Close it down and sell it off! - Louis [Article]

Lenny Lovett

Louis is peed off with RTE!! Again!!

By Ken Sweeney
Irish Independent Friday August 20 2010
POP manager Louis Walsh has launched an astonishing attack on RTE in which he called for the state broadcaster to be sold off and shut down.
Branding the station's top personalities as "the same old faces", he compared management at the national broadcaster to civil servants and said they should all be sacked.
"RTE need new faces and new attitude. They launched their new schedule and it was the same old faces who I'm fed up of looking at. RTE is the civil service. It's a big building with all these people doing nothing. RTE should be sold off and the people running it sacked, " he told the Irish Independent.
A spokeswoman for RTE said: "As always, Louis is entitled to his own self-serving opinion."
Walsh made the comments at the launch of rival station TV3's autumn schedule in which he features as a judge on ITV reality show 'X Factor'.
Walsh (58) contrasted the success of the independent broadcaster, now the second most watched TV station in Ireland ahead of RTE2, and that of the state broadcaster.
"How are TV3 so successful when they have a smaller budget and only one little studio?" he asked.
"While all the time RTE are losing millions and millions.
"They call RTE 'the station of the cross'. God knows it's true. We have all been suffering for years. It has to end soon. Please," he added.

Bard

Any chance we can close Louis Walsh down and sell him off?


..How much would we get for him?

todolist

Louis is right on the money.Couldn't agree more with him.

Lenny Lovett

todolist wrote: »

Louis is right on the money.Couldn't agree more with him.

Ah, I don't know. Louis's peed off because they don't play wall to wall Westlife and Boyzone but he does get a fair bit of airtime really. But we need a National (Public) Broadcaster. It needs a total overhaul with particular attention to their spending. They over pay some 'names'. Hoard foreign bought TV shows to stop TV3 getting them but don't broadcast them. Again, using or mis-using their considerable financial resources.

todolist

Lenny Lovett wrote: »

Ah, I don't know. Louis's peed off because they don't play wall to wall Westlife and Boyzone but he does get a fair bit of airtime really. But we need a National (Public) Broadcaster. It needs a total overhaul with particular attention to their spending. They over pay some 'names'. Hoard foreign bought TV shows to stop TV3 getting them but don't broadcast them. Again, using or mis-using their considerable financial resources.

Why do we need a national broadcaster? RTE has a dismal history of service to the tax payer.It should be privatised.The endless threatning advertisments for the hard strapped public to cough up the license money so they can overpay their mediocre staff is wearing thin.Sell the damn thing off as soon as possible.

prunudo

He wasn't complaining when he hosted 'Celebrity Sundays' on 2FM :rolleyes:

Sids Not

Another wancer who fcuks off across the water then starts having a go at Ireland...why do people listen to these idiots...:rolleyes:

Wertz

Sids Not wrote: »

Another wancer who fcuks off across the water then starts having a go at Ireland...why do people listen to these idiots...:rolleyes:

Perhaps because they bring a perspective back from how they've seen things done in the UK or elsewhere?
Don't get me wrong, I have zero time for Walsh and the crap he peddles, but I'm in agreement with his take on the whole RTÉ issue and have raised the same issues on here and in TV forum over the years...his reference to montrose management as just another bunch of civil servants is spot on.

One thing on the article though:

RTÉ should be sold off and shut down

Qué? Who the hell is going to buy it only to shut it down? lol

It needs restructuring, some serious downsizing, a harsh dose of economic reality and some new fresh talent, at least at the yoof end of anything they output.
That said, I feel we do need a state broadcaster...although not an "on behalf of the State" broadcaster. I would fear the day every radio station in this country is a private entity owned by the like of communicorp...we need diversity and real choice...something I don't think purely commercial radio offers (and something RTÉ have seriously dropped the ball on)...

One last thing:

Walsh wrote:

"How are TV3 so successful when they have a smaller budget and only one little studio?"

Because we have a country half full of idiots who are only too willing to lap up the drivel they output?
...and possibly because so much of RTÉ's TV output falls wide of the mark in terms of mass appeal, or more precisely they target so much of their primetime output at a narrow audience that they appear to think is vastly bigger than what it is; ie; they're out of touch.

baalthor

Walsh also wants RTE's music output to consist of 30% Irish acts.

