New Look RTE News From 26th April.

Onthe3rdDay

Well tonight's supposed to be the night.

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/media-and-marketing/rt%C3%A9-unveils-25-000-television-news-redecoration-1.1774444

It'll be interesting to see the changes, They're taking a leaf out of ARD's book in Germany and relaunching the News on a Saturday rather than Waiting till the start of a New Week. Hopefully they've also remembered RTE News Now.

Elmo

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

Well tonight's supposed to be the night.

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/media-and-marketing/rt%C3%A9-unveils-25-000-television-news-redecoration-1.1774444

It'll be interesting to see the changes, They're taking a leaf out of ARD's book in Germany and relaunching the News on a Saturday rather than Waiting till the start of a New Week. Hopefully they've also remembered RTE News Now.

Nothing about how awful News Now looks, bet they leave the fonts and look of News Now exactly the same come SixOne tonight.

The word news should be in CAPITALS.

icdg

Very nice graphics, though the set hasn't changed much, nor has the music. Titles aren't up to much.

Onthe3rdDay

On first inspection it looks better. The brighter look is more inviting, plus the sports scores were a lot clearer. We won't be able to make a full judgement until we see a full Six One on Monday.

However, RTE NEWS NOW is now totally out of step with the bulletins. The logical thing would have been to change all graphics at the same time.

I will say that the investment that RTE made five years ago is now paying off. They're able to refresh the look of the News with very little spent. So credit where credit is due.

icdg

The problem I suspect is that News Now isn't actually run by RTE News and Current Affairs, but by the web team at RTE Commercial Enterprises Limited. And I'm not sure the extent to which they actually talk to each other (the web teams use of the incorrect names "One News" and "Nine News" being a prime example).

Onthe3rdDay

icdg wrote: »

The problem I suspect is that News Now isn't actually run by RTE News and Current Affairs, but by the web team at RTE Commercial Enterprises Limited. And I'm not sure the extent to which they actually talk to each other (the web teams use of the incorrect names "One News" and "Nine News" being a prime example).

You're probably correct about communication within the wider organisation. Plus it's not like you can go anywhere else if you want Irish TV News. RTE are the only game in town at the weekends, and during the week TV3 only put out one 5 minute bulletin after 6.30pm.

I would presume they'll keep polishing what they've got in preparation for UTV Ireland's News Service.

AwaitYourReply

Well I have read about the changes coming to RTÉ TV News bulletins for some time and I happened to catch the whole of Six One News on RTÉ One on Saturday evening and I was very unimpressed and disappointed to be honest

The backdrop images had only minor/subtle changes while the desk looks no different at all. Any interviews or presentation from within the RTÉ News Studio looks almost the exact same apart from the on-screen idents/graphic visual images and the opening & closing sequences/signature tune update - the general feel of the programme is as before which seems like a pointless exercise altogether. If RTÉ thinks that this refresh ahead of the new Irish TV channel entitled: UTV Ireland next January, then I think RTÉ will need to seriously up it's game as this looks like something we're familiar with already!

For instance, the colour schemes used in new on-screen graphics resembles what was previously introduced to Irish screens by TV3 in their weekday Early Evening News programme entitled: "The 5:30" over 12 months ago! Our national broadcaster, RTÉ is unlikely to halt or stem the outflow of curious Irish TV viewers from switching over with this poor effort which is like a copy of TV3 News on-screen graphics.

Where is the dynamism, creativity and imagination here as if money is tight (which I suspect it is) then this was not the way to be wasting already scarce resources - if you are going to refresh a key home produced live staple TV programme and "make a big song and dance about it" then you would want to make it really feel like a refresh rather than a re-hash of what we have seen before on the same programme or on your main rival's programme. RTÉ looks jaded tired already and UTV Ireland are about to launch here in January which won't be long coming round! New blood in the form of anchors in the RTÉ newsroom would also be very welcome. Wake up RTÉ and get it together.

Elmo

AwaitYourReply wrote: »

For instance, the colour schemes used in new on-screen graphics resembles what was previously introduced to Irish screens by TV3 in their weekday Early Evening News programme entitled: "The 5:30" over 12 months ago! Our national broadcaster, RTÉ is unlikely to halt or stem the outflow of curious Irish TV viewers from switching over with this poor effort which is like a copy of TV3 News on-screen graphics.

