‘Fair City’ and ‘Bridget & Eamon’ in RTÉ’s brochure for TV fair

Soap and sitcom among the series RTÉ hopes to sell to international buyers in Cannes

Fair City and Bridget & Eamon are among the programmes RTÉ will be promoting to potential international buyers at next week's MIPTV television marketplace in Cannes.

RTÉ's brochure for the event says Fair City "is universal in nature, yet specific to its location in north Dublin", and its stories are "told in a way that can be tragic, witty and poignant".

RTÉ is in a position to push the soap abroad following the resolution of negotiations between the broadcaster and Fair City's actors and writers in relation to payments for online rights.

The soap first aired in 1989 but if it is picked up by an overseas broadcaster or video-on-demand company, it is likely that the acquiring broadcaster would begin showing episodes from a point in the recent past.

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TV3 recently sold its soap Red Rock to both Amazon and BBC Worldwide, suggesting that there is an overseas market for Fair City, despite the local focus.

RTÉ is also hopeful that Bridget & Eamon, RTÉ 2's 1980s-set sitcom about a married couple featuring Bernard O'Shea and Jennifer Zamparelli, will be of interest to broadcasters in the UK and Australia.

Its recent centenary-themed programming, the five-part drama Rebellion, the three-part documentary series 1916 and the Joe Duffy documentary Children of the Revolution, also feature in its brochure for the four-day event, which is expected to attract about 1,600 exhibitors and 5,000 buyers from the international entertainment industry.

Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery is an Irish Times journalist writing about media, advertising and other business topics