Is it just me or was tv better in the 80s and 90s

eh2010

I think that tv in the last decade has detiorated compared to the 90s and 80s. In the 90s there were less tv channels but better quality. I remember that htv/itv used to show good shows late at night . They used to show a comedy show called in bed with medinner and good moves. These days all they show is the phone in quiz tv s**t . We have hundreds of channels of rubbish now and an endless stream of realitly tv shows.

ToniTuddle

TV was mostly definitely better in the 80s and 90s.

The list would be endless of the excellent shows/cartoons....

All of it! Even the game shows were fun and new and original.

I vote we all buy box sets of the shows from the past.

Simply watch them bit by bit every day! So we can relive our childhood!

\o/

phasers

I think that there is a lot of quality programming this decade, it's just harder to find because, as you said, we have hundreds of channels.

mikom

eh2010 wrote: »

These days all they show is the phone in quiz tv s**t

Scan, in the 80's that "phone in quiz tv s**t " was known as closedown.

Mr sinister

I must admit that gameshows of the past we're so much better, but this decade has thrown out some brilliant tv shows such as Extra's, The Office, FM, Garth Merenghi's Darkplace, Serenity, Party Down, How I Met Your Mother, The Life and Times of Tim, Being Human and Black Books to name but a few

ToniTuddle

phasers wrote: »

I think that there is a lot of quality programming this decade, it's just harder to find because, as you said, we have hundreds of channels.

That actually is a good point.

I rarely get a chance to watch TV these days...or months even.

There has been the odd good documentary or things like that one recently... Tsunami:Where was God...that was interesting have to say.

I guess alot of folks will always hold the 80s and 90s dear to their hearts! No matter what

ToniTuddle

Mr sinister wrote: »

I must admit that gameshows of the past we're so much better, but this decade has thrown out some brilliant tv shows such as Extra's, The Office, FM, Garth Merenghi's Darkplace, Serenity, Party Down, How I Met Your Mother, The Life and Times of Tim, Being Human and Black Books to name but a few

Only ones I've heard/seen...

Extras
Office
How I Met Your Mother
Black Books

Never heard of the others

Ashill5

There is no Question that TV back then was great . Reality TV has wrecked television.Thank Goodness that that CH4 has seen since to get rid of
Big Brother at last, for me it was the real start of the decline! Back in the 80/90's we may have had only 2 channels but at least it was good quality.Then it went to as DIRE STRAITS put it " 47 Channels and Nothing on ", what we have today 1000 Channels with nothing on....................
I know we must look to the future and not the past. Let's hope Programes makers might come to their senses and start making real programs than Reality Rubbish. Fr.Ted pray for us;)

Mr sinister

ToniTuddle wrote: »

Only ones I've heard/seen...

Extras
Office
How I Met Your Mother
Black Books

Never heard of the others

I've a lot of time on my hands. Party down has been shown in Ireland either yet, I was told about it by an avid Paul Rudd fan

mikom wrote: »

Scan, in the 80's that "phone in quiz tv s**t " was known as closedown.

And boy wasn't that fun to watch Aertel with 2FM playing in the background

bonerm

Nope. Telly is much better now than it was 10 or 20 years ago. It's just that thanks to endless repeats, DVD box-sets, video recording devices, youtube and hundreds of channels means the actual percieved value of any given hour of television has dropped to virtually zero. Right now we've never had it so good in terms of choice, quality and flexibility and we've lost all sight of this fact.

Given the day that's in it I remember an incident from my own life. It was New Years Day 1984 and I actually made the choice to miss a friends birthday party because I wanted to stay home and watch Star Wars on tv. We had no VCRs etc so this was my first chance to see the movie in about 2 years (and probably my last chance to see it for another 2 years in all liklihood) so I stayed home to watch it and I missed the party. Tough choice for a little kid to make, but I made it and I still remember it to this day!

Nowadays if I want to see Star Wars I just reach for it off my shelf and pop it in my DVD player but back then it was a different story. That's when tv had REAL power.

ToniTuddle

Reality TV now doesn't challenge anyone...

Remember The Crystal Maze??

What a flippin' legend of a show! I remember trying to figure out the puzzles and screaming at the telly when they were getting it wrong.

All the shows back then in fairness were going to be loved as nearly all of them were brand new ideas.

Now we do get alot of recycled stuff.
There has been some hidden gems but as another poster said they have been lost amongst the other crap

Hank_Jones

I think tv was much better in the 80's and 90's.