A poor effort of a poor effort.

It was fairly clear that the only major changes were going to be the titles and inter-titles. I think is a good freshening up, however the backgrounds to the video monitors (big screens) need to be also freshened up instead the dark blue remains in the background.

The change of pace to the music is nice. I never really liked the 09 look.

JDxtra

Meh.

Why has the RTE News logo got an animated bar? Pointless and distracting.

Don't like the intentional blockyness of the background image on the video wall.

One report showed a screen full of text and then proceeded to have a slow zoom effect into it! Weird and again pointless.

Another report had some horrible clashing text colours which made it almost unreadable.

I hope they didn't pay for this! Seems like a very cheap in-house job (I hope!!).

kn

I only recently got the Freesat in and only now realise how godawful the Saorview channels really are!

Elmo

kn wrote: »

I only recently got the Freesat in and only now realise how god awful the Saorview channels really are!

? Freesat channels outside BBC 1, 2, ITV and C4 aren't much better.

mike65

Elmo wrote: »

? Freesat channels outside BBC 1, 2, ITV and C4 aren't much better.

BBC1 HD
BBC2 HD
BBC3 HD
BBC4 HD
BBC NEWS HD
CBBC HD
Ceebies HD
ITV1 HD
Channel 4 HD
NHK HD
RT HD

and most of the other mainstream channels are far easier to watch than TV3 E3 TG4.

lertsnim

kn wrote: »

I only recently got the Freesat in and only now realise how godawful the Saorview channels really are!

Saorview serves a purpose and does it well. My only complaint is the resolution for the SD channels.


BBC NEWS HD, CBBC HD, Ceebies HD, NHK HD and RT HD are easier to watch than TV3, 3E and TG4? Whatever you're into I guess.

mike65

lertsnim wrote: »

Saorview serves a purpose and does it well. My only complaint is the resolution for the SD channels.


BBC NEWS HD, CBBC HD, Ceebies HD, NHK HD and RT HD are easier to watch than TV3, 3E and TG4? Whatever you're into I guess.

Its pretty clear (geddit) what I'm, on about. You'd go blind trying to watch sport on Saorview SD, you'd just go blind watching TV3 and E3

Elmo

mike65 wrote: »

Its pretty clear (geddit) what I'm, on about. You'd go blind trying to watch sport on Saorview SD, you'd just go blind watching TV3 and E3

I have only looked at TV3 and you notice a distinct difference in quality, you can read the ads in the stadium on UTV HD!

They really should have improved TG4, TV3 and 3e when the new mux went live.

This is OTT.

RED L4 0TH

When do RTE plan to start live studio broadcasts in HD?

icdg

RTÉ News anyone....

Onthe3rdDay

Well the opening of the Six One looked dated tonight. The two presenters were sitting down and it looked like something RTE would have done 20 years ago.

Plus the brighter colours aren't doing the wall any favours. You can see the joins, I doubt the studio is fit for purpose for HD.

I'm watching on a standard 32 inch set and I can sell where borders don't match up on Graphics. It's very obvious with the RTE Sport Graphic and close ups on the anchors.

It's always been that way of course but with darker colours your eyes weren't drawn to flaws. The animation titles are already tired after 2 days. Music is fine.

Onthe3rdDay

Just to point out it does look a lot better on RTE ONE+1, with the softer picture those lines on the wall fade greatly and don't draw the eye. However lessening the quality of the picture isn't really a solution.:D

Sam Russell

Elmo wrote: »

They really should have improved TG4, TV3 and 3e when the new mux went live.

They - TV3 and TG4 have the resolution they pay for, so if it is rubbish - blame them. It has nothing to do with Saorview. They could improve the horizontal resolution to from 576i to 704i for very little cost but much better result.

RTE News Now should go full screen and also go for 704i.

Saorview could be criticised for offering 576i at all. We deserve better.

cranefly

A different shade of blue in the studio background, and a trombone or two added to the opening music, is that it
I thought everything was done with computers now, as in the background graphics, or is that really a board, like on a stage, that music on the six one news has always been annoying in my opinion, it is way too loud, i always go for the remote to turn it down, cbs news on american tv has a way lighter tone, why is everything on rte news such a full orchestra sound.

brick man

I tweeted RTE News Now to find out if their graphics were changing to bring it into line with RTE News and they replied it will be but not for a few weeks yet .

