budget Range: €90,000-€135,000 per hour (If fully funded by RTÉ)
Duration: 25 minutes (number of programmes typically 6 to 8)
Broadcast: TBC
Channel: RTÉ One & RTÉ2
Full Brief
RTÉ is committed to History content and will continue to broaden its approach to interpreting and narrating Ireland’s complicated and nuanced history.
RTÉ’s coverage of the Decade of Centenaries covered, in detail, the political, economic and military history of Ireland during the revolution years in the early 20th century. The slate’s focus, for now, turns to more recent history: the transformation of Ireland since 1985. How is it that the country developed so quickly to get to where it is today and what does that journey tell us about where we are now and where we go next?
Form and tone are especially important: can we use contemporary leads, stories and clues as entry-points into the telling of modern Irish history?
In this regard, one-offs can be information-led, access-led or personality-led and should mark Irish successes as well as the failures of the state. Recent examples include Henry Mount Charles: A Lord in Slane, The Great Pretenders, a one-off about Irish tribute bands and Ben Dunne: An Extraordinary Life. These films tell not just the unique experiences of a broad range of citizens but also another range of the many stories of Ireland.
Broadstone Films’ Sold: The Eircom Shares Saga and Leathered, the recent one-off from RTÉ’s in-house documentary unit, are examples of strong factual output aired recently whose narratives have been rooted in the country’s complicated social under-belly. So also, Kevin Brannigan’s upcoming multi-parter: Noraid: Irish-America and the IRA.
We are interested also in ambitious, multi-part history strands that cover the development of Irish society over the last fifty years. We welcome proposals that have third-party or multi-agency support attached: The Records Show [Midas Productions] which plays on Sundays on RTÉ One in pre-watershed and which is co-funded by The National Archives, is a relevant case in point.
All proposals should be strong enough to play on Mondays and Wednesdays at 9:35 PM on RTÉ One but can also be scheduled as standalone event pieces. Proposals should also be strong enough to attract strong on-line audiences.
We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the eCommissioning system Login | RTE (rtegroup.ie) system under the programme category Factual Specialist “History”.
Information
Budget Range: €100,000-€140,000 per hour (If fully funded by RTÉ)
Duration: 50 minutes
Broadcast: TBC
Channel: RTÉ One & RTÉ2
Budget Range: €90,000-€135,000 per hour (If fully funded by RTÉ)
Duration: 25 minutes (number of programmes typically 6 to 8)
Broadcast: TBC
Channel: RTÉ One & RTÉ2
Full Brief
The slate will also continue to support innovative and original content in the areas of science, climate, and education. Recent examples here include Heated [indiepics], the magazine series in pre-watershed that deals with green issues and last year’s three-part documentary Rising Tides with Philip Boucher Hayes [Earth Horizon].
The slate will continue to work with Taighde Éireann – formerly Science Foundation Ireland – and will announce upcoming plans in a general call for ideas later this year.
Recent projects in this space include one-off documentaries like Gamechanger: AI and You [Animo] and the three-part Science Week stripped series, Welcome to Futureville [Rare TV]. An upcoming three-part series on the science of addiction, Hooked [Cable Rock Films], has been produced with co-funding from Taighde Éireann.
The slate also features documentary films about diversity in Irish society, and Pamela Drynan’s Sound & Vision funded documentary on dyslexia, Lost for Words [Subotica] is a recent example. Upcoming projects about the changing face of Moore Street – six parts playing in pre-watershed – and a documentary about Patrick Lydon and story of the Camphill community in Kilkenny, are films rooted in the diversity at the heart of modern Irish society.
Proposals should include plans for digital additionality and dual-platform storytelling. Projects that comply with the Coimisiún na Meán Sound and Vision scheme are particularly encouraged.
Producers are invited to submit their ideas through the RTÉ eCommissioning system under the category Factual Specialist “Science & Education”.
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History of the Fund
In November 2016, RTÉ and ARTE G.E.I.E., the Strasbourg branch of the Franco-German public broadcaster ARTE, joined forces to develop and co-fund exceptional documentary projects, aiming to bring more Irish content to European audiences. Since then, ARTE G.E.I.E. and RTÉ have invested in a diverse range of Irish documentaries covering factual topics, current affairs, history, and the arts. The collaboration between ARTE commissioning editors and Irish production companies has flourished, creating numerous opportunities for Irish creative talent.
Full Brief
Practical Information
The fund operates on a rolling basis, with projects being developed and funded continuously. We seek standout single documentaries that have secured development or broadcast commitments from an RTÉ Commissioning Editor, which can then be pitched to ARTE’s specific documentary strands. Most documentaries for ARTE are 52 minutes long and do not include commercial breaks. The RTÉ version of the programme should be a 50 minute duration with two commercial breaks as agreed with the RTÉ Commissioning Editor.
RTÉ and ARTE welcome ideas from all genres, including Factual, Specialist Factual, Science and Natural Science, History, Archaeology and Human Endeavour, Current Affairs/Geopolitics, and Arts, Culture, and Music. We are particularly interested in compelling Irish stories with international appeal, whether they focus on ancient or contemporary history, arts, or society/current affairs. Ambitious factual, specialist factual, and arts documentaries that resonate with both Irish and European audiences are highly valued.
Given that ARTE documentaries are broadcast in multiple territories, projects led by voiceovers that can be revoiced in several languages are preferred. Presenter-led documentaries or series are generally not suitable for ARTE, except in rare cases where the presenter is a global icon, such as Angelica Huston on Joyce by Blueprint Films.
Completed projects must be delivered to ARTE 6-8 weeks before the broadcast date to allow time for translation, subtitling, and revoicing in French and German, as well as Polish, Spanish, and Italian for on-demand services. The costs for revoicing and subtitling are covered by ARTE and should not be included in the programme production budgets.
How To Apply
Production companies interested in submitting a programme proposal for the fund should initially submit their proposal through RTÉ’s e-Commissioning system Login | RTE (rtegroup.ie) . Indicate that the idea is suitable for co-production with ARTE and provide information on any other third-party funders if applicable. If the proposal is approved for further consideration, Sarah Ryder, RTÉ’s ARTE lead, will present it to the relevant ARTE commissioning executives.
Further information
For more details on the RTÉ / ARTE G.E.I.E. co-production fund, please contact Sarah Ryder at sarah.ryder@rte.ie.