The Simpsons was in it's prime in the 90's, Only Fools and Horses, Seinfeld, Frasier, Friends was making good episodes for most of the 90's, Father Ted.

There were a few good tv shows in the 00's though, The Sopranos being one.

ToniTuddle

bonerm wrote: »

Given the day that's in it I remember an incident from my own life. It was New Years Day 1984 and I actually made the choice to miss a friends birthday party because I wanted to stay home and watch Star Wars on tv. We had no VCRs etc so this was my first chance to see the movie in about 2 years (and probably my last chance to see it for another 2 years in all liklihood) so I stayed home to watch it and I missed the party. Tough choice for a little kid to make, but I made it and I still remember it to this day!

Nowadays if I want to see Star Wars I just reach for it off my shelf and pop it in my DVD player but back then it was a different story. That's when tv had REAL power.

You are completely right. I remember sitting in loads of nights to watch things.
Even arguing with my Mother...me shouting at her countless times, "I won't get another chance to see it until like 2 years!!!This is soooo unfair!!" :D

She always thought I was making up that whole 2 years thing and would say..."oh sure it wil be on next month" .....arrrggghh!

Yeah we really are spoilt now in terms of getting hold of the shows/clips we want.

L31mr0d

This decade has produced some of the finest shows I've ever seen and I fully expect it to continue into the next decade.

There's really no point listing them but pretty much all the shows recommended in the thread below are from the last decade alone:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055689569

Morgans

There is no comparison between tv now and the 80s. TV now is so superior its not funny. Sure, there is a lot of crap on now, especially so at Primetime, and especially on Irish channels.

Then again, if In Bed with Medinner is classed as good programming then Im, guessing nostalgia is playing tricks on the brain....I'm sure there are some people out there nostalgic for Supermarket Sweep.

Mr sinister

Morgans wrote: »

I'm sure there are some people out there nostalgic for Supermarket Sweep.

ToniTuddle

Wasn't that were they were allowed a time limit and could run around the shop throwing in whatever they wanted?

GOD but I would love that!!

The Express

Agree. Tv was much better years ago.

In the early nineties, ITV had some great line ups:

Hale & Pace, Minder, London's Burning, Boon, Cracker, I could go on.

Now it's just an animated version of one of those pathetic wimmins' magazines (Now, Closer, etc) - full of celebrity crap.

PLIIM

I think its far better now.
And you can watch whatever you want, whenever you want, instead of having to watch Murphys Micro Quism while you waied for MacGyver to come on.

Morgans

The Express wrote: »

Agree. Tv was much better years ago.

In the early nineties, ITV had some great line ups:

Hale & Pace, Minder, London's Burning, Boon, Cracker, I could go on.

Now it's just an animated version of one of those pathetic wimmins' magazines (Now, Closer, etc) - full of celebrity crap.

Of those, only some episodes of Cracker would be up to the standards of The Wire, The Shield, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Deadwood etc etc etc. Nothing of the calibre of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development was being developed in the 80s. Comparing those to Hale and Pace should settle the arguement. Nostalgia seemingly playing serious tricks on the mind.

In general, there has been a dumbing down of all primetime programming, so you could argue that primetime tv is worse these days but it doesnt mean that all TV is crap. You might need to search for the good programs but there are far more of far higher quality. The highest rated programs on RTE when I were a pre-teen were the likes of Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest, Magnum, A-Team, Fall Guy. To try and sit though a single episode these days should show how cheap they were.

You dont have to watch the reality/celebrity tv nonsense if you dont want to.

Ruu_Old

Going for...GOLD, your host, Henry Kelly! That or Blockbusters.

ToniTuddle

Morgans wrote: »

The highest rated programs on RTE when I were a pre-teen were the likes of Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest, Magnum, A-Team, Fall Guy. To try and sit though a single episode these days should show how cheap they were.

Of course if we look over them we can see how cheap some of the things were.
That's only because nowadays everyone is used to high-tech, fancy special effects.
Back then they were working with what they had. Relying on the plot/actors to carry the scene instead of the most amazing explosion stealing the show.

Morgans

ToniTuddle wrote: »

Of course if we look over them we can see how cheap some of the things were.
That's only because nowadays everyone is used to high-tech, fancy special effects.
Back then they were working with what they had. Relying on the plot/actors to carry the scene instead of the most amazing explosion stealing the show.

Sorry, I'll expand. All that hokum was not only cheap but poorly written and poorly acted - writing off an entire series as a Victoria Principal dream once famous high-profile example of the utter nonsense.