The Cush

Sam Russell wrote: »

RTE News Now should go full screen and also go for 704i.

Saorview could be criticised for offering 576i at all. We deserve better.

Saorview is 544 x 576i now, the vertical resolution 576i remains the same if the horizontal resolution is upped to 704 (704 x 576i).

Sam Russell

The Cush wrote: »

Saorview is 544 x 576i now, the vertical resolution 576i remains the same if the horizontal resolution is upped to 704 (704 x 576i).

You are of course right. I meant 544 should not be offered on Saorview as SD. It should only offer 704 by 576i. Unfortunately, the horizontal resolution is not shown on the TV, only the verticle - hence the mistake.

It is terrible that the RTE NN not only uses poor horizontal resolution, it uses a lot of it to show sidebars of rubbish, along with a tickertape (sort of) that could be dispensed with. It may look OK on a website but on TV it looks cluttered and confusing. If they must have that, then it should be an app using MHEG5 they they went on about at the time of launch.

twinklerunner

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

Well tonight's supposed to be the night.

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/media-and-marketing/rt%C3%A9-unveils-25-000-television-news-redecoration-1.1774444

It'll be interesting to see the changes, They're taking a leaf out of ARD's book in Germany and relaunching the News on a Saturday rather than Waiting till the start of a New Week. Hopefully they've also remembered RTE News Now.

I don't like the look of the new on-screen graphic for RTÉ News - compared to, say, the SKY NEWS logo. It's too big and it's stuck in the 4:3 position.

Rick_

Doesn't look that great, and come on, RTÉ haven't even updated the RTÉ ONE+1 DOG to look the same as the new RTÉ ONE DOG, what made anyone think graphics are their strength. It looks very bland and basic, and News Now when it refreshes in a few weeks (?!) will look just as bad.

Elmo

Paddy C wrote: »

Doesn't look that great, and come on, RTÉ haven't even updated the RTÉ ONE+1 DOG to look the same as the new RTÉ ONE DOG, what made anyone think graphics are their strength. It looks very bland and basic, and News Now when it refreshes in a few weeks (?!) will look just as bad.

It cann't look much worse.

Sam Russell

I think I prefer the cleaner look. Pity it is not carried over to RTE NewNow.

RTE News Now is dreadful, and what is the point of simultaneous transmission of the news on both RTE1 and RTE NN? Why have a sidebar and a tickertape type thingy? It is all too busy and out of focus.

Dreadful.

brick man

Sam you may have missed this I posted on April 29th last ;


I tweeted RTE News Now to find out if their graphics were changing to bring it into line with RTE News and they replied ; It will be but not for a few weeks yet .

Elmo

brick man wrote: »

Sam you may have missed this I posted on April 29th last ;


I tweeted RTE News Now to find out if their graphics were changing to bring it into line with RTE News and they replied ; It will be but not for a few weeks yet .

It doesn't make sense to role out a new look RTÉ News first. If RTÉ had any interest in News Now they would have rolled out a complete new look. The Head of RTÉ News worked as Head of BBC News Channel he knows that you don't roll this out in a piecemeal manner.

In other words I don't believe the twitter account.

brick man

Elmo I would agree with you that it should have been all rolled out at the same time . But this is RTE and the Head of RTE News & Current Affairs does not run News Now it is managed by RTE Digital which is totally wrong . News Now could be much better with a small amount of money , a bit more of a schedule to it would be a start . Kevin Bakhurst as well as head of RTE News is also Deputy D.G., should be looking to bring the Channel under his remit and if it was I would say it would change for the better . If we all can see this why does RTE not. The last time it changed its look was June Bank Holiday last year so it will happen round that time again i guess time will tell !

Sam Russell

brick man wrote: »

Sam you may have missed this I posted on April 29th last ;


I tweeted RTE News Now to find out if their graphics were changing to bring it into line with RTE News and they replied ; It will be but not for a few weeks yet .

No I did not miss it, I did not believe it.

RTE NN is an orphan channel. No support, no income and no interest (from RTE).

Onthe3rdDay

I hardly ever watch this at this stage so perhaps it happened a week ago but they've updated some of their titles but not others, thus making it look WORSE than before. Now for Highlights packages New graphics and Music are used. Item comes on, finishes and up comes the end cap, which is still the old one!