Poly

baalthor wrote: »

Walsh also wants RTE's music output to consist of 30% Irish acts.

No problem with that a long as there is 0% boy band crap.

baalthor

Poly wrote: »

No problem with that a long as there is 0% boy band crap.

Ha, ha! I don't think Louis is thinking of wall to wall Planxty :-D

Liam Byrne

Walsh made the comments at the launch of rival station TV3's autumn schedule in which he features as a judge on ITV reality show 'X Factor'.

So he likes TV3 showing a crap UK TV show in which he participates and pretends that they actually discover and promote talent, rather than stumbling across the latest clone of whatever they found last year, and then objects to a station that doesn't waste its time on such rubbish ?

He simultaneously castigates RTE for not playing more Irish bands (although I doubt he means bands, since I've never seen one of his charges play an instrument) and then gives the thumbs up to TV3 airing a show that has 99.9% UK acts ?

If the guy was serious then he'd get TV3 to create a show that featured Irish acts; not that I'm encouraging him, mind, because there's no way that decent Irish musicians and singers and talent would get aired if it were a Louis Walsh production.

****e of the highest order.

Donkey Oaty

A spokeswoman for RTE said: "As always, Louis is entitled to his own self-serving opinion."

That's a good one-liner for an official statement. Give that spokeswoman her own show!

Fulton Crown

Hope the RTE fookoos lash the shoes deep into Walshe's klakers after his latest silly statement.

Fcukin cnunt is the prototype gombeen man...foolin enough of the people enough of the time to make a sh1tload of brass.

Peddling a load of talentless knobs for just long enough to part a few stupid punters from their hard earned....

Shane10

hes right though, same faces every year, same crappy programmes.

billy the squid

If we didnt have RTE we would nothing but shocking and gripping ITV shows to watch.

hotmail.com

One of the reasons why TV3 has to show imported programmes is because RTE use their unfair advantage to buy the rights of particular events (eg the World Cup) to keep TV3 poor. There was absolutely no public service reason fro RTE to broadcast the World Cup. Why not let TV3 show it and let them make some money.

Whatever the reasons for Louis's comments, he certainly does have a point. When Gerry Ryan died, they picked an RTE stalwart.

gerk86

bit hypocritical really as he churns out the same sh*tty generic pop acts one after the other.

Big Tone

Louis is a just actin the beatch again! If he's not whinging about quitting X Factory he cribbing over 2fm not playing his records...he's just an old moaner, a grumpy old beatch!

General Zod

Ronan Collins gave Walsh a savage verbal beating a few years ago on radio, was great to listen to.

Sergeant

General Zod wrote: »

Ronan Collins gave Walsh a savage verbal beating a few years ago on radio, was great to listen to.

http://www.tribune.ie/archive/article/2008/dec/21/hallelujah-rte-dj-refuses-to-play-x-factor-winner/

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/louis-walsh-rage-as-rte-dj-gives-6-of-the-best-to--bands-awful-single-321425.html

hotmail.com

General Zod wrote: »

Ronan Collins gave Walsh a savage verbal beating a few years ago on radio, was great to listen to.

Ronan Collins makes a ridiculously large amount of money for 5 hours a week work. I doubt Louis or anyone else listens to his opinion.

Some begrudge Louis's success and wealth.

Liam Byrne

hotmail.com wrote: »

Ronan Collins makes a ridiculously large amount of money for 5 hours a week work. I doubt Louis or anyone else listens to his opinion.

Some begrudge Louis's success and wealth.

5 hours a week work ?

Firstly (and I had to check the RTE website's schedule page, so you could easily have) he's on from 11.30 to 1, which would make 7.5 hours on air - 50% more than you claimed.

Secondly, you have any idea the amount of work that goes into a proper radio show ?

Presenters don't just turn up and push the "on" button on the microphone.

But let's follow your logic for a while - how much does Louis Walsh get paid for his 2 hours a week work ?