The likes of Boon and Bergerac would be the equivalent of Midsomer Murders I suppose. (John Nettles connection brought it to mind.) and Midsomer Murders wouldnt be regarded as the best of TV these days by many.

And to add, there were far more hammy explosions in the american PI genre in the 80s than these days. Nostalgia again Im afriad playing tricks.

ToniTuddle

Alot of those shows were for pure entertainment..

Knight Rider....who didn't want KIT sitting in their driveway!
A-Team as bad and all as some of the episodes were (looking back), it still was a mighty show.

Of course there are excellent shows doing the rounds now.
But I have to say there are none at the moment that make me want to be sure I'm home at a set time to get to see it. You know?

Back in the day if I missed an episode of MacGyver...there was hell to pay in that house!!

ToniTuddle

Morgans wrote: »

Nostalgia again Im afriad playing tricks.

Nostalgia isn't playing tricks.

The shows that kids like now will always be in there heads.
Twenty years down the line, they will go on about how tv shows now are no where near as good as they were in the good ole 2000s!

I suppose in some ways it's unfair to say tv shows were better back then compared to now.
The advances in special effects, freedom to do more daring/shocking tv shows all get extra points!

I think people are just so fed up with the utter crap that does be on.
I don't even have SKY, just plain old regular stations for me.

Shows like Nip/Tuck and Carnivale sure as hell wouldn't have been allowed on our TV screens back then.
The main good thing about TV shows these days...is the freedom to create what they want.

Conor108

Well if I had to choose between new BSG and old BSG, I'd pick the new one:).

Morgans

ToniTuddle wrote: »

Nostalgia isn't playing tricks.

The shows that kids like now will always be in there heads.
Twenty years down the line, they will go on about how tv shows now are no where near as good as they were in the good ole 2000s!

I suppose in some ways it's unfair to say tv shows were better back then compared to now.
The advances in special effects, freedom to do more daring/shocking tv shows all get extra points!

I think people are just so fed up with the utter crap that does be on.
I don't even have SKY, just plain old regular stations for me.

Shows like Nip/Tuck and Carnivale sure as hell wouldn't have been allowed on our TV screens back then.
The main good thing about TV shows these days...is the freedom to create what they want.

Isnt that exactly nostalgia playing tricks making you think that average programs were better than they actually were. You wont make sure you are home for Macgyver these days or any other progam, but then you are 15-20 years older.

Its strange that there the opposite is the case for kids TV (as far as I can see) there was nothing quite like the Den, just for the sheer chaos and improvised spontaneous craziness. Now Kids TV is only vehicle for shiny 20 year olds getting their start in the tv business, scared stupid should something unscripted happen. Some of the things that the DEN got away with wouldnt be contemplated these days.

Pride Fighter

To those saying TV is better now you's keep using examples of American produced shows to say TV is better now. Look at the indigenous output of Irish and British stations and compare them.

80's/90's

Bullseye
Catchphrase
Crystal Maze
In Bed With Me Dinner
Badeil and Skinner Football Show
London's Burning
Father Ted
Where In The World
Going For Gold
Cracker
Sharpe
The Fast Show
Harry Enfield and Chums
Men Behaving Badly
Hale and Pace
The Bill (was good then)
Red Dwarf
Have I got News For You (still going )

Last Decade

The Office
Garth Merenghi's Darkplace
Extras
QI


Thats all the shows I can think of that are quality this decade


Winner, old TV.

Mr sinister

Pride Fighter wrote: »

To those saying TV is better now you's keep using examples of American produced shows to say TV is better now. Look at the indigenous output of Irish and British stations and compare them.


Winner, old TV.

The question is tv, not the indigenous output of Irish and British stations

There are plenty more Brittish tv shows of this decade that are quality to be honest as well. Altough you did miss out Room 101 from the 80s/90s

Pride Fighter

Mr sinister wrote: »

The question is tv, not the indigenous output of Irish and British stations

There are plenty more Brittish tv shows of this decade that are quality to be honest as well. Altough you did miss out Room 101 from the 80s/90s

TBH I see imported shows being on a par. 80's and 90's were excellent and so was this decade. So as a result I looked at indigenous output to give the 80's and 90's a serious edge.Room 101 was good, I left out some other of my favourites too like 15-1, Brass Eye, Knowing me Knowing You, I'm Alan Partridge, the 11 O'Clock Show, Dont Feed The Gondolas and many many others.

