2019 in Irish television

The following is a list of events relating to television in Ireland from 2019.

Events

• 2 February – The second series of Ireland's Got Talent debuts on Virgin Media One.
• 15 February – To coincide with the launch of RTÉ2 +1, RTÉ One +1 begins broadcasting 24 hours a day. Previously it had only broadcast from 7pm to 2am.^[1]
• 19 February – Launch of the timeshift channel RTÉ2+1.^[2]
• 8 March –
  • Sarah McTernan is announced by RTÉ as the Irish representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel, where she will perform the song "22".
  • The Friday evening edition of Virgin Media One's The 6 O'Clock Show is replaced by Xposé.
• 24 March – Mairead Ronan and dance partner John Nolan win the third series of Dancing with the Stars.
• 27 March – Virgin Media announces that its partnership with Sky's AdSmart will to go live in Ireland in the final quarter of the year.^[3]
• 7 April – BSD win the second series of Ireland's Got Talent.
• 16 May – Sarah McTernan becomes the fifth Irish act in six years to not reach the Eurovision Song Contest final, when she is among the semi-finalists who are not selected for the final.^[4]
• 23 June – The Sunday Independent reports that the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland has recommended that on-demand television services broadcasting in Ireland should pay a levy to do so.^[5]
• 25 June – Pensioners stage a protest outside the BBC studios in Belfast and Derry following the BBC's decision to end universal free UK television licenses for those aged 75 and over, a decision that will affect those living in Northern Ireland.^[6]
• 28 June – Veteran presenter Gay Byrne is honoured with the Ireland-US Council's Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony at Dublin Castle, but is unable to attend the event due to a broken wrist and chest infection.^[7]
• 15 August – Eir Sport and Virgin Media Sport contract a deal to show Virgin Media Sport on eir Vision and eir Sport 1 on Virgin Media Ireland.^[8]
• 12 September – Virgin Media Sport HD launches on Sky on channel 422.
• 4 October – Virgin Media One launches a new weekday schedule, which sees Ireland AM extended by an extra hour, running from 7.00am – 11.00am, replacing the simulcast of ITV's This Morning. Ireland AM is followed by Elaine.^[9]
• 4 November – The death is announced of veteran broadcaster Gay Byrne, who presented The Late Late Show for 37 years.^[10]
• 7 November – It is announced that Aertel will be shut down as part of cost-cutting measures at RTÉ.^[11][12]
• 12 November – It is confirmed that Pasquale La Rocca will join the fourth series of Dancing with the Stars as a professional dancer.^[13][14][15]
• 14 December – Golfer Shane Lowry is named the 2019 RTÉ Sports Person of the Year.^[16]
• 15 December – The McSharry family from County Sligo, coached by Donncha O'Callaghan, win season seven of Ireland's Fittest Family.^[17]
• 31 December – Rob and Marian Heffernan and their family win the 2019 Christmas celebrity special of Ireland's Fittest Family together with €10,000 for their charity of choice.^[18]

Debuts

• 6 January – Resistance on RTÉ One (miniseries)^[19] (2019)
• 17 September – Adventure Time on TG4^[20] (2010–2018)

Changes of network affiliation

Shows	Moved from	Moved to
Fireman Sam	RTÉjr	Virgin Media Three

Ongoing television programmes

1960s

• RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock (1961–present)
• RTÉ News: Six One (1962–present)
• The Late Late Show (1962–present)

1970s

• The Late Late Toy Show (1975–present)
• The Sunday Game (1979–present)

1980s

• Fair City (1989–present)
• RTÉ News: One O'Clock (1989–present)

1990s

• Would You Believe (1990s–present)
• Winning Streak (1990–present)
• Prime Time (1992–present)
• Nuacht RTÉ (1995–present)
• Nuacht TG4 (1996–present)
• Ros na Rún (1996–present)
• TV3 News (1998–present)
• Ireland AM (1999–present)
• Telly Bingo (1999–present)

2000s

• Nationwide (2000–present)
• TV3 News at 5.30 (2001–present) – now known as the 5.30
• Against the Head (2003–present)
• news2day (2003–present)
• Other Voices (2003–present)
• Saturday Night with Miriam (2005–present)
• The Week in Politics (2006–present)
• At Your Service (2008–present)
• Operation Transformation (2008–present)
• 3e News (2009–present)
• Dragons' Den (2009–present)
• Two Tube (2009–present)

2010s

• Jack Taylor (2010–present)
• Mrs. Brown's Boys (2011–present)
• MasterChef Ireland (2011–present)
• Today (2012–present)
• The Works (2012–present)
• Celebrity MasterChef Ireland (2013–present)
• Second Captains Live (2013–present)
• Claire Byrne Live (2015–present)
• The Restaurant (2015–present)
• Red Rock (2015–present)
• TV3 News at 8 (2015–present)
• Ploughing Live (2015–present)
• First Dates (2016–present)
• Dancing with the Stars (2017–present)
• The Tommy Tiernan Show (2017–present)
• Striking Out (2017–present)

Ending this year

• 4 October – Xposé (2007–2019)

Deaths

• 14 March – Pat Laffan, 79, actor^[21]
• June – Tom Jordan, actor (Fair City)^[22]
• 11 July – Brendan Grace, 68, comedian and singer (Father Ted)^[23][24]
• 14 July – Karl Shiels, 47, actor (Fair City)^[25]
• 23 July – Danika McGuigan, 33, actress^[26]
• 4 November – Gay Byrne, 85, broadcaster (The Late Late Show)^[10]

See also

• 2019 in Ireland