RTÉ Two
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| RTÉ Two | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| RTÉ Two logo | |
| Launched | 2 November 1978 |
| Owned by | Radio Telefís Éireann |
| Audience share | 11.5% (March 2009, AGB Nielsen) |
| Slogan | Youthful, Vibrant and Innovative |
| Country |  Ireland |
| Formerly called | RTÉ 2 (1978-1988) Network 2 (1988-2004) |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Irish analogue | Normally tuned to 2 but also: 5 historical openings of NI and IRL channels, or 6 depending on preference |
| Irish digital | Mux 1 |
| Satellite | |
| SCTV Digital | channel 102 |
| Sky Digital | channel 102 (IRL) channel 162 (NI) |
| Cable | |
| UPC Ireland | channel 102 |
| Virgin Media (UK) | channel 876 (NI only) |
| IPTV over ADSL | |
| Magnet Entertainment | channel 102 |
| Smart Vision | ? |
RTÉ Two (Irish: RTÉ a Dó) is Ireland's second-oldest television channel, operated by Irish state broadcaster RTÉ. RTÉ Two is universally available throughout the island of Ireland on the VHF and UHF bands, and is also available via satellite (DVB-S) to Irish subscribers of Sky Digital.
Contents |
[edit] History
There had been much debate in the 1970s about the choice of channel for the second television transmitter network in the State. Initially, it was favoured using the network for BBC One Northern Ireland, but after much discussion (and lobbying from RTÉ)[citation needed], it was decided that the second channel would be from RTÉ instead.
The channel started broadcasting on 2 November 1978. The channel was opened with a gala ceremony from Cork. Due to a technical fault, audio from BBC Two's was played during the countdown instead of the proper soundtrack, and when the channel commenced programmes, there was no audio for the initial 15 seconds or so. Originally the channel broadcast only from in the evening. It broadcast much live programming from the BBC and ITV. However the channel in its initial format was not considered a success.
[edit] Network 2
In September 1988, RTÉ2 was given a major revamp and became Network 2. In addition to the launch of a new vivid red, blue, and green logo, the channel now came on air at 14:30. The Den was moved to the channel, along with most youth and children's programming. Jo Maxi was launched as the youth strand. Sports Stadium took up the entire Saturday afternoon schedule, and all sports programming was aired on the channel, along with Irish language programming. A late night news bulletin, Network News, was also added.
This relaunch was a big success, and Network 2 remained stable until the mid-1990s. A new logo—referring to the channel as RTÉ Network Two (though the "RTÉ" part was not referred to by announcers)—was launched with the new RTÉ logo in 1995. By this time, RTÉ Network Two broadcast from mid-morning onwards, with educational programmes during the day. Also during this era, the channel experimented with late night broadcasts at weekends, under the The End brand, anchored by Barry Murphy and Sean Moncrieff.
There was another major revamp in 1997, the channel was visually rebranded as "N2", though announcers continued to refer to "Network 2". N2 brought about perhaps as big a change as the original relaunch, RTÉ branding was dropped from the station almost completely, with home produced programmes now being referred to as "N2 Productions" (foreign imports were "N2 Presentations"). A futuristic logo along with a series of unusual graphical idents were developed. In-vision announcing returned. More importantly, the channel's line-up was completely refreshed. The late night schedule was completely revamped, with the launch of News 2—a tailored bulletin for young people—followed by a talk show, Later On 2. Monday nights became comedy nights, with the launch of home-produced comedy such as Don't Feed The Gondolas. Elsewhere theme nights became a regular fixture, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays. The Den was now broadcast all day until 18:00 and was renamed Den 2.
Not all the changes were universally welcomed, with the "N2" era, RTÉ cancelled its long running Saturday sports programme, Sports Stadium. Since then, RTÉ has not regularly aired live sports (or at least, as part of a regular schedule) on Saturday afternoons, though major events are still covered.
[edit] RTÉ Two
Many of the innovations of the N2 era had faded out by 2003. The idents had been replaced by simpler creations, the in-vision continuity had been scrapped again. Later On 2 had more-or-less ended (one of the strands continues as The View on RTÉ One). In September 2003, News 2 was reverted back to the regular RTÉ News format (as RTÉ News on Two).
From September 2003, continuity announcers and trailers began to refer to the channel by the fuller title of "RTÉ Network Two", in line with a new RTÉ initiative to promote the corporate branding. The main channel idents never changed, and said merely "N2" (although a newly-introduced on-screen DOG said "RTÉ N2".).