Morgans

Pride Fighter wrote: »

To those saying TV is better now you's keep using examples of American produced shows to say TV is better now. Look at the indigenous output of Irish and British stations and compare them.

80's/90's

Bullseye
Catchphrase
Crystal Maze
In Bed With Me Dinner
Badeil and Skinner Football Show
London's Burning
Father Ted
Where In The World
Going For Gold
Cracker
Sharpe
The Fast Show
Harry Enfield and Chums
Men Behaving Badly
Hale and Pace
The Bill (was good then)
Red Dwarf
Have I got News For You (still going )

Last Decade

The Office
Garth Merenghi's Darkplace
Extras
QI


Thats all the shows I can think of that are quality this decade


Winner, old TV.

Yes, you are proving my point exactly. Bullseye and Where in the World on a list of good TV. Good god. Both were utter rubbish. In Bed with Medinner more rubbish. Going for Gold also. Catchphrase....

Saying that they were in any way better than let's say Who wants to be a millionaire? is nonsense at worst and nostalgia playing tricks at best. If half of those programs were on now, they would have simply no viewers because they werent nearly as good as you are remembering, IMO. Some of Cracker I have said was quality.

Btw, you are missing the greatest quiz program from the old days on the list - fifteen to 1.

Morgans

Pride Fighter wrote: »

TBH I see imported shows being on a par. 80's and 90's were excellent and so was this decade. So as a result I looked at indigenous output to give the 80's and 90's a serious edge.Room 101 was good, I left out some other of my favourites too like 15-1, Brass Eye, Knowing me Knowing You, I'm Alan Partridge, the 11 O'Clock Show, Dont Feed The Gondolas and many many others.

What imported shows in the 80s and 90s were as well written, produced and developed as The Wire, The Shield, Deadwood, Mad Men, Damages, Arrested Development, Curb your Enthusiasm, Generation Kill, House, and many many others.

Bullseye, where in the world, catch phrase and The Bill simply doesnt bare comparison. Or maybe its Magnum and Falcon Crest that should be compared.

Cannot see how In Bed with Medinner was in any way superior to Harry Hill's TV Burp to be honest.

Fighting Irish

I don't think so, everything was good back then because we were in our early teens

Mr sinister

Morgans wrote: »

What imported shows in the 80s and 90s were as well written, produced and developed as The Wire, The Shield, Deadwood, Mad Men, Damages, Arrested Development, Curb your Enthusiasm, Generation Kill, House, and many many others.

Buffy, Angel, Fraiser and Star Trek to name a few.

There will always be more better programmes of this decade though because there are more programmes are able to be made, which was mentioned before.

Pride is right though I think, British and Irish tv are not the same as they used to be, the BBC and UTV have become more interested in reality tv, etc and most of the shows are put off to BBC 3 so not very many get to see them

edit: also one big Irish tv show of 00's ye left out was The Panel

Morgans

Oh, I think there are far more crap progams on now than in the 80s and 90s, but that wasnt the argument.

For every Buffy there is a Veronica Mars as an equivalent. Buffy was good but Angel doesnt deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the those.

I'd definitely like people to name the imports from the 80s that were as good as those listed today. Give me something else to discover. Nothing as good as The West Wing?

Pride Fighter

Morgans wrote: »

What imported shows in the 80s and 90s were as well written, produced and developed as The Wire, The Shield, Deadwood, Mad Men, Damages, Arrested Development, Curb your Enthusiasm, Generation Kill, House, and many many others.

Bullseye, where in the world, catch phrase and The Bill simply doesnt bare comparison. Or maybe its Magnum and Falcon Crest that should be compared.

Cannot see how In Bed with Medinner was in any way superior to Harry Hill's TV Burp to be honest.

The ones in bold are TV garbage. The A-Team, Equaliser, Airwolf, Hill Street Blues, Chicago Hope, ER, Knight Rider, Star Trek series are far superior to anything you mentioned.

