RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta
Broadcast area | National – Republic of Ireland and much of Northern Ireland |
---|---|
Frequency |
92–94 and 102.7 MHz FM Digital terrestrial television DAB |
First air date | 2 April 1972 |
Format | Mixed network |
Audience share | 0.7% (150,000 listeners per week) (2008, [1]) |
Owner | Raidió Teilifís Éireann |
Sister stations |
RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ lyric fm |
Webcast | WMA, Real |
Website | rte.ie/rnag/ |
RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta (Irish pronunciation: [ˈɾˠadʲiːoː n̪ˠə ˈɡeːɫ̪t̪ˠəxt̪ˠə], "Radio of the Gaeltacht"), abbreviated RnaG, is the Irish-language radio service of the public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. The station is available on FM in Ireland and via satellite and on the Internet. It celebrated 40 years on air on 2 April 2012.[2] The station's main-headquarters are in Casla, County Galway with major studios also in Gweedore, County Donegal and Dingle, County Kerry. RTÉ also provide a Gaeilge television service through TG4.
History
The station is the only national Irish-language radio station broadcasting across Ireland. It began broadcasting on 2 April 1972, and was the second legal radio station in the Republic of Ireland. Initially RnaG broadcast for only a handful of hours a day and was only available in or near the three largest Gaeltacht districts, but following the putting in place of a fourth RTÉ national radio transmitter network (used for RTÉ lyric fm), the station expanded to 24 hours from 1 October 2001. Listenership figures are hard to come by as the station does not make payments to be included covered in the JNLR listenership survey. It is claimed that as it doesn't carry advertising (the only Irish radio station not to do so) paying to be included in a survey organised mainly for the benefit of the Irish advertising industry would be a pointless waste of scarce funds. It is generally believed that listenership is high amongst fluent Irish speakers but its appeal among those learning the language is not as high as TG4 because (despite being available nationally) it is widely perceived as being oriented (as its name suggests) towards Gaeltacht residents. The station was initially established in response to the pirate radio station Saor Raidió Chonamara which ceased broadcasting once RnaG came on air.
Recent developments
For many years it was the only Irish-language broadcaster in the country; in recent years it has been joined by a television service, Telefís na Gaeilge (TG4), and by regional community radio stations, such as the Dublin independent station Raidió na Life, Raidió Fáilte in Belfast and Raidió Rí-Rá.
Budget
References
The following figures were issued by RTÉ as part of their Annual report 2012[3]
Income
Income Type | 2012 |
---|---|
Licence Fee | €10,697,000 |
Commercial Income | n/a |
Total Income | €10,697,000 |
Total Costs
Cost Type | 2012 |
---|---|
Network and other related costs | €1,082,000 |
Sales Costs | n/a |
Acquired Programming | n/a |
Irish Productions | €9,614,000 |
Total Costs | €10,697,000 |
Profit and Loss
2012 |
---|
0 |
Breakdown of Irish Productions
Production House | 2012 |
---|---|
RTÉ | €9,561,000 |
Independent Producers | €53,000 |
Total | €9,614,000 |
The table below outlines RTÉ 2fm's total in-house and commissioned programming by genre in 2008 and 2012:
Genre | 2012 |
---|---|
Factual | €1,417,000 |
Drama | €58,000 |
Entertainment | €745,000 |
Music | €1,468,000 |
News,Current Affairs and Weather | €4,606,000 |
Sport | €1,153,000 |
Young Peoples Programming | €681,000 |
Total | €9,614,000 |
Funding
The station receives a total budget of €10.9 million for 2008.
Location
RnaG is based in Casla, Co. Galway. It also has studios at: Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore), Co. Donegal; Baile na nGall in Ard na Caithne, Co. Kerry; Castlebar, Co. Mayo; with a smaller studio in An Rinn, County Waterford and the RTÉ Radio Centre in Dublin. The station is operated by RTÉ, but has a separate advisory council, Comhairle Raidió na Gaeltachta, which is appointed by the RTÉ Authority. RTÉ also appoints the Ceannaire, or Controller, of RnaG, who has day-to-day responsibility for the service.
Audience share
According to the 2011 JNLR survey, RnaG has a weekly listenership of 100,000 which equates to a 3% market share.
This is similar to Welsh language BBC Radio Cymru which has 116,000 listeners and a 2.4% share.
Programming
Raidió na Gaeltachta
News:
- Adhmhaidin – Morning Headlines
- Nuacht a hAon – News at 1pm
- Nuacht a Sé – News at 6pm
Chat:
- An Saol ó Dheas – Life in the South
- Glór Anoir – Eastern Voice
- Ardtráthnóna – High Noon
- Rónán Beo @ 3 – Rónán Live @ 3
- Barrscéalta – Headlines
- Iris Aniar – Western Magazine
- Blas – Taste (from BBC Radio Ulster)
Sport:
- Spórt an Lae – The day's sport's news
- Spórt an tSathairn – Saturday Sport
- Spórt an Domhnaigh – Sunday Sport
Anocht FM
In 2005, the decision was taken to create a youth strand of programming after 8pm each evening until the early hours of the morning.
Some of the popular programmes are:
- An Taobh Tuathail – The Other Side
- Duan Domhnaigh – Duan Sunday
- An Ghealach Ghorm – Blue Moon
- Géill Slí – Give Way
- Tequila Tíre – Tequila Country
- Sruth na Maoile – Straits of Moyle
Irish language policy
In March 2005, RTÉ announced that RnaG would allow songs with English lyrics to be played between 21:00 and 01:00, as part of a new popular music strand. In April 2005, it was announced that the name of this strand would be Anocht FM (Tonight FM). On weeknights the strand includes a new programme, Géill Slí (Give Way), as well as the existing long-running An Taobh Tuathail slot. Anocht FM will also be broadcast at weekends with different programmes. The new service was launched on 2 May 2005 at 21:02 Irish Standard Time. The first track with English-language lyrics played was Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes, chosen by public vote.
See also
- BBC Radio nan Gàidheal – Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) radio service.
- List of Celtic-language media
References
- ↑ "RTÉ Radio Sales". RTÉ Radio. Retrieved 27 September 2009.
- ↑ "RTÉ RnaG celebrates 40th birthday". RTÉ Ten. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
- ↑ "Annual Report & Group Financial Statements 2012" (PDF). RTÉ News.
- ↑ https://static.rasset.ie/documents/about/18280-rte-languagescheme-bilingual-eng-v4-screen.pdf
- ↑ http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-33794230
External links
- Official Website (in Irish language)
- RTÉ Raidió Na Gaeltachta - Listen Live
- List of Celtic-language media
- Breandán Ó hEithir (2 April 1972). Raidio na Gaeltachta begins broadcasting (Video clip). An Cheathrú Rua, Casla, Galway, Ireland: RTÉ.