RTÉ's new season: Rugby, the climate crisis and a ‘very different’ Late Late

Patrick Kielty’s Late Late Show, the Rugby World Cup and a live concert to mark the end of the decade of centenaries will take centre stage on RTÉ's schedules in the months ahead as it seeks to rebuild its connection with audiences after a turbulent, scandal-struck summer.

RTÉ will broadcast more than 30 hours of new Irish television drama and more than 126 hours of original Irish children’s content over its upcoming season, it said. Climate Live 2050, a special in which presenters Mark Little and Carla O’Brien imagine what the news might be like in the year 2050, will head a range of shows addressing the climate emergency.

The live concert, named An Old Song Re-Sung, will air in October to mark the 100th anniversary of Ireland’s accession to the League of Nations. It was commissioned by RTÉ in association with the Department of Culture.

Seán Mac Giolla Phádraig, RTÉ's group head of factual and its interim head of channels, said he had been in discussions with the department about the event on the day that Ryan Tubridy attended Oireachtas hearings to answer questions about RTÉ's hidden payments scandal.

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“One side of RTÉ is dealing with a crisis; the other side is working hard on programming and what that will be.”

On the drama slate, a second run for both Irish-Belgian crime drama Hidden Assets and comedy drama The Dry will be joined by Obituary, a dark Donegal-set comedy starring Siobhán Cullen; Blackshore, a thriller about an ambitious detective (Lisa Dwan) haunted by her tragic past; The Gone, which revolves around a young Irish couple who go missing in New Zealand; and The Boy That Never Was, a “deeply atmospheric” tale adapted from Karen Perry’s novel.

The future of Kin, RTÉ's popular drama about a Dublin gangster family, remains in doubt, however, following the bankruptcy of Bron Studios, the Canadian company that made the first two series, leaving RTÉ searching for a new backer.

“We are hopeful that we can bring it back,” said Mr Mac Giolla Phádraig.

Under worsening financial pressure following a drop-off in licence fee sales and renewals, RTÉ is understood to have made the case to Government for as much as €35 million in direct additional public funding support in advance of Budget 2024. It will have done so, in part, because key programming genres such as Irish drama have a high price tag even when made on a co-production basis with international partners.

“What we would invest in an hour of drama would be more expensive than what we would invest in an hour of anything else,” said Mr Mac Giolla Phádraig.

The Rugby World Cup in France is expected to be a big audience draw in September and October, although RTÉ shares the broadcasting rights with Virgin Media Television.

“We’ll be trying to drive people towards other content we will be showing around the sporting set pieces. There’s no point making important programmes if no one knows that they’re on.”

Upcoming factual programmes on RTÉ include Stardust, a three-part documentary series on the fatal 1981 nightclub fire; Patrick: A Young Traveller Lost, in which members of the Traveller community discuss the issue of suicide; and 112 Days – Man vs Ocean, an “emotional” adventure documentary following an attempt to cross the Atlantic in a two-person rowboat.

In November, RTÉ will also show a 50-minute cut of Face Down, a documentary about the IRA’s 1973 kidnapping of German businessman Thomas Niedermayer that is currently on release in cinemas and for which RTÉ was the main funder.

Mr Mac Giolla Phádraig, who is serving as an interim number two to deputy director of content Niamh O’Connor while RTÉ director of content Jim Jennings is on sick leave, said he hoped factual programmes, such as the new series of Dr Cassidy’s Casebook – in which former State pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy explores the subject of femicide – would prompt public discussion.

[ Government will provide interim cash for RTÉ pending review of funding model, says McGrath ]

Meanwhile, the power of big entertainment shows to bring audiences together retains “a massive value”, he added. Familiar entertainment titles destined to return to air include the Tommy Tiernan Show, Dancing with the Stars, First Dates and Ireland’s Fittest Family, which will see Sonia O’Sullivan join the coaches. Room to Improve and the much-debated lifestyle series Operation Transformation will also be back.

RTÉ said Mr Kielty would bring “his own inimitable style” to the Late Late Show, while Mr Mac Giolla Phádraig predicted that it would be “a very different Late Late” when the new presenter takes the helm from September 15th for what will be a 30-episode debut season with an earlier finish time.

When Mr Tubridy stepped down from the chatshow in March, RTÉ's factual department had intended to discuss programme ideas with him in light of his interest in history and the Irish diaspora, Mr Mac Giolla Phádraig said, indicating that this might still happen at a later date despite RTÉ's decision not to immediately agree a new Radio 1 contract with the presenter.

“Ryan’s a fantastic broadcaster and I look forward to working with him in the future,” he said.