What TV Network is Better? - RTE OR BBC?

Elmo

Minstrel27 wrote: »

Do you not think that the BBC news bulletins are good for Irish news? Perhaps mikom can tell us how the BBC are better at that.

Mikom is again trying to suggest that RTÉ and the BBC are alike. He seems to be of the opinion that RTÉ is over funded and that the BBC are not. Should we want a service like the BBC we would need to increase our TV Licence to about €3000 per year this would provide RTÉ the ability to increase investment across all genres, this would help RTÉ launch several worldwide services, remove the need for advertising on Television and Radio, launch several more Digital only TV channels, employ 10 times as more staff, go into business with several large multinationals such as Virgin Media, Discovery Channel Inc and have a strong portfolio of print media. (BBC commercial output provides the BBC with 1billion in revenue).

BBC = £4.5Billion
RTÉ = €374Million (Less then the total budget for BBC News (€400m) which benefits greatly from the BBC's greater economies of scale).

etchyed

RobitTV wrote: »

What TV Network is better?
RTE Or BBC?

Vote in the Poll aswell

Neither is a network.

mikom

Elmo wrote: »

Mikom is again trying to suggest that RTÉ and the BBC are alike. He seems to be of the opinion that RTÉ is over funded and that the BBC are not. Should we want a service like the BBC we would need to increase our TV Licence to about €3000 per year this would provide RTÉ the ability to increase investment across all genres, this would help RTÉ launch several worldwide services, remove the need for advertising on Television and Radio, launch several more Digital only TV channels, employ 10 times as more staff, go into business with several large multinationals such as Virgin Media, Discovery Channel Inc and have a strong portfolio of print media. (BBC commercial output provides the BBC with 1billion in revenue).

I don't want any of that.
I would be happy with one Irish TV station.
No concert orchestras or any of that other jazz.

How much ya gonna try and charge me for that.

Elmo

mikom wrote: »

I don't want any of that.
I would be happy with one Irish TV station.
No concert orchestras or any of that other jazz.

How much ya gonna try and charge me for that.

Well then the BBC seem to have the same problems. BBC One costs £1.4bill so I am guessing I could throw it down to about €600. (€300 if I could show advertising).

The "TV" Licence is a bad description, but it is based on people with TVs not what it pays for.

Minstrel27

mikom wrote: »

How much ya gonna try and charge me for that.

As you do not pay then why would you even care.

I notice how you say "I don't want" and "I would be happy with." It's not all about you.

mikom

Minstrel27 wrote: »

As you do not pay then why would you even care.

I don't pay taxes to Robert Mugabe either.
Still have my views on his unjustness though.

Minstrel27 wrote: »

I notice how you say "I don't want" and "I would be happy with." It's not all about you.

That is abundantly clear.

Elmo

mikom wrote: »

I don't pay taxes to Robert Mugabe either.
Still have my views on his unjustness though.

That is abundantly clear.

Well that end this discussion as someone starts talking about a dictator (in fairness it's not Hitler).

There is no "I" in country, but then there is no "I" in lots of words.

mjsmyth

Is RTE News aimed at the Irish public: Yes
Is BBC News aimed at the Irish public: No
Winner: RTE

Is RTE Sports aimed at the Irish public: Yes
Is BBC Sports aimed at the Irish public: Very rarely.
Winner: RTE

Is Fair City rubbish: Yes
Is East Enders rubbish: Yes
Winner: Neither.

Does RTE have Gary Lineker as a sports presenter: No
Does BBC have Gary Lineker as a sports presenter: Yes
Winner: RTE

Does RTE have Ryan Tubridy as a presenter: Yes
Does BBC have Ryan Tubridy as a sports presenter: No
Winner: BBC

Do both the BBC and RTE produce rubbish TV? Yes.
Do both the BBC and RTE produce good TV? Yes.

One could go on and on with such questions, but it is pointless. As others have pointed out, the BBC have a budget many times the size of the RTE budget. Like it or not, money plays a big part in the quality of programming. It also allows the BBC to pay for quality presenters.

RTE comes in for a lot of abuse on these and other forums, generally from people who say "oh I don't watch RTE, it is rubbish".. How do you know if you don't watch it???

RTE will never be the BBC. RTE could improve in some areas, but it is by no means a terrible service and the ratings consistently prove that.

mj

mikom

Elmo wrote: »

There is no "I" in country, but then there is no "I" in lots of words.

There's one in Extortion.

Elmo

mikom wrote: »

There's one in Extortion.

