Latest on RTE in UK.

kilasser

From this weeks Irish post:

RTÉ could be on British television soon

THE LONG road to bringing RTÉ to British television screens is reaching its most pivotal moment.

Ireland’s national broadcaster has said the key decision on how it will be distributed across the water is now in the hands of the Irish Government and could become a reality by next year.

An RTÉ spokesman said: “Come the autumn if the financial arrangement can be agreed I would think it wouldn’t be unrealistic to have the service up and running in 2008. There will be no obstacles left after that.”

If financial clout is provided by the Government RTÉ believe it will be able to relay the service on Freeview. The spokesman said: “The only funding RTÉ require is on the cost of delivery.We are not seeking provision for the funding of programming or anything like that.

“So it’s just on the cost of delivery which basically means whether the service will be delivered on Freeview or Sky or to cable. “So there will be critical decisions coming up in the autumn and hopefully all going well before the end of the year that should be clarified.”

The Irish in Britain have endured a neverending wait for a television service here and RTÉ maintains that funding is now the crucial issue.

A positive government response to that would mean anyone with a television set would only need to buy a Freeview box (priced at about £15) to view the Irish stations. But, on the other hand, if the fiscal back-up is not there Sky will more than likely be the only other option.

This would mean that anyone based in Britain wanting Irish television would have to buy a dish and subscribe to Sky. RTÉ said the introduction of the new government has meant it has delayed ploughing ahead with the proposals.

The spokesman said: “Because of the change of government and a new department we knew there was no point in talking to the Department of Finance or Foreign Affairs during the summer months about how it is going to be funded.

http://www.irishpost.co.uk/news/story.asp?j=6150&cat=news

Ulsterman 1690

anyone based in Britain wanting Irish television would have to buy a dish and subscribe to Sky.

No good for anyone living on the Continent or unwilling/unable to subscribe to the evil Murdoch empire :rolleyes:

SPDUB

I think they may be getting satellite mixed up with Sky though

I can't recall hearing that a best of Irish tv service would be encrypted and therefore it would be a FTA service and so have no need to go anywhere near SKY equipment.

Lennoxschips

Yes, there's no way I'm subscribing to Sky to get RTE International...

You'd nearly think there's somebody at RTE getting brown envelopes from the Murdochs.

FTA on Astra would be cheap and easy for them...

Maybe they just want the thing to fail, so that they can say "see! told ya so!"

mass

I guess now that RTE is going multi-national and expanding it's commercial interests, we unfortunate Irish tv license payers can expect a reduction in or elimination of the yearly penalty tax for our so-called 'public broadcaster' ?

byte

Do UK TV Licence payers get a reduction when BBC expand their international and commercial interests?

mass

Probably not. But we are talking about RTE and have no control over that juristriction anyway. Also, unlike the BBC, which is a true public broadcaster, publicly funded, RTE runs as a commercial entity, running adverts. I have no problem with RTE expanding in this way - but not at our expense.

SPDUB

mass wrote:

Probably not. But we are talking about RTE and have no control over that juristriction anyway. Also, unlike the BBC, which is a true public broadcaster, publicly funded, RTE runs as a commercial entity, running adverts. I have no problem with RTE expanding in this way - but not at our expense.

Yes you do or you wouldn't have posted what you did.

As for public broadcasters not taking ads the BBC is just about the only public broadcast that doesn't

Mossy Monk

mass wrote:

Also, unlike the BBC, which is a true public broadcaster, publicly funded, RTE runs as a commercial entity, running adverts. I have no problem with RTE expanding in this way - but not at our expense.

If you actually knew what you were talking about. What other countries have a PSB that runs commercial free?

Lennoxschips

German telly does, I think.

L1011

No, nowhere close. No ads during peak prime time on the 1/2/Regionals but laden with it off-peak and on the ancillary services. Their licence is also FAR higher, you also need a separate licence for any kids over the age of 18 living at home (1 per kid); and a radio licence for your car.

RTÉ is, despite what anyone is going to try and claim, surprisingly good value when you consider how small the country is and comparatively how low the licence fee is. Unfortunately, its transmission network leaves a lot to be desired.

marclt

Ulsterman 1690 wrote:

No good for anyone living on the Continent or unwilling/unable to subscribe to the evil Murdoch empire :rolleyes:

And if it does go on freeview (costs prohibitive) there will be probably be large areas unable to receive the channel... I doubt it will be slotted into one of the three PSB (nationwide coverage) muxes. Only the main transmitters will broadcast all 6 mux after DSO.

Free on sky would mean far better coverage.

£15 freeview box.... Maybe in 6 - 12months time!!!

Lennoxschips

Belgian telly has no ads, but has the "this programme was sponsored by..." thing.

As for RTE International, an FTA slot on Astra 2 would be so cost effective and logical that you just know it's not going to happen.