So they decided to change graphics but 5:00pm must have come around too soon. It's a station that really needs the old fashioned Site under construction Sign.

dublinman1990

I was looking at the Six-One titles when it began just a few minutes ago.

Someone in the RTE Newsroom made a mess of their titles when part of it's globe was shown with it's own music was shorter than usual.

Nice one RTE. Keep up the good work. :rolleyes:

Onthe3rdDay

dublinman1990 wrote: »

I was looking at the Six-One titles when it began just a few minutes ago.

Someone in the RTE Newsroom made a mess of their titles when part of it's globe was shown with it's own music was shorter than usual.

Nice one RTE. Keep up the good work. :rolleyes:

It was a decent enough save in the sense that they didn't leave the titles run with silence. However, that's the great thing about RTE NEWS NOW. You can watch the mistakes again and again. No need to edit or update.

AwaitYourReply

I pointed out my misgivings a few months ago and the recent posts on here made me think about it all again. Perhaps I was being too harsh on our national broadcaster, RTÉ television but I gotta say I still hold the same views! This was a cynical tinkering exercise and in my view a silly waste of money not to mention the major publicity generated about it all - Come on RTÉ, this excuse of a revamp is such an embarassment. I also found the timing of the change introduced was rather odd - they should have waited until either October or else held off until 1st of January when UTV Ireland commences broadcasting from Dublin. I understand that both RTÉ ONE and RTÉ TWO television are apparently due to be revamped anyway during 2015 and the changes in the RTÉ Newsroom could have waited until then as I suspect most of the audience who loyally watch SIX-ONE News are primarily tuning in to be informed about events from home & abroad from an Irish perspective. Did RTÉ seriously think a refresh was so urgently required on screen in the form of minor tweaks in background aesthetics and other visual graphics as otherwise, they would find their audience leaving in droves! Very strange and shows a complete lack of confidence. By the time more competition comes along (i.e.) UTV Ireland this poor refresh will have long been forgotten. Personally, I would change the two current anchor presenters as they seem robotic and lack charisma in their delivery all too often. Time for very serious changes in Montrose. Look at TV3 who do a pretty good job with very little resources in comparison to RTÉ. Very little imagination and creativity as usual from our state broadcaster which is a pity. Time to think a lot more outside the box!

Elmo

AwaitYourReply wrote: »

Look at TV3 who do a pretty good job with very little resources in comparison to RTÉ. Very little imagination and creativity as usual from our state broadcaster which is a pity. Time to think a lot more outside the box!

I hate to bash TV3 (I do it too much) but how do TV3 do a pretty good job with very little resources???? In terms of graphics that have been part of TV3 News for at least 8 years, VinB's intro is the most boring intro in the history to TV3. The "refreshed" News Studio doesn't fit with VinB's studio, surely they should have refreshed all news rather than just the daytime news services. You would think that TV3 as a youngish station could have provided a Jornalesqu news service on line, yet in recent years their online news has disappeared, leaving their Xposé website to announce that TV3 got the rights to the Rugby World Cup????!!! where is TV3.ie's sports pages?

TV3 are very much in a box of their own. Though I say this when TV3 are moving most of their productions into their new HD studios.

Onthe3rdDay

Just to say that no Irish station seems to do chromakey well. RTE News used to have huge problems when they projected backgrounds on behind correspondents. TV3 take it to a different level with the Tonight show. That Red gets everywhere!

Sometimes a plain simple set would be much better.

