Do we desperately need an Irish Channel 4?

slipss

As in what channel 4 was suposed to be when it started up. I know Network 2 was suposed to be the alternative channel for RTE but clearly its just and always has been RTE pop. TV3 is just UTV but crapier (crapier? craper? crapper? whats the "er" version of crap?) and channel 6 is just an american station from ten years ago (with kind of up to date programing which gives it a kind of disconcerting premise). But don't you think its well over due?

patrickc

we have tg4 ...:rolleyes:

Mossy Monk

slipss wrote:

But don't you think its well over due?

No I don't. Besides where is it going to go. Can the airwaves handle another channel?

Guy:Incognito

Why cant we just keep watching the channel 4 we already watch? (or dont watch, whatever the case may be)

mike65

RTE 2 was supposed to be a bit of posh when it was commisioned if I recall rightly. Certainly not home to Joey or Ballydung.

Stekelly C4 is mainly crap these days! And its not an outlet for Irish programming of course.

Mike.

Wertz

mike65 wrote:

Stekelly C4 is mainly crap these days!

Mike.

They still have diamonds in the coal seams though.
Their 7pm news alone is laudable, shows like Dispatches and some of their more serious productions are always worth a look. They do some good science stuff; Bodyshock and the Anatomy shows would have found a home nowhere else on the UK or Irish channels. They do some great comedy, Shameless, Peep Show and the like and they also have a fairly comprehensive music coverage.
Then again their ouput of reality TV is criminal and not just the shows themselves but the circus of spinoffs they create. Don't even get me started on f*ckin' Hollyoaks...

On topic; is it time for an Irish Ch4? Probably. The only thing is do we as a country really have the "alternative" audience that Ch4 cited as a reason for being? Any more stations on Irish airwaves is likely going to end up watering down further the few quality shows we have across the gamut of channels. Sure, we'd all love to see more home produced stuff and if it's alternative in nature all the better.....but any capital venture woiuld need to see possible profit margins and I don't just don't see where those could come from unless we just do more TV3/Ch6 lowest common denominator stuff...

superdudeman007

Both TG4 and Channel 4 are state owned commercial broadcasters. The main difference between the two is that TG4's schedule consists mostly of EuroNews, old movies and archived RTE programmes.

In theory, TG4 is the Irish Channel 4. There's a lot of empty space in their schedule, especially morning and daytime. If there's any need for an Irish Channel 4, maybe it should just be a segment on TG4, maybe a few days a week after Nuacht.

Rjd2

Channel 4 is awful so why on earth replicate it?
Look at their comedy output its brain-dead drivel like Balls of Steel, Friday Night Project, and Charlotte Church Show! Television made by idiots and enjoyed by idiots. They have had one or two comic gems such as The Peep Show but they never promoted it, they nearly axed it because it struggled with ratings, only after fearing the wrath of the critics did they decide to give it another series. They used to pride themselves on importing the best American television also, but stuff like Ugly Betty, and Desperate Housewives? Who gives a damn? Let’s not forget this is the station that shows the Sopranos near midnight and when they had Oz infuriated so many people by showing Oz at 3am! Surely if it was such a cutting edge station surely they would have snapped up The Wire and Deadwood? Instead of playing it safe by just going after the big shows. And come on those numerous list shows and providing regular work for the antichrist Justin Lee Collins? Cutting edge please!!

r3nu4l

Rjd2 wrote:

Channel 4 is awful so why on earth replicate it?

The OP specifically stated that he was talking about what Channel 4 was supposed to be not what it is today. The original Channel 4 was supposed to be a socio-political channel for current, cutting-edge, modern intellectual thinking and programming. Almost like a BBC Radio 4 with a younger, politico-anarchic twist. It was never supposed to be an outlet for laddism, ladettes and juvenile dumbed-down chav television that it has become.

