Annoying Things About RTE

Thargor

1. I notice more and more that any time The News needs stock footage of some politician or celebrity or incident or whatever these days they seem to take the astonishingly lazy option of searching for it on Youtube or Google Video and then showing the resulting pixellated mess rather than getting a high quality version from their archives, most recently tonight they showed the modelling clay scene from Ghost in relation to Patrick Swayzes(sp?) death and it looked like it was recorded by pointing a mobile phone at a pc monitor, unbelievable.

2. Mark Little on Prime Time interrupting people when he's interviewing them. Its infuriating, I like the way Jeremy Paxman cuts through the bull when the guest tries to waffle away the time on Newsnight but Mark Little is no Jeremy Paxman and he does it all the time, he's the reason the original question goes unanswered in a lot of cases.

3. Does Winning Streak really need 2 of RTEs highest paid presenters (Marty Whelan and Catherine Thomas) on it? Im guessing they're both pocketing 6 figures or close to it and Im wondering why one person cant do it, does it really take 2 people to keep track of the test of wit and skill that is Winning Streak?

More to come as I think of them.

2qk4u

Its ****...

Deeper Blue

The Byrne Ultimatum

Bonkers_xOx

The amount of American hospital dramas.

Skyuser

Ryan Tubridy

Slimity

1. The Afternoon Show
2. Ryan Tubridy
3. Ryan Confidental
4. John Eagleton
5. Tracey Piggott
6. Ger Canning
7. Daithi O Shea
8. Rachel Allen
9. That guy who presents ttv or twotube or whatever it's called.
10. Ronnie Whelan

preamp

Its existence is enough

SaKuRa

Sure they cant even schedule their programmes to start on time,4-5mins late no problem,jammed to the gills with adverts,even thought we are paying license fees,same ole cliche of "presenters" its a joke..boycott it I say

paddy cork

ob sport was covering the world amateur boxing championships ,not only did they not show any action from the finals ,they didn't even name the winners.

preamp

Thats another reason I hate them, they are a State broadcaster, they collect the vast majority of the licence fees plus advertising revenues. How is that possible??

In contrast the BBC are the same except they have no advertising at all, have far better programming, documentaries etc etc

Doesnt really add up.

Phototoxin

delayed time

lack of substantial content

the whole 'ARE-TEE-EE can reveal' as if they ****ing knew it all along

'presenters' gaybo = presenter, even kenny to a point but cheese head

tubridy? Plus they're all on the radio? 2 jobs? VARIETY?

Ads - they make buckets of money

old simpsons and not new ones

the den sucks

I could go on but I dont watch TV if I can help it and thank allan that I dont get ARE TEE EE in the UK

mike65

Phototoxin wrote: »

delayed time

lack of substantial content

the whole 'ARE-TEE-EE can reveal' as if they ****ing knew it all along

'presenters' gaybo = presenter, even kenny to a point but cheese head

tubridy? Plus they're all on the radio? 2 jobs? VARIETY?

Ads - they make buckets of money

old simpsons and not new ones

the den sucks

I could go on but I dont watch TV if I can help it and thank allan that I dont get ARE TEE EE in the UK

:rolleyes:

Ed_

preamp wrote: »

Thats another reason I hate them, they are a State broadcaster, they collect the vast majority of the licence fees plus advertising revenues. How is that possible??

In contrast the BBC are the same except they have no advertising at all, have far better programming, documentaries etc etc

Doesnt really add up.

What doesn't add up? Your post?

Enigma'

Having ad breaks in the middle of movies. Really gets to me:mad:

afatbollix

preamp wrote: »

Thats another reason I hate them, they are a State broadcaster, they collect the vast majority of the licence fees plus advertising revenues. How is that possible??

In contrast the BBC are the same except they have no advertising at all, have far better programming, documentaries etc etc

Doesnt really add up.

the budget is for rte is about a billion

BBC gets 10s of billions a year...

amacachi

Not a gripe most people will care about but it's just an example of some really obvious wastage within the company. The early-evening slot around Neighbours, The Simpsons and Home and Away changes so bloody often, and for no reason. Most summers it comes back with a nice new set and new graphics dripping out of it. Why? It's the same bloody thing, usually with a new presenter!

paddy cork

also the nine o clock news is never at nine o clock

syklops

Enigma' wrote: »

Having ad breaks in the middle of movies. Really gets to me:mad:

I can live with the adverts, and I have said this on boards before, but scheduling a 20 minute break in the movie with News and Weather. That really grinds my gears. By the time you get back to the movie you are distracted and have forgotten whats going on in the movie. The number of times I watched a movie and turned it off 10 mins after the news break because it had lost the momentum.

