TG4 has tempted top talent from the BBC to lead the station into its third decade of programming
Alan Esslemont will take over from Pól Ó Gallchóir who has been director general for 16 years.
IRISH LANGUAGE STATION TG4 has announced the appointment of Alan Esslemont as its new director general, just a month shy of the channel’s 20th birthday.
Esslemont, who is currently head of content at BBC ALBA, will take over from existing director general Pól Ó Gallchóir this coming October. Ó Gallchóir has been in the role at TG4 for the past 16 years since taking over the role at the turn of the millennium.
During his time in the UK television industry, Esslemont oversaw the creation of the partnership between Gaelic language station MG ALBA and the BBC, which resulted in the launch of BBC ALBA in September 2008.
Under Esslemont, BBC ALBA has grown its weekly viewership to over 600,000, which is ten-times the total Gaelic-speaking population of the country.
Alan Esslemont
Esslemont also has a lot of experience in the Irish television scene. During the late 1980s, he was one of the first employees at independent Irish production company Telegael and went on to play a key role in setting up TnaG in 1996 – which is today known as TG4.
After he helped to establish the Irish language station, he went on to occupy a number of senior roles at the company and was crucial in the rebranding of the channel to its current TG4 guise. Esslemont was also director of television at TG4 between 2000 and 2007.
TG4 chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh paid tribute to the departing Ó Gallchóir and said the station is “most fortunate to have someone of Alan’s caliber” at the helm for an “exciting but challenging time in TG4’s development”.
The station, which employs over 300 people, invests over €20 million a year in original programming and receives a fixed annual sum of €9.25 million from TV licence fees.
TV presenter Hector Ó hEochagáin
New programming
The news of Esslemont’s appointment has come a week after TG4 revealed its autumn schedule for 2016.
The station has announced a host of new original programming including a travel show featuring Hector Ó hEochagáin and a six-part comedy series called Fir Bolg. The station has also secured the airing rights to Golden Globe-winning drama Mr. Robot.
TG4 will also continue its Guinness Pro 12 rugby coverage and show highlights of European Champions Cup games featuring the Irish provinces.