AwaitYourReply

I fully accept that TV3 are far from being satisfactory in terms of the shortcomings raised. Some excellent points made to be fair as I would have noticed much of this too not to mention the ending of the THREE teletext service only to be replaced by a sparse online website offering on TV3.ie. However; my central point was in the context of RTÉ and all the proceeds they automatically receive every year from Irish taxpayers in terms of the significant revenue raised from the TV Licence Fee. I'm open to correction but to the best of my knowledge TV3 receives absolutely none of this and they are required to provide a minimum number of hours in terms of News & Current Affairs programming which is unfair if on the other hand they have their hands tied behind their backs. I will tend to come down harder on a semi state company effectively bankrolled by taxpayers if and when they do a poor job Versus a private company that does not always reach the required high standard at all times. If memory serves me correct much of the revamped RTE Six-One News refresh seems to resemble a very similar colour scheme to TV3 News programme called "The 5:30" which they had relaunched themselves around 6 months ahead of the national broadcaster, RTÉ. I expect more from RTÉ every time given their resources advantage over TV3 and any others who rely solely on advertising/product placement/sponsorships etc; especially during the past 6 years when this was an exceptionally tough period in generating revenue from these sources - for a commercially funded channel must have been about survival against the odds. Without the competition from the likes of TV3 and others, RTÉ would probably still have tried to get away with little or no home produced services during the summer holiday months which I recall was the case when they had little or no competition on their own home turf. Long live the competition and I will call it as I see it too. Maybe when the new Broadcasting Charge eventually replaces the current TV Licence Fee model, there may be more consideration given to the other players too who deserve some additional income in return for adhering to honouring their own respective public service remit and then maybe this might give those younger players such as TV3 the necessary help to improve the sloppy aspects such as the opening to the Tonight with Vincent Browne programme along with the awful red colours. It's almost as bad as the bizarre set colour scheme used for the RTÉ "TODAY" afternoon programme on RTÉ ONE tv with Daithí and Maura produced from RTÉ Cork Studios. It looks awful and I hate bashing anything from my native city as they have produced some good programmes from RTÉ Cork but they need to look again at the set design as it turns me right off every time.

Elmo

I think they changed Today's set last season.

TV3 are required to have a certain number of hours of programming from Ireland, I am not sure how much has to be News & Current Affairs. They over produce the number of required hours, hence making their shows look cheap.

TV3 do not have to support TG4, COs, RnaG (ad free), S&V fund (which TV3 get some of) and the general erosion of the Licence fee from RTÉ.

Plus TV3's loan from Anglo Irish, which was frozen and then refinanced at the expense of the tax payer.

While I agree we should be critical of RTÉ's performance (and in this case I agree) to compare them to TV3 based on TV3 lack of funding is erroneous. TV3 are there to be competition to RTÉ.

TV3 have had major opportunities as a young service to explore on-line news (a host of new on-line news service beat them to that) their lack of imagination is very clear, when they think that a half hour extra of Xposé will help them compete with UTV Ireland.

In relation to historical scheduling, RTÉ was under pressure, at one stage forced to save Ardmore Studios and Underfunded for years.

Onthe3rdDay

AwaitYourReply wrote: »

I'm open to correction but to the best of my knowledge TV3 receives absolutely none of this and they are required to provide a minimum number of hours in terms of News & Current Affairs programming which is unfair if on the other hand they have their hands tied behind their backs.

TV3 Do receive some funding through the sound and vision fund for some of their programmes.

TV3 agreed to this as part of their licence. They can't complain when they don't succeed.

You make some good points especially about competition, RTE have improved summer output in recent years just because TV3 exist. However at this time TV3 offer almost no competition except for one or two hours a night when they've soaps or Xfactor on. Hopefully UTV will actually give RTE News a real run for it's money.

Sam Russell

There are some things TV3 do well but television is not one of them.

RTE do have failings and some of their programmes do fall to the low standards of TV3, but on the whole they do an acceptable job. They have a significant amount of historical baggage going back years that is hard to shake off, but they do use independant production companies, and do a significant amount of public service broadcasting.

They keep orchestras and do an amount of cultural programmes that would not exist without them. TV3 could not be accused of either of these. RTE struggle to avoid control by the politicos and balance the books. When was the last time the licence fee was increased? (and the increase remitted to RTE?)

Onthe3rdDay

Sam Russell wrote: »

There are some things TV3 do well but television is not one of them.

Okay, that may be a fair point but now I'm wondering what Do TV3 do well?

Sam Russell wrote: »

RTE do have failings and some of their programmes do fall to the low standards of TV3, but on the whole they do an acceptable job. They have a significant amount of historical baggage going back years that is hard to shake off, but they do use independant production companies, and do a significant amount of public service broadcasting.

They keep orchestras and do an amount of cultural programmes that would not exist without them. TV3 could not be accused of either of these. RTE struggle to avoid control by the politicos and balance the books. When was the last time the licence fee was increased? (and the increase remitted to RTE?)

It has to be remembered there were many reasons why the Commerical Licence was given out in Ireland. One of them was to increase the amount of independent productions produced within the state and create competition for RTE when they were bidding for programmes. The opposite happened. If there was no RTE or TG4 there would be no independent production houses in the Republic. TV3 produce almost everything in house. The original idea was that they were to produce News only.

