Broadcast:       Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30pm RTÉ2.  Autumn/Spring  2022-2023

Duration:          Series of 40-52 minutes. Four to twelve parts.  

Budget Range: 70,000 – 90,000 per hour

"NB In exceptional circumstances budgets with a higher cost per hour may be considered.  In such circumstances, Producers should supply details as to the background to the increased cost."

(in exceptional circumstances, budgets can be negotiated)  

For RTÉ2 strong original or proven formats that make noise appeal to a generation engaged with multi online platforms as a daily way of life. First Dates is a true example of this. Also Original formats like Pulling With My Parents, The Two Johnnies do America, and Bernard O' Sheas Working Comics proved really popular and has resonance for many viewers. Authentic voices that are heard above social media clutter.

Formats  are the leading the charge for post watershed on RTÉ2. Glow Up,  First Dates,  Ultimate Hell Week,   were  the mainstays of the RTE 2 schedule. We are looking for a new returnable series that sits well alongside formats like these.  Pulling With My Parents and Selling Irelands Most Exclusive Houses are examples of this.

We are also open to commissioning one offs or  short run short series, to road-test a small number of ideas which may develop into long form, returnable series.

We want to commission Popular Factual programming for the generation that is leading the change in Irish society. When not trying to find somewhere to live, millennials are using social media for most traditional Lifestyle offerings like dating, cooking or design so what can you develop to grab their attention while not alienating older audiences. First Dates is a good example.

Tone and access are very important here and we're looking for clever use of resources that will allow stories to be told in an authentic and fresh way.

It's much more difficult to establish strong, loyal audiences on RTÉ2 so big concepts that can make a lot of noise on social media can work as can really solid story-telling.

Hour-long and 40 minute slots allow more depth to stories and offer opportunities to deliver substantial and credible transformations. We would be interested in strong formats, either indigenous or bought in, with equally strong expert talent attached. We need another layer of engagement that brings in the general viewer and most of all we need big charismatic leads, in either the presenter or cast.

In popular factual we are most interested in formats or series that proves successful with the audience, can prove a unique Irish authenticity but can be renewed into multiple series.

We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the eCommissioning system:  Login | RTE (rtegroup.ie) under the programme category “Factual Popular Factual - RTÉ2 Tuesday & Thursday Post Watershed.

Ideally, we would prefer to receive programme proposals that correspond with the above advertised brief(s).  However, if you have an idea that doesn't fit within these briefs and you think it might be of interest to us, please submit your proposal to the General Call-out.  Please note that by submitting your proposal under this heading by no means implies that RTE are in any way compelled to commission your proposal.

 

No. of Programmes / Duration: Series runs are generally 6 – 8 episodes x 25 minutes

Budget Range:  €90,000 - €125,000 per hour. 

NB In exceptional circumstances budgets with a higher cost per hour may be considered.  In such circumstances, Producers must supply details as to the requirement for the increased cost in the programme submission.”

Broadcast: Mid-week 19.00 and 20.30

Channel: RTÉ One

With multiple series in Popular Factual during the year, there is real scope to pitch to refresh the pre watershed schedule.  Recent output includes Keys to My Life, The Style Counsellors, Cheap Irish Homes, How Long Will You Live, Home of The Year, Supergarden, How to Be Good with Money, High Road low Road.

Original Formats like Keys to My Life and Cheap Irish Homes 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 three alternative options to choose from.

Programmes should be light in tone, but with substance.  Unashamedly populist.  Very much Popular Factual. The areas currently covered are not exhaustive as we do not have anything around entrepreneurship, interior design, business, consumerism, weddings, craft, or competitive cooking, or in the nostalgia space, as examples.

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 in this slot and At Your Service did the same for hospitality before both went to post watershed. Is there a way of looking at big topics, like health, but through a specific lens – e.g. Channel 4’s Know Your Sh!t?

