Broadsheet was created by Telefís Éireann as the newly established station's flagship current affairs programme. Broadcast live from Monday to Friday between 6:40pm and 7:15pm, the new programme was in direct competition with BBC Television's Tonight programme.[1]Broadsheet was broadcast for the first time on 1 January 1962, the first full day of programming by Telefís Éireann. It was edited by P. P. O'Reilly.[2]
Content and style
The programme was broadcast half-an-hour after the early evening news and provided a more detailed analysis of topical matters and current affairs. There was a mixture of incisive and light-hearted items: unscripted studio interviews and filmed reports. The programme received a Jacob's Award for broadcasting in 1962.
Broadsheet was broadcast for the last time on 4 October 1963. It was replaced by a new programme called Newsbeat, which effectively was a merger between News and Broadsheet.
The three presenters - O'Donoghue, Cleeve and Farrell - went on to play prominent roles in subsequent current affairs programmes on RTÉ right up until the 2000s.
References
^The Irish Times, "Death of RTE broadcaster", 19 November 1992
