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This is a timeline of RTÉ Radio.

1920s

• 1925 – Test broadcasts of 2RN begin. ^[1]
• 1926 – 1 January 2RN commences broadcasting.
• 1927 – Station 6CK is established in Cork.

1930s

• 1932 – The Athlone transmitter broadcasts a high power 60KW signal.
• 1933 – 2RN is renamed as Radio Athlone
• 1938 – Radio Athlone becomes Radio Éireann.

1940s

• 1948 – Radio Éireann broadcasts on shortwave from Athlone.

1950s

• 1953 – The Athlone transmitter's power is increased to 100 KW.

1960s

• 1960
  • The Broadcasting Authority Act 1960 establishes a statutory corporation called Radio Éireann. This change comes ahead of the launch of a television service the following year. ^[2]

• 1961 to 1965
  • No events.

• 1966
  • Radio Éireann is renamed as Radio Telefís Éireann
  • VHF/FM broadcasts commence.

• 1967
  • No events.

• 1968
  • No events.

• 1969
  • 6 June – Building work commences on a new Radio Centre at Donnybrook.

1970s

• 1970
  • No events.

• 1971
  • April - Completion of building work on the new Radio Centre at Donnybrook.

• 1972
  • 2 April – At 3pm, RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta is launched.

• 1973
  • September - Start of live broadcasts from the new Radio Centre at Donnybrook.

• 1974
  • 2 March – RTÉ Cork Local Radio is established ^[3] as an opt-out service which operated for a limited number of hours per week, relaying the national service ( RTÉ Radio 1) at other times. The service was popular but had its hands tied by the limited number of local hours it could output. ^[4]

• 1975
  • A new transmitter at Tullamore replaces Athlone.

• 1976
  • 8 November - Last broadcast from GPO Henry Street studios.

• 1977
  • No events.

• 1978
  • No events.

• 1979
  • 31 May – Radio 2 launches. ^[5]

1980s

• 1980
  • No events.

• 1981
  • No events.

• 1982
  • RTÉ broadcasts Radio 2 on 1278 kHz in Dublin and in Cork.

• 1983
  • No events.

• 1984
  • 5 November – Breakfast news programme Morning Ireland launches on Radio 1. ^[6]
  • 6 November – Classical music service RTÉ FM3 commences, sharing its frequency with Raidió na Gaeltachta ^[7] FM3 broadcast on the RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta network at breakfast time, lunchtime and in the evenings.

• 1985
  • No events.

• 1986
  • August – RTÉ announces that it is to use its allocated longwave frequency for a new pop music station and RTÉ teams up with RTL Group / Radio Luxembourg to form Radio Tara to launch the venture, the trading name of what will become Atlantic 252 the following year.

• 1987
  • RTÉ commences building a giant 3-sided 248-metre broadcast mast in Clarkstown, County Meath to broadcast the new long wave station and sets up studios in the nearby town of Trim.

• 1988
  • RTÉ begins rolling out radical changes to Radio 2's format, which sees the ending on the station of most non-pop music programming. This sees the station being rebranded as "2FM".
  • RTÉ operates a temporary station, Millennium 88FM, to mark the year of the Dublin Millennium.

• 1989
  • April – Millennium 88FM closes down.
  • 1 September – At 8am, Atlantic 252 launches. The station broadcasts between 6am and 7pm, outside of which listeners were invited to tune to Radio Luxembourg.
  • RTÉ Cork Local Radio is rebranded as Cork 89FM. ^[8]

1990s

• 1990
  • August – Atlantic 252 starts broadcasting in the evening and is now on air from 6 am until 2 am.

• 1991
  • September – Atlantic 252 commences 24-hour transmission.

• 1992
  • No events.

• 1993
  • No events.

• 1994
  • Cork 89FM is relaunched as RTÉ Radio Cork. ^[9]

• 1995
  • No events.

• 1996
  • No events.

• 1997
  • No events.

• 1998
  • In late 1998 under the direction of David Dunne, Atlantic 252, in response to dropping audiences, relaunches with a format of indie and dance music which includes 30 hours of 'specialist' music shows.

