Irish people’s obsession with UK TV

Road-Hog

This has probably been debated numerous times in the past but in any case why is it so common for ‘boardsers’ and population in general to compare the Irish version of reality tv shows etc to their uk equivalents.......? And further to this we as a nation have always had an obsession with uk TV for as long as I can remember.....examples would be pubs etc having BBC 1 on Their screens.....rte programms reporting on the uk’s ‘dancing with stars’ latest news.....etc etc......I also recall a TD getting elected in donegal on the back of the ‘tv deflector ‘ controversy, his campaign was based on ensuring Irish people could get Uk tv channels beamed into their homes....?

ballyargus

A consistent gulf in quality. Also very similar attitudes and tastes between the two regions (whether people like it or not)

Ursus Horribilis

Do you watch channels other than the Irish terrestrial ones?

Road-Hog

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

Do you watch channels other than the Irish terrestrial ones?

ocassionally but not that often. I’m not against choice but there are a lot of irish who are fooking obsessed with everything British even royal family

NSAman

Erghhhh... u have watched Irish TV in the past 40 years? Most Irish programs especially if “entertainment” are anything but entertaining. Programming takes money, production costs are huge.RTE can’t do it unless it’s cheap. Besides, talent is severely lacking in this country due to too much nepotism in the industry.

Tefral

Its down to quality. Nothing RTE have ever produced even comes close to what BBC churn out. The likes of blue planet etc.

Del2005

RTE is full of terrible presenters, on huge wages, and the quality of the shows and guest is terrible. They also have inferior versions of the show which has been on the UK as the pool of talent is tiny here compared to the UK. We do have some good shows but they are rare and vastly outweighed by the dross usually put out.

Ursus Horribilis

Road-Hog wrote: »

ocassionally but not that often. I’m not against choice but there are a lot of irish who are fooking obsessed with everything British even royal family

That comment says a lot more about your mindset. Obsession with everything British indeed...

The Black Oil

Tefral wrote: »

Its down to quality. Nothing RTE have ever produced even comes close to what BBC churn out. The likes of blue planet etc.

Tbf, we've had Dick Warner, Wild Ireland, the lighthouse series and other stuff.

Where we're lacking is with the likes of Happy Valley, Line of Duty, etc.

pinkypinky

I don't think it's fair to compare the two - considering the budgets, population, etc. I think RTÉ does very well on factual and current affairs. They certainly don't produce drama or comedy on the same level.

Kermit.de.frog

Catch 22 i'm afraid OP. Our population is too small and even if RTE ups it's standard it can't take in enough money unlike the BBC.

Interestingly one of the documented reasons the BBC was never actively blocked in the Republic was because it was essentially pro Britain propaganda from them during the troubles in the north. I remember a former British civil servant essentially making that point.

Aside from that the reality is we don't have economies of scale here to sustain anything other than occasional top class public broadcasting.

It's not as "bad" as it was I would say a few years a go. I've never been keen on Sky News or BBC being broadcast in our transport hubs for example (this is not Bristol or Sheffield). There are more Irish channels and broadcasting now but fact is we will always be reliant on US and UK broadcasting for the bulk of our entertainment.

lertsnim

Why do Canadians watch American TV?
Why do Austrians watch German TV?
Why do Belgians watch French and Dutch TV?

I am spotting a trend

OldMrBrennan83

I know a few people who would never watch Irish anything, not even the news as they'll only do BBC. Even the parents watch separate TV's at 6pm as my mother will only watch BBC news and is obsessed with royals etc. Personally I watch a very small percentage of UK stuff (car shows) as I think RTÉ do some excellent stuff and the less British identity the better.

Strumms

Back when I was a kid in the 80s we had feck all TV channels. About 6-7 from memory. I think RTE for as good and as diverse programming that is offered now, back then it was very limited. So to have the likes of BBC, ITV, Ch4, screensport was brilliant, a load of kids TV that you otherwise won’t have seen, a tonne more live sport too although nothing compared to now and a view of the world that was a little outside of the six one news although that programme itself is and always has been excellent.

splinter65

Over the weekend I watched 4 programs on BBC that RTE/Virgin 1 simply could not have produced to anything like the same standard.
The production and the editing were exquisite. The presenters top notch.
2 were religious and the others were a cookery program and a documentary about Faberge eggs set against the Russian revolution.
Ireland will simply never ever have the pool of talent that’s available to the BBC.
Ireland is obsessed with celebrity and demands a constant stream of “celebrities” talking rubbish and behaving like clowns as entertainment.
It’s actually gone backwards.

handlemaster

Road-Hog wrote: »

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

Do you watch channels other than the Irish terrestrial ones?

ocassionally but not that often. I’m not against choice but there are a lot of irish who are fooking obsessed with everything British even royal family

Obsessed I think not. Just most people like to see outside the tiny tiny irish fish bowl.

