RTE should be Privatised.

netwhizkid

I have been doing some thinking about this recently and I think it is a disgrace that we pay a licence fee of €155 to fund this mess that is the National Broadcaster. Giving Pat Kenny near a million euro a year instead of giving him the boot out. RTE are one fine example of where the behemoth of State Enterprise is spiralling out of Control.

They have many unneeded employees and as the main broadcasters in the state they basically control what we watch and make an impression on our lives. However Politically they are totally biased towards Fianna Fail and are damaging our democracy with the way they are doing it. John Bowman of Questions & Answers is a prime example he makes Fox News actually look "fair & Balanced". The state broadcaster is abusing its position completly and the only way out is Privatisation.

I am certain that the BBC looks jealously across the Sea to RTE mugging the people with Licence fees and then subjecting us to the endless drudgery of Adverts unlike the BBC where they are banned. The likes of "Your A Star" have taken away any credibility that RTE have and it as my other point it is severely damaging our democracy the way it is being used as a soapbox for Fianna Fail.

RTE should be Privatised and make it independent and fund itself from its advertsing, (I wonder then maybe if they would send that constant Moaner Charlie Bird to the Amazon again courtesy of us licence payers). It is very important that they be Privatised however I believe contrary to this that RTE NL The actually network of Transmitters etc. should be Kept under state control so as to prevent another Eircom debacle.

The licence fee could be vastly reduced to maintain and expand it with services like DTT, broadcast MMDS for the operators and other services like Wireless Broadband etc. This would be much more appropriate and every RTE transmitter should then allow any channel to broadcast on all transmitters around the country. It is essential to expand DTT to every home in the country to break the virtual Monopoly Sky holds on Irish Digital TV.

RTE owns some very valuable real estate and their Montrose premises in D4 is prime real estate and should be sold asap,The revenues generated from such a privatisation should be used exclusively to build a proper Network of TV transmitters and improve existing services.

These are my views, post up yours.

Elmo

First of you may be surprised to here that RTE are considered by many to be very very very anti-FF and very very conservative. FG cannot in any way blame RTE for their very very bad media image, they can thank simon convony for that.

I am certain that the BBC looks jealously across the Sea to RTE mugging the people with Licence fees and then subjecting us to the endless drudgery of Adverts unlike the BBC where they are banned. The likes of "Your A Star" have taken away any credibility that RTE have and it as my other point it is severely damaging our democracy the way it is being used as a soapbox for Fianna Fail.

The BBC gets money from the Licence Fee plus millions from DVD sales and International rights sales. And produce The Fame Academy and Come Dancing. They also own a vast array of commercial stations across the world. The BBC nearly has 1billion to spend on TV.

RTE owns some very valuable real estate and their Montrose premises in D4 is prime real estate and should be sold asap,The revenues generated from such a privatisation should be used exclusively to build a proper Network of TV transmitters and improve existing services.

I have to agree as part of the Governments decentralisation plans RTE should be asked to move some of its departments out of Dublin, and sell its very valuable D4 land.

I don't vote for the following parties Labour, FG, FF, SF or PD. I think we should all protest vote and fire them all. But I have a very balanced View on that.

If RTE where to be privatised you wouldn't have any Irish Current Affairs on TV and it would be little more then an after thought in the schedules as it is on TV3.

Strange how you think that we should get rid of all of the jobs in RTE when you think Jobs have been cut unnecessaraily, RTE employ nearly 1000 people directly and indirectly. There are plenty of jobs in the country, there are other more pressing issues then the jobs market.

sdanseo

Elmo wrote:

If RTE where to be privatised you wouldn't have any Irish Current Affairs on TV and it would be little more then an after thought in the schedules as it is on TV3.

I agree, privatising RTE would be a disaster. TV3 has shown that if people want an alternative that has Irish programming then all that is needed is someone to take the risk.

There are loads of new programmes coming up soon on RTE and they are for the most part fairly good, there just aren't enough of them. The last thing we need for the Irish Film Industry is for RTE to be privatised and show nothign but imported American shows.

What is really needed is

1) RTE's budget to be increased but NOT through a licence increase

and/or

2) A new private channel to emerge in competition with RTE that shhows good Irish programmes. Why should we have to watch imports when we have a fantastic capability of making shows ourselves, just not the budget?

Either way RTE should mainatin both channels as the BBC has done for Elmo's reason. There are hundreds of channels available on Sky but I spend a fair amount of time watching Irish shows and prefer them when they are there, the problem is that they are few and far between.

The economy of this country has boomed, it's time our TV industry did the same - but not to the extent of having 3-400 useless shíte channels like the UK have over Sky

Elmo

Just a link to the BBC 2006 annual report and a snapshot of their spending for 2006

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/review-report-research/bbcannualreport.pdf

On page 18

rlogue

Why shouldn't RTÉ be privatised? I'll give you two reasons -

TV3 and Channel 6.