JonathanAnon

Liam Byrne wrote: »

5 hours a week work ? Firstly (and I had to check the RTE website's schedule page, so you could easily have) he's on from 11.30 to 1, which would make 7.5 hours on air - 50% more than you claimed.

I dont think you're being fair here Liam. It is USUALLY 5 hours a week 12-1pm. It was 1.5 hours while all the messing round with holidays (and Tubridy leaving) was going on.. I'm not sure the plan is to keep him on 11.30am-1pm, it's something I was actually trying to find out.

Secondly, you have any idea the amount of work that goes into a proper radio show ?

I reckon there is not a huge amount of work that goes into Collin's show, as opposed to the other RTE Shows. He just plays a string of old songs, that he pretty much could have prepared 2 years in advance.. he just reads the requests from Joe Duffy's screen. He doesnt research topical issues or prepare for interviews in advance, so in that way I guess he's similar to Tubridy

Rubik.

Maxi manages to do it and produce the show as well. So I don't think its that taxing.

The 11.30 to 1.00 thing was only for the summer afaik. Should be back to normal next week, or maybe the week after.

Liam Byrne

Just saw an ad for a TV3 "documentary" where the two eejits that Walsh is currently flogging come out with some bull**** about "You don't hate us, you hate that you're not us"!

Sorry to break your deluded bubble lads, but ye're irritating, ye've zero talent (remember that ye were only kept in that show that ye didn't win because ye were so useless) and I wouldn't be ye in a million years!

JonathanAnon

Yeah that ad bugs me as well.... Louis in his usual ADHD voice "The lads are soo busy working right now they have a really bright future."... He will ditch them so quickly once X Factor kicks off again for real.... He's exploits these young kids and gets rich off their backs...

I'd say the Carter Twins are still "busy working" in BurgerKing.

Minstrel27

hotmail.com wrote: »

One of the reasons why TV3 has to show imported programmes is because RTE use their unfair advantage to buy the rights of particular events (eg the World Cup) to keep TV3 poor. There was absolutely no public service reason fro RTE to broadcast the World Cup. Why not let TV3 show it and let them make some money.

LOL. Poor TV3 is it? RTÉ is the reason why they mimic ITV's prime time schedule? Give over FFS. TV3 has always dumped good programmes from their schedules to show bull**** like that celebrity in the jungle crap.

hotmail.com

JonathanAnon wrote: »

I dont think you're being fair here Liam. It is USUALLY 5 hours a week 12-1pm. It was 1.5 hours while all the messing round with holidays (and Tubridy leaving) was going on.. I'm not sure the plan is to keep him on 11.30am-1pm, it's something I was actually trying to find out.



I reckon there is not a huge amount of work that goes into Collin's show, as opposed to the other RTE Shows. He just plays a string of old songs, that he pretty much could have prepared 2 years in advance.. he just reads the requests from Joe Duffy's screen. He doesnt research topical issues or prepare for interviews in advance, so in that way I guess he's similar to Tubridy

Excellent post. Ronan plays about 8 or 9 songs a day for less than an hour. He starts at five past 12, loses a few minutes with the Nuacht, what's coming up on Duffy etc. He has a nice comfy job and some poster wants to defend him! It's the licence fee that pays Collins' wage, Louis gets his privately.

todolist

Louis Walsh promotes Ireland at every opportunity he gets.He got The X factor to come to Dublin.You couldn't buy the free Ad that gave Ireland on English TV.

DublinWriter

Fulton Crown wrote: »

Fcukin cnunt is the prototype gombeen man...foolin enough of the people enough of the time to make a sh1tload of brass.

...and the problem is? Oh yeah, we Irish don't like our own getting successful, silly me.

While I dislike Louis Walsh on both a personal and professional level and think that he's a carcinogenic agent in the music business, he is right on the money regarding RTE.

The Montrose 'campus' is basically the biggest staff car-park smack bang in prime-real estate D4 land.

RTE have become an irrelevancy with most of the middle to senior managers being nothing but TP'ers (Civil Service slang for those who only drink tea and go pee).

Where's Pol Pot and Year Zero when you need them?