For One Evening Only - A National RTE 2 Boycott: Monday 21-12-09

Doctor Beans

This action is nothing complicated. Nothing Subversive.

It seems there is only one route left to explain to RTE, in absolutely no uncertain terms, that it has rendered Monday Evenings on RTE 2 unwatchably worthless... and it can't go on.

This really is a simple task. We're not asking the country to not watch Television. By all means - Tuck in - & Watch absolutely any one of your 412 channels...

...You can even watch the news on RTE 1 if you really must... - (...and who doesn't need another 14 stock pan-shots of the Four Courts from different angles... followed by vague weather guessing on how grim it'll be...?).

Let's make an indelible mark on the TAM ratings nonsense... let's give RTE 2 its first evening that registers ZERO viewers.

Quoteth Steve Carson to Miriam in Bed - circa 22nd Dec.
'...I think they are trying to tell us something...'

Yes. Yes we are.

So there we go. 21st December - Monday evening - National RTE 2 Boycott.

To paraphrase some naff charity add -
'Watch Very, Very Little.... It'll Help A Lot'

There's a reason why the property RTE is on is still worth more than the Station itself... even post-slump... Let's explain it to them the simple way.

Mise Le Meas,
Dr. Beans

Meeja Ireland

If Monday evenings are already unwatchable, why is a boycott necessary?

petes

You do realise that everyone that watches rte 2 is not neccessarily on boards?

I've just realised that is your first post so I;m probably not going to get a reply to above question!

sceptre

Already happening - 67,000 watching is, in a ratings sense, pretty much the same as nothing.

Irish Independent story on RTE2 being abandoned on Mondays

Doctor Beans

Meeja Ireland wrote: »

If Monday evenings are already unwatchable, why is a boycott necessary?

So do you also think along the lines that, say, - if Mary Coughlan has already shown herself up as rubbish, we may aswell just let her go on as Tainiste?...

Doctor Beans

Insurgent wrote: »

You do realise that everyone that watches rte 2 is not neccessarily on boards?

I've just realised that is your first post so I;m probably not going to get a reply to above question!

...Does a campaign have to begin and end on boards? Perhaps I even have to temerity to try Facebook, and Twitter, and even RTE.ie... When Frontline becomes RTE's best comedy offering on a monday night, then something has to happen, no?

Doctor Beans

sceptre wrote: »

Already happening - 67,000 watching is, in a ratings sense, pretty much the same as nothing.

Irish Independent story on RTE2 being abandoned on Mondays

That's still an aviva stadium full of people... all the less people to persuade then...

'...Did y'see yer man Jason Byrne last nide?

- No

'Did You?'

- No

That's the watercooler magic we need

Meeja Ireland

Doctor Beans wrote: »

So do you also think along the lines that, say, - if Mary Coughlan has already shown herself up as rubbish, we may aswell just let her go on as Tainiste?...

Oh, come off it. That's a terrible analogy.

The point is simple. If nobody finds the channel entertaining, no-one will watch it. Calling for a boycott is absurd, because the action you are inviting people to take is what they would be doing already if the channel is as bad as you say.

You may as well ask people to boycott sticking their heads in the fire, or eating staplers.

Doctor Beans

Meeja Ireland wrote: »

Oh, come off it. That's a terrible analogy.

The point is simple. If nobody finds the channel entertaining, no-one will watch it. Calling for a boycott is absurd, because the action you are inviting people to take is what they would be doing already if the channel is as bad as you say.

You may as well ask people to boycott sticking their heads in the fire, or eating staplers.

The only thing RTE has ever responded to is ratings and advertising revenue... why do you think we're still watching Murder She Hoped? If there's any even remote interest, RTE will re-commission.... I give you 'Extra Extra'... However, perhaps when a lifer jobsworth in RTE commissioning sees ZERO viewers - for an entire evening of succession - then maybe they'll give the whole output thing some thought... if they don't, then the advertisers will do it for them...

mikom

Doctor Beans wrote: »

Let's make an indelible mark on the TAM ratings nonsense... let's give RTE 2 its first evening that registers ZERO viewers.

Hold on until I just plug in my Tam meter box.

pyramuid man

I am just wondering does the op not realise that there are people who actually want to watch RTE on a monday night. C'mon. The republic of telly isn't that bad. Karl Spains programme is terrible though even though I really like mettallitia and have seen them live several times.

User45701

well a good few boards posters dont watch TV anymore because of bad it is/was and how long it took/takes (its not as bad anymore but it used to be a year or more behind the US)

still TV? wathcing it with adds? if they dont take your ratings into account then what is the point?

pay your tv licence
pay your sky digital or ntl or chorus or whatever tv you have

then download to ****

your paying for it, i used to leave my TV on for the tv shows i downloaded illigally when i was younger - i thought that i i downloaded it when it was on sky 1 or rte 6months to a year later that i could turn on the TV and walk away and that my ratings would be counted and i was doing nothing wrong.