Mossy Monk

well said rlogue

and so what if RTÉ shows ads. do you think RTÉ are unique in this position. other countries have license fees and adverts on their publicly funded channels. i think it is ridiculous that you are comparing RTÉ to the BBC

watty

The BBC is unique. Not RTE. RTE should get a shakeup and more money. TV3 should be better. It & Ch6 is an example of "privately owned" TV in Ireland. Niether would be really lamented if closed tomorrow. You would lose no worth while programming if you have satellite or cable.

Pointless privatising RTE.

DublinWriter

watty wrote:

Pointless privatising RTE.

I've been banging on for years about privatising RTE and the main arguement I hear back is "Ooooh...it would make it much worse!".

Much worse than what? It couldn't be much feckin' worse!

Sure you can point to TV3 as an example, but look what TG4 manage do to on a shoestring! (yes I know it gets a sub from RTE).

I have plenty of friends and collegues who've worked out in Montrose and it's not exactly productivity-central. Think Aer Lingus, back in the 1980's, when it employed twice the number of people it does now as was about a quarter as productive. That's RTE today.

I do believe RTE could provide the sub-standard service it currently touts minus the licence fee.

netwhizkid

I think that privatising RTE would be very worthwhile as it would raise much needed funds for the improvement of the Transmission Network and help encourage growth in the Irish Television Market.

RTE should be privatised separately, and break them up, RTE One and RTE Two should go to different companies to help create competition within the sector. As I said before the Transmission Network should be kept under State Ownership. TG4 should have it's state intervention cut and sell a minority holding in it to the private sector.

RTE has to be one of the worst networks in Europe, it is so unoriginal and such shows as The Late Late Show and Your A Star have damaged its Reputation beyond belief. Fair City? Please I would not be surprised to hear if the Iraqi Insurgents were tying people to a chair and forcing them to watch it as a form of torture.

The Adverts and constant repeats are example of how it is rotten to the core. They carry on with contempt and churn out nothing but rubbish. Certain Universal Service Obligations could be imposed on the new owners to show things like All-Ireland finals etc. The sports coverage with Pat Spillane is one of the few places they got it right but most of this is down to Pat stirring sh*t himself.

I am adamant that RTE should be privatised as it is a disgrace with the services they are providing and how they are the poodle of Fianna Fail.

Mossy Monk

DublinWriter wrote:

Much worse than what? It couldn't be much feckin' worse!

in your opinion

personally i think RTÉ provide a great service. out of RTÉ, TV3, TG4, BBC, ITV, C4, C5 only BBC beats them but that wouldnt be hard with their vast resources

Tazz T

...what DublinWriter said.


RTE is just another example of anticompetitive sepia-tinged, old boy brigade Ireland in the same vein as ESB, Eircom, Vintners Assoc etc. Why should be paid all that money while their competitors have to make do with what they have.

Why all the stick at TV£ - I like it. Broadcasting needs a kick up the arse.

Elmo

Why the stick about TV3?

1. TV3 have a licence to provide TV to an Irish Audience, they have shown no imagination over the last 10 years and no motivation to actually make shows. When they did try to compete with the Late Late Show it got substaniouly better and RTE made an efford to try out new Chat shows such as the panel and Rodge and Podge and of course Tubs :eek:.

2. TV3 gets about 50,000,000 a year in advertising revenue. They employ 155 people on 6.5 million and reduced their employment costs in 2005. They have yet to increase their staff or their programming output only to provide the basic mimimum requirements as outline in there licence.

3. TV3 are the second most watch channel in Ireland. TV3 is a National Channel. It time it acted like a National channel rather then just another Digital TV channel.

4. TV3 COULD BUT WON'T. THEY COULD BE THE NUMBER ONE CHANNEL BUT WON'T. as long as TV3 have 10% of an audience share it is happy. It doesn't need to compete with RTE.

6. TV3 need a good kick up the arse, and in return kick RTE up the arse.

7. You think RTE is bias towards the government wait until the money grabbers get hold of it, they will be giving out plenty of Brown envelopes and helping in the spin.

RTE has to be one of the worst networks in Europe, it is so unoriginal and such shows as The Late Late Show and Your A Star have damaged its Reputation beyond belief. Fair City? Please I would not be surprised to hear if the Iraqi Insurgents were tying people to a chair and forcing them to watch it as a form of torture.

Perhaps you should try watching other shows that RTE produce. Over the last year the have produce entertaining and informative shows.

Your totally bais and thats your arguement. Your not look at the overall picture of Irish Television or international TV for that matter.