Thats another reason I hate them, they are a State broadcaster, they collect the vast majority of the licence fees plus advertising revenues. How is that possible??

In contrast the BBC are the same except they have no advertising at all, have far better programming, documentaries etc etc

Doesnt really add up.

The last 3 DVDs I bought were Doctor Who Season 2, Spooks Season 3, and the Top Gear Polar Special. All BBC made. Why is it I have no RTE made DVDs in my collection.

I would actually like, a DVD of the funny bits from the late late show(The best jokes told by Billy Connelly, Peter Sellers, etc.). That would sell some copies, and Mike Murphys Pranks on DVD. That said, the talent in both those discs, would not be RTE talent, it would be the individuals themselves.

Why can they not produce a decent tv programme? I mean 90% of the population watches coronation street and or eastenders for their soap fix.

Crotchety

The Late Late and Den are now Sh1ite. Gone past IMO

zuutroy

Meh its not too bad. Their sport coverage is generally pretty good as is the news. They get a lot of American shows before the rest of Europe if thats what you're in to. Stuff like Nationwide and the docu's they were doing on the GAA in rural areas were pretty good. They're a small operation in a small country. Comparing them to the BBC is comical. Compare them to the state broadcaster in plenty of small countries and they come off very well.
In any case its just a TV station and I'm not gonna get worked up either way

dunworth1

i really hate the way they have top American shows on in the middle of the night.

smallville for one rte have in on at 2am ( i think its around that anyway)

E4 have it a 10pm.

what a waste of money

syklops

zuutroy wrote: »

Comparing them to the BBC is comical. Compare them to the state broadcaster in plenty of small countries and they come off very well.
In any case its just a TV station and I'm not gonna get worked up either way

Your not going to get worked up paying 160 euro and getting nothing for it?? Ok.

As for comparing them to the BBC. Ok, RTE get a smaller amount from license payers, but the BBC dont have any advertising revenue. RTE do. Thats alot of money.

afatbollix

there full budget is 49% from add revenue... 51% is from the tv lience..

starbelgrade

Maeve Higgins is worth the licence fee alone.

syklops

afatbollix wrote: »

there full budget is 49% from add revenue... 51% is from the tv lience..

Still alot of money.

lostexpectation

Thargor wrote: »

1. I notice more and more that any time The News needs stock footage of some politician or celebrity or incident or whatever these days they seem to take the astonishingly lazy option of searching for it on Youtube or Google Video and then showing the resulting pixellated mess rather than getting a high quality version from their archives, most recently tonight they showed the modelling clay scene from Ghost in relation to Patrick Swayzes(sp?) death and it looked like it was recorded by pointing a mobile phone at a pc monitor, unbelievable.

every station does that now its really poor, internet has ruined the news....:P

Rondolfus

*Nepotism.....only in RTE could a talentless little creep like Tubridy become the number one "celebrity". Surprise surprise he's part of the Andrews Fianna Fail dynasty!

*State controlled....... any political satire such as "Bull Island" ( which was actually quite good) is swiftly axed if it annoys too many Fianna "Fail-ers"

* Blannad Ni "Red Bitch" and her cronies like Amanda "Fat Slag" Brunker parading around the airwaves as if they were Megan Fox. Chatting about their own boring lives and how great they perceive themselves to be!

*Fair City.... No explanation needed

*Ray Darcy's inability to subtly read an autocue

*Any RTE produced comedy........(Jason Byrne is the Idi Amin of stand up)

*The big mast at Montrose that has been polluting the airwaves and our brains with tripe for years.

Meeja Ireland

preamp wrote: »

In contrast the BBC are the same except they have no advertising at all, have far better programming, documentaries etc etc

Doesnt really add up.

It does, though. The BBC collects £142.50 from each of around twenty million licence payers. RTE takes the same amount (€160) from a much smaller population. Around half a million paying the licence fee, maybe? I'd say even that's a generous estimate.

So the BBC has forty times the licence revenue. They broadcast more hours, with their extra channels and regional coverage, but nowhere like 40 times more. RTE's budget is relatively slim.

The advertising revenue provides a top-up, or used to until it collapsed. I would expect to see more corners cut in the news and everywhere else in the next two years.

Meeja Ireland

syklops wrote: »

Why can they not produce a decent tv programme? I mean 90% of the population watches coronation street and or eastenders for their soap fix.

Fair City is actually much more popular than either. If you check the ratings, it is usually the most popular show of any kind, or number two behind the Late Late.

Eastenders often doesn't break into the top ten. Corrie isn't at the races since it moved to TV3.