Morgans

The A-team and Knight Rider was "far superior" TV than The Wire. Case closed.

bucks777

old tv was rubbish...there's just too many channels with too much crap on these days,back then it was only bog 1 and 2,bbc and htv...if you condense all the good tv shows around now 4 or 5 channels you'd be surprised at the amount of decent tv shows around....growing up in the 80s and enjoyed the A team and similar shows but seeing them now i realise how ****e they were,quite comical..!!nothing in the 80s or 90s comes even close to the likes of the wire!!

bucks777

Pride Fighter wrote: »

The ones in bold are TV garbage. The A-Team, Equaliser, Airwolf, Hill Street Blues, Chicago Hope, ER, Knight Rider, Star Trek series are far superior to anything you mentioned.

are you insane....star trek is complete rubbish,knight rider and a-team are complete piss takes

Mr sinister

Buffy was much more than good to be honest, how many TV series can be nominated for an Emmy for an episode which has barely any dialogue and another episode that placed 13th in C4's best ever musicals. Angel ran for 5 seasons, which is a lot more than a lot of programmes (although looking at it now it ran from 99-04 so it would be a 00s programme I supppose) Although I haven't seen it properly yet so I can't really comment

Star Trek restarted in the 80's but my knowledge of 80's show doesn't really strech much further to be honest particullary to american imports

ToniTuddle

Pride Fighter wrote: »

The ones in bold are TV garbage. The A-Team, Equaliser, Airwolf, Hill Street Blues, Chicago Hope, ER, Knight Rider, Star Trek series are far superior to anything you mentioned.

ER is excellent in it's own right as a TV show but House is pretty damn good. It maybe isn't as dark at times like ER was but it's difficult to compare the two. They may be centred around hospitals but they are completly different and excellent in their own ways.

I adored Taxi and Streets Of San Fransico, but saying that I haven't seen them since then so I'd have to have another look to make a judgement call!

OPENROAD

Pride Fighter wrote: »

To those saying TV is better now you's keep using examples of American produced shows to say TV is better now. Look at the indigenous output of Irish and British stations and compare them.

80's/90's

Bullseye
Catchphrase
Crystal Maze
In Bed With Me Dinner
Badeil and Skinner Football Show
London's Burning
Father Ted
Where In The World
Going For Gold
Cracker
Sharpe
The Fast Show
Harry Enfield and Chums
Men Behaving Badly
Hale and Pace
The Bill (was good then)
Red Dwarf
Have I got News For You (still going )

Last Decade

The Office
Garth Merenghi's Darkplace
Extras
QI

I would also throw in the likes of Inspector Morse, Kavanangh QC, Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Spender, Minder.

Also a couple of one off series such as Anna Lee and Frank Stubbs Promotes were also very good imo.

As for today, have to say Spooks is the best thing on tv, absolute quality,I love this show. Would also throw in Hustle but apart from that can't think of anything else that stands out.

Mr sinister

bucks777 wrote: »

are you insane....star trek is complete rubbish,knight rider and a-team are complete piss takes

Honestly I don't like Star Trek myself but I would not say it is complete rubbish that is just total ignorance. The A-team isn't great when you watch it back but Knight Rider was decent enough

Also how has nobody mentioned Baywatch yet

edit: oh good 80's American tv series; Cheers

ToniTuddle

Mr sinister wrote: »

Also how has nobody mentioned Baywatch yet

My GOD.

How could I have forgotten Baywatch... :eek:
The later stuff was crap but it was bloody deadly.

I also learnt from that show...if you get too much fluid in your lungs you basically can drown while on land! See...educational and with half naked people on the beach. You couldn't ask for more.

moe_sizlak

The Express wrote: »

Agree. Tv was much better years ago.

In the early nineties, ITV had some great line ups:

Hale & Pace, Minder, London's Burning, Boon, Cracker, I could go on.

Now it's just an animated version of one of those pathetic wimmins' magazines (Now, Closer, etc) - full of celebrity crap.

i was a child of the 1980,s and back then i watched ITV a lot more often than bbc and im not just talking about kids shows , ITV has deteriorated beyond belief in the past 15 years or more

as for tv in the noughties , quiz shows more or less dead apart from that ****e they show after mid night , most of the quality tv shows are from HBO and are adult orientated , not that this is a bad thing , im no longer a kid but thier are no shows anymore like the A -TEAM , mc guyver , magnum p.i , knight rider , crappy shows, looking back but which the whole family could enjoy

Mr sinister

I think ITV has seriously been hit by not going onto Sky, we never watch it anymore at home mainly because we never know what is going to be on it and we can't be bothered to buy the RTÉ Guide just for ITV

Liam Byrne

Mr sinister wrote: »

I think ITV has seriously been hit by not going onto Sky, we never watch it anymore at home mainly because we never know what is going to be on it and we can't be bothered to buy the RTÉ Guide just for ITV

Think TV3 and change 2 programmes. And you're not missing anything because most of it is so-called "reality" rubbish with so-called "celebrities".

