What would we lose if RTÉ was abolished

thereiver

There's a theory every discussion online will mention the Nazis or Hitler if it go,s on long enough. Rte has always been middle of the road ,slightly liberal since the 90,s

Bobson Dugnutt

The entire output should be laser focused on the viewing needs and wants of white middle-aged men.

tom23

we loose nothing.

StormForce13

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121882129#Comment_121882129

O'Toole knows so little about sport that he didn't know that that "massively important" game was played on Fiorentina's training ground which has a capacity of about 2,000 and was attended by less than 200 spectators. More people used the public toilets in Tullamore that day than attended the women's soccer international that, according to Ireland's greatest whinger, should have been broadcast on RTE 2! I would have been more inclined to have praised RTE for taking the trouble to provide coverage of the friendly game on their News Channel.

It's probably only a matter of time before the same clown writes an equally witless column complaining that RTE doesn't give sufficient live coverage to the public toilets in Tullamore!

gormdubhgorm

I think they should just make RTE a current affairs channel, maybe cover a bit on the EU as well, from the Irish angle. That media focus on Europe is sorely neglected IMO.

Leave sport and cultural stuff to TG4 great coverage of the club football and club hurling in particular. Any spill over of sport can go to Virgin Media.

The fluffy pointless stuff "Dancing with the stars", "First Dates" they should be more for the Virgin Media market?

Caquas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121882296#Comment_121882296

This is not a thread about Cillian who is just one example of RTÉ’s irrelevance to our creative talent. We agree that RTÉ never helped Cillian in any way. And I know there were times, especially after Disco Pigs, when he was looking for work for a long time.

But this is a thread about RTÉ and its value to Irish society. I say RTÉ never helped any of the outstanding Irish artists- actors, musicians, writers, you name it - who achieved success abroad. The very few exceptions I have seen mentioned, Dermot Morgan and Gabriel Byrne, prove the rule - they couldn’t get out fast enough and RTÉ was happy to see them go.

What then does RTÉ contribute which could not be supplied by a national news/current affairs channel plus a sports channel?

Could the news/current affairs channel cost more than €50 Million a year to run? That’s about 16% of RTÉ’s current operating costs (which is in deficit). A sports channel could cost something similar but could be financed by advertising and sponsorship.

What are they spending our money on in Montrose? I’ve seen the financial statement in the Annual Report. That tells us nothing about the quality of spending. They’re not spending hundreds of millions a year on nurturing talent, or they are making an astoundingly bad job of it.

Ozvaldo

To answer the ops question nothing.

RTE show rubbish programmes and peddles the propaganda of whatever government is in

dulpit

Genuine question for people who think that rte are a government mouth piece or peddle propaganda. How do they do this? What shows do they have to put forward this view?

Whats the behind the scenes route for putting an editorial line in place?

Would all presenters be in on this or just production staff? What about the board and executive who got slammed in the oireachtas committees, was that a cover or something else?

kazamo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121884527#Comment_121884527

We Get that you love TG4 and everything about it.

I finished secondary school nearly 40 years ago, and have not spoken Irish since, and not one person I have met has asked to converse through the medium of Irish.

It’s not fear of Irish, it’s indifference towards a language that a lot of