L1011

Belgian licence fee is about 9 quid cheaper than ours but another 30 per car - so more expensive for most households; plus its a bigger country; plus most of its content is bought in from France or Holland, or given, or sold for very little for political reasons.

r3nu4l

marclt wrote:

And if it does go on freeview (costs prohibitive) there will be probably be large areas unable to receive the channel...

QFT! I'll be one of those unable to receive it if it goes on Freeview, although thanks to the [sarcasm]stunningly fast rate of the digital switchover in the UK[/sarcasm] I could be receiveing Freeview by 2011 or 2012 according to the postcode checker on the Freeview website!

It would be nice to be able to receive RTÉ but if they go the Freeview route it will cost them a lot and there will be tens of millions unable to view the channels for a few years. This won't make financial sense to the bean counters so I don't see this option becoming a reality until Freeview is nationwide in the UK.

BuffyBot

I'd imagine the most likely option will be that it goes on Sky, Freesat from Sky and the new BBC/ITV Freesat service when it launches.

Freeview may come in time, when the capacity is increased, but it'll probably still be more expensive than the other distribution channels.

lawhec

I don't believe there is a realistic hope in hell of an RTÉ International channel being on Freeview in the short term, there's no real capacity out there for a 24/7 stream in the UK and won't be until the DSO is complete. I have a funny feeling (no sources) that there may be an RTÉ multiplex in N.Ireland around 2012 thanks to political manevouring.

As for Freeview STBs going for £15 - Tesco were selling ones for £10 each last week!:eek:

rlogue

Many parts of the UK will still be without a full Freeview service post the analogue switchoff. If I were the government and RTÉ, I would concentrate on going down the FTA satellite route for the RTÉ International channel rather than Freeview.

Ulsterman 1690

As for public broadcasters not taking ads the BBC is just about the only public broadcast that doesn't

Ahem Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland (Pop not much larger than Ireland BTW but land area larger than Ireland + UK)

A Primal Nut

What would happen with the likes of Eastenders, Coronation Street and Champions League football matches? They wouldn't be allowed show them the same time as ITV/BBC in Britain. So what would they show instead? Just more repeats?

DMC

Ulsterman 1690 wrote:

Ahem Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland (Pop not much larger than Ireland BTW but land area larger than Ireland + UK)

But also, nay forget that in the nordic countries, the TV licence is huge money, between €200 and €300 per annum, thats 50% to 100% more than what we pay. As is the UK one, relative to the euro.

jb91

DMC wrote:

But also, nay forget that in the nordic countries, the TV licence is huge money, between €200 and €300 per annum, thats 50% to 100% more than what we pay. As is the UK one, relative to the euro.

AUSTRALIA. No license, No ads (on ABC, very few on SBS). It's still a pretty good service.

SPDUB

Ulsterman 1690 wrote:

Ahem Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland (Pop not much larger than Ireland BTW but land area larger than Ireland + UK)

Ahem Just about

DMC

The ABC there is government funded, and has had controversy in the past where the federal government withheld, or would threaten to withhold its funding because of criticism. A stick to beat them with.

It has a Hutton-esque crises every few years!

We're going a bit off topic here... methinks...

L1011

Ulsterman 1690 wrote:

Ahem Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland (Pop not much larger than Ireland BTW but land area larger than Ireland + UK)

Danish licence - ~€290
Swedish licence - ~€210
Norwegian licence - ~€260
Finnish licence - €208.15

Not quite the same as €158 now is it?

L1011

jb91 wrote:

AUSTRALIA. No license, No ads (on ABC, very few on SBS). It's still a pretty good service.

HBC*, surely? Its the most biased "public" broadcaster I've ever had the displeasure of watching; the government of the day effectively tell it what to do. And the programme quality is... relatively poor anyway.

*Howard

marclt

BuffyBot wrote:

Freeview may come in time, when the capacity is increased, but it'll probably still be more expensive than the other distribution channels.

I don't believe the capacity is to be increased. Basically the main transmitters already broadcasting freeview (and it's six mux) will have a power increase, increasing the stability of the signal.

Current relay transmitters only broadcasting analogue channels will start broadcasting digital channels in each region following dso but only the 3 public service mux. RTE could try and get onto one of these mux, but it is unlikely.

Have RTE indicated whether this will be a 24hour channel? They could choose to broadcast between 12pm and midnight or just for 6hours in the evening. If they did get freeview carriage they might be able to squeeze in somewhere and relay the broadcasts on satellite - leasing out their downtime to some shopping channel or something - like S4C2 have done in the past.

lawhec

MYOB wrote:

HBC*, surely? Its the most biased "public" broadcaster I've ever had the displeasure of watching; the government of the day effectively tell it what to do. And the programme quality is... relatively poor anyway.

*Howard

The "Chasers War on Everything" is very good though. Often download thier podcasts.

L1011

marclt wrote:

I don't believe the capacity is to be increased. Basically the main transmitters already broadcasting freeview (and it's six mux) will have a power increase, increasing the stability of the signal.