It's clear now you work for a bank

Minstrel27

How is it extortion if you don't pay for it?

lyndonjones

Some of your points are valid and I agree Rte do make some good programmes but some are pure tripe but what really annoys me is the crazy wages some of these presenters earn and also the way they think that just coz you might be a decent radio presenter that it also means you will suit Tv. Gerry RYan n Dave Fanning being a couple of examples.

Yes BBC have a huge budget in comparison but look at what they produce excellent shoes and wonderful Tv coverage.

Will RTE gives us HD Tv?? I doubt it. Digital is taking long enough and they are deciding to use Mpeg4 and unless you Lcd/ LED Tv is very new it means you need Another set topbox to receive the signal!!!


Thanks Rte

mjsmyth wrote: »

Is RTE News aimed at the Irish public: Yes
Is BBC News aimed at the Irish public: No
Winner: RTE

Is RTE Sports aimed at the Irish public: Yes
Is BBC Sports aimed at the Irish public: Very rarely.
Winner: RTE

Is Fair City rubbish: Yes
Is East Enders rubbish: Yes
Winner: Neither.

Does RTE have Gary Lineker as a sports presenter: No
Does BBC have Gary Lineker as a sports presenter: Yes
Winner: RTE

Does RTE have Ryan Tubridy as a presenter: Yes
Does BBC have Ryan Tubridy as a sports presenter: No
Winner: BBC

Do both the BBC and RTE produce rubbish TV? Yes.
Do both the BBC and RTE produce good TV? Yes.

One could go on and on with such questions, but it is pointless. As others have pointed out, the BBC have a budget many times the size of the RTE budget. Like it or not, money plays a big part in the quality of programming. It also allows the BBC to pay for quality presenters.

RTE comes in for a lot of abuse on these and other forums, generally from people who say "oh I don't watch RTE, it is rubbish".. How do you know if you don't watch it???

RTE will never be the BBC. RTE could improve in some areas, but it is by no means a terrible service and the ratings consistently prove that.

mj

Minstrel27

lyndonjones wrote: »

Will RTE gives us HD Tv?? I doubt it. Digital is taking long enough and they are deciding to use Mpeg4 and unless you Lcd/ LED Tv is very new it means you need Another set topbox to receive the signal!!!

Yes they will give us HD. In fact I am receiving their test HD transmission right now.

You are actually going to criticise RTÉ for using a more modern standard compared to what was used in the UK? If it was a case of us being the only country in the whole world to use MPEG4 then you might have a point but guess what, we're not.

Unbelievable.

BTW, the BBC also make **** tv shows.

lyndonjones

Minstrel27 wrote: »

Yes they will give us HD. In fact I am receiving their test HD transmission right now.

You are actually going to criticise RTÉ for using a more modern standard compared to what was used in the UK? If it was a case of us being the only country in the whole world to use MPEG4 then you might have a point but guess what, we're not.

Unbelievable.



BTW, the BBC also make **** tv shows.

Unbelievable!! Yep like RTE's DAB radio service. Unless u live in Dublin, Limerick or Cork then hard cheese.

Yes BBC make poor shows also but we have a knackof making so many poor programs - winning streak, the panel, the daily show.these are not riveting viewing are they??

And the wages they receive! Are these justified??? 900k a year for someof them!!!

Minstrel27

lyndonjones wrote: »

And the wages they receive! Are these justified??? 900k a year for someof them!!!

Who is currently receiving 900k per annum at RTÉ?

Elmo

lyndonjones wrote: »

Unbelievable!! Yep like RTE's DAB radio service. Unless u live in Dublin, Limerick or Cork then hard cheese.

Yes BBC make poor shows also but we have a knackof making so many poor programs - winning streak, the panel, the daily show.these are not riveting viewing are they??

And the wages they receive! Are these justified??? 900k a year for someof them!!!

Firstly Dave Fanning isn't on anything like that, I don't know how much he gets paid but it is way below the top 5 earners and the 5 after that. And yes wages for some of the people in RTÉ got out of control AFAIC. But then I don't think high wages are justified even in the Private sector.

RTÉ do make poor show as you point out but lets just remember that the BBC have a handy knack of make riveting shows like - DIY SOS, In it to win it, EggHeads, Cash in the Attic, The One Show. And we could continue to provide lists of shows that RTÉ and BBC make that aren't good.

As pointed out the BBC have a vast of amount of money to make vast amounts of programming, those the vasts amounts of bad programmes that they produce each year are overshadowed by the good ones.

lyndonjones

Minstrel27 wrote: »

Who is currently receiving 900k per annum at RTÉ?