Your whole arguement is based on the BBC, perhaps you should take a look TVNZ before you comment on RTE. I suggest TVNZ since they have a similar population to Ireland. Have you watched Shortland Street. Yeah its a soap, yeah is just as **** as Coro St.

personally i think RTÉ provide a great service. out of RTÉ, TV3, TG4, BBC, ITV, C4, C5 only BBC beats them but that wouldnt be hard with their vast resources

I think TG4 is prob the best in TV Ireland, and continue to provide some very orginal and imaginative shows. C4 and BBC are the best in Britian, and ITV is sooooooo ****ing bad it hard to watch.

I think RTE need a rethink. You're a Star and Test the Nation really have reduced any quality production values RTE have, other then that I have no complaints about RTE. (Okay Fair City is **** but IMO so are all soap operas.)

If you want to see what good Irish Soap is you should try Ros Na Run.

Ulsterman 1690

I wouldnt agree with the wholesale privatisation of RTE but one could make a case for selling off 2FM radio and RTE2 (having first shifted all "commercial" programming onto RTE2 and "public service" stuff onto RTE1)

First of you may be surprised to here that RTE are considered by many to be very very very anti-FF and very very conservative

Conservatives consider RTE to be a liberal mouthpiece
Liberals claim the opposite
Unionists think they give too much airtime to the Shinners
Shinners maintain theyre being censored by "Dublin 4 Westbrits"
FF'ers reckon RTE are full of Labour party members
Labour insist FF run the place

The people who actually work for RTE probably think to themselves "theyre all knocking us so we must be doing something right"

Elmo

Conservatives consider RTE to be a liberal mouthpiece
Liberals claim the opposite
Unionists think they give too much airtime to the Shinners
Shinners maintain theyre being censored by "Dublin 4 Westbrits"
FF'ers reckon RTE are full of Labour party members
Labour insist FF run the place

The people wiho actually work for RTE probably think to themselves "theyre all knocking us so we must be doing something right"

I cannot agree more. This is the truth. I was just point out the other side of the coin

Balance Balance people

medja

I’ve had friends work in RTE over the last few years and loads of them do nothing on a day to day basis (their words, not mine) You could lay off 100’s of people at the station and it would have little or no effect on output.

The funny thing is that many of my friends are frustrated. At the end of the day it’s a steady job and they don’t want to rock the boat. At the same time if the leadership in the place was changed they could do some great things.

The Radio department is lurching from one crisis to another, too many people are employed in certain programmes, for example today with Pat Kenny, (I know he’s an easy target but it’s true!)

Look we can all rant on about RTE, The problem is that it does do a good job a lot of the time. However, it could do it a lot better. Competition is the Key to improving standards but we can’t rely on the private sector.

So what’s the answer? If I were in charge, I’d start a new Semi-state Broadcaster and give it 100 million euro out of the public purse plus the RTE 2 frequencies. Once it was on it’s feet it could compete with RTE for the licence fee. Of Course everyone is going to find holes in this plan, just to say in advance that I’ll probably agree with most of them……

Elmo

If they feel that they could go out and do something then they should do it. RTE should make sure that everyone who is employed by them does something. Instead of allowing badly produced show go on Air. (Test the Nation and Your A Star).

Do you friends in RTE have not competitive edge? or motivation?

While on occasion I defend RTE on many levels, I would be embarrassed to work for them and ditto TV3.

The people in Galway have more pride over their station TG4.

I don't think we should set up another Semi State broadcaster 2 is enough.

TV3 need more regulation i.e. regulations towards their Prime Time output, more then just 30mins of news each night.

lawhec

Privatisation of RTÉ in my mind would be disasterous for several reasons...

* All programming would be for the pursuit of ratings rather than content.
* Standards would drop to chase the former.
* The current commercial alternatives in the Republic have little to no interest in public service television, nor do they want any.
* At a time when multi-channel television is now becoming widespread rather than restricted to satellite & cable, the fragmentation of RTÉ would be near commercial suicide for any company trying to pick up its pieces.

In the back of my mind are TF1 and TVNZ. The former is the only case in Europe where a public service broadcaster's flagship channel was privatised which caused quite a bit of controversy in France, while the latter more or less run by the New Zealand government as a commercial enterprise going downmarket for ratings in the process.

That's not to say that RTÉ doesn't need changing. It very much acts like the unstoppable 800lbs monster that doesn't want to shift from its comfort zone. Arguably TV3 is partly to blame - their introduction as the first Irish commercial TV competitor has done nothing to drive RTÉs standards up because simply TV3 hasn't set that terribly high standards for itself in the first place. Compare this to the UK in the 1950s to early 90s where the BBC and ITV drove each other on to produce at the time some of the best programming in Europe because ITV challenged for BBC's audience without significantly driving down standards, albeit kept on a leash on this matter by the ITA; even still for most of the franchises and especially the large ones it was a licence to print money.

Also its unfair to compare RTÉ and the BBC directly. The BBC doesn't rely on advertising but is one of the exceptions for European PSBs in doing this - most of them do carry advertising alongside revenue either from government grants, licence fees etc. In Switzerland the licence fee there is almost €300! And their networks carry adverts too!