Yes Ireland could do with a station like that but could not handle it tbh. Dermot Morgan in his earlier days would have been perfect for Channel 4. His Scrap Saturday radio show and the "Father Trendy" sermons were cutting, deep, sarcasm and close to the political bone...as a result of which he was banished from RTÉ.

lostexpectation

superdudeman007 wrote:

Both TG4 and Channel 4 are state owned commercial broadcasters. The main difference between the two is that TG4's schedule consists mostly of EuroNews, old movies and archived RTE programmes.

In theory, TG4 is the Irish Channel 4. There's a lot of empty space in their schedule, especially morning and daytime. If there's any need for an Irish Channel 4, maybe it should just be a segment on TG4, maybe a few days a week after Nuacht.

??

Our man in Havana

I would like an uncensored C4 not a watered down version that sky supply.

navalus

Tg4 is rubbish, they repeat so much! im tired of looking at the tv guide to see they are repeating westerns they showed only last year.

ashyle

Since I only have the basic 4 channels, I quite like tg4.. it shows nip/tuck, the oc, and good documentaries as well as the occasional foreign film ( I saw a Danish film on it not too long ago..can't remember the name...) Pop4 IS my mtv so I make do with it. ha.

Having said that, i agree with slipss, tv3 is a piece of crap with its crap British soaps (not including Corrie of course) and weird American style/fashion/reality programmes, which frankly make me feel sad at the state of the world. rte is good for its current affairs stuff and Lost. And the constant stream of of all the CSI's.

r3nu4l

Bond-007 wrote:

I would like an uncensored C4 not a watered down version that sky supply.

Such as? I receive from my rooftop aerial and I don't see anything different to how it was when I lived in Ireland. What exactly is being censored by Sky? Just curious.

Zhane

r3nu4l wrote:

Such as? I receive from my rooftop aerial and I don't see anything different to how it was when I lived in Ireland. What exactly is being censored by Sky? Just curious.

some of the programmes are blocked here, rights issues, nothing more.

Our man in Havana

Correct! I want the full service.

Mossy Monk

They usually only block US crap and the Sopranos (which was shown on Irish tv months ago). But as time goes on this will happen less. If you are really stuck then there is the FTV card option.

Milktrolley

mike65 wrote:

RTE 2 was supposed to be a bit of posh when it was commisioned if I recall rightly.

Ooh! And recall rightly you do! Let's take a look at the opening moments of RTÉ 2...
1:29, with thanks to www.thetvroom.com

Things didn't go overly well the for the first few minutes, that's why there's no sound for the first 15 seconds or so. Start as you mean to go on...

superdudeman007

lostexpectation wrote:

??

Just saying that TG4 was intended to be just like Channel 4 but they failed miserably.

superdudeman007

navalus wrote:

Tg4 is rubbish, they repeat so much! im tired of looking at the tv guide to see they are repeating westerns they showed only last year.

Just can't get enough France24 though

Mossy Monk

superdudeman007 wrote:

Just saying that TG4 was intended to be just like Channel 4 but they failed miserably.

Was it? Link to something that says they were. First I have heard of that.

What I heard was TnaG was made to promote the Irish language. Channel 4's broadcasting model had nothing at all to do with it, but do provide the proof that TG4 was to be just like Channel 4.

Wertz

I think he's getting confused with S4C

Our man in Havana

S4C the bastard son of Channel 4.

Mossy Monk

A nightmare of a channel.

DublinWriter

Channel 4 was always a bit of a mongrel. Bear in mind that the first programme it ever showed was "Countdown". Yet they were edgy in the early-to-mid eighties and took chances with stuff like The Comic Strip and The Tube, however they did produce an awful lot of dreadful late-night programming.

These days Ch4 is light-years away from its roots and is more of an regular ITV channel. Big Brother anyone?

RTE2 was originally setup to be an Irish BBC2 of sorts, yet there's only so much you can do with feck-all budget.

I think maybe the question you should ask is should RTE2 be more like BBC2?

byte

I don't think RTE need to copy BBC on channel programming. Seem relatively OK to me, apart from sometimes poor time scheduling!

As for TG4, it's good channel. If any channel needs a kick up the arse, it should be (I)TV3!