RTÉ ONE 2000 – 2003

RTÉ ONE is the main channel of the largest public service broadcaster in the Republic of Ireland, Raidiô Teilifís Éireann, transmitted on the country’s analogue and digital platforms. It began broadcasting on 31st December 1961, and its income is derived from licence fee payments and advertising/sponsorship revenue.

The first broadcast was made by the President of the time, Éamon de Valera, and the opening night featured a gala broadcast from the Gresham Hotel in Dublin, presented by Eamonn Andrews, who was also the first chair of the RTÉ Authority.

Early station idents made use of a St Brigid’s Cross, a straw construction with four spokes radiating from a square centre representing an Irish Roman Catholic saint. The St Brigid’s Cross concept continued in RTÉ ONE’s on-screen presentation in various designs until 2003.

The RTE1 name was first adopted in 1980, two years after the launch of RTÉ’s second channel, with the accented É being used on-air officially in 1995. RTÉ ONE is available to viewers in Northern Ireland via Sky Digital (as part of the Bonus Pack) and Virgin Media (as part of the M package). Its analogue and digital broadcasts from the Republic of Ireland’s transmitter networks can be picked up in various parts of Northern Ireland. Provision will be made for RTÉ ONE to be broadcast as a free-to-air service, in addition to RTÉ TWO and TG4, on all platforms following the digital switchover in Northern Ireland in 2012.

RTÉ ONE 2003 – 2006

RTÉ ONE 2006 – Present

Examples of programme promotions

TRTE Idents