Cheap Irish Homes and upcoming Cheap International Homes, gives hands on advice on a particular side of the property market while highlighting a real issue affecting the public.  It also brought new talent to our screens with Maggie Molloy. What other ideas and new talent are out there to engage the nation.

We currently have a wealth of Property programmes in the schedule Cheap Irish Houses, Home of the Year, and Supergarden on RTE One and Home Rescue and Selling Irelands Dream Homes on RTE 2, 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.

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

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

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 and give access to seldom seen worlds. We have recently commissioned Inside Penneys as a good example of an access series in this space.

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. The next group of slots we will be filling are in T1 2024. Ideas to fill these slots should be fully developed by late April for decisions in early May.

We are also looking for formats specifically for Sundays at 8.30 pm on RTE One. Recent output here includes Keys to My Life and Shoulders of Giants.  Both ideas relied on celebrity access and archive and played well in this slot. We are looking to enhance our offering in this slot, but ideas do not have to rely on either celebrity or archive.

In addition, ideas should be discernibly different to what we offer midweek and should offer a mix of entertainment and escapism for a family audience after a busy weekend.

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

Broadcast:         Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30pm RTÉ2 Spring /   Autumn 2024.

Duration:           Series of 40-52 minutes. Four to Eight parts.  

Budget Range: Up to a Max of €100,000 per hour

"NB In exceptional circumstances budgets with a higher cost per hour may be considered.  In such circumstances, Producers must supply details as to the background to the increased cost."

(in exceptional circumstances, budgets can be negotiated) 

For RTÉ2 strong original or proven formats that make noise appeal to a generation engaged with multi online platforms as a daily way of life. First Dates, Ultimate Hell Week and Home Rescue are true examples, appealing to this demographic. and are looking for a new format, to replace the slots occupied by Ultimate Hell Week. We are looking for a new location-based format that involves physical challenges, competition and either team or individual endeavor. Is there a fresh challenge-based idea which has the power to grip a broad audience? We will look at both bought in formats of which there are many, or, ideally an original format, with equally strong expert talent attached.

We need another layer of engagement that brings in the general viewer and most of all we need big charismatic leads, in either the presenter or cast.

In popular factual we are most interested in formats that prove successful with the audience like Ultimate Hell Week, while as a bought format, it did prove a unique Irish authenticity in action, and could be renewed into multiple series across both channels.

We are open to a range of ideas and settings that can be block recorded over long days or weeks in a multicamera setup.

While we tried an original food-based format Takeaway Titans last year, we are not looking for either a food-based format or a studio-based format for this slot.

Ideas should be ambitious, engaging, and capable of renewal. Promising ideas will be put into development and then full pilot for those making the grade.

We're also open to a broad range of ideas that touch on everyday life, romance, work, travel, money etc. Like we used to have Don't Tell the Bride and This Crowded House on 2

These could be single camera, original formats like Pulling with My Parents, The Two Johnnies Do America, and Selling Irelands Dream Homes that could play in four parts. These have proved popular and are also an option to compliment a major format. These should be returnable and cost effective. Tone and access are very important here as demonstrated in the scripting of Selling Irelands Dream Homes.

We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the eCommissioning system:

Login | RTE (rtegroup.ie) under the programme category “Factual Popular Factual - RTÉ2 Tuesday & Thursday Post Watershed.

All ideas are accepted and considered on a rolling commissioning basis. The next group of slots we will be filling are in T1 2024. Ideas to fill these slots should be fully developed by late April for decisions in early May.

Ideally, we would prefer to receive programme proposals that correspond with the above advertised brief(s).  However, if you have an idea that doesn't fit within these briefs and you think it might be of interest to us, please submit your proposal to the General Call-out. Please note that by submitting your proposal under this heading by no means implies that RTE are in any way compelled to commission your proposal.

 

History of the Fund

In November 2016, RTÉ entered into a formal co-production agreement with Arte GE.I.E., the Strasbourg branch of Franco-German public service broadcaster Arte. Both partners pledged to contribute funding annually to a central co-production fund and to work together to develop and co-fund standout documentary projects, bringing more Irish-made content to European audiences.

