Saorview, explained

Saorview is Ireland’s free-to-air digital TV service: 16 channels, including RTÉ, Virgin Media and TG4, picked up through an ordinary aerial with no subscription and no contract. The only cost is the €160 TV licence you already pay if you own a telly, and 2rn says it reaches over 98% of homes.

If you only take one thing from this site, take this: a large chunk of what Irish people watch is free. Not free-with-an-asterisk. Not free-for-three-months. Broadcast into your house, for nothing, by the national broadcaster.

What Saorview actually is

Saorview is Ireland’s digital terrestrial television service. “Terrestrial” just means it comes from masts on hills, not from a satellite or a broadband line. It launched when the old analogue signal was switched off, and it’s run by RTÉ’s transmission company, 2rn.

Under the bonnet it uses a standard called DVB-T with MPEG-4 picture encoding. You don’t need to remember that. You need to remember that your TV or box has to support it, which is what “Saorview Approved” on the label means. More on that in Does my TV have Saorview?

The network reaches the vast majority of the country. 2rn says Saorview is available to over 98% of Irish homes. If you’re in the other 2%, there’s a satellite route, and we’ll come to it.

What’s on it

Saorview’s own site lists RTÉ One, RTÉ2, Virgin Media One to Four, TG4, RTÉ KIDSjr, RTÉ One+1, RTÉ2+1, RTÉ News, Oireachtas TV, Sky News, Challenge, TG4+1 and Cúla4, plus radio and the digital Aertel service. The main numbers:

Every channel, with what’s on it and which UK channels a dish adds, is on our Saorview channel list. The HD channels are RTÉ One, RTÉ2 and TG4. TG4 HD arrived in December 2022, and TG4+1 and Cúla4 followed in September 2023.

That’s a smaller line-up than a satellite or cable package, and we won’t pretend otherwise. But look at what it covers: the news, the weather, the Irish soaps and chat shows, election nights, and a good share of the free-to-air sport. Our guides to the GAA championship and Ireland rugby say exactly which games are on which channel this season. For a lot of households, that’s the bulk of the actual viewing. The rest is a streaming stick and a couple of well-timed subscriptions, which is what the finder is for.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

Saorview has been quietly tidying up. According to Saorview’s own updates page, the RTÉ digital radio stations (2XM, Pulse, Jr Radio, Chill and Radio 1 Extra) stopped at the end of December 2025 and left the platform in January 2026. UCB Ireland radio went in March 2025. And in November 2025, RTÉjr was renamed RTÉ KIDSjr, staying on channel 17.

Saorview Connect, the hybrid box that mixed broadcast channels with catch-up apps, is finished as a product. Saorview’s site says the boxes are no longer available to purchase, though existing ones still get software support.

The interesting one is what comes next. The DVB Project reported in March 2026 that RTÉ would run a closed technical trial of a next-generation system, called DVB-I, with up to 100 users between June and November 2026. That’s the industry’s plan for blending broadcast and internet channels into one guide. Nothing to buy yet, and nothing you need to do. We’ll update this page when there is.

What it costs

Nothing, on a monthly basis. There’s no subscription, no contract, no box rental and no “introductory offer” that quietly doubles in month 13.

The one cost is the TV licence. An Post charges €160 a year, and it applies to any household with a television set, so you’re paying it already if you own a telly. An Post’s own FAQ says a licence isn’t required if you watch solely on laptops, tablets or phones, but the moment there’s a TV set or a receiver plugged into a monitor, it applies.

Then there’s the kit, which is a one-off:

• A TV with Saorview built in, which most sets sold here in the last decade have. Check with our two-minute test.
• Or a Saorview box for an older TV. Satworld lists Saorview-only boxes from around €35, and Power City has a Saorview Approved combi box with recording for around €100.
• An aerial, if you don’t already have a working one. Irish installers list a new aerial for one TV from around €130 to €200. What’s in the job and what pushes the price up are in aerial installation costs.

If you’re kitting out yourself, these are the two pieces most homes end up buying: a box for an older TV, and a rooftop aerial for the installer to fit.

How to check coverage at your address

Saorview has a coverage checker on its site. You type in your address and it tells you which transmitter you should point at and how strong the signal is likely to be. Saorview itself says the result is indicative only, and that if you’re in doubt, ask an installer. Which is fair: a hill, a tall neighbour or a tree in full leaf can change the answer.

Two practical notes from the transmitter people at 2rn:

• Terrestrial TV is designed around rooftop reception. An attic aerial works in most homes where the signal is good or very good, but the roof soaks up some of it. Indoor aerials are a lottery.
• Keep the aerial to the UHF TV band. Anything marketed as “wideband” covers it.

If channels are missing or the picture breaks up, run through our retune and no-signal checklist before spending anything.

Saorview and the streaming players

Saorview is the live broadcast. For catch-up, the Irish broadcasters all have free apps:

• RTÉ Player: free, with live streams of RTÉ One, RTÉ2 and RTÉ News, and catch-up for up to 21 days.
• Virgin Media Play: free account, with live restart and catch-up.
• TG4 Player: free, with 35-day catch-up.

Those run on any streaming stick, a smart TV or your phone. Pair them with a Saorview aerial and you’ve got live and on-demand covered for the price of the licence you were already paying.

If you’re in the 2%

Some valleys, coastal spots and stubborn corners of the country get a poor Saorview signal even with a good rooftop aerial. If the coverage checker gives you bad news, get an installer’s opinion on a better rooftop aerial before you give up. 2rn’s free satellite service for these homes, Saorsat, closes in early 2028 and 2rn advises against new installations, so the fallbacks now are the RTÉ Player and TG4 Player over broadband, or a pay TV platform. A dish still brings the free UK channels (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and so on). Where Saorview is weak rather than absent, most people go for a combo box that takes both the aerial and a dish. Read Free satellite channels for what the UK side gives you.

The short version

Saorview is the foundation of any legal TV setup in Ireland. It costs nothing beyond the licence, it works when the broadband doesn’t, and it covers the news, the GAA and the Late Late without anyone’s payment details being handed over to anyone. Get it working first, then decide what you actually need to pay for.

One more thing people ask: do you need a TV licence? If you have a TV, yes.