• 1999
  • 1 May – RTÉ launches an additional national FM transmitter network and uses it to separate FM3 from Radio na Gaeltachta, and expand its remit to include other types of minority music. ^[10]
  • RTÉ FM3 becomes RTÉ Lyric FM and expands its remit to include other types of minority music. ^[10] The resulting station was Lyric FM (currently styled RTÉ lyric fm). It also moved from Dublin to Limerick as part of a policy of regionalisation. ^[11]

2000s

• 2000
  • 2FM is renamed RTÉ 2fm.
  • RTÉ Radio Cork closes due to low listening figures. ^{[12] [13]}
  • February – Atlantic 252 is relaunched as "The New Atlantic 252". The format is changed to urban contemporary music (such as garage, house, hip hop and R&B) and the station is rebranded with the slogan "Non-stop Rhythm and Dance".

• 2001
  • 1 October – RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta begins 24-hour broadcasting.

• 2002
  • 2 January – After more than 12 years on air, Atlantic 252 closes.

• 2003
  • Radio 2 on 1278 kHz closes.
  • 31 December – RTÉ Radio stops broadcasting on shortwave, concentrating on satellite transmission and relay via the World Radio Network ^[14]

• 2004
  • January – Radio 1 begins broadcasting on long wave from the Clarkstown transmitter which was previously used to broadcast Atlantic 252.
  • RTÉ closes 2FM on medium wave (612 kHz).

• 2005
  • 2 May – Songs with English lyrics are played on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta for the first time in a new slot broadcast between 21:00 and 01:00,called Anocht FM (Tonight FM).

• 2006
  • 1 January – The RTÉ DAB Multiplex launches.

• 2007
  • 30 May – RTÉ Gold, RTÉ Digital Radio News and alternative music station RTÉ 2XM launch.
  • October RTÉ Choice on a trial basis and around the same time, RTÉ Digital Radio Sport launches.

• 2008
  • 24 March – At 3pm, Radio 1 stops broadcasting on medium wave. ^[15]
  • March – RTÉ Chill launches.
  • April – Dance and electronic music station RTÉ Pulse launches and RTÉ Digital Radio Sport closes.
  • 1 May – RTÉ Jr Radio launches.
  • 30 November – RTÉ Digital Radio News closes.
  • 1 December – RTÉ Choice launches as a permanent station. ^[16]

• 2009
  • RTÉ begins daily shortwave radio broadcasts to Irish in Africa between 19.30 and 20.30 UTC on 6220 kHz via WRN ^[17]

2010s

• 2010
  • 29 October – Saorview is launched, making RTÉ's digital radio channels available via Digital Terrestrial Television.

• 2011
  • No events.

• 2012
  • 3 May – Saorsat is launched, bringing RTÉ Digital TV and Radio services to areas not reached by Saorview or DAB. ^[18]

• 2013
  • May – RTÉ Choice and RTÉ Radio 1 Extra merge. ^[19]

• 2014
  • 24 September – RTÉ announced that broadcasting of RTÉ Radio 1 on 252 kHz would cease on 27 October 2014. ^[20] Following representations from Irish listeners in the UK and others that date has now been postponed until 2017, ^[21] later extended until at least June 2019. ^[22]

• 2015
  • No events.

• 2016
  • No events.

• 2017
  • No events.

• 2018
  • No events.

• 2019
  • 7 November – As part of cost-cutting measures, RTÉ announces plans to close all of its DAB digital radio services, including RTÉ Gold, RTÉjr and RTÉ Radio 1 Extra. ^[23] The proposals state that the stations will close in April 2020.

2020s

• 2020
  • No events.

• 2021
  • 31 March – RTÉ ceases transmission of its radio services on Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) after a report commissioned by the broadcaster found that just 0.5% of adults in Ireland listen to radio via DAB while 77% of adults in Ireland listen on FM. ^[24] Its digital stations, which survived a closure plan in 2019, ^[25] remain on air via Saorview, cable and online streaming,

• 2022
  • No events.

• 2023
  • 15 April – At 12.03am, RTE Radio 1 ends broadcasting on long wave. ^[26] A looped broadcast of the station tuning signal and an information message on other methods of listening to the station ^[27] was broadcast until 11am on 18 April 2023.
  • 18 April – Kevin Bakhurst, former director of the UK's media watchdog Ofcom, is appointed as the new Director-General of RTÉ, replacing Dee Forbes, and will take up the position from July. ^{[28] [29]}
  • 27 September – The transmitter mast which had broadcast RTE Radio's long wave output is demolished. ^[30]

References