Ironically it might be taking a leaf from the Swiss model that could serve RTÉ in the future. No, we don't have the problems with four different official languages scattered across the country, but more of the case that of commercial German and French broadcasters provide high competition the same way as UK broadcasters do in Ireland. SFR/SSG's response is to produce programming that is relevant to Switzerland and is of a high quality. Most UK broadcasters only see Ireland as a commercial market with a natural extension. If RTÉ concentrate on producing strong Irish programming relevant to Irish people and Irish culture without going completely highbrow, which TG4 already does well in many areas, it will be able to beat off its naysayers and continue for a long time to come.

Phen

RTÉ needs a shake-up, not privitisation. I'm not going to repeat the argument that people have already made but RTÉ is sitting comfortably on its laurels. There's no major Irish competition and the vast majority of people including myself would gladly prefer to watch RTÉ if it were better than some of it's British counterparts. They have made some improvements in recent years but the likes of You're a Star just shows how bad things have become. Production values have reached rock-bottom over the a lot of RTÉ's television output but nobody in RTÉ is going to do anything about it because there's no reason for them to do so! Their paycheques are still going to come in the letterbox no matter what kind of rubbish they produce. They need a new management who are going to be proactive and demand the highest possible standards. We know RTÉ can be great when the want to (and it is rare that they bother to try and be great). And I agree about selling the site in Montrose - their facilities are inadequate in this day and age - their biggest TV studio is the size of a small BBC one! And the news studio is the size of someone's sitting room. It is not the fault of the staff - the management is too lazy to bother themselves trying to produce better quality progammes.

DublinWriter

Phen wrote:

RTÉ needs a shake-up, not privitisation. I'm not going to repeat the argument that people have already made but RTÉ is sitting comfortably on its laurels.

Laurels? What laurels!

The prevailing work ethic in RTE is what's commonly called the 'Civil Service Mentality', one which is both work and risk-shy.

Unless you get a Willie Walsh-type character in charge then things will plod merrily on as they always have.

watty

Northern Correspondent wrote:

Privatisation of RTÉ in my mind would be disasterous for several reasons...

<< snip >>

Ironically it might be taking a leaf from the Swiss model that could serve RTÉ in the future. No, we don't have the problems with four different official languages scattered across the country, but more of the case that of commercial German and French broadcasters provide high competition the same way as UK broadcasters do in Ireland. SFR/SSG's response is to produce programming that is relevant to Switzerland and is of a high quality. Most UK broadcasters only see Ireland as a commercial market with a natural extension.

If RTÉ concentrate on producing strong Irish programming relevant to Irish people and Irish culture without going completely highbrow, which TG4 already does well in many areas, it will be able to beat off its naysayers and continue for a long time to come.

Agree 100%

Scottish paddy

I think a lot of people need to wise up about RTÉ. I have worked in RTÉ and I can tell you there are many people who work very hard at what they do. Those who say RTÉ has no competition need to look at the total broadcasting environment in Ireland. RTÉ from birth has had to compete with one of the best funded broadcasting systems in the world (UK) , available to most of their audience. RTÉ is also a damn sight less bureaucratic than the BBC. I remember in the 1980’s a boxing match in Dublin being covered by RTÉ who were supplying pictures to the BBC as well. The BBC sent over from Manchester a full scanner (OB truck capable of handling 20 cameras) and corresponding crew to man their onsite studio which had a presenter and a guest. The BBC crew was about twice the size of the RTÉ crew who were actually covering the event!! If you think that a purely commercial station is going to give you anything like the range of programming you get from RTÉ then you know nothing about the reality of commercial broadcasting (look at ITV). Like everything in Ireland it would only be when it is gone that people would appreciate RTÉ.

mjsmyth

This debate goes on and on. As new people join the boards, they raise the point and we all go back over old posts.

No one is forcing anyone to buy a TV. You don't have to watch it. If you do, then you need a licence. In the same way, no one forces you to buy a car, but if you do, you must tax it. It is the law, deal with it. If you don't like it, put pressure on your local TD, make it an election issue.

As for privatising RTE. Well personally I can't see that happening. When you privatise something, it becomes all about the money. Profits must be made at all cost. Loss leaders get dumped and more profitable products are made.

So, do you think See Hear Now is profitable? Or News for The Deaf?, or Mono? Will the sunday religious services still be broadcast? Whilst most people here on the board may scoff at these shows, to some they are very important.

We seem to have a lot of people on the board who describe RTE's output as sh*te. They say they never watch it because it is so bad. Well then, emmmmmm how do you know it is so bad???? There are some bad shows on RTE, but then there are on the BBC too and god knows it does not get much worse than Celebrity Big Brother on Channel 4.

