RTÉ Radio 1

Infobox Radio station
name = RTÉ Radio 1


city =
area = National - Ireland
branding =
slogan = "We've got the nation talking"
frequency = 88.2-90.0, (87.8 northeast) MHz FM and 252 kHz LW Digital terrestrial television
DAB
repeater =
airdate = 1 January 1926
share = 21% All Aged 15+
share as of = April 2007-March 2008
share source = [http://www.tnsmrbi.ie/cms/uploads/may_08_press_release__jnlr_rpt_apr_07_to_mar_08.pdf TNS/merbi May 2008]
format = Mixed network
power =
erp =
haat =
class =
facility_id =
coordinates =
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns =
affiliations =
owner = Radio Telefís Éireann
licensee =
sister_stations = RTÉ Choice
RTÉ Radio 1 Extra
webcast =
website = http://www.rte.ie/radio1/

RTÉ Radio 1 (Irish: "RTÉ Raidió 1") is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926.

Station 6CK, a Cork relay of 2RN, joined the Dublin station in 1927, and a high-power transmitter at Athlone in County Westmeath opened in 1932. From the latter date the three stations became known as Radio Athlone, later being renamed Radio Éireann ("Irish Radio") in 1937.

Like most European national stations at that time, Radio Éireann attempted to satisfy all tastes on a single channel. It broadcast a mixed schedule of light entertainment and heavier fare, Irish language programming, and talks. Sponsored programmes, which also featured in the schedule, tended to be lighter in tone and more popular than the programming made directly by Radio Éireann itself.

Radio Éireann began FM transmission in 1966, and was renamed RTÉ Radio later that year. When, in 1979, RTÉ established a new rock and pop station under the name of RTÉ Radio 2 (now RTÉ 2fm), the original RTÉ Radio channel was renamed once again and became RTÉ Radio 1.

Radio 1 broadcasts a mixture of news, current affairs, features, arts coverage, drama, sport, music (from popular music favourites through country and traditional to world music and jazz), and general entertainment. Major weekday programmes include:

* Morning Ireland - the station's flagship news programme, on air from 7.00 to 9.00.
* The Tubridy Show - talk-based entertainment with Ryan Tubridy following the news at 9.00.
* Today with Pat Kenny - a lively current affairs magazine, broadcast between 10.00 and 12.00.
* Liveline with Joe Duffy - phone-in discussion from 13.45 until 15.00.
* Drivetime - rolling news and talk (sport, popular culture, music and arts) between 17.00 and 20.00.Its sports coverage includes Drivetime Sport with Des Cahill Monday to Friday 18.30 to 19.00, Friday Sportsnight (during the National League season), Saturday Sport with John Kenny from 14.00 to 18.00, and Sunday Sport with Adrian Eames (Winter) and Jimmy Magee (during the GAA Championship season).

Reception

Today RTÉ Radio 1 is available in Ireland on 88-90FM and 252 kHz LW. It is also available on the web and from the Astra 2D, Eurobird 1 (which are co-located at 28E) and Hotbird satellites and at nighttime also on the mentioned medium- and longwave frequencies in Europe. Listeners outside Europe can hear a selection of RTÉ Radio 1 programmes on the WRN service.

The FM versions of the station differ from those broadcast on longwave, with significant additional sports coverage on the latter, as well as other changes. The MW and LW versions are also known as RTÉ Europe. Both versions of the station are carried at 28E (as is the case with the similar split of BBC Radio 4), and only the longwave version is carried on Hotbird. Both versions are available in the UK and Ireland on Sky Digital, RTÉ Radio 1 on channel 0160, and RTÉ Europe on 0142, with RTÉ Europe also being carried on Virgin Media cable in the UK.

DAB broadcasts of the station began in the east of the country (on the Clermont Carn and Three Rock Mountain high power transmitters via the RTÉ DAB Multiplex) on 1 January 2006.

RTÉ Radio 1 has been carried on shortwave in DRM during specific events, including the All Ireland finals

The station's tuning signal since 1936 has been the air "O'Donnell Abú" [http://www.rte.ie/laweb/smil/brc/brc30s_odabu_radio.smil] , although since the advent of 24-hour broadcasting in 1997, the tune has been played just once a day, as a prelude to the start of the day's live broadcasting at 05:30 each morning (between 02:00 and 05:30, apart from the hourly news bulletins, Radio 1's output is made up of selected repeats from earlier programmes).

Closure of Medium Wave frequencies

The Medium Wave transmitters of RTÉ Radio 1 were shut down at 15:00 on 24 March 2008. The main transmitter was based at Tullamore and broadcast on 567kHz. A lower powered relay in Cork at 729kHz was also in service. Before 1975, the 567kHz service originated from Athlone [http://homepage.eircom.net/~totalbroadcast/athlone2.html] . AM transmissions continue on Long Wave 252kHz from Summerhill, Co. Meath. Since the closure, Second Helpings programmes at the weekend have been limited to digital broadcasts only. Since LW is now almost identical to FM, some have suggestedweasel-inline that Second Helpings be reintroduced on LW.

References

External links

* [http://www.radio1.ie Official RTÉ website]