Well sky dont or at leat didnt count irish ratings so once the licence and bill are paid morrally downloaders are in the right.

sorry for the off topic but really a TV boycott when there is another opion?

why not boycott our entire goverment? they are bigger morons than those who work at RTE anyway - sorry for the bad spelling im at someone elses pc using one of those useless ergo keyboards

Also Starring LeVar Burton

I actually like Karl Spain Wants To Rock - I have to Sky + it though, because it clashes with The Apprentice. My brother like Republic of Telly, even though I'm not a fan myself, but I defintely won't be boycotting the station. If a ratings war begins between TV3 and RTÉ - programmes on both stations will most likely improve naturally.

mike65

I did not expect to live to see the day that TV3 batters RTE on three nights.

Sir Gallagher

I'm with you OP sometimes i watch RTE 2 on a Monday just to see can it get any worse, i seen an ad for a new series featuring everyones favourite comedian Dave McSavage starting soon, they're really taking the piss at this stage.

The thing is on one hand i have to say fair play to RTE for providing funding for new programing, i mean there's been a host of new comedy shows on monday night over the past few nights, the problem is they'v been absolutely tragic and have missed the mark completely.

Fo Real

I'll take part in your boycott. Mind you, I wouldn't be watcing RTE anyway.

I prefer to post a steaming pile of fresh shíte to RTE studios every week. Hopefully they'll get the message soon enough - stop producing shíte and I'll stop sending it back to ya.

Doctor Beans

Fo Real wrote: »

I'll take part in your boycott. Mind you, I wouldn't be watcing RTE anyway.

I prefer to post a steaming pile of fresh shíte to RTE studios every week. Hopefully they'll get the message soon enough - stop producing shíte and I'll stop sending it back to ya.

Look, If there's any alternative way to get the smug grins off those who frequent that oft-mentioned RTE ****ing canteen, then let me know - it's that same grin Michael O'Leary has - knowing that the Irish will drop all standards, self-respect and taste and fork out on the licence... rather than just dump the ****ers until they up their game...

We spent our youth watching Aussie soaps, English Drama, US Sit coms, even Czech cartoons... BBC Worldwide make all their profits from overseas sales... but do you think any other country has ever imported even a sniff of RTE's drudge... of course ****ing not - they haven't even come up with a show format to export - nothing! Their website has ads for 'best of' DVDs from Bosco and Wanderly Wagon - on sale without a hint of irony... Dermot Morgan didn't die of natural causes... he was battered into death by thousand cuts in Cuntrose.

The only reason RTE TV still exists is that we inexplicably keep flicking for a look at things like Ryan Confidential ... so for one night - Monday 21st November - can we just go with our better judgement for once, and completely ignore RTE 2's toss output. Go on - if only to save the careers of Spain, Delamere, and maybe even Byrne...

mike65

They have sold a drama series to ITV (the moody Cop thriller set down in Kerry) and STV is also buying in RTE stuff (cos they are in dispute with ITV over costs and refusing to screen The Bill, Collision, Doc martin etc) to fill out their schedule.

120_Minutes

i dont watch rte to begin with, so you've got my vote.

Bondvillain

Doctor Beans wrote: »

but do you think any other country has ever imported even a sniff of RTE's drudge... of course ****ing not - they haven't even come up with a show format to export - nothing!

Several Rté shows have been exported to many other countries. As well as the aforementioned STV purchase, the following are a few high profile examples :

Strumpet City, Single Handed, and the Rté co-production Proof were shown in various countries worldwide.
Glenroe was shown in Scotland & Austria, the Clinic in Russia, Hungary and 10 other countries across Europe & Asia.
The recent Sean McGinley Police drama DDU was shown in Germany, Austria & The Czech Republic amongst other places.

(This of course doesn't mean that Rté are a dominant force on the Euro airwaves. It does however, mean that there are more Irish programmes on German Telly then there are German programmes on Irish telly. )

Several of Rté's quiz formats down the years have been franchised lock stock and barrel to foreign markets too. The most high-profile of these would be the (utterly sh*te, but obviously lucrative) Lyrics Board, currently running in localised form in 30 countries, such as Norway, Brazil, Korea & Russia, having already recently run in Wales, Poland & Japan.

This is without even touching Rté's extensive award winning documentary output (Haughey, Liam Clancy - The Yellow Bittern, Beckett on Film, Seven Ages etc. etc.) which have also been regularly shown around the world to great acclaim.
bearing all this in mind, I'd really have to disagree with your above statement that no-one imports from Rté.

