Radio would continue as the only broadcast output for RTÉ in the 1950s but by the end of the decade the planning for a television service was under way.
Maurice Gorham was became the first Director of Broadcasting appointed from outside the Civil Service. New studios were installed at the GPO.
Further developments in Radio Éireann programming saw a greater emphasis on variety and the station's first soap opera 'The Kennedys of Caslteross', the introduction of the Thomas Davis Lecture series and the first broadcast of the Angelus.
In 1958 preparations for television got underway with the establishment of the Television Commission.
