RTÉ2


RTÉ2 is an Irish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It was launched on 2 November 1978 as Ireland's second television channel, at which point the pre-existing channel was renamed RTÉ 1.
The channel airs content aimed at 16-45 year-olds.

History

In the 1970s, the Irish government considered three options for the introduction of a second television service: the re-transmission of BBC1 Northern Ireland; authorization of an independent commercial service; or charging RTÉ with the establishment of a second national channel. It was the last of these that was finally chosen.
After a period of test transmissions in the late summer and autumn the channel began scheduled broadcasting at 20:00 on 2 November 1978, opening with a broadcast of a gala ceremony from Cork Opera House. Owing to a technical error, audio from BBC2 was played during the countdown instead of the proper soundtrack. When the channel commenced programmes, there was no audio for the initial 15 seconds.
The opening night's line up was as follows:
Up to 60% of the Republic of Ireland could receive UK channels via spillover or via cable. Cable in the republic was only permitted in areas of spillover up to the mid-1980s, to provide viewers with better reception of channels they could already receive over the air. Hence RTÉ 2 was aimed at those that did not have the UK channels. To this end one of their main remits was the re-broadcasting of UK programming to Irish audiences, that would not otherwise be seen on RTÉ 1.
The official opening on RTE 2 outlined the promised content of the new channel, with presenter Róisín Harkin stating: "from ten to seven each weekday, three o'clock on Saturdays and six o'clock on Sundays, RTÉ 2 will be bringing you the best of BBC, ITV and other first rate programming." In the first two years of the channel, it would normally open at 6pm and close down for the night at 11.30pm.
British soap drama Coronation Street aired on the channel simultaneously with ITV's broadcasts of the programme. It broadcast much live programming from the BBC and ITV including Top of the Pops. However, the channel in its initial format was not considered a success. It was on air from 18:00 until 23:30 during the week, with an earlier start around 15:30 at weekends.
However, by 1987, RTÉ 2 rebranded as part of RTÉ's 25th celebrations relaunched with a new corporate logo and TV idents, this would be the first time that the RTÉ corporate logo would be seen on RTÉ2. While the rebrand was a small success for the channel it was felt that RTÉ 2 and RTÉ 1 needed more specific audiences. RTÉ 2 at this stage was becoming more and more associated with youth orientated programming and sports programming. In 1988, the majority of sporting and children's programming was moved to Network 2, the new name for RTÉ 2.

Network 2 (1988–1997)

In September 1988, RTÉ 2 was given a major revamp and became Network Two. 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 followed by the controversial but highly successful chat show / soap opera Nighthawks presented by Shay Healy, and produced by David Blake-Knox.
This relaunch was a big success, and Network Two remained stable until the mid-1990s. A new logo – referring to the channel as RTÉ Network 2 – was launched with the new RTÉ logo in 1995. By this time, RTÉ Network 2 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 End brand, anchored by Barry Murphy and Sean Moncrieff. Broadcast hours were extended to 03:00 every day with a new service called The Night Shift.

N2 (1997–2004)

There was another major revamp in November 1997, and the channel was visually rebranded as "N2", though announcers continued to refer to "Network 2". The goal of the rebrand was to reposition the channel towards a youth audience in order to increase its advertising revenue, as well as trying to counter the eventual launch of TV3. New features included a daily comedy slot at 8pm and themed weekends. 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". 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.
RTE 1 and N2 had separate Weather forecasts. On Monday January 14, RTE 1 and N2 weather forecasts were remerged.
Not all the changes were universally welcomed, with the "N2" era, RTÉ cancelled its long-running Saturday sports programme, Sports Stadium in 1997.
Many of the innovations of the N2 era had faded out by 2003: Simpler creations replaced the idents and the in-vision continuity was scrapped again. Later On 2 had more-or-less ended. In September 2003, News 2 reverted to the regular RTÉ News format.
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" and finally in 2004 Network 2 was relaunched as RTÉ Two, in line with its sister channel RTÉ One.

RTÉ Two (2004–2014)

RTÉ decided the channel needed another revamp to keep it fresh. The channel's name 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. 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 idents from this time were based on a Green Room theme.
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. In September 2009, TTV relaunched as Two Tube.
RTÉ Two got a new look on 17 September 2009. The new idents were created by RTÉ Graphic Design. Programme cutbacks saw the end of 24-hour broadcasting on the channel, with Euronews filling the down-time. Teleshopping was also introduced for the first time.
Continuing with the corporate branding of RTÉ radio and Television stations RTÉ Two's iconic children's brand The Den ended on 20 September 2010. The Den was replaced by TRTÉ, while Den Tots was replaced by RTÉjr; this was due mainly to the onset of digital TV on which RTÉjr is available as a separate channel. Two Tube remains as the teenage block of programming.

RTÉ2 (2014–2017)

From 22 September 2014 RTÉ Two became RTÉ2 and presented a new schedule of programming. The channel established itself as the "voice for the under 35s" where the new schedule continued with new seasons of New Girl, The Big Bang Theory, Grey's Anatomy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Masters of Sex, Devious Maids, The Americans, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the final season run of Mad Men. Brand new imported shows included Outlander, Gotham, Resurrection, iZombie and CSI Cyber. RTÉ2 confirmed it had secured broadcasting rights for two Danish drama series 1864 and The Saboteurs: The Heavy Water War, both broadcasting in 2015. In terms of home-produced Irish programming RTÉ2 confirmed the return of Other Voices, Maia Dunphy's What Women Want, Second Captains Live, 'The Savage Eye, The Republic of Telly, Damo & Ivor, The Fear and the newly created youth orientated news service News Feed. RTÉ2 also confirmed new Irish reality programmes including Holding Out for a Hero, Connected, Full Frontal, Bressie's Teenage Kicks, and Drunk and #Trending.
RTÉ2 continued to focus on major sporting events and the channel will showcase Irish films in association with the Irish Film Board. TRTÉ will play a major role in the daytime schedule on the channel. Two Tube will continue to air from 17:30 until 19:00. It is proposed by RTÉ to launch RTÉ2+1 in efforts to raise much needed revenue.
By 2015, RTÉ2 began to focus on imported programming from Denmark, Iceland and Germany. The channel increased its output of Irish themed reality series.