Budget Range:                €90,000 - €135,000 per hour 

Duration:                         Series of 25 minutes. Four, Six or Eight parts. 

Channel:                          RTÉ One, Midweek, Pre-watershed 

Season:                           Autumn 2025 and Spring 2026 

In exceptional circumstances if a higher cost per hour is necessary, producers must provide additional information and details explaining the reasons for the increased cost. 

Popular Factual output plays in pre-watershed in either the 7pm or 8.30 pm slots and large audiences are available in these slots. 

With multiple series in Popular Factual during the year, there is real scope for producers to pitch to refresh the pre-watershed schedule.  Current output includes  Cheap Irish Homes, High Road low Road  The Complaints Bureau, Keys to My Life, Best Place to Be,  Home of The Year, Supergarden. 

Original Formats like The Complaints Bureau, Keys to My Life, Cheap Irish Homes, High Road Low Road, etc. have performed well, what other formats could we consider?  We need a greater volume and range of ideas – where a long-running series is coming to an end, ideally, we’ll have alternative options to choose from.   SuperGarden and Garden Heroes dealt with gardening in two contrasting formats, what other approaches are there? 

Inside Penneys gave a great insight into behind the scenes of an Irish retail superpower with memorable characters and was hugely popular with audiences. What other precincts could we get cameras into? Observational series that tell an engaging story with great access and characters could work well here. Preference will be given to precincts that are potentially renewable, have an impact or recognition to a wide audience. Our audience should be surprised that cameras have been given access.   

Programmes should be light in tone, but with substance, and reflect modern society. Unashamedly populist that make people smile.  Very much Popular Factual. The areas currently covered are not exhaustive as we do not have anything around Health, Entrepreneurship, Interior design, Business, Weddings, or Competitive cooking, as examples.  Alternative approaches can be explored like the use of Virtual Reality in My BodyFix with Kathryn Thomas and the use of Photo archives in Marty's Big Picture Show 

The big challenge is to find an engaging way to deal with topics that affect the nation in an entertaining and informative way.  Operation Transformation used to bring the country together for a healthier lifestyle, is there another health/fitness format to be explored in this area? The Borrowers looked at people's financial circumstances by focusing on a range of people burrowing from their Credit Union and following how they spent the money. 

We currently have a wealth of property programmes in the schedule Cheap Irish Homes, Home of the Year and upcoming Retrofit Nation on RTÉ One and Home Rescue on RTÉ2, but that does not mean that this genre is closed to any new ideas coming through. 

The best ideas are those we don’t even know we are looking for but those that celebrate Reasons To Be Cheerful and celebrate positivity will be well received. Ideas that serve to capture the changing demography of Ireland will score highly.  Proposals from producers based outside of Dublin will also score highly. 

In addition, we are interested in top talent with passion projects or well-known household names attached to a format.  Examples include Best Place to Be with Baz and previously, Daniel and Majella's B&B Roadtrip - intelligent programmes in traditional Lifestyle areas - work and home, play and spend. 

We will look at cookery if the idea is original, or competitive, but we are not looking for straight 'How To' shows. 

We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the eCommissioning system Login | RTE (rtegroup.ie) the programme category Factual “Popular Factual & Factual Entertainment - RTÉ One Midweek”  

All ideas are accepted and considered on a rolling commissioning basis. Please indicate proposed production and delivery timelines in your proposal. We are seeking proposals that will deliver for  Spring  and autumn 2026.  

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.

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.