Elmo

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

The original idea was that they were to produce News only.

Interestingly:-

EU rules state that broadcasters must commission at least 10% of their home produced content from Indo producers. Interestingly UTV have turn that around to suggest that they must commission 10% of the programmes from Indo productions, no journalist/reporter reporting on the setting up of UTV Ireland pointed this out.

If UTV Ireland have just 10hours of Irish content per week, they must produce 52hours of indo content minimum per year!

TV3 always met the 10% currently around 208hours per year. Or do they! My maths has gone out the window on this!

Onthe3rdDay

Elmo wrote: »

Interestingly:-

EU rules state that broadcasters must commission at least 10% of their home produced content from Indo producers. Interestingly UTV have turn that around to suggest that they must commission 10% of the programmes from Indo productions, no journalist/reporter reporting on the setting up of UTV Ireland pointed this out.

If UTV Ireland have just 10hours of Irish content per week, they must produce 52hours of indo content minimum per year!

TV3 always met the 10% currently around 208hours per year. Or do they! My maths has gone out the window on this!

I'm not going near this one but I will say that Nightscreen On ITV counts as an independently produced programme and it's also broadcast regionally. If UTV were stuck they could easily set up a separate company to produce a Nightscreen type service.

I don't think they'll need to do this nor will they but there are ways around most regulations. The trick is to bend the rules and not go so far as to break them. TV3 have been doing it for years.

AwaitYourReply

Elmo, I believe they did change the set for TODAY last season and it was even worse which was some achievement given it had already been given a dull set during season one! One would have thought that they would have had enough experience of set design over the years to at least get it right when changing it for season two! It looks cheap and tacky and the colours look odd on screen.
I could easily make an argument for RTÉ also knowing what their own raison d'etre was ahead of their shortfalls and losses in previous years - yes they have to support wide ranging committments towards the Arts, Orchestras and so on and RTÉ also need to demonstrate their public service broadcast role but let's face facts here, RTÉ used get away with murder and paid well over the odds because they were the only licenced TV & Radio broadcaster based in the Republic for many years. Their big stars and major home produced programmes went off-screen from their usual presenting duties for at least 3 months with just repeats, US & UK imports and late start and early closing in their tv schedules for many years before TV3 arrived. There was fantastic public service broadcasting example and very high % in programmes of Irish culture promoted via the RTÉ Radio 2FM platform since 1979 - Give me a break! Not only that, when 2FM was a major earner they still chose to do little in terms of promoting authentic Irish culture on that station in overall terms apart from the odd bit of lip service during off peak slots. RTÉ nearly lost their lives when TV3 secured the Irish rights for soaps like Coronation Street and Emmerdale some years ago. RTÉ television supporting Irish culture is best summed up in one annual outdated televised event: Rose of Tralee which despite minor tweaking to the aesthetics here & there it is still caught in a strange time warp. The Late Late Show is another example...the game has changed but they are still flogging a jaded tired old format that owes little or nothing to today's generations instead of being bold and creative. The Tom Cruise interview was case in point for me last season. If there is major news stories breaking in my native city of Cork, I find that TV3 will usually give it the attention it deserves unlike RTÉ News who often resort to old library pictures with voice overs from Dublin. How long did it take RTÉ to replace Jim Fahy the Western Correspondent with Pat McGrath - quite a long time. TV3 will either sink or swim and a lot could happen between now and 2016 for those out in Ballymount and UTV Ireland. Either way, time will tell sooner or later...

Sam Russell

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

Okay, that may be a fair point but now I'm wondering what Do TV3 do well?

Well, I know it is hard to think of what they might do well given how bad their concept of television is.

I think they have been quite successful in some aspects of technology. They appear to have pursued any technology that can save them ongoing costs. For example, they are not using satellite to communicate with OBs in and around the Dail. They appear to have a very low count of production people suggesting an automated studio/camera setup. And of course they have an HD studio (but refuse to broadcast in HD unless they get a free ride).

Not much I agree.

Elmo

@ Awaityourreply

Don't get me wrong there are plenty of things that RTÉ could do without spending a penny to improve their service.

I think TV3 will suffer with the loss of Coro St and Emmers but that is their own fault for not investing in Prime Time programming rather they filled their schedules with daytime programming. Launching a Soap will be difficult without the back up of Coro St and Emmers, they would have been wise to use their position in Irish Broadcasting from 2001 and 2014 to improve the Irish output in Prime Time, including a Soap.