There is also a lot of quality on RTE that is a match for anything on the BBC or ITV or Channel 4.

Comeday / Drama:
Batchelors Walk
Dan and Becs
The Panel
Pure Mule
Podge and Rodge
Just for Laughs
Killinaskully
The Clinic
Fair City (is it any worse than Eastenders of Coronation Street????)
Hanging with Hector

Documentary:
Léargas
Haughey
Hidden History
The Return to Series (Chernobyl, Tsunmai, Our Ladies Hospital)
Reeling In The Years
Stars of the Sea

Music:
Other Voices; Songs From a Room
OK, Struggling here for more...)

Sport:
Live GAA and Highlights
Live Rugby
Live International Soccer
Live Champions League
Live Premiership
Live Horse Racing
Live National League / Cup and International Basketball
Formula 1 and Moto GP weekly shows
The list of sport goes on...

Cultural and Political Affairs:
Prime Time
Ear to the Ground

Various:
Scope - Science Show
Nor Frontiers - Travel Show
Two Wild
Wild Trials


These are just some of the excellent shows that are on or have been on RTE. Are they worse than what is on offer on the BBC or ITV or Channel 4? I think not. For all the good and great shows that are on the BBC, there is some incredible rubbish too. The opposite is true with ITV, for all the rubbish that is on there, sometimes them come thru with a great show.

Obviously with its budgets, RTE cannot always produce the high quality programming of other networks, but when it sets its mind to it and combines these shows with what it imports, I think it stacks up favourably when compared to anything accross the water.

Oh and no one ever heard John McClane say "Yippee kay ya kemosabe" in Die Hard on RTE!

mj

Ulsterman 1690

Most of the programmes youve listed I cant really comment on (Dont have RTE here so I only get to see it when Im visiting family/friends down South)

but

Fair City (is it any worse than Eastenders of Coronation Street????)

Probably not much worse but being no worse than the equivalent offering on another channel is hardly sufficent to qualify it as a quality programme

I mean "Winning Streak" is no worse than "National Lottery Live" but it is still a ******* brutal piece of horsepoo that any self respecting public service broadcaster should be embarrassed to be associated with (mind you in fairness to RTE at least they dont claim to be a commercial free channel while running hour long adverts for the lottery)

Léargas

Admitidely not too bad (with sound off/subtitles on) but then again isint this a cheap way of simultaneously fulfilling their documentary requirements AND their minority language requirements (in any case isint that what TG4 is for)

Reeling in the years

Come off it
It cost virtually nothing to produce this piece of recycled programming AND they have the nerve to repeat it

In fairness to RTE theyre still streets ahead of TV3 or channel 6 But the old excuse of "we cant show vast amounts of quality programming like the Beeb do when we only have a fraction of their budget" is wearing a bit thin Especially when TG4 can carry programming far superior to RTE on a fraction of RTE's annual budget

medja

Elmo wrote:

If they feel that they could go out and do something then they should do it. RTE should make sure that everyone who is employed by them does something. Instead of allowing badly produced show go on Air. (Test the Nation and Your A Star).

Do you friends in RTE have not competitive edge? or motivation?

Actually they do but they also have bills to pay and kids to feed! It's not very easy to leave a job where you've got your wages coming in and no real possiblity of being fired, if you keep your head down!

Elmo

Actually they do but they also have bills to pay and kids to feed! It's not very easy to leave a job where you've got your wages coming in and no real possiblity of being fired, if you keep your head down!

I would say it is very hard to get fired from a cushy Public Service Job

Come off it
It cost virtually nothing to produce this piece of recycled programming AND they have the nerve to repeat it

They do repeat a huge amount (too much). But it is a very well edited TV show, the music and pictures off each year are always well choosen.

I mean "Winning Streak" is no worse than "National Lottery Live" but it is still a ******* brutal piece of horsepoo that any self respecting public service broadcaster should be embarrassed to be associated with (mind you in fairness to RTE at least they dont claim to be a commercial free channel while running hour long adverts for the lottery)

I think Winning Streak should actually start to do something more like the National Lottery Live, Winning Streak needs the axe IMO, surely their is something more entertaining to produce.

Probably not much worse but being no worse than the equivalent offering on another channel is hardly sufficent to qualify it as a quality programme

No but people do make an issue of Fair City and not of the other soaps. Soap should be axed too.

bk

Sorry to drag up an old thread but I just have to say, while most of us here hate Fair City, it is one of the top rated shows in Ireland so obviously they are doing something right and some people like it.

Also according to my mother and sisters, who are complete soap lovers (and are the target audience, certainly not us here on Boards), they say that Fair City is actually the best soap of all the ones shown in the UK and Ireland, with interesting characters and story lines compared the drivel from the UK, in particular Eastenders which they don't rate at all.