There are still a few decent programmes around, but unfortunately they're being repeated so often that there is no point in staying in to see it; if you do, it'll probably be a repeat and the chances are that it will be on the same channel (or a different channel) 3 hours later.

I barely even bother to check Scrubs, Two & A Half Men, CSI, or The Simpsons anymore, because chances are it's an episode that I've already seen earlier that week....

....mind you, fair play to RTE (ridiculously referred to as "bog 1 & 2" earlier, considering they rarely bother with the ridiculous "reality" crap or "z-celeb" obsessions) because there was actually a new episode on earlier this week.

So if they ditched about 100 of the stations, the "reality" or "celeb" ****e (or the even worse "celeb / wife of celeb plus reality" ****e, and the bottom of the barrel "celeb because they were on reality TV + reality TV" ****e) and left the half-decent shows on, no repeats, at a fixed time every week, maybe people would go back to appreciating TV, and staying in to watch a show at a given timeslot.

There are a few decent shows in every decade, but throwing them on-air and repeating them ad-nauseum the way the satellite stations do devalues the quality and does away with the necessity to make them an integral part of your week.

Mr sinister

I will give RTÉ credit they do seem to get exclusives on most of the best American shows around Friends/CSI/Desperate Housewives etc. which is probably why they have nothing to spend on their own shows

I thought as much for ITV anyway

speedboatchase

I'm gonna from 1999 onwards:

Sopranos
Band of Brothers
The West Wing
The Wire
Six Feet Under
Lost
Dexter
Futurama
True Blood
Entourage
Mad Men
30 Rock
Extras
The Office

OP is wrong imo. Drama got a LOT better in the 00's, sitcoms and game shows died. But the dramas!

Elmo

The 1980s were piss poor for TV with a few odd exceptions like Hill Street Blues but generally it was made up of action adventure e.g. ATeam and McGuiver or old timer detectives e.g. Murder She Wrote and Matlock.

Notable 1980s TV from the states also includes St. Eleswhere, LA Law, Cheers.

The 1990s saw a vast improvement even leading into the 2000s. ER, The Practice, NYPD Blue, Friends, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The X Files, Millennium, The West Wing etc.

The 2000s started off well. CSI and 24 both looked promising and didn't need the gloss that many future shows would choose such as Desprate Housewives and Grey's.... However many of the quality network TV shows really had to follow suit of the big shows rather than leading the way and hence you get a phenomenal amount of CSI spin off shows.

However the big thing this Decade was US cable Television. Which constantly delivers the best TV programming from the states.

In terms of Irish drama I think we have done really well, RAW and The Clinic are both only average and Fair City is a Soap but other then them RTE, TG4 have had a good go at quality drama.

As for the UK. I think they are just getting their "Mojo" back. With the few odd exceptions UK TV hasn't been as strong as the 1980s or 1990s. I think Channel 4 are possible behind the resurgence of UK TV drama rather than either the BBC or ITV who seem to be still focused on Soap Opera such as The Bill, Casualty, Corronation Street, EastEnders etc however this is slowly changing and is not as bad as in the early 2000s when Emmerdale began 7 episodes a week at one stage.

Mr sinister wrote: »

I think ITV has seriously been hit by not going onto Sky, we never watch it anymore at home mainly because we never know what is going to be on it and we can't be bothered to buy the RTÉ Guide just for ITV

I don't think ITV really care that they don't have the Republic's audience. I believe ITV problems stem from the lack of regional focus and competition from other ITV companies.

There was a time up to the 1990s that only RTE channels were listed in the RTE Guide.

Mr sinister wrote: »

I will give RTÉ credit they do seem to get exclusives on most of the best American shows around Friends/CSI/Desperate Housewives etc. which is probably why they have nothing to spend on their own shows

RTE spend about 20,000,000 on imports. Sky spend 1,000,000 per episode for Lost, nearly all of RTEs import budget.

Mr sinister

Elmo wrote: »

I don't think ITV really care that they don't have the Republic's audience. I believe ITV problems stem from the lack of regional focus and competition from other ITV companies.

I wasn't really saying that ITV is poor because they don't have the Republics audience, I was merely stating that shows from it won't be as noticed here similar to BBC3 where BBC I think has hid a lot of their good shows

Elmo wrote: »

RTE spend about 20,000,000 on imports. Sky spend 1,000,000 per episode for Lost, nearly all of RTEs import budget.

But yet they still show it here first