LOTTO BROADCASTS WILL cease to be produced in RTÉ from next week and the Lotto draw will be broadcast in a new timeslot.

In December, RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst told an Oireachtas Committee that the national broadcaster was looking to outsource its Lotto programming.

He also suggested that Fair City would also have to be made offsite going forward.

Speaking last December, Bakhurst remarked: “The Lotto will be going out, because that costs us a lot of money to do, and there’s a better way to do it and it also enables us to let a few more people leave who we couldn’t leave this year.”

In a statement yesterday, the National Lottery confirmed that it will begin producing both the Lotto and Telly Bingo draws fully in-house at its Headquarters.

The Lotto draw will transition to in‑house from 11 March, with Telly Bingo to follow in the coming months as part of a phased rollout. 

In a statement to The Journal, a spokesperson said the Lotto draw will be produced in a “newly designed studio”.

The spokesperson added that the draws will continue to be “supported by our current Lotto presenters, who will provide narrated voiceovers as part of the updated production approach”.

Both the Lotto and Telly Bingo draws will continue to be broadcast on RTÉ One, as has been the case since the very first Lotto draw back in April 1988 and since the launch of Telly Bingo in September 1999.

However, the Lotto draw will now be broadcast in a new timeslot, “just before” the RTÉ Nine O’Clock News on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with results available on the National Lottery website around 20 minutes later than usual, at 9pm.

Telly Bingo broadcast will remain at 12.45pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. 

The National Lottery added that all existing draw controls and oversight mechanisms will remain “firmly in place, including KPMG’s independent observer role”.

Cian Murphy, CEO of the National Lottery said, remarked that the move is “an important and natural next step for the National Lottery”.

“It enables us to align all our draw productions under one roof at National Lottery Headquarters, ensuring even greater consistency and efficiency across our operations.”

He also thanked RTÉ for its support “since the very first Lotto draw in 1988” and remarked that it has “played a hugely significant role in bringing our games into homes across Ireland for nearly four decades”.

Murphy added that moving the Lotto draw to “just before” the Nine O’Clock News will “better reflect audience viewing habits and create a more seamless and engaging experience for players”.