RTE Clocks (daft question)

Onthe3rdDay

This is very nerdy question but when you get two people in a pub all types of questions come up.

When starting the days broadcast on RTE1 The clock would appear 15 minutes before the first programme. Exceptions to the rule were Newcomers and Announcements for the trade. The clock appeared for just 5 minutes at that time.

On RTE 2 the clock appeared 10 minutes before the first programme of the day.

Can anyone confirm those details?

cml387

Oh the nostalgia.

You mentioned Newcomers.All the new ads were broadcast together,divided into their timings (30 second, 15 seconds etc.).
One Saturday morning,and my memory of this is hazy,RTE showed a series of (I think) award wining adverstisements from other countries.I seem to remember a particularly effective and gruesome road safety ad featuring smashing cars on a motorway.

I'm sorry I can't answer your question on the clocks.The fifteen minutes sounds about right.Six o'clock on RTE in the summer and five thirty in winter,starting with Captain Zeppos.

icdg

Sounds right, but can't confirm. It seemed to be longer in the Network (Network Network Network Network) 2 era.

The last clock RTÉ One used was for its 1995-1998 look. This was the infamous "with the time passing us by" clock whereby the hands would often go for a bit of a wander round the screen. It didn't work properly and was retired and not replaced. The very last clock RTÉ used was for N2 in 1997 which was a digital version used only before News 2. It didn't last long.

SPDUB

Why did RTE stop using clocks ?

I heard the BBC stopped using clocks because of the delay of digital transmission but wouldn't the Sky deal only have introduced that problem for RTE a few years after they actually stopped using them ?

Elmo

I just thought they went out of fashion.

I was sure the clocks ran for longer, with RTÉ Radio 1 broadcast for the soundtrack on RTÉ One and 2FM over the Network 2 clock. Don't remember the newcomers ads before the clock. Network 2 often had the menu rotating.

Elmo

Elmo wrote: »

I just thought they went out of fashion.

I was sure the clocks ran for longer, with RTÉ Radio 1 broadcast for the soundtrack on RTÉ One and 2FM over the Network 2 clock. Don't remember the newcomers ads before the clock. Network 2 often had the menu rotating.

The BBC actually commissioned a clock for their "dancers" era idents but decided not to use it.

When did RTÉ begin using Radio 1 and Radio 2/2FM audio on the test cards?

Mike 1972

Remember sometime in the mid-late 1980's RTE had a clock on which the minute and hour hands were barely visible on a B&W TV but the second hand was peak white (or as near as.....)

Karsini wrote: »

When did RTÉ begin using Radio 1 and Radio 2/2FM audio on the test cards?

Mid 1990's (with the fact "advertised" on their teletext tech info page for at least five years thereafter)

Not sure why this wasnt done from day 1 TBH. A lot of stations on the continent did it.

brick man

I know this is an old thread but I have fond memorys of the RTE clocks when i was growing up . during the 80s and up to 1995 the RTE 1 clock would be on for 15 minutes .From 1995 it was on for 10 minutes. Over on Network 2 it was 9 minutes showing list of what was on and then clock for final minute , then in 1995 the clock was on for roughly 9 minutes then station would come on air and then the announcer would go through the line up of programmes . How do i know I have some old recordings just for nostalgia, I think this was golden era of tv .

Onthe3rdDay

brick man wrote: »

I know this is an old thread but I have fond memorys of the RTE clocks when i was growing up . during the 80s and up to 1995 the RTE 1 clock would be on for 15 minutes .From 1995 it was on for 10 minutes. Over on Network 2 it was 9 minutes showing list of what was on and then clock for final minute , then in 1995 the clock was on for roughly 9 minutes then station would come on air and then the announcer would go through the line up of programmes . How do i know I have some old recordings just for nostalgia, I think this was golden era of tv .

Well I don't know it was the golden age, but from my own personal perspective it was part of my childhood. There is a huge nostalgia about the clocks. Like being at home from school with a cold (that always improved once you knew you weren't going to school) and watching the School's programmes on RTE and the Technical Information bulletin.

Just to point out shows that weren't on the schedule like this one, the clock would appear for five minutes before the card with the start time.

Copyerselveson

Of course there were also other hidden programmes in the daytime, Newcomers for upcoming commercials - think it was on a Tuesday morning, and the occasional colour test film, not to the same extent as was on BBC 2 at the time. The only one I can remember was a Bord Failte film, "Ireland of the Welcomes".

Onthe3rdDay

Copyerselveson wrote: »

Of course there were also other hidden programmes in the daytime, Newcomers for upcoming commercials - think it was on a Tuesday morning, and the occasional colour test film, not to the same extent as was on BBC 2 at the time. The only one I can remember was a Bord Failte film, "Ireland of the Welcomes".

Newcomers was great. It was on at 12:30 for a very long time and then moved earlier and earlier. They used to show the :15 :30 and 60 second versions of Ads and it was an education in itself, the bits left in and indeed the bits shifted around in the longer versions of the commercials. They used to always come to an sudden halt with the word críoch with a line over it and under it.

brick man

Yes I remember newcomers and correct clock was only on for 5 mins the same applied when they used to show autumn schedule highlights. I was only referring to general opening of the channels. I do also remember the RTE 1 testcard always came on at 10 in the morning and pages from Aertel on 2 would come on at 11.30 weekday mornings. this was from Cairn hill transmitter . I remember tuning in another transmitter and the testcard would be there no matter what time you were watching during the night

Onthe3rdDay

Well in the South, Mullaghanish transmitter for RTE 2 didn't switch on until 11.30 weekdays for a long time. (if memory is correct) I did find it bizarre that they listed Pages from Aertel as a programme.

icdg

The most infamous memory I have of the RTÉ clock was the final RTÉ One clock, used (in theory) between 1995-1998. One Friday evening introducing the Nine O'Clock News, the hands went floating around the screen. The CA wryly said "and now as time passes us by". Not longer after the clock was dumped, never to reappear (though RTÉ would have one last clock, the N2 clock introduced with the 1997 package, which was digital, only ever used into News 2 and unceremoniously dumped not long after the package was launched).

Elmo

icdg wrote: »

(though RTÉ would have one last clock, the N2 clock introduced with the 1997 package, which was digital, only ever used into News 2 and unceremoniously dumped not long after the package was launched).

Dumped as it was suppose to count up to 11PM but RTÉ TWO 11pm news never goes out at 11 on the dot, so they ended up having clocks with 22:59:00 or 22:55:00 or 23:04:00, doesn't work as well in digital.

brick man

I often remember watching the RTE 1 clock from 95 before opening and the water background would keep moving for a total of 12 minutes and then often it would disappear and the hands would be left there by themselves with no background . Thats what i spent my childhood doing watching the clock !

Onthe3rdDay

brick man wrote: »

I often remember watching the RTE 1 clock from 95 before opening and the water background would keep moving for a total of 12 minutes and then often it would disappear and the hands would be left there by themselves with no background . Thats what i spent my childhood doing watching the clock !

I'd be older than you, as my clock was made of Wood and Cardboard rather than not so clever computer generated clocks. It was more likely I watched the clock in the eighties when it would work but RTE itself was on Strike. A good few times I remember the Blue Clock coming up to 9 and then the announcement that there would be no news because of strike action. Then the clock and music before some Czech cartoon would be shown.