RTÉ decided that the channel needed another revamp to keep it fresh. The channel's name was reverted to RTÉ Two on the morning of 2 October 2004, with a themed evening of programmes called "Farewell Network 2" beginning at 20:00, featuring Podge and Rodge (see The Den). The new logo is similar in style to the current RTÉ One logo. The new branding is designed to promote the Irishness of the station, green is the dominant colour. New strands were developed. In particular, the number of Irish made programmes has increased, though some of this is made up of a new strand of early evening repeats.
The latest change has been a complete rebrand and relaunch of The Den, on Saturday 17 September 2005, with the id Two strand becoming TTV on the following Monday.
RTÉ Two airs American programmes such as The Simpsons (currently airing Season 16 weekdays at 6pm), 90210, Law and Order, Criminal Minds, The Big Bang Theory, Greys Anatomy,Worst Week and Private Practice. Australian soaps Neighbours and Home and Away air along with Irish programmes such as Katherine Lynch's Wonderwomen, the Podge and Rodge Show. Other well known US shows on RTÉ Two include Lost, Ugly Betty, Prison Break, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY and Desperate Housewives. It also airs Smallville and Eli Stone after midnight on weekends.
[edit] Programming
RTÉ Two's main emphasis is on programmes for children and young people together with sports and acquired imported programmes. The channel's children's strand, The Den runs from 06:00 to 17:30 each weekday, followed by its youth strand, TTV (formerly iD Two previously iD) from 17:30 to 19:00. RTÉ News on Two airs each weekday after 22:45.
The channel also has a number of other strands, including Two Wild, Two Extreme, and RTÉ Sport on Two. Films are also regularly aired on the channel especially European cinema and International cinema.
After 19:00, RTÉ Two airs its primetime lineup. This includes such imported shows as 24, CSI: NY, CSI: Miami, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Prison Break, Ugly Betty, Law & Order, etc., and such home-produced shows as No Experience Required, How Low Can You Go?, The Podge and Rodge Show, The Panel and Dan & Becs. RTÉ Two also airs premier movies under the name SCREEN TWO and has first run rights to Irish rugby and football. The channel has a reputation for airing many US shows such as Lost, Desperate Housewives, Prison Break, Ugly Betty, etc., before any other networks in Europe.[1][2]
RTÉ Two's schedule is carefully made so as to maximise the viewing figures for RTÉ Two but not at the expense of its sister channel, RTÉ One.
[edit] Typical Prime time schedule 2008/2009
| 18:00 | 18:30 | 19:00 | 19:30 | 20:00 | 20:30 | 21:00 | 21:30 | 22:00 | 22:30 | 23:00 | 23:30 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | The Simpsons | Home and Away | Two Wild Documentary | MNS | Scrubs | Greys Anatomy | 24 | RTE News on Two | ||||
| Tuesday | Two Extreme: Documentary | Two Wild: Documentary | The Beast | CSI Crime Scene Investigation | In the Name of the Fada | |||||||
| Wednesday | Two Civilisation: Documentary | TwoWild: Documentary | CSI Miami | CSI NY | Katherine Lynch's Wonderwomen | |||||||
| Thursday | 90210 Double Bill | The Simpsons | Movie | RTE News on Two | Sport | |||||||
| Friday | Heroes of Nature | The War | Criminal Minds Double Bill | True CSI | Life (TV Series) | |||||||
| Saturday | Top Gear | The Smart Money | The Simpsons | Two Civilisation: Documentary | Movie | Greys Anatomy as Monday | ||||||
| Sunday | The Sunday Game Live | Movie | Two Civilisation: Documentary | The Sunday Game | Lockdown | |||||||
- Live sports often disrupt the above schedule, Champions League on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Eircom League on Fridays and Six Nations Rugby and GAA at the weekend.
- RTÉ TWO's schedule is divided up into distinct parts: -
- 06:00 - 17:30 The Den RTÉ's long running children's channel
- 17:30 - 19:00 TTV RTÉ's teenage strand of programmes including Neighbours and Home and Away
- 19:00 - 21:00 Documentary and Sporting events such as UEFA Champions League
- 21:00 - 00:00 First showings of major US programmes such as Lost and new or returning Irish serials such as Pure Mule, RAW etc.