It is, by 24Mbits in fact. The 4 current 18Mbit muxes are going to convert to 24Mbit operation (the remaining 2 already are). This should be enough for 5 TV services... or 8 at UK compression levels. :rolleyes:

marclt

MYOB wrote:

It is, by 24Mbits in fact. The 4 current 18Mbit muxes are going to convert to 24Mbit operation (the remaining 2 already are). This should be enough for 5 TV services... or 8 at UK compression levels. :rolleyes:

How will that work over the 6mux/3mux split then... I haven't seen any additional services announced for the Border tv area?

Watch out for more shopping channels and if sky get their way (out to consultation right now) we'll get another pay per view service!!!

BuffyBot

I haven't seen any additional services announced for the Border tv area?

I don't think the power upgrade will happen until DSO is entirely completed. It wouldn't make sense to launch a service on an area by area basis

L1011

In the changeovered areas Channel 5 + its spinoffs are moving to the PSB muxes; that uses up the spare space. Once all are changed, that leaves 24Mbit free on COM1/2/3.

lawhec

lawhec wrote:

The "Chasers War on Everything" is very good though. Often download thier podcasts.

Off-topic, but I mention them a couple of days ago and now look what they've got up to! :eek:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6982897.stm

icdg

The ABC in Australia and PBS in the US are for me the two biggest arguments in favour of the licence fee IMO. One gets threathened with funding cuts any time it says something that might get the government annoyed, the other survives on people's generosity. Both operate in environments where they are thrashed by commercial TV, not because the commercial TV stations in either country are very good but because they're both so constrained. Most other public broadcasters, even if their in an environment where they are regularly beaten by commercial TV (cf the UK where ITV was a lot bigger than the BBC in viewership terms for years) have a fighting chance of beating the commerical competition and are generally highly regarded. Of course here in Ireland RTÉ regularly beats TV3.

rlogue

I wrote to RTÉ and to the Minister of Communications to find out what is the latest situation on the RTE UK service.

To summarise their responses:

RTÉ say they are keen to get the service up and running but would want the government to fund the delivery of the service, in other words the satellite charges.

The Minister (or maybe a Civil Servant) wrote to me to say that the legislation obliging RTÉ to provide such a service was now in place and he was looking forward to hearing from RTÉ how they were going to meet their obligations.

Not promising at all in my opinion, as seems that RTÉ are waiting for the Department to assist in funding and the Department seem to be expecting RTÉ to fund the whole thing from their existing resources.

In my opinion the Department are the block here - it is not unreasonable in my opinion that the government should provide some kind of funding for what is a great opportunity to bring an Irish voice to the world.

Foggy43

Thank you for the trouble you went to, Richard.

Watching the RTE 9pm news tonight you have to wonder just what are Feel and Fall upto. Closing essential medical services but able to make themselves the highest paid politicians in Europe.

It looks like we may have to write to Santa and see what he can do for us.

rlogue

:mad:Well at this stage it's very unlikely Santa will have anything in his sack for us in Britain this Christmas and the Mexican standoff between RTÉ and the Department looks like it's continuing.

watty

All the higher echelons of Health Service, RTE, Civil service etc are grossly overpaid. The problem is the TDs & Ministers can't be paid less than their Civil Service gophers.

Greenman

MYOB wrote: »

Belgian licence fee is about 9 quid cheaper than ours but another 30 per car - so more expensive for most households; plus its a bigger country; plus most of its content is bought in from France or Holland, or given, or sold for very little for political reasons.

The Belgian licence fee was axed a few years ago. The car radio licence is gone too.

Heard Pat Kenny talking about RTE on Freeview coming soon with Paddy Queing O Gorman, it was very by the way, it lacked substance. Go http://www.rte.ie/radio/liveplayer_av.html?1,null,200,http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/live/radio/radio1.smil minute 48.

dobrocop

i think its a combo of rte 1 ,rte2, tg4,.and i think it is intended for freesat from bbc/itv due to start early may 08,..but also on freeview,..and wont be on sky,...dobrocop.:eek::D

Mossy Monk

Who said it wont be available on Sky?

r3nu4l

Mossy Monk wrote: »

Who said it wont be available on Sky?

I think that post is an April Fools joke, he signed up yesterday and that was his first post on boards.ie...

No links provided or anything...

/shrugs

dobrocop

of course nobody said it would not be on sky,sure dident i make it all up just for the crack,:D:pac:..just check the other forums and you will see,..it has been said that it would be avalible free on satellite and freeview so ex pats in uk could tune in!, which means that in order to do this rte would have to leave sky,. as you can see NO LINKS PROVIDED,...dobrocop,:eek::rolleyes:

dobrocop

for anybody thats interested,......www.etenders.gov.ie/search/sh...x?ID=MAR100578 ,......:eek: