Raidió Teilifís Éireann

Raidió Teilifís Éireann

Type	Statutory corporation
Industry	Broadcasting
Founded	1 June 1960; 56 years ago (1960-06-01)
Headquarters	Donnybrook, Dublin, Ireland
Area served	Island of Ireland Worldwide (via internet, satellite, digital and analogue services)
Key people	Dee Forbes, Director General Moya Doherty, Chair of Board
Services	Television and radio services, publishing and e-publishing (teletext & web), commercial telecoms services, orchestras and performing arts, and related.
Revenue	€327.6 million (2013)
Number of employees	1,856 (as of 31 December 2013)
Divisions	RTÉ Television, RTÉ Radio, RTÉ News and Current Affairs, RTÉ Performing Groups, RTÉ Digital, Corporate HQ, Central Shared Services
Subsidiaries	RTÉ Commercial Enterprises Limited, RTÉ Music Limited, Saorview, 2RN
Website	www.rte.ie

Raidió Teilifís Éireann (Irish pronunciation: [ˈradʲo ˈtʲɛlʲəfʲiːʃ ˈeːrʲən]; Radio [and] Television of Ireland; abbreviated as RTÉ) is a semi-state company and the national public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on 31 December 1961, making it one of the oldest continuously operating public service broadcasters in the world. RTÉ also publishes a weekly magazine called the RTÉ Guide which is orientated around RTÉ television and radio.

RTÉ is financed by a television licence fee and through advertising. Some RTÉ services are only funded by advertising, while other RTÉ services are only funded by the licence fee. RTÉ is a statutory body, run by a board appointed by the Government of Ireland. General management of the organisation is in the hands of the Executive Board headed by the Director-General. RTÉ is regulated by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. Radio Éireann, RTÉ's predecessor and at the time a section of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, was one of 23 founding organisations of the European Broadcasting Union in 1950.

Broadcasting in Ireland began in 1926 with 2RN in Dublin. From that date until June 1960 the broadcasting service (2RN, later Radio Éireann) operated as a section of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, and those working for the service were directly employed by the Irish Government and regarded as civil servants.

RTÉ was established on 1 June 1960 (as Radio Éireann) under the Broadcasting Authority Act 1960, the principal legislation under which it operates. The existing Radio Éireann service was transferred to the new authority, which was also made responsible for the new television service (Telefís Éireann). The television service started broadcasting on 31 December 1961, from the Kippure transmitter site near Dublin. Eamonn Andrews was the first Chairman of Radio Éireann, the first director general was Edward Roth. The name of the authority was changed, at the suggestion of Áine Ní Cheanainn, to Radio Telefís Éireann by the Broadcasting Authority (Amendment) Act 1966, and both the radio and television services became known as RTÉ in that year.