Enough was mentioned in papers before of some of the high earners that appear on Radio and TV earning these figures

P Kenny earned €950K in 2008 earned €922K in 2007

Gerry Ryan earned €629K in 2008

Tubridy earned €533K in 2008 up from €366K in 2007, how much is he earning now!!!???!!



They may have taken pay cuts due to public outrage BUT still they earn too much for what they do.

Official figures I mentioned above are to be found here --->
http://www.rte.ie/ten/2009/1009/rte.html


Don't forget this is the country where our leader earns more the the President of the USA!!

Go figure.

I can't see how we can justify these salaries when we don't get enough quality on our TV.

lyndonjones

We need to make programs that we are good at...


1. Programmes about our culture - "Along the west road" etc

2. Current affairs - "Frontline" (IMHO This is where Pat Kenny is best suited and does a great job hosting) and "Prime Time"

and not programmes such as..."Saturday night live" with Brendan O'Connor or Miriam O'C. The Panel - these are pretty poor fare IMHO.

Elmo

lyndonjones wrote: »

I can't see how we can justify these salaries when we don't get enough quality on our TV.

I don't think that these salaries can be justified even if there was enough quality TV on our screens. No one here is suggesting that the top earners in RTÉ aren't earning too much. That is something that we can all agree with IMO.

I think however if you want to continue to describe RTÉ in relation to the BBC then you have to look at the top earns in the BBC, J. Ross who just left to go to ITV was on 6m per year but then the UK is a far larger country blah blah blah (not that I ever suggested that the BBC had far more resources than RTÉ :rolleyes:).

In relation to DAB and DTT RTÉ unlike the BBC have had to go it alone the BBC had their licence fee increased to support the role out of such services and they also had the backing of the private sector.

lyndonjones wrote: »

and not programmes such as..."Saturday night live" with Brendan O'Connor or Miriam O'C. The Panel - these are pretty poor fare IMHO.

You could say the same about Gramham Norton on the BBC.

I agree RTÉ need to get their act together in relation to Entertainment. It can't just be about Information and Education, you also need Entertainment. You cannot just look at a few Public Service Broadcasts and ignore Entertainment IMO.

lyndonjones

I think however if you want to continue to describe RTÉ in relation to the BBC then you have to look at the top earns in the BBC, J. Ross who just left to go to ITV was on 6m per year but then the UK is a far larger country blah blah blah (not that I ever suggested that the BBC had far more resources than RTÉ :rolleyes:).

Point taken - J Ross, another over paid muppet.
(Just read in the paper that Wayne Rooneys wages are 10% of the total players salaries and it takes 7,000 fans through the gates just to pay his weekly wage!! - off topic I know!!!! Just pointing out how out of touch celebs are)

In relation to DAB and DTT RTÉ unlike the BBC have had to go it alone the BBC had their licence fee increased to support the role out of such services and they also had the backing of the private sector.

RTE have enough revenue streams - Licence, advertising, selling of home made programmes etc etc, They are too slow in making changes. I am lucky to live in an area of DAB but it shouldn't be the way.


If I am not mistaken RTE had a licence increase a few years ago not sure about private sector backing.

I think we have to realise that our revenue pool is limited and thus RTE should maximise the revenue they receive - let's face it the recent "Hardy Bucks" (Youtube if I am correct) - was that any good? I watched 5 mins of it and that was enough for me. Or the recent travel log of some paddies making fools of themselves abroad - forget the name.
Hector or Daithi on indulgent trips across the globe - not entertainment really.



You could say the same about Gramham Norton on the BBC.

Agree with you here.

I agree RTÉ need to get their act together in relation to Entertainment. It can't just be about Information and Education, you also need Entertainment. You cannot just look at a few Public Service Broadcasts and ignore Entertainment IMO

Again I agree but RTE don't seem to have the wherewithal to produce decent light entertainment and nowadays it us produced by independent companies anyway. Don't forget the passed up on "Father Ted" - talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth!!!!

Elmo

They didn't pass up Fr. Ted as mentioned time and time again, they were never offered it.

TG4 is not RTÉ, IMO TG4 have a better idea of Light Entertainment (Daithi and Hector) mixed with other PBS that they provide.

The international television sales market is a difficult one which is monopolized by the US, the UK come next followed by Australia. (Spanish speaking regions also do well in that arena but NBC/Universal have their eye on that market.)

They have sold some dramas such as The Clinic abroad, some cartoons and some formats.

You can quote some one by pressing the quote button on the right hand side of their post or by using the quote tags [ QUOTE ] [ / QUOTE] remove the spaces between the tags.

