Irish Public Service Broadcasting - 1980s
The big home produced television drama of the decade was 'Strumpet City' while on radio an unedited and uninterrupted reading of James Joyce's 'Ulysses' was broadcast over 30 hours in 1982.
In television there were a number of developments in production. HDTV is demonstrated for the first time in Europe at an EBU conference held in Killarney in 1982. Also during this decade video would replace film, RTÉ changed how it delivered weather forecasts and the Aertel service was launched.
An unstable political situation meant that RTÉ had to cover three general elections in less than two years. 'Morning Ireland' on radio and 'Today Tonight' led the coverage of current affairs.
One rural drama series 'Glenroe' began in 1983 while another 'The Riordans' came to an end on radio in 1985.
Zig and Zag arrived on 'Dempsey's Den' from planet Zog.
