New drama, expanded live sports coverage and a series of documentaries form the highlights of the TG4 autumn schedule, which was announced yesterday.
The Irish-language station's director of programming, Mr Cilian Fennell, said it "decided to attack drama" in the coming season by creating a number of new situation comedies and feature-length and short films.
These include Lui na Greine, a comedy series based in an old folks' home in Co Donegal, from the award-winning makers of CU Burn.
Also in drama, Brendan Gleeson and Sean McGinley star in a pair of original Irishlanguage short films made through Oscailt, TG4's joint initiative with Bord Scannan na hEireann.
A total of 17 one-hour documentaries on topics ranging from Celtic mysticism to gay and lesbian community life have also been commissioned for broadcasting in the coming months.
Mr Fennell said these and other additions had boosted to six hours the daily output of Irish-language and home-produced programming. This compares to just two hours when the station was first launched as Teilifis na Gaeilge in autumn 1996.
"We've managed to stretch it through acquisitions, repeating programmes, advertising and working on smaller budgets. New technology has helped us," said Mr Fennell.
Sport, he noted, had emerged as "the mainstay of the schedule, pulling us up to a 20 per cent [audience] share".
The station has acquired exclusive rights to live coverage of the AIB club championships, the Allianz national hurling and football leagues, the All-Ireland ladies' Gaelic football championships and the new Celtic League in rugby.
Other highlights of the autumn schedule include: Amu San Ais, a new series from the celebrated travel presenter Hector O hEochagain; a Fridaynight world cinema showcase; and a first television broadcast of If I Should Fall From Grace, a profile of singer/songwriter Shane MacGowan, which has already been on cinema release.
In current affairs, the station, which is currently broadcasting hearings of the CIE rail-signalling inquiry, said it would continue to conduct political polls in the run-up to the next general election.
Joining TG4 staff at yesterday's event was Mr Ron Nadeau, chief executive of the Canadian-based Aboriginal Peoples' Television Network, which is developing links with the Irish-language station.
