TG4 to expand free-to-air service offering on Ireland’s digital terrestrial television service Saorview with the launch of two new channels this September.

Timeshift channel TG4+1 and children’s channel Cúla4 will launch on the 8th September.

They’ll be available free-to-air across the Republic of Ireland, with overspill reception in parts of Northern Ireland.

Test transmissions announcing the launch have gone live on Saorview this week. Saorview approved televisions and boxes will display the channels on the following numbers:

14 TG4+1

18 Cúla4

Cúla4 is the standalone free-to-air children’s channel from TG4, which started life a block of children’s programmes on its parent, TG4. It will offer entertainment and education to children throughout the day, with programmes either dubbed or subtitled in Irish. Cúla4 will become the second dedicated children’s channel to launch on Saorview after RTÉjr. Its launch comes as English-language broadcasters review their linear children’s channel offer.

TG4 first announced its intention to launch Cúla4 as a standalone free-to-air TV channel in 2021. Last year Cúla4 Manager Karina Feirtéar set out the broadcaster’s vision for the channel, to create an “active, lively space for the young … a space that is safe, but creative, fun and above all relevant for children it represents on screen.”

TG4+1 will give viewers an opportunity to catch-up on TG4’s primetime schedule an hour later.