What would we lose if RTÉ was abolished

Caquas

It was wonderful to see Cillian Murphy accept the Best Actor Oscar for his superb performance as Robert Oppenheimer. He thanked all those who helped him as “a proud Irishman” but it occurred to me that his career, which was largely in television, was never supported by our national broadcaster. In fact, I can’t think of any Irish actor of international stature who owes anything to our national broadcaster.

That can’t be true, can it? (Gabriel Byrne was kicked off Glenroe, and Saoire’s dad doesn’t count! )

For that matter, which Irish music star on the international stage got their start in broadcasting from RTÉ? Of course, after they had made their international breakthrough, RTÉ was all over them like a rash - U2, Thin Lizzy, Sinéad, the Cranberries.

There has been only one international success story for which RTÉ can claim credit - Eurovision- but the suits in RTÉ reviled everything about it so much they gave Riverdance away. Our Eurovision success was greeted like a dose of the clap by the executives in RTÉ who hated, absolutely hated, having to spend “their” money hosting Eurovision although it had a hundred times more viewers than anything else out of Montrose. They despised Riverdance so much they gave it away to the staff (people are angry about the few million they wasted away on exit packages - RTÉ would not have needed a licence fee for the past 30 years if they had kept the rights to Riverdance,)

In fairness, RTÉ run a competent news and current affairs operation and a decent sports operation. But wouldn’t a commercial broadcaster do as well and without a licence fee? Is fearr liom féachaint ar an nuacht ar TG4, cuireann sé níos lú lúcháir orm!

So my question is this - what would we lose if the Government simply abolished RTÉ? I know it won’t happen but I hope some fans of RTÉ can mount a defence of RTÉ’s record and go beyond the familiar “Save public broadcasting- Save our jobs”

squonk

They do some good documentaries, they host the weather well, or met Eireann do but RTE are a good outlet for that. In general RTE are pretty bad value for money so a very slimmed down organisation doing a few good things would be better than what we have.

Caquas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121880981#Comment_121880981

What was the best documentary RTÉ has produced in the last 20 years?

I can tell you the worst. And it was a horrible disgrace!

RTÉ and Aoife Kavanagh had choices prior to the broadcast and the ones they made were “utterly misjudged and wrong” and had an “utterly devastating impact” on his life. RTÉ was afforded every opportunity to review its position and remove any reference to Fr Reynolds from the programme.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/rte-settles-priest-defamation-case-1.887182

Have they produced any documentary that would be beyond the capacity of a commercial production company?

And the weather - oh, yeah we’re world champions at that!☔️

squonk

You seem a bit hostile towards RTE. They’re a waste of money largely I agree but they aren’t all bad. Personally they’re music programming can be good, like the west end blows and the rolling wave.

Caquas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881160#Comment_121881160

I wasn’t until recently.

Then I saw the chaos and greed and personal irresponsibility. I began to wonder what was the value that we were preserving in RTÉ. I would be very open to any arguments supporting RTÉ. I tried to find achievements over the decades which RTÉ can point to as exemplary and worthy of the generous funding by the licence payers and the advertising revenues.

I’m all ears!

Greengrass53

I can honestly say I don't watch anything on RTE except GAA, which they are pretty dismal at. Virtually no changes in over 20 years. Same boring format, no tech advances and in general terrible presentation (Jennifer cantwell🙄 and punditry Shane dowling 🤮). I occasionally watch the news if there is something going down at home, I usually switch after the headlines. I should add I'm not in the first flush of youth so can't imagine there are any young people watching any more. It's a complete waste of money Imho. Oh yeah they're great at the weather

con747

What would we do without Fair City 😮

thereiver

There must be someone watching fair city ,rte does produce some good quality dramas , I'm sure alot of people would miss the late late show, there are some people who only have saorview who cannot afford to pay for sky tv or cable tv.who else would make tv current affairs programs , I think they should drop tg4 How many people want to watch programs in the Irish language .young people watch YouTube tik tok Netflix .if rte did not exist 1000s of actors studio staff ,presenters would be on the dole.if they are in a monetary crisis The should close down lyric fm,tg4 ,sell off 2 fm .they also show live sports events

Gaa ,rugby .I doubt if the bbc or tv3 would be bothered showing most gaa football or hurling match,s

Rte had no idea riverdance would turn into a hit musical .

Rte make a lot of dramas , they provide a place where actors and writers can gain experience and employment .I think t would be a shame if they shut down .would many people miss 2fm apart from the people who work there .cillian Murphy was in a few Irish programs before he became a movie star

ejmaztec

RTE does stupid things like buying UK TV programmes and showing them two years after most people have watched them somewhere else two years earlier. I'm pretty sure that they also buy the rights to other programmes just so that Virgin can't get their hands on them, and then broadcast the programmes in the middle of the night when no one's watching.

thereiver

As far as I know tv3 shows mostly the same programs as are broadcast on itv utv apart from the few Irish made programs it' makes in it's studio in Dublin .if I program is popular or could get good ratings why would they show it after midnight ?

thereiver

I think every country needs at least one public service tv network and a national radio station I don't think we need 2fm when's there's plenty of popmusic on other radio stations .

Do we need tg4 when most people can't speak Irish. Does it make economic sense when rte is struggling to balance the budget ?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881891#Comment_121881891

Figures from 2020 showed that TG4 was watched more than BBC 2 and Channel 4 in Ireland.

It also showed that 86% of people had watched TG4 at some point during the previous year.

In 2022 they had their highest share of the market since 2011.

Also, have you heard of subtitles?

