The Irish-language television channel, TnaG, has reached its first birthday with an official daily audience of 310,000 viewers, while over 1.1 million people tune in every week.
After a shaky start dogged by technical problems - especially the fact that so many people could not receive the station - TnaG now boasts a greater audience share than established channels, such as Sky News, EuroSport, MTV, Discovery and NBC. It also claims it is increasing its coverage as additional work is done to the transmission network.
TnaG's critics did not believe the project should have gone ahead, and TnaG is still officially part of RTE and receives funding from it. E. The Legislation to give the station its legal independence fell with the last government.
Three of its programmes have so far received international awards, and six have been sold to foreign television stations. The station has also contributed to the growth in the audiovisual industry and claims to have sustained about 300 jobs in the independent programme-making sector.
The ceannasai, Mr Cathal Goan, said that TnaG was making considerable progress, and the audience figures were consolidating and growing.
"At the outset we said we would deliver programmes of quality and a schedule with individuality and I believe we have done that. Our range of programmes has surprised some critics and its confident, contemporary style has also struck a chord.
"TnaG is proving a popular alternative to a wide viewership including those who are not proficient in the Irish language, proving language is not a barrier if the quality of the programme is sufficiently high," he said.
Ironically, some Gaeltacht areas have had the most difficulty in receiving TnaG. E's transmitters along the Border, increasing Its availability in Northern Ireland will increase from 35 per cent to 65 per cent next month, when the signal from RTE transmitters on the Border is boosted.