Meeja Ireland

Rondolfus wrote: »

*Nepotism.....only in RTE could a talentless little creep like Tubridy become the number one "celebrity". Surprise surprise he's part of the Andrews Fianna Fail dynasty!

I agree with a lot of your criticisms, Rondolfus, particularly about satire and comedy. But do you honestly think that Tubridy got his job because he is related to some FF politicians?

It is a weird idea that the RTE bosses sat around wondering which tea-boy had political clout, and elevated him to one of the most important posts in the company. And the Andrews family? If you must pick a sinister cabal of string-pulling political masterminds, you can surely do better than that.

That being said, the Byrne Ultimatum is obviously a vehicle for Jim Corr's lizard overlords.

Twin-go

I do not have as deep rooted a dislike for RTE as some of the other poster on here but, something that has started to annoy my recently are the sports reports on the 6.01 and 9 news. Rugby, GAA and Soccer - they show the winning goal/try/points first then go back and show the rest of the goals. Why? If they are should scores from a game just show them in the order they happened.

Shane10

they just cant seem to do any funny format atal ATAL. The only one i can remember is dont feed the gondolas. that was class but more to do with the individuals that was on it, dara, moncrief, brendan o'conor, kevin mcaleer. used to be hilarious. is there no one in RTE with ideas, original ideas. such a joke of an organisation.

Saint_Mel

Shane10 wrote: »

they just cant seem to do any funny format atal ATAL. The only one i can remember is dont feed the gondolas. that was class but more to do with the individuals that was on it, dara, moncrief, brendan o'conor, kevin mcaleer. used to be hilarious. is there no one in RTE with ideas, original ideas. such a joke of an organisation.

Kind of ironic that a joke of an organisation cant muster up a funny comedy

Shane10

Saint_Mel wrote: »

Kind of ironic that a joke of an organisation cant muster up a funny comedy

BA DUM DIS :P

Rondolfus

Meeja Ireland wrote: »

Fair City is actually much more popular than either. If you check the ratings, it is usually the most popular show of any kind, or number two behind the Late Late.

Eastenders often doesn't break into the top ten. Corrie isn't at the races since it moved to TV3.

Those polls are not very accurate becuase they only take into account ratings on Irish Channels. Many Irish people watch the English soaps on English stations and hence slip under the net. If the figures for Irish people watching corrie or Eastenders on BBC and ITV were included, Im pretty sure the poll would look totally different.

Rondolfus

Meeja Ireland wrote: »

It is a weird idea that the RTE bosses sat around wondering which tea-boy had political clout, and elevated him to one of the most important posts in the company. And the Andrews family? If you must pick a sinister cabal of string-pulling political masterminds, you can surely do better than that.

Not as weird as RTE bosses sitting around a table and thinking "The Cassidys" would be the way to go for Irish comedy.Anyway I don't for one second buy Tubridys romantic story of being a mere tea-boy that worked his way to the top. Nice idea, but life and RTE doesn't work that way. Ask yourself this question, how when most teenagers are working for pittance in their local Spar, this this gangly idiot get a job in RTE? Well it wasn't his looks thats all I'm saying. Wasn't his grandfather one of the founders of RTE??

Meeja Ireland

Rondolfus wrote: »

yourself this question, how when most teenagers are working for pittance in their local Spar, this this gangly idiot get a job in RTE? Well it wasn't his looks thats all I'm saying. Wasn't his grandfather one of the founders of RTE??

Probably being obsessed with television, and quite good at it, helped.

Obviously, if you're looking for work as a teenager, you'll find it easier to get placement in an industry to which you have some connection. You'll also find it easier if you are bright and articulate, which Tubridy apparently was. But that does not translate into a career. You might think he's a bad host (I don't agree), but the idea that he was finagled into position as a result of some government conspiracy is insane.

If family connections are the main reason for success in RTE, how do you explain Pat Kenny? I believe his father was a zookeeper. Did the DG wake up one morning with a tapir's head in his bed?

cantgetright

George Hamilton.
He gets a kick out of pronouncing foreign players names and still gets it wrong..

Skid

That woman on the Avonmore advert leading into the Weather Forecast. Makes my blood boil

backspacer

SkidMark wrote: »

That woman on the Avonmore advert leading into the Weather Forecast. Makes my blood boil

Oh christ yes, that is one of those ads that makes my head want to explode.

My other gripe is why does the Big Bang Theory have to be on between 1 and 2 am during the week, do they think we have nothing better to do than wait for that

parasite

sucks for her that avonmore sponsor all 4 channels, she must be the most televised woman in ireland

Thargor

If RTE would get off their asses and sort out their schedule giving the stuff that deserves it primetime instead of graveyard slots it would actually be a fairly desirable channel for a lot of people, NI and the rest of the UK would actually want it in their digital packages leading to more ad revenue and hopefully an improvement in areas that lack, but you know they wont.