I don't think Early starts and Late evening are that important, but again RTÉ was under political pressure between the late 70s and early 90s, but by 1988 RTÉ began improving significantly even with caps on their advertising. Think about it RTÉ could not earn any more in advertising that what they took in licence fee, why would RTÉ be able to support 2 24 hour channels in those circumstances.

Much of the remaining advertising revenue went up North to UTV, not to local and national radio broadcasters.

Also a few paragraphs, I wouldn't usually comment on that kind of thing, because I think it is rude too but, I just find it hard to read posts without paragraphs.

Onthe3rdDay

Dealing with some of Awaityourreply points

RTÉ used get away with murder and paid well over the odds because they were the only licenced TV & Radio broadcaster based in the Republic for many years. Their big stars and major home produced programmes went off-screen from their usual presenting duties for at least 3 months with just repeats, US & UK imports and late start and early closing in their tv schedules for many years before TV3 arrived.

Much of this is true and continued to be true up to a few years ago but it wasn't only TV3 that changed this. Competition from Foreign broadcasters and commercial radio had more of an impact in this area.

There was fantastic public service broadcasting example and very high % in programmes of Irish culture promoted via the RTÉ Radio 2FM platform since 1979 - Give me a break! Not only that, when 2FM was a major earner they still chose to do little in terms of promoting authentic Irish culture on that station in overall terms apart from the odd bit of lip service during off peak slots.

At the start of RTE Radio 2 it did try to promote Irish Culture, but young people didn't want to listen. You already had RTE Radio 1 and RnaG. RTE Radio 2 was supposed to be a pop station pure and simple. It really didn't become popular until the Pirates went off in 1988, as for it being a major earner it did make a profit some years but at times this was down to RTE's accounting system.


RTÉ nearly lost their lives when TV3 secured the Irish rights for soaps like Coronation Street and Emmerdale some years ago. RTÉ television supporting Irish culture is best summed up in one annual outdated televised event: Rose of Tralee which despite minor tweaking to the aesthetics here & there it is still caught in a strange time warp. The Late Late Show is another example...the game has changed but they are still flogging a jaded tired old format that owes little or nothing to today's generations instead of being bold and creative. The Tom Cruise interview was case in point for me last season.

That's very unfair. I'm not one to defend RTE but there are loads of shows that they make that promote Irish Culture. You're cherry picking 2 obvious Targets and ignoring 100's more decent programmes they do or have made.

What about
Nationwide
Come West along the road
The 365 hours a year they have to provide to TG4
The news service that they provide to TG4
All those childrens programmes that are uniquely Irish
The Sunday Game...

And there are loads more, I could be listing them all day. Some are good, some are terrible but most represent Irish culture in some format. Maybe not the Irish Culture you or I would like to see but that's a matter of opinion.


If there is major news stories breaking in my native city of Cork, I find that TV3 will usually give it the attention it deserves unlike RTÉ News who often resort to old library pictures with voice overs from Dublin. How long did it take RTÉ to replace Jim Fahy the Western Correspondent with Pat McGrath - quite a long time. TV3 will either sink or swim and a lot could happen between now and 2016 for those out in Ballymount and UTV Ireland. Either way, time will tell sooner or later...

Seriously, TV3 don't have a proper news service as such. They have ONE reporter in cork who pops up when there's a court case or a human interest story about a sick child...and that's it. RTE have studios in Cork where they produce TV and Radio shows, they also have studios in other parts of the country. TV3 closed all their studios except the Dublin one over the last 10 years.

Bizarrely UTV will have a broader reach for Newsgathering from Day one that TV3 have built up over 15 years.

TV3 produce very little news and couldn't care less about anyone outside of Dublin. Don't forget this is the same station that only got nationwide coverage when Saorview came on line. Large sections of the population couldn't get it before then because TV3 couldn't be bothered to pay for transmitters to "poorer people"

Yes RTE can be terrible and don't do things right half the time, but I can't see how TV3 news is in any way better than RTE News.