Just pointing out that a national broadcaster is supposed to make content for all and that includes women, not just the males who are here on boards, Podge and Rodge is for us

Mossy Monk

good point

Elmo

Soaps are fine (well!) but their current target audience are people with low attention spans. It alright to have 2 episodes a week but 4 - 7 episodes drags the quality of acting, scripting and direction way down. Your mother and sister need to start looking a quality TV and soap is not quality, no matter how much they protest that the audience isn't on boards.

Also their target audience is people with no imagination.

bk

Elmo wrote:

Also their target audience is people with no imagination.

Aye, are you dishing me mum and sisters, come over here and I'll give you a beating

Your not wrong, I've gotten them hooked on some better shows like The West Wing and 24, but they insist on watching this BS every day. It is almost a bonding thing for the women of the family, they all watch it together and natter away about it

Frankly these stats frighten me:

http://www.medialive.ie/Television/top-tw.html

There basically the top 20 shows watched on RTE 1 ,2 and TV3 last week. Look at TV3, 19 of the top 20 shows were all episodes of Cornation St, Emerdale and Soapstar Superstar, it is absolutely sickening.

And RTE is almost as bad with Fair City, Eastenders, Home and Away all taking lots of the spots.

It seems selling soap drivel to women is the best way to get high ratings, sickening.

MisterAnarchy

Elmo wrote:

Also their target audience is people with no imagination.

Or no brains.
How anyone could watch those chronically depressing mindnumbing soaps is beyond me.
RTE are doing a fine job with the limited resources they have .

bk

MisterAnarchy wrote:

Or no brains.

Aye, another person dishing my Mum and Sisters and looking for a kicking;)

I'd rather hear peoples reaction to the fact that while most of us here hate soaps, that they so heavily dominate the TV ratings.

AngryLoner

rlogue wrote:

Why shouldn't RTÉ be privatised? I'll give you two reasons -

TV3 and Channel 6.

What he said!

Also, this idea that the "market" holds all the answer. If Murdoch had his way, be BBC would be privatised and dragged down into the mire along with all other telly. It breaks my heart that, with Sky Digital, you have hundreds of channels and NOTHING on. All this, find-a-formula-and flog-it-to-death sh1t. The documentary channels are a joke - how many episodes of American Chopper do they expect you to sit through?

The MOMENT my Sky sybscription reaches the one year get-out date I am getting myself a freeview box and it's BBC4 all the way home.

The market - BAH!!!

AngryLoner

netwhizkid wrote:

RTE has to be one of the worst networks in Europe,

Now that's just silly ; have you ever watched Spanish television? Or Australian, for that matter?

But, I suppose, these countries don't need telly as much as we do, coz they have nicer weather so can do something "less-boring-instead".

Elmo

I'd rather hear peoples reaction to the fact that while most of us here hate soaps, that they so heavily dominate the TV ratings.

They dominate the TV rating because orginally they where good for the era that they came out of i.e. when TV started firsts. They where orginally just like any other series their to be got rid of after 5 years.

And now they are on every night and no TV channel dares to compete againist them, just look at RTE 2's schedule during Emmerdale, Coro St, EastEnders and Fair City. they don't even try to market their shows againist the soaps, they rarely advertise that they are on and the one show that does take on the soaps in just another soap (Ugly Betty) why? because they advertise that its on.

As time when on it gets harder for the CEO's of TV channels to axe them i.e. Coronation Street is a national treasure or some such ****.

They have now become the comfortable pair of slippers that people (women) come home to at night, nothing much ever happens in them it takes them serveral months to actually finish a storyline (perhaps even 2 - 3 years), all storylines are dragged out and the climax gets the Viewers and the newspapers talking.

Why is there a need for them to be on every night of the week? If the people making TV weren't afraid of doing something orginal and letting their soaps go back to 2 night a week, the viewer would have more choice and something more then worrying about Deirdre's Glasses.

They are convayer belt TV, storylines re-hashed, characters replaced by similar characters, sets made over and ham acting served with cheese.

DMC

Elmo wrote:

They have now become the comfortable pair of slippers that people (women) come home to at night, nothing much ever happens in them it takes them serveral months to actually finish a storyline (perhaps even 2 - 3 years), all storylines are dragged out and the climax gets the Viewers and the newspapers talking.

Firstly, roffle at the sexist remark Technically, you are right, but well done for saying it in public

Now, straight face...

I think the nature of soaps have changed over the last 10 years. On the contrary, when Corrie and Emmerdale were on only TWO nights a week in the 70's and 80's, storylines moved at a snails pace. Not now. Storylines move with lightening speed, some don't last a week. Some of the bigger storylines can take a while to work out, but they are still awfully quicker than before.

There are two instances of soap history where if it were real life, the disaster storyline would still be occurring. One is the earthquake in Home and Away; Summer Bay was rebuilt in a week, and Emmerdale when they mimicked the Lockerbie plane crash; All the dead were buried and the cattle were back on the farm, even though the land was contaminated with fuel from the plane.

