RTÉ IS SET to overhaul its studio equipment in a bid to keep pace in this year’s competitive television market.

As part of the upgrade the State broadcaster will be changing two of its existing TV production galleries from standard definition (SD) over high definition (HD).

A tender notice to carry out the work has been issued by the organisation and is opened to submissions from companies.

Value

The estimated value of the contract excluding VAT is put at between €1 million and €3 million. The successful applicant for the contract will be supplying equipment, system integration and associated service.

The contract being offered is broken down into a number of individual lots available separately.

RTÉ emphasised that the changes are intended to bring them into line with technological upgrades across the industry.

In a comment today, an RTÉ spokesperson, said, “we have been implementing studio high definition (HD) upgrades on a phased basis for the last four years. This is the last phase of the four-year programme converting the remaining two main studio control rooms to HD.

All equipment being replaced is well beyond design life and is no longer supported by the manufacturers. It would actually be more expensive to replace with standard definition (SD) as most manufacturers no longer make SD equipment.

Competition 

The news of the upgrade comes after the entry of UTV Ireland into the television market south of the border as well as ratings released today showing a strong New Year’s Day performance from TV3.

While UTV Ireland is initially expected to pose the biggest threat to TV3 – Managing Director Michael Wilson has stated that his aim for the first year of broadcasting is to rate second to RTÉ, building a challenge to its top status going forward.

Read: TV3 says yesterday’s ratings show it’s ‘closing the gap’ on RTÉ

Also: No, you can’t watch the original UTV on Irish telly any more