RTÉ’s Irish Language content needs to appeal to the broadest possible audience. It is not niche and boxed off in a corner. Our programming sits across the peak time linear schedule and RTÉ Player and it needs to burn bright to shine through. Everyone should want to watch this content– not just Irish speakers. All our Irish Language content carries burnt in English subtitles.
We commission multi genre content in Irish that reflects how we live as Gaeilge every day, in every part of the Island of Ireland. For the most part, we are not interested in making programmes about the language. Our multi genre output just happens to be in Irish or bilingual. Our aim is to normalise the use of the language across our content and services. We mainly commission half hour factual, factual entertainment and popular factual series but also one-off documentaries, music, children’s content and entertainment programmes.
As we already have a full slate for 2025, we are focused on commissioning content for 2026 and 2027.
RTÉ’s Irish language content has done exceptionally well in our peak time schedule delivering brilliant audience share and we would like to build on this and deliver more ambitious, returnable series to the schedule.
We would like contemporary stories of modern Ireland and not archive based content. We work in collaboration with the Irish Language Broadcasting Fund, Coimisiún na Meán and other third-party funders to develop our content. It is also worth noting that, 25% of the Sound and Vision fund is allocated to Irish language and bilingual content.
Please remember that key art and programme titles are crucial to the success of all content on the RTÉ Player. If it doesn’t grab you and make you click in, you have lost your audience. A brilliant title and great key art are the first step! Here are some good examples:
We are looking for great popular factual and factual entertainment formats, (3,4,6 parts) with engaging characters or with new talent that have the potential to return and grow brand loyalty. Ideally, light in tone, but with real stories and relatable people at the heart of them that deliver feel good viewing to audiences. In short, we want to see stories on subjects that people are really talking about.
Single documentaries are also important. They need to have engaging characters with an amazing story to tell or an incredible journey to capture. We are always interested in developing new faces: engaging and intelligent people with fluent Irish, real expertise and big things to say. Whether as programme anchors, authors or contributors within the above.
Sport brings the nation together. Are there great sports stories that we haven’t told or is there a way to build on some of our existing sports output to deliver more to the audience?
Access documentary / series’ – Many areas of Irish life that we are fascinated by have a high level of Irish language speakers working in them– the legal, business and medical professions are all areas rich in story that never leave the headlines. Is there a way to access these areas as Gaeilge to deliver compelling, must watch content?
Audiences want to laugh more and be entertained –Can we deliver a sketch show, hidden camera show or something else that would surprise our audiences as Gaeilge?
Scripted content is also an area that we are interested in developing and RTÉ Drama will have a call out for the new series of Storyland shortly, with a specific call out for an episode as Gaeilge.
Popular music documentaries and live music series have performed very well for us over the last number of years, and we are always interested in content like this that brings people together.
It’s over twenty years since an Irish language learning series was produced in Ireland. Back then it was a TV series accompanied by some learning material. There is clearly a revival happening for the Irish language and an appetite among our audiences for a new type of language learning series, but how do you cater to the changing needs of a multiplatform audience and deliver a clever, sharp, witty and entertaining language series that doesn’t make someone feel like they are back in the classroom? This is a large-scale budget project that will require collaboration with several funding partners. It should be ambitious and contemporary, and lean in and celebrate the young people who are leading the change. We would love to hear your thoughts on this.
As always, if you have a great idea that doesn’t fit any of the above areas, do still come and talk to us.
We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the eCommissioning system: Login | RTE (rtegroup.ie) under the programme category Cláracha Gaeilge "General".