Ursus Horribilis

RTE does some things well. Mostly on the factual side of the house. Their current affairs programmes are solid enough and they can make some great documentaries. But to think the Late Late Show is as good as Graham Norton's similar offering or that Fair City is on a similar level to Coronation Street.... Famously, RTE has never produced a decent sitcom. They have improved when it comes to making TV drama but that's only a recent development. I grew up in the 80s and 90s (some of it in 2 channel land) and tried to watch some of their awful offerings. If they hadn't been showing imported programmes from abroad (including the UK), they'd probably have struggled to have anyone tune in.

Hotblack Desiato

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Interestingly one of the documented reasons the BBC was never actively blocked in the Republic was because it was essentially pro Britain propaganda from them during the troubles in the north. I remember a former British civil servant essentially making that point.

Radio waves don't respect borders ffs

"Actively blocking" i.e. jamming the British TV signals would be illegal, probably ineffective and risks generating huge interference problems. The cable TV companies would sue to protect their large investments in making British TV available.

There was more questioning of the UK govt position on British TV than there was on RTE, e.g. Death On The Rock, and no equivalent to Section 31 until well into the 80s. Some UK govt ministers were convinced elements within BBC and ITV were pro-IRA.

Squatter

pinkypinky wrote: »

I don't think it's fair to compare the two - considering the budgets, population, etc. I think RTÉ does very well on factual and current affairs. They certainly don't produce drama or comedy on the same level.

Small thing, but I really wish that they'd stop covering the bigger Irish Political Party Annual Conferences. I have absolutely no desire to see a hall full of credulous gobsh1tes giving standing ovations to leaders of the calibre of Enda, Bertie, Biffo, Leo V, Meehawl, or Mary-Loo.

What a complete and utter waste of licence payers' fees. :mad:

Squatter

splinter65 wrote: »

Ireland is obsessed with celebrity and demands a constant stream of “celebrities” talking rubbish and behaving like clowns as entertainment. It’s actually gone backwards.

Commercially, RTE needs to transmit programmes that will generate good viewing figures, because that's what advertisers want and RTE is far too dependent on advertising income because successive governments have funked linking the licence fee to the rate of inflation.

Hence, the best financial option for RTE is to churn out low-budget commercially attractive tripe, so it can balance the books.

pixelburp

A kinda daft, if not naive question to ask TBH, I'm sure there's no malevolence meant but I do wonder what the point of the topic is. It's plainly obvious why a (larger) neighbour and former colonial master might continue to have cultural overlap in this country, particularly when 6 counties of the total 32 remain part of that political (cultural) structure. It really shouldn't need explaining IMO

As for the ubiquitous question of RTÉs relative quality, their current affairs and documentary output is quite solid, it's just their drama and comedy departments that are continuously subpar. And dissecting that is another thread in of itself.

Strumms

splinter65 wrote: »

Ireland will simply never ever have the pool of talent that’s available to the BBC.
Ireland is obsessed with celebrity and demands a constant stream of “celebrities” talking rubbish and behaving like clowns as entertainment.
It’s actually gone backwards.

I’d agree with this, the TV presenter as a trade seems to have evaporated. In Ireland now it’s more a case of if you have had exposure to the public via the likes of a reality TV show, a music / sporting career or similar you are in pole position to take yourself, Teflon smile and zero personality in front of the cameras at the tax payers expense.

_Kaiser_

What this is really about is the same old "anti-Brit" mindset that we can't seem to shake off in this country. It's nothing to do with TV output - which is vastly superior in terms of quality and innovation from our UK neighbours.

RTE is a great example of what's wrong with this country - nepotistic, parochial, expensive and wasteful, and trying in vain to keep up with those neighbours. A mindset not uncommon outside of Montrose either.

The sooner they, and many others, move past this chip and inferiority complex the better for all of us.

freshpopcorn

RTE have to out a misery slot into every entailment show nearly!

LoughNeagh2017

I am from co.derry but I did grow up watching RTE, the Den and the morbegs and that sort of thing at the turn of the century. That was before we got sky though so when we got sky it never was watched much apart from GAA, I know that some areas don't get RTE for example my aunt in co.Antrim never got RTE1

icdg

It’s not as unusual as you may think. BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 channels are also widely available on cable in Holland, Belgium, and Switzerland. In the rest of Europe you’ll find the BBC’s commercial channels BBC World News and BBC Entertainment instead.

Moving away from the UK channels, In Belgium you’ll also get a wide array of French, Dutch, and German channels. In Austria you’ll find ARD and ZDF on cable systems. It even happens further afield - in Canada it’s usual to have an NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox affiliate on every cable system, albeit subject to the CRTC’s notorious “simsub” rule.