Elmo wrote:

Why is there a need for them to be on every night of the week? If the people making TV weren't afraid of doing something orginal and letting their soaps go back to 2 night a week, the viewer would have more choice and something more then worrying about Deirdre's Glasses.

They are convayer belt TV, storylines re-hashed, characters replaced by similar characters, sets made over and ham acting served with cheese.

They are safe TV, as you described.
This occurs because like the TV companies, the regulator allowed themselves to go lazy.

This is my first post in this tread, and its for a reason; a lot of sense has been posted here already in defence of RTÉ.
Just because you don't like a programme doesn't mean someone else shouldn't have to. People are different.

watty

AngryLoner wrote:

What he said!

Also, this idea that the "market" holds all the answer. If Murdoch had his way, be BBC would be privatised and dragged down into the mire along with all other telly. It breaks my heart that, with Sky Digital, you have hundreds of channels and NOTHING on. All this, find-a-formula-and flog-it-to-death sh1t. The documentary channels are a joke - how many episodes of American Chopper do they expect you to sit through?

The MOMENT my Sky sybscription reaches the one year get-out date I am getting myself a freeview box and it's BBC4 all the way home.

The market - BAH!!!

Your Sky box will do BBC4 nicely & better, with no sub and its yours already. It can do UK EPG. A Free To Air box has no EPG.

Elmo

This is my first post in this tread, and its for a reason; a lot of sense has been posted here already in defence of RTÉ.
Just because you don't like a programme doesn't mean someone else shouldn't have to. People are different.

Just because I don't like a program does mean that others shouldn't, I amn't arguing with that.

What I am saying is that Fair City or EastEnders shouldn't be what the BBC or RTE rely on to get viewers

Certainly RTE started to panic with the loss of Coro St, hence they bought EastEnders, there was no need for the to go on a soap spending spree. There are now more soap operas on RTE then when they had the rights to Emmers and Coro St.

As PSBs RTE and the BBC should be ashamed of making this muck. BUT I have no problem with these shows going out for a one or two days a week, rather then have them spirla out of control and end up in an ITV situation with Wall to Wall Soap Opera. And it becomes very difficult when you have to drop one of the episodes.

Sorry I amn't suggesting that either RTE or the BBC are privatised. What I am arguing is that TV stations a regulators look at content for both Private and Public broadcasters.

Look at Ros Na Run a far better soap.

SPDUB

Elmo wrote:

What I am saying is that Fair City or EastEnders shouldn't be what the BBC or RTE rely on to get viewers

As PSBs RTE and the BBC should be ashamed of making this muck. BUT I have no problem with these shows going out for a one or two days a week.....

Look at Ros Na Run a far better soap.

If you don't like a soap it is muck ,If you like it ( Ros na Run ) it isn't

Elmo wrote:

Soaps are fine (well!) but their current target audience are people with low attention spans. It alright to have 2 episodes a week but 4 - 7 episodes drags the quality of acting, scripting and direction way down. Your mother and sister need to start looking a quality TV and soap is not quality, no matter how much they protest that the audience isn't on boards.

Also their target audience is people with no imagination..

Can we please have a list of quality tv:rolleyes:

Elmo

I am pointing out that Ros Na Run is a better soap I didn't say it was wonderful. But it is better because it only goes out 2 nights a week over 35 weeks of the year.

Can we please have a list of quality tv

Again that's for you to decide but we shouldn't have tabloid news papers, women's mags and TV channels telling us how wonderful soaps are. There are better quality shows on the TV outside of soap and more creative shows out there.

I have no problem with people who like soaps but they must remember the following:-

I like most TV shows but I don't expect my Favorite shows to go out 7 days a week 52 weeks a year (for eternity), and lets face it that is the way that soap is going.

SPDUB

Elmo wrote:

I am pointing out that Ros Na Run is a better soap I didn't say it was wonderful. But it is better because it only goes out 2 nights a week over 35 weeks of the year.


Again that's for you to decide but we shouldn't have tabloid news papers, women's mags and TV channels telling us how wonderful soaps are. There are better quality shows on the TV outside of soap and more creative shows out there.

I have no problem with people who like soaps but they must remember the following:-

I like most TV shows but I don't expect my Favorite shows to go out 7 days a week 52 weeks a year (for eternity), and lets face it that is the way that soap is going.

Wow,God forbid a tabloid newspaper, women's mags or tv channels saying soaps are wonderful. so by extension we can dismiss their opinion about all other programmes because they got it so wrong about soaps

Elmo wrote:

IBut it is better because it only goes out 2 nights a week over 35 weeks of the year. .

What a load of bollocks.Rubbish plots and unbelievable situations are rubbish plots and unbelievable situations whether they are transmitted once a week ,twice a week for 35 weeks or 365 days a year

DMC

Elmo wrote:

Just because I don't like a program does mean that others shouldn't, I amn't arguing with that.