Since then, Arte G.E.I.E. and RTÉ have invested in a wide range of projects from every content genre, supporting a wide range of Irish production companies. Examples include Brexit: Stuck in the Middle (Motive), Young Plato (Soilsiú Films), Ireland’s Wild Islands (Crossing the Line Films), 100 Years of Ulysses (Create One), Ireland’s Dirty Laundry (New Decade), Shooting the Darkness (Broadstone Films), The Killing of Thomas Niedermeyer (Blueprint Films) and The Hunger (Create One/Tyrone Productions).

All of these documentaries have played on both RTÉ and Arte to critical and audience acclaim, and the relationship between Arte commissioning editors and Irish production companies continues to develop, with many new opportunities resulting for Irish creative talent.

The contract was renewed in late 2021, and a number of new projects are currently in development for support from the fund.

Practical Information

The fund is a rolling one, with projects being developed and funded on an ongoing basis. Arte G.E.I.E. and RTÉ also work together to support projects with other broadcasters and funding bodies such as the BAI, Screen Ireland, NI Screen and Creative Europe. We also work together to introduce production companies and professionals from across France and Germany to Irish production talent to work on projects together that are of mutual interest.

Arte will, in general, invest between €30K and €80K per project/TV hour, depending on what stage they get involved in a project and what slot the project is intended for.

Most documentaries for Arte are 52 minutes, with no commercial breaks. We work into specific slots with Arte commissioning editors; while most slots are TV hours, there are some (limited) opportunities for feature-length slots also. The fund is aimed primarily at standout single docs, but we have also begun to look at multiple-part doc series, particularly in areas like natural history. Drama projects are also welcomed.

Because Arte documentaries are broadcast in several territories, voiceover-led projects which can be revoiced in several languages prior to TX/on-demand are preferable;

presenter-led docs or series do not, in general, work for Arte, except in very rare cases where the presenter is a global icon - eg Angelica Huston on Joyce by Blueprint Films.

This also limits somewhat – though as the example of Brexit: Stuck in the Middle illustrates, doesn’t prevent - our capacity to make more reactive docs together, as companies must deliver the finished project to Arte 6-8 weeks in advance of TX on Arte for translation, subtitling and revoicing in French and German, as well as Polish, Spanish and Italian for their on-demand services in those languages. This cost is carried by Arte and should not be included in your budgets.

Rights:

The minimum territory/archive rights clearances requirement for any Arte co-pro is to clear for France and Germany. Preferable is to clear rights for all French- and German-speaking territories in Europe: France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria. Ideally, if you can clear for all of Europe or world-wide, that is the gold-star option. So please remember to account for multiple-territory archive clearances in your budget.

Arte, like RTÉ, also have a blanket music agreement which covers the use of commercial music in the French- and German-speaking territories into which they broadcast.

How To Apply

If companies are interested in availing of the fund, they should pitch, in the first instance, to the relevant RTÉ genre head or executive producer in the normal way and via RTÉ e-commissioning, indicating if they think that the idea might be suitable for co-production with Arte. The RTÉ genre head or executive producer will then work with RTÉ’s representative to Arte, Sarah Ryder, to triage the best ideas for the fund and prepare to pitch to the relevant Arte commissioning executives.

We welcome ideas from all genres: Factual, Specialist Factual, Science, History, Current Affairs/Geopolitics/Society, Arts, Music. Particularly of interest are strong Irish stories of international interest (both ancient and contemporary history, arts and society/current affairs-style docs) and ambitious factual, specialist factual and arts documentaries which will appeal not only to the domestic Irish audience, but to audiences across Europe who are interested in Irish and European affairs.

For more information on Arte G.E.I.E.: ARTE GEIE | ARTE

For further information on the fund, Sarah Ryder manages the RTÉ/Arte G.E.I.E. co-production initiative for RTÉ and will be happy to answer any questions. Sarah.Ryder@rte.ie.