AwaitYourReply

Oh, I must make sure that my posts have paragraphs in future posts specially just for you Elmo as I did not set out to be inconsiderate to you or others on here. In your dreams, I'll present my points in my own way and let all others decide but thank you Elmo for your impartial tips anyway

I notice nobody defended RTÉ annual commitment to the Rose of Tralee bi-nightly extravaganza from Tralee or The Late Late Show still trying to do what it it did all those years ago but now in 2014 looks stale and out of touch with the Ireland of recent years but RTÉ wants it both ways (i.e.) positive ratings means advertising and TV Licence Fee revenue so the public service broadcasting element takes a back seat when it suits. Mind you, why was I unfair to RTÉ again? - I'll tell you why..Because they do not really want to have to fulfill their public service mandate but do so reluctantly or go through the motions all too often. They are still hanging on to EastEnders to help prop up Fair City I suspect too.

In relation to the old RTÉ Radio 2 you are right about what the youth wanted to hear in the 1980s especially when the pirate stations across Ireland were shut down by the then Minister for Communications, Deputy Ray Burke TD but RTÉ still had obligations in this regard and again they paid "lip service" at a time when they were coining it because they were the only show in town. If I recall, the those in the Irish Country Music scene were not best pleased with RTÉ Radio 2 either but they just went mainly with the commercial rather than the public service emphasis.

TV3 is not there to be a watchdog for RTÉ as some would have you believe. They are there to provide an Irish choice in the Irish marketplace. TV3 have commissioned and showed quite a lot of home-grown social life documentaries in the past 18months or so which have been interesting and informative for the most part. Of course, they are not high brow documentaries nor do they claim to be as they are aiming at a different demographic and serve it reasonably well although; there is always room for improvement. There is also the Tonight programme running all summer with guest presenters (while Vincent Browne is off but not paid by the taxpayer) who are all well able to chair topical discussions 4 nights a week Monday to Thursday while simultaneously RTÉ cut back on the frequency of current affairs output such fewer PrimeTime editions throughout the Summer months and I imagine The Week in Politics will be off while the Dáil is in recess. TV3 also launched the monthly The People's Debate earlier in the year from the TV3/Sony HD studios which to me is more along the lines of something I would expect RTÉ to be doing as a national public service broadcaster but we all know what happened The Frontline Presidential Debate not to mention what happened as a result of a controversial edition of Prime Time Investigates. TV3 also had MidWeek and other current affairs programme in addition to Ireland AM, Sybil Mulcahy in the morning, Midday with Elaine Crowley, Late Lunch Live with Martin King & Co. and they also have the new quiz called CrossFire hosted by Sean Moncrieff. TV3 will need to improve their news gathering and output hours in addition to their Online news presence but I find Paul Byrne far more natural in his delivery than Pascal Sheehy or others over the years in terms of the Cork scene. I have never found that RTÉ were never very passionate about developing and enhancing broadcasting from those regions outside of Dublin and I suspect that the main reasons RTÉ Cork has been a success is plain and simple - it has more to do with major advances in technology and lower labour costs due to it being outside Dublin all leading to overall lower production and human resources costs at the end of the day.

In conclusion, I still strongly believe that RTÉ have wasted money on a very poor and unnecessary revamp of their news service - it beggars belief how they can justify such a waste of Taxpayers money at a time when this country is still reeling from the economic collapse. If TV3 does it, we may be disappointed with the outcome delivered on-screen but at least they are a private company and have to take the hit themselves if and when they get it wrong unlike RTÉ.

Onthe3rdDay

AwaitYourReply wrote: »

In conclusion, I still strongly believe that RTÉ have wasted money on a very poor and unnecessary revamp of their news service - it beggars belief how they can justify such a waste of Taxpayers money at a time when this country is still reeling from the economic collapse. If TV3 does it, we may be disappointed with the outcome delivered on-screen but at least they are a private company and have to take the hit themselves if and when they get it wrong unlike RTÉ.

They don't take the hit themselves, The Taxpayer has baled them out by between 81 and 160 million Euro, depending on how you count, but everyone can agree that 81 million in debt was just forgotten about. Was it almost any other type of company it would have been closed immediately.

They've also held back commerical Television in this country in many ways.

You do know that RTE's revamp basically cost nothing in real terms. (€25,000) They changed a few colours in the studio, made new graphics and got someone to give their tune a remix of sorts. That was forward planning by RTE when they rebuilt their news studio 4 or 5 years ago.

I wouldn't back RTE, they do a lot wrong but you have to give them praise when it's due.