That was a misdirected "you", that was meant in the plural.

Elmo

What a load of bollocks.Rubbish plots and unbelievable situations are rubbish plots and unbelievable situations whether they are transmitted once a week ,twice a week for 35 weeks or 365 days a year

What I am trying to say but you won't let me.

Soap opera is saturated beyond beleive, the stories and acting would be better if more time was invested into them. Emmerdale is out of control.

I am trying to say that other types of programming should be produced and quality should come before quanity.

American TV drama continues to be strong because they don't rely on the same old tired stories.

I just don't want to have to deal with the rubbish plots and ubbelievable situations every night of the week lets see something new.

SPDUB

Elmo wrote:

What I am trying to say but you won't let me.

Soap opera is saturated beyond beleive, the stories and acting would be better if more time was invested into them. Emmerdale is out of control.

I am trying to say that other types of programming should be produced and quality should come before quanity.

American TV drama continues to be strong because they don't rely on the same old tired stories.

I just don't want to have to deal with the rubbish plots and ubbelievable situations every night of the week lets see something new.

If I'm stopping you saying anything then what is that above ^

Elmo wrote:

I just don't want to have to deal with the rubbish plots and ubbelievable situations every night of the week lets see something new..

But if they are on once or twice then that is acceptable :rolleyes:

BuffyBot

American TV drama continues to be strong because they don't rely on the same old tired stories.

Eh, not quite. Just some of the stuff we see over this side of the pond, and not even all of it is immune.

Plenty of repetitive dross is to be found on US TV, night and night out.

watty

US TV is worse than Itallian..

DMC

Oooooh. I wondered who'd mention the country beginning with "I" first in this thread. Congrats Watty!

Elmo

But if they are on once or twice then that is acceptable

Perhaps you don't understand what I am saying then. Yes it is acceptable that they go out once or twice a week but not every night of the week.

Eh, not quite. Just some of the stuff we see over this side of the pond, and not even all of it is immune.

In the US the do not consider Soap Opera prime time drama.

SPDUB

Elmo wrote:

Perhaps you don't understand what I am saying then. .

Oh I perfectly understand what you are saying

Elmo

Oh I perfectly understand what you are saying

I'm sure

SkepticOne

I would like to see the licence fee scrapped and RTE compete on a level playing field with the other non-subsidised channels.

The argument of mjsmith "No one is forcing anyone to buy a TV. You don't have to watch it. If you do, then you need a licence" doesn't work for me. Obviously, until such time the TV licence is scrapped you are going to have to pay it. This is not justification if the imposition of a licence.

The other argument that is made in favour of the status quo is to list the programmes made by RTE (e.g. Winning Streak or Tubridy Tonight) and point out that these are made by RTE and not TV3. But why should RTE get this licence fee money exclusively. Most of RTE's programming, like TV3 or Ch6 is imported and commercially viable. It is only particular home produced programming that is not viable and this could be handled by an independent commissioning body.

Elmo

The other argument that is made in favour of the status quo is to list the programmes made by RTE (e.g. Winning Streak or Tubridy Tonight) and point out that these are made by RTE and not TV3. But why should RTE get this licence fee money exclusively. Most of RTE's programming, like TV3 or Ch6 is imported and commercially viable. It is only particular home produced programming that is not viable and this could be handled by an independent commissioning body.

One of the major problems we have is that the regulator is not strong, the BCI has allow TV3 use the Licence fee to suggest that it is not on a level playing field with RTE, which is entirely untrue since TV3 get nearly 50,000,000 in advertising revenue.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that RTE shouldn't change it's status quo (those of us who are arguing for the rentention of the licence fee are the first to point out all of the bad TV shows produced by RTE.)

New programming needs to be developed (which goes back to the arguement about Soap Opera being on so much) i.e TV executives across the world are look towards the confy pair of slippers each night after work. This just isn't good enough, espically for PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTERS (PBS) (over realiance on any genre of show isn't good for them or the viewer).

TV3 as I have pointed out on many occassions is a National Broadcaster and is there to compete with RTE it has yet to prove that the TV licence isn't needed for the production of home produced shows.

RTE need better competition from TV3 if Irish TV is to improve, with out competition RTE cann't get better rather remains unorginal.

TV3 cann't complain about the TV Licence, Radio stations across Ireland continue to beat RTE, local radio is a huge success without the help of the Licence Fee. (Again RTE cannot be blamed for any bad business decision that any station makes i.e. Eamon Duphy and Newstalk).

TV3 has 15% of the audience, employees 155 staff (for 6.8 million euro) and receives 50,000,000 in advertising revenue. If it wanted it could increase its audience share by produce more home produced shows. TV3 has no need to increase its audience share because it is making a pretty penny.