RTE have enough revenue streams - Licence, advertising, selling of home made programmes etc etc, They are too slow in making changes. I am lucky to live in an area of DAB but it shouldn't be the way.

RTÉ's licence fee was not increased for several years meaning that during the 80s and 90s is was one of the lowest in Europe, it wasn't until 2001 that a regular review of the price was taken, it has been frozen for more than 3 years now and is unlike to go up. Advertising and other revenue isn't their to support the role out of DTT or DAB. I always suggested that tests for Digital should take place in areas with bad reception first, rather than big urban centres with either a high number of FM radio stations or a large take up of Pay TV.

mikom

lyndonjones wrote: »

P Kenny earned €950K in 2008 earned €922K in 2007

Gerry Ryan earned €629K in 2008

Tubridy earned €533K in 2008 up from €366K in 2007, how much is he earning now!!!???!!

One glaring omission.
Marian Finucane received €570,000 for 4 hours radio a week in 2008......... and she has someone filling in for her half the time.
At an estimate of 39 out of 52 weeks a year thats over 14 thousand Euro a week folks.
The mind boggles.

More Music

The BBC initially passed on Fawlty Towers. How close were they to looking said gift horse in mouth?

The exact same argument goes on across the water with people complaining about the BBC and comparing it with other state broadcasters (sometimes even RTE!).

If you compare the RTE of 12 years ago to today, they actually have vastly improved.

BTW, Hardy Bucks was originally made for You Tube by some lads in Mayo. They later entered an open competition run by RTE (Storyland) and the winners of a public vote had their programmes commissioned.

So, while you might not have liked Hardy Bucks, other members of the license paying public voted for it to be made.

The problem is RTE can't please all of the people all of the time.....the BBC have the same problem, and ITV etc. etc.

lyndonjones

More Music wrote: »

The BBC initially passed on Fawlty Towers. How close were they to looking said gift horse in mouth?

Didn't know that! Bigger horse than Father Ted eh!

The exact same argument goes on across the water with people complaining about the BBC and comparing it with other state broadcasters (sometimes even RTE!).

If you compare the RTE of 12 years ago to today, they actually have vastly improved.

Agree they have improved and so have all others.

BTW, Hardy Bucks was originally made for You Tube by some lads in Mayo. They later entered an open competition run by RTE (Storyland) and the winners of a public vote had their programmes commissioned.

So, while you might not have liked Hardy Bucks, other members of the license paying public voted for it to be made.

The problem is RTE can't please all of the people all of the time.....the BBC have the same problem, and ITV etc. etc.

Totally agree not everyone is going to be happy and so there ends the thread!

Comparing RTE to BBC is unjust IMHO.

BUT RTE do need to make what they do count.

Minstrel27

lyndonjones wrote: »

BUT RTE do need to make what they do count.

I don't think that anyone could disagree with this

watty

Bring back Frank Hall and Bosco

lyndonjones

watty wrote: »

Bring back Frank Hall and Bosco

Halls Pictorial Weekly!!!!

Ahhhhh! The memories

Sam Russell

watty wrote: »

Bring back Frank Hall and Bosco

And 'Scrap Saturday' Mind you, it would have so many targets, it would be like a turkey shoot. On second thoughts, it is the turkeys in charge that need shooting.

lawhec

The BBC versus RTÉ? No contest, the BBC wins. However, it would be very unfair to think of RTÉ as small time - it does not have access to the same level of resources that the BBC has, has a different audience to aim at in cultural respects but most importantly, they are not in direct competition - the only thing the BBC can in theory challenge RTÉ on is audience figures as a threat to RTÉ's advertising income, but of course the BBC can't gain anything really from that.

Although some of the presenters are IMO overpaid and underworked (and RTÉ can pretty much laugh off any threat of a commercial rival offering the same amount of money), RTÉ doesn't do bad with many areas that they engage in as a PSB and in entertainment. Stuff like Winning Streak may look tame and clichéd compared to more sparking British offers, but they're not that badly off for it. Sports coverage for soccer, rugby, gaelic games etc. I find good in general (and the slack often picked up by TG4).

Now, from personal experience, RTÉ vs. ABC Australia - for television, it's RTÉ hands down. For radio, ABC just slightly shades it (though ABC's Triple J is very different to 2FM and they don't have a second language broadcaster leaving their radio output very heavy on spoken word outside of Triple J and ABC Classic FM). Certainly when I came back from Oz last year I said to myself that RTÉ deserves some slack cut, and that Irish viewers are too spoiled by the main UK broadcasters.

Minstrel27

Some of the PSB's on the continent are pretty ****e in comparison to RTÉ also.