RTÉ spent a massive €335,000 on the coverage of the 1916 State Commemoration ceremonies that took place on Easter Sunday.
According to the Herald, the event, which took place at the GPO, cost the station a pretty penny due to the amount of ground that had to be covered, as well as aerial footage which involved a five-hour spell around Dublin’s city centre, with help from the Air Corps and the Department of Defence.
While the event cost RTÉ, their efforts paid off as the historic event has been described as the biggest broadcast in Irish history – trumping Barack Obama’s visit to the Irish capital back in 2011.
The live event ran from 9.30am-2.30pm, including footage from the GPO ceremonies, the city centre parade, Aras an Uachtarain and Kilmainham Gaol.
It has also been revealed that RTÉ enlisted the help of two presenters, two reporters and four commentators – which brought the total amount of RTÉ staff up to 120 on the day. The station also deployed a total of 30 live cameras and two engineering cameras.
The event was one of the most-watched programmes of the year, with an average of 336,900 viewers – equating to a 50pc share of the available audience.
The broadcaster also supplied live feeds to international media outlets including the BBC, Sky News, and CNN.
RTÉ have received serious praise for their coverage of the 1916 commemorations, as they also aired footage from a concert held at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre, and held a special 1916 edition of the Late Late Show with Ryan Tubridy.