Rondolfus

Meeja Ireland wrote: »

You might think he's a bad host (I don't agree), but the idea that he was finagled into position as a result of some government conspiracy is insane.

If family connections are the main reason for success in RTE, how do you explain Pat Kenny? I believe his father was a zookeeper. Did the DG wake up one morning with a tapir's head in his bed?

I never said Government conspiracy. Unfortunately our politicians have a long history of using their positions to "feather their own nests" and that of their family and friends. I don't believe Tubridy got to the position his is in becuase of his talent simply because I don't believe he has any talent. Therefore, I think he relied on his connections which, as even you would agree, he has.

As for Pat Kenny. Nobody suggested that EVERYBODY in RTE is their because of their connections. Even the most corrupt organisation in the world wouldn't be so naive to operate in this way. The fact is RTE has a high level of nepotism, that ranges from the top right down to the admin people. This was especially evident at the hight of the economic boom, when " Daddys D4 Dollys" finished their arts degree in UCD and waked into various producing/managerial jobs within RTE. Meanwhile talented Irish media people are forced to travel abroad to UK and USA to work. Shame.

Only in RTE could a two-bit hack like Tubridy be given his own late night tv talk show when the infinitely more talented Dara O'Briain is fobbed off with a second rate panel show whos guests were primarly sourced from within the ranks of the RTE cesspit.

mega man

i think the worse thing about rte is when they get a presenter to go on holidays in no frontiers. i think its so selfish rrrrhhhhh

ateam

Lucy Kennedy.

mega man

and another thing about rte is when you turn on the tv about six or seven they have these fcuking nature programmes on which go on forever and ever. there always on..sometimes i wonder am i watching national geographic or rte?
WTF?
What kind of people work in RTE?

zuutroy

mega man wrote: »

i think the worse thing about rte is when they get a presenter to go on holidays in no frontiers. i think its so selfish rrrrhhhhh

If you actually read whats involved in making a segment for that show it sounds like a horrible job.

Elmo

mega man wrote: »

and another thing about rte is when you turn on the tv about six or seven they have these fcuking nature programmes on which go on forever and ever. there always on..sometimes i wonder am i watching national geographic or rte?
WTF?
What kind of people work in RTE?

Ah but you are aren't you? National Geographic programming on RTÉ TWO.

RTÉ TWO pretty much schedules like so 06:00 - 19:00 Yoof TV, 19:00 - 21:00 Documentaries and 21:00 - 02:00 American stuff with a bit of Irish thrown in.

Making pilot TV and suggesting that they commissioned them for real.

gscully

Programmes never start on time, meaning having to add 10 mins to the start and end of recording on Sky Plus.

Programmes constantly changing schedule mid-season. CSI might be on at 9pm one night, then 11pm the following week.

Evelyn Cusack trying to put on a charming grin while delivering news of more crap weather. You can't dear, so don't!

Not showing games like St Pats away in Russia (great result) due to budget restricitions, but then they showed a champs league qualifier featuring Panathinaikos and Athletico Madrid!!!?

That 'Up For The Match' crap before an all-Ireland

Jimmy Magee commentating

The Man Utd bias

Not showing any good movies for ages, then one night last week showing Devil's Advocate and A Few Good Men at the same time on RTE1 / 2

RTE's attempt at comedy

Meeja Ireland

Rondolfus wrote: »

Those polls are not very accurate becuase they only take into account ratings on Irish Channels. Many Irish people watch the English soaps on English stations and hence slip under the net. If the figures for Irish people watching corrie or Eastenders on BBC and ITV were included, Im pretty sure the poll would look totally different.

Good point. I'll try to find combined figures for the various channels and see what the real favourite is.

Meeja Ireland

Rondolfus wrote: »

As for Pat Kenny. Nobody suggested that EVERYBODY in RTE is their because of their connections.

Ah, I'm not letting go of my tapir's-head theory that easily.

The main reason I disagree with you is that I think Tubridy is hugely talented. He's intelligent. He's witty. He does the research (he always seems to have read the book he's talking about).

Some of his interviews are masterful too. I wasn't a fan of his TV work until I saw his quiet demolition of Ulrika Jonsson. Without saying a single negative thing, he let her reveal herself as nasty and vacuous. He has a restraint that is pretty rare in the show-off world of chat shows. His handling of the Michael Murphy interview was both forthright and delicate.

I could do without the aping of Letterman, and his decision to bring along the one-joke band from his old show was weirdly regressive, but I think he is really worth watching. He could be the greatest chat show host in the world within a year.