AN RTE International ?

kelly66

Given the fact that RTE going free to air was never a runner, due to the rights
issue's over programs,does anybody think that its time the long awaited RTE international should be put on free to air or preferably freesat? RTE aren't the only one's been affected by the recession, im sure there are 1000's of license fee payers out there who would be happy to get all there home grown programs on RTE international and the imported programs on BBC etc all on the one FREESAT remote and RTE 1'2 andtv3 ? what about them,or better still those who wish to have these channels can get them on NTL,SKY or the DTT one vision GAMBLE.Freesat is a no brainer for people who dont want to pay a
monthly subscription and RTE international complete that package somewhat .
Who OWNS RTE ANYWAY

Mossy Monk

And you propose to get the money to pay for this from the magical gold pit that is never ending. Yes?

loyatemu

Mossy Monk wrote: »

And you propose to get the money to pay for this from the magical gold pit that is never ending. Yes?

they already have the programs and facilities to do it, its just the satellite fees (and however much it costs to get on the Freesat\Freeview platforms) - how much would these be? Sack Pat Kenny, thats 600K saved right there... :pac:

TheDriver

to be honest, there is no incentive as they won't make any extra money from this venture, advertising has gone through the floor, they get their tv licence money and another channel is another expense at the moment.

icdg

loyatemu wrote: »

they already have the programs and facilities to do it, its just the satellite fees (and however much it costs to get on the Freesat\Freeview platforms) - how much would these be? Sack Pat Kenny, thats 600K saved right there... :pac:

"Freesat" isn't really a platform at all, in fact it is little more than a common specification for free-to-air satellite recievers and a common EPG. It really is "just" a matter of launching the channel on Astra and getting an EPG slot on Freesat.

Freeview is a lot harder to get onto though not impossible, however I cannot see there being space for an RTÉ channel pre-DSO as there are only two multiplexes not owned by either BBC or ITV.

If RTÉ International ever launches (which is not going to be this year, and I doubt it will be next year either...), even if it is free-to-air, I imagine it will be kept off the Irish Sky EPG (and probably the NI Sky and Freesat EPGs as well). The last thing RTÉ will want is for it to canabilise its own viewer numbers. Any Irish viewer watching RTÉ International (with UK advertising) will be one less viewer watching RTÉ One (with Irish advertising - and hence what RTÉ will want Irish viewers to be watching).

kelly66

icdg wrote: »

"Freesat" isn't really a platform at all, in fact it is little more than a common specification for free-to-air satellite recievers and a common EPG. It really is "just" a matter of launching the channel on Astra and getting an EPG slot on Freesat.

Freeview is a lot harder to get onto though not impossible, however I cannot see there being space for an RTÉ channel pre-DSO as there are only two multiplexes not owned by either BBC or ITV.

If RTÉ International ever launches (which is not going to be this year, and I doubt it will be next year either...), even if it is free-to-air, I imagine it will be kept off the Irish Sky EPG (and probably the NI Sky and Freesat EPGs as well). The last thing RTÉ will want is for it to canabilise its own viewer numbers. Any Irish viewer watching RTÉ International (with UK advertising) will be one less viewer watching RTÉ One (with Irish advertising - and hence what RTÉ will want Irish viewers to be watching).

Whether RTE international goes on FREESAT is irrelevant.The point is it should be free to air anyway, im getting mixed messages here .Is this purely a money issue or are you talking about PROTECTIONISM, How much will it cost rte international a year to go free to air ? and as far as i know there is nothing stopping them advertising IRISH adds on this channel and If there is no market for advertising on this channel due to low viewing numbers then whats there to be afraid of , If there is a market for adds then great it should be able to pay for it self. Considering that the license fee payers are the biggest share holder in RTE ,maybe they should get to choose.Anyway its PROTECTIONISM . Theres no need for this channel to be on freeview ,why would you waste money doing that

Greenman

This is not a sat solution but this is a thought of mine to earn Montrose a few extra bob.

What about introducing THE RTE I PLAYER INTERNATIONAL.

Cost €9.99 per month made payable by Paypal, if you want to stop using it just don't pay and it dies on you, as soon as you pay up again it works instantly.

I have an IRL $ky sub in Belgium and would dump it directly if the THE RTE I PLAYER INTERNATIONAL was in service.

Any views?

OP I do not mean to highjack the thread.:)

icdg

kelly66 wrote: »

Whether RTE international goes on FREESAT is irrelevant.The point is it should be free to air anyway, im getting mixed messages here .Is this purely a money issue or are you talking about PROTECTIONISM, How much will it cost rte international a year to go free to air ? and as far as i know there is nothing stopping them advertising IRISH adds on this channel and If there is no market for advertising on this channel due to low viewing numbers then whats there to be afraid of , If there is a market for adds then great it should be able to pay for it self. Considering that the license fee payers are the biggest share holder in RTE ,maybe they should get to choose.Anyway its PROTECTIONISM . Theres no need for this channel to be on freeview ,why would you waste money doing that

Its not protectionism, it is about RTÉ's legitimatise need to have Irish people watch Irish advertising on RTÉ One instead of UK advertising on RTÉ International because, when it comes to the viewer numbers for the two stations (which will determine how much RTÉ can CHARGE for the advertising):

* AC Nielsen will not be counting viewers watching RTÉ International as watching RTÉ One.
* BARB will not be doing so, either.

Think about this carefully, RTÉ International being available domestically means less viewers for RTÉ One. Means less advertising revenue for RTÉ to plow into Irish made programming. Means RTÉ One's numbers will be artificially deflated. Practical example:

Say pre-RTÉ International, The Late Late Show gets 500,000 viewers on RTÉ One. RTÉ can charge for a slot accordingly.

Say post-RTÉ International, TLLS gets 350,000 viewers on RTÉ One and 150,000 viewers on RTÉ International. Now RTÉ can only charge 2/3rds or thereabouts of what it could have charged for an RTÉ One ad slot. Moreover the extra 150,000 viewers RTÉ International gained from RTÉ One are "lost" when it comes to RTÉ International's rate card, because BARB will not be counting them as UK viewers when reporting RTÉ International's viewer numbers.

Do you see why it is so important that RTÉ International is not easily available within the Republic? From the point of viewing of RTÉ making money that can be reinvested in public service programming here.

Its a moot debate of course, because RTÉ International is not happening any time soon.

kelly66

Do you see why it is so important that RTÉ International is not easily available within the Republic? From the point of viewing of RTÉ making money that can be reinvested in public service programming here.

Its a moot debate of course, because RTÉ International is not happening any time soon.[/QUOTE]

You make some very valid points and know more than i do about the different advertising issues.
But wasn't it RTE it self that set the date for RTE international as an fta channel[march 08 i think]and were going to bring it forward to christmas but then the recession happened.

The fact that commercial DTT looks more unlikely,I believe RTE in order to save face will have to sell DTT 4 home channels as part of a package with free to air in a combo box

The recession looks like its here for a few years and that seems to me what
cash strapped consumers will opt for

Mossy Monk

icdg wrote: »

Do you see why it is so important that RTÉ International is not easily available within the Republic? From the point of viewing of RTÉ making money that can be reinvested in public service programming here.

I remember they blocked Tara television from us so the precedent is certainly there. Tara at the time was handy because RTÉ weren't on satellite at all.

Greenman

Mossy Monk wrote: »

I remember they blocked Tara television from us so the precedent is certainly there. Tara at the time was handy because RTÉ weren't on satellite at all.

I remember with fondness watching TARA FTA on 34.5 West.:):):)