Doctor Beans wrote: »

Dermot Morgan didn't die of natural causes... he was battered into death by thousand cuts in Cuntrose.

Frankly, all I can say here is : Irrelevant to your point, and in really poor taste.


I don't disagree with your overall assertion that Rté's output is tremendously poor at times, (particularly every one of their utterly disastrous attempts at comedy - Karl Spain and PJ Gallagher are about as amusing as punching yourself repeatedly in the crotch) but your omission of facts that don't suit your stance, combined with your poorly judged tone and name-calling are doing your argument more harm than good.

chamlis

Ballykissangel is shown here in the States FYI. Not sure if it's a joint with RTE or BBC on its own that produced it.

Point is there is a viewership for fiddledee dee here......

Doctor Beans

Bondvillain wrote: »

Several Rté shows have been exported to many other countries. As well as the aforementioned STV purchase, the following are a few high profile examples ....:

....It does however, mean that there are more Irish programmes on German Telly then there are German programmes on Irish telly..... )

Several of Rté's quiz formats down the years have been franchised lock stock and barrel to foreign markets too. The most high-profile of these would be the (utterly sh*te, but obviously lucrative) Lyrics Board, currently running in localised form in 30 countries, such as Norway, Brazil, Korea & Russia, having already recently run in Wales, Poland & Japan.

This is without even touching Rté's extensive award winning documentary output (Haughey, Liam Clancy - The Yellow Bittern, Beckett on Film, Seven Ages etc. etc.) which have also been regularly shown around the world to great acclaim.
bearing all this in mind, I'd really have to disagree with your above statement that no-one imports from Rté.

.

...Obviously German Gems that RTE bought - like Black Forest Clinic - passed you by.. . :-) It was a glorious era...

Independent productions that happen to manage to get shown on RTE hardly count as triumphs for that pap channel...

Andy Ruane's production company ' Like it Love it' franchised and made a fortune from the dirge that was the Lyrics Board... not RTE - Miriam O'Callaghan and Steve Carson wore non RTE hats as independent producers of the Haughey doc...

If RTE had their way, everything would glow with that Fair City / Pat Kenny sheen... and be thus rendered completely un usable outside our little island... Independent production companies have made a few successful exports in spite of RTE, not because of them... and even if it eventually gets called a 'co-production', we all know that only the rubbish stuff like the Monday night comedy has any real input from RTE 'creatives'... honestly, you can almost smell their contributions...

Still, have to admire any attempt at defence of RTE... even if STV is the first line of defence...

Doctor Beans

chamlis wrote: »

Ballykissangel is shown here in the States FYI. Not sure if it's a joint with RTE or BBC on its own that produced it.

Point is there is a viewership for fiddledee dee here......

Bally K, Father Ted... Zero production connection with RTE ... and we all know there's a viewership for 'Fiddlydee dee' - but what's remarkable is that RTE have failed miserably to produce anything that would appeal to diaspora... If RTE didn't exist, there would be less than no need to invent it... The best thing that's happened to them is the awfulness of TV3 productions - most made on a budget of a teabag and some polish girl's hair - ...and yet still they manage to often beat RTE in the dullness of 'the ratings war' (ie - the war for the cash from the Autoglass adverts)...

I hope I'll eventually drive by Montrose with my grandkids and see a blue plaque proclaiming: 'Here lies the site of RTE... piss poor national braodcaster that heamorraged cash and then was closed down in 2010 due to popular demand...'

Doctor Beans

mike65 wrote: »

I did not expect to live to see the day that TV3 batters RTE on three nights.

...it kinda says it all, no?... Mind you, I suspect that even live cc-TV footage from the forecourt of a Topaz would have a chance in the ratings war against the RTE Monday night comedy fare...

...then RTE would spot a niche - and overpay Maxol for the rights to all its fourcourt footage from down the country... and then bus in a studio audience and have one of the Seoige sisters present a series called, say: 'That Petrol Emotion' - interviewing people on their choice of Unleaded or Diesel... and letting them do requests for 'Mammy, Daddy, my sister Britney... and everyone who knows me down in Multifarnham...'

Another Triumph...

mike65

Thing is they'll probably use the ratings war struggle as a reason to seek a licence increase, in the guise of a plea to maintain the place of Irish Culture in the forefront of Irish life or some such (what with the X Factor and Apprentice being nasty foreign formats/shows).

JonathanAnon

Meeja Ireland wrote: »

If Monday evenings are already unwatchable, why is a boycott necessary?

LMAO.

youngblood

Good idea, but boycottin it is just the norm these days.
Should really be more of a sacrifice to be honest!