Peregrinus

It was wonderful to see Cillian Murphy accept the Best Actor Oscar for his superb performance as Robert Oppenheimer. He thanked all those who helped him as “a proud Irishman” but it occurred to me that his career, which was largely in television, was never supported by our national broadcaster. In fact, I can’t think of any Irish actor of international stature who owes anything to our national broadcaster.

Cillian Murphy's career was largely in television? He made his name in the theatre, and then moved into film. He did no TV work at all, so far as I know, until after he had relocated to London and, honestly, I'd have to look up any TV work he did before Peaky Blinders, which didn't come until nearly 20 years into his career as a professional actor. Of his many, many awards and nominations, I think only one has been for work he did in television.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881930#Comment_121881930

He had one solitary TV role prior to Peaky Blinders and that was in The Way We Live Now (very good four part series) back in 2001 for...

the BBC.

Peregrinus

It doesn't matter who it was for. If he wasn't seeking TV roles, it seems absurd to criticise RTE for not giving him any.

laketreeroger

Rte

kazamo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881904#Comment_121881904

If TG4 didn’t have sport, they would be nowhere near 86%.

I watch it with the sound off and commentary from the radio.

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881721#Comment_121881721

TG4 is much better than a y if the RTE channels. They show programmes that are watchable, which is the main differentiator between them and RTÉ

lawred2

Should be stripped way back to one TV station and one radio station.

Most of its TV spending is on imported foreign made TV. That's what virgin can go spend it's money on but RTE should only be involved in domestic product and probably sport.

2FM is not needed in any shape or form

nachouser

44c a day for a lot of drama. Priceless.

magicbastarder

as fintan o'toole pointed out recently, ireland were recently playing italy in the women's soccer. RTE2 would often carry sport, so did they show the match? they showed a four year old episode of the simpsons and home and away. so the match was shown on RTE news now; and the first 15 minutes was bumped to allow coverage of a press comference - about RTE.

why is RTE showing episodes of the simpsons from four years ago? what's the actual point in that? did they get them dirt cheap so the advertising revenue is clear profit?

Slightly Kwackers

It isn't what we would lose, but the freedom gained.

I do not watch RTE at all, I used it only for text, but that is gone now.

I still have my TV's which I use for playback of media and I also watch internet based media.

So why should I get rid of my TV's and replace them with monitors or even remove old cables that were even redundant when I watched Aertel, but it was too much work to remove them from a long gone TV aerial on the chimney?

It's ridiculous that people be forced to pay for a tax on a substandard service festooned with adverts that would make anything that might be of interest unwatchable anyway.

whisky_galore

The Angelus, Fairly Sh1tty, every ersatz rip off of other networks formats e. g. Dancing With The RTE Canteen.

I do flick through what they offer for an evening but I rarely if ever find anything good to watch on any of the Irish based channels.

RTE did/do good documentaries but for some bullsh1t legal reason they can't screen or make available older ones, so they sit gathering dust in a cellar in Montrose. Annoying.

RoyalCelt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881160#Comment_121881160

They should be sold off and privatised. We're basically funding an overpaid government propaganda machine.

Caquas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881945#Comment_121881945

Every

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881930#Comment_121881930

I say his career before Oppenheimer was mainly TV because Cillain Murphy was best known for Peaky Blinders where he was the lead for 10 years until 2021. But thank you for making my point - here was a great talent who had a breakthrough role at an early age in a drama produced in Cork. And he did various film roles in Ireland and abroad. But he did nothing in television before Peaky Blinders because he got nothing from RTÉ. Why not? Could he not play opposite Amy Huberman? It certainly is not because “he wasn’t seeking TV roles”

He is only one example of the talented Irish people who have succeeded internationally with no help from RTÉ. In fact, the problem is so bad I think it is true to say that none of the many great Irish artists who have been acclaimed abroad owe anything to our national broadcaster which claims to support and nurture Irish creative talent but seems to have ignored all the most talented Irish people until they make it big abroad.

I think a lot of people would feel much happier about paying their TV licence over many years if they believed that Cillian Murphy or Saoirse Ronan or Sineád O’Connor or Shane McGowan or... had been helped in their careers by RTÉ when they needed it.

I’m still waiting for a single name.

OK, Barry Keoghan had a small part in Love/Hate but, like Gabriel Byrne in Glenroe, RTÉ had no more use for him. RTÉ were extravagantly generous to their “talent” but they gave nothing to our real talent.

And our prize-winning writers? Anything from RTÉ when they needed it? Should we pay a slice of our licence fee to Element Pictures instead?

Lewis_Benson

Nothing worthwhile.

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121882261#Comment_121882261

He moved to London in 2001, 10 years before he took on Peaky Blinders. You claim "he did nothing in television before Peaky Blinders because he got nothing from RTÉ" is entirely unevidenced. If he did nothing before PB (in fact he did one TV role in 2001) that means he got nothing from anyone. A cromulent explanation for this is that he wasn't looking for TV roles at the time but, if you know differently, do share. Similarly, if he was looking for TV roles, he would mainly have been looking for them in the UK, where he did all his work at that time. If you're aware of him seeking roles from RTE and not getting them, again, do share.

Until you do share, however, you seem to be just retrofitting made-up facts to the case you want to make.

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881975#Comment_121881975

A lot of diehard anti TG4 heads make this claim - do you really turn on radio and mute TV despite the fact that radio will be farther ahead of TV coverage anyways? All sorted that you don't have to listen to the Irish language?

Thats DUP levels of intransigence

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881975#Comment_121881975

If I didn't have a Boards account I wouldn't be typing this post.