- 00:00 - 02:00 consists of US Imports such as Smallville, The Big Bang Theory and Medium, Irish shows such as The Last Broadcast and Other Voices
- 02:00 - 06:00 Euronews
[edit] Irish Produced Programming
[edit] Reality Television
In 2008 RTÉ Two broadcast Hollywood Trials. It follow a group of young actors traveling to make it big in LA. The actors where selected by Hollywood acting guru Margie Haber. Those selected to travel with Margie to LA included Chris Newman from the RTÉ Two drama Love is the Drug, George McMahon from RTÉ One soap opera Fair City and Michael Graham of Boyzone fame. [3]
This season RTÉ Two are currently running a Model search called The Model Agent. The model agent in question is Ellis and with help of Erin O'Connor as the girls mentor she will pick one of 12 to gain a contract with Independent Models, one of the world's leading agencies and a cover of Image magazine, one of the Ireland's most high profile and respected fashion titles. [4]
[edit] Drama and Comedy
Since 200 RTÉ are committed to providing new and original drama on RTÉ Two each Monday night as part of their new autumn season. The drama's have had mixed reviews but they included. Paths to Freedom (2000), Bachelor's Walk (2001 - 2003), Pure Mule (2004), Prosperity. Most of the drama's and comedy aired on RTÉ Two are aimed at a young less conservative audience.Raw is RTÉ Two's latest Monday Night Drama, it received mixed reviews but it reached on average 250,000 viewers each week against RTÉ One's Prime Time Investigates and TV3's The Apprentice, filming for a second series began in mid-2009.
[edit] Children's TV
As part RTÉ Two's redevelopment in 1998 as Network 2, all of RTÉ's children's programming moved from RTÉ One to Network 2. Dempsey's Den hosed by Ian Dempsey, Zig and Zag and Zuppy the Dog moved to Network 2 from RTÉ One, and now broadcast for an extra hour from 3pm to 6pm. Network 2 would start the day 2:30pm with Bosco a pre-school television show. Saturday Morning's Television remained on RTÉ One until the mid-1990's.
Saturday programming would come from RTÉ Cork in from the mid-1990s, starting with The Swamp which took the place of classic Irish Children's TV should as Padjo's Junkbox, Scrap Saturday and Anything Goes. Satitude is RTÉ Cork's main TV show for children and it is now broadcast on The Den on RTÉ Two on Saturday mornings.
Den Tot's is now The Den's pre-school strand, RTÉ do not advertise during these selected hours.
[edit] RTÉ News on Two
RTÉ News on Two is RTÉ's late evening news programme. The program is broadcast Monday-Thursday on the channel. It does not have a regular time slot, but is usually broadcast at some point between 22:45 and 23:30. It runs for 22 minutes.
RTÉ News on Two takes a different agenda to other RTÉ News programmes. Its content is customised for a younger audience, and presenters and journalists tend to use more informal language on the programme. Since October 2006 the bulletin has been presented by Eileen Whelan, following the departure of Anthony Murnane who was with the programme from the beginning. John O'Driscoll is the programme Editor.
Since March 2007 RTÉ News on Two is now streamed live on the internet and archive shows are available to view through the RTÉ website. On Fridays an extended late summary on RTÉ One is broadcast instead of RTÉ News on Two. There are no weekend news programmes on RTÉ Two other than summaries.
[edit] Sport
RTÉ Two broadcast the majority of RTÉ's sports content. Most football fixtures are aired on the channel. (RTÉ One generally shows GAA and Rugby).These include UEFA Champions league and the FAI League of Ireland. George Hamilton is the station's main sports commentator. RTÉ Two also covers some smaller sports such as Athletics, Australian rules, Baseball, Basketball, Combat sports, Cricket, Cycling, Extreme sports, Golf, Hockey, Racquet sports, Scuba diving, Snooker, pool, Target shooting, Triathlon, and Water sports. RTÉ Two also covers the Olympic Games and the annual International Rules Series between Ireland and Australia.
[edit] References in media
- Saturday Night Live has mentioned this station on two occasions:
- The recurring sketch "Top O'The Morning" hosted by two barflies Patrick Fitzwilliam (Jimmy Fallon) and William Fitzpatrick (Seth Meyers) is said to be broadcast on RTÉ Two.
- A one-off sketch parodying reality shows that focus on remodeling houses called "You Call This A House, Do Ya?" is also said to have broadcast on RTÉ Two
[edit] RTÉ Two main analogue transmitters
| UHF | VHF | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | G | Mullaghanish |
| 57 | G | Truskmore |
| 65 | H | Kippure |
| 56 | H | Maghera |
| 34 | I | Mount Leinster |
| 26 | - | Holywell Hill |
| 33 | - | Three Rock |
| 43 | - | Cairn Hill |
| 56 | - | Clermont Carn |
| 57 | - | Spur Hill |
- Source: http://www.wolfbane.com/articles/eitv.htm (Accessed 18 October 2006)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Network 2 must find new Friends". Sunday Business Post. 2004-05-30. http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2004/05/30/story762232538.asp#. Retrieved on 2009-04-28.
- ^ "Channel 6 rebranded by owner TV3 as 3e". The Irish Times. 2009-01-05. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0105/1230936655682.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-28.
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.rte.ie/tv/themodelagent/index.html
[edit] External links
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