Director General, European Broadcasting Union
Noel Curran is the Director General of the European Broadcasting Union.
He is a former Director General, Managing Director of Television and Editor of Current Affairs of RTÉ, Ireland’s national television and radio broadcaster. As Director General, he radically restructured RTÉ following the financial crisis that began at the end of 2008 and successfully positioned RTÉ as a robust digital media organization. He was Managing Director of RTÉ Television before becoming Director General of RTÉ in 2010. Responsible for four television services, nine radio services, and Ireland’s biggest digital media products, Noel led RTÉ at a challenging time of editorial and financial crisis, bringing the organisation back to financial surplus and championing the return of award-winning investigative journalism. Overseeing RTÉ’s substantial commercial trading arms, he positioned RTÉ for digital transformation despite severe financial constraints.
As an editor and producer, Noel’s programming won numerous awards for journalism and he was Executive Producer on a range of live television events, including the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997, general election coverage, live entertainment series and factual programming. He is Adjunct Professor of Journalism at Dublin City University. A strong and long-time advocate of public service media, Curran is also an award-winning investigative journalist and producer.
Noel attended Trinity College, Dublin, and graduated from Dublin City University in both European Studies and Communications, specialising in national and international broadcasting policy.