Galway-based TG4 has welcomed the announcement by government that additional funding will be allocated to TG4 in 2021.In Tuesday’s Budget, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media approved additional funding of €3.5m for TG4 in 2021.
TG4 will receive €40.7m from the exchequer in 2021. Director General of TG4 Alan Esslemont welcomed the announcement, stating, “We are extremely grateful to Minister Martin, to the Department and to the Government for this significant support for TG4 in 2021.
He said that this investment by government shows the confidence it has in TG4, in the Independent Production Sector, in the audience strategy, and in its strategy for the audiovisual sector in the regions.
“The Board and management of TG4, together with our partners, will continue in our efforts to reimagine the role and the status of the Irish language and the Gaeltacht in Irish society. We believe that media and the arts should be central to this reimagined vision.”
The BAI recommended that an additional €6m per annum should be allocated to TG4 when it approved its five year strategy from 2018-2022. The announcement by Government represents the largest sum allocated to TG4 since 2008.
In 2019, TG4 increased its television share to 1.84% and was the 6th most watched channel in Ireland. This was the highest ever audience ranking for TG4 since the channel was launched in 1996. The target in TG4’s five year strategy is to have 2.2% share by 2022.
Last year, TG4 invested €23m in the independent production sector in Ireland, of which €21m was invested in regional independent production companies. 70% of annual expenditure was spent on content creation.
This additional funding announced today will create new investment opportunities for TG4 to further develop and support the Independent Production sector, and will in turn benefit the economy, in the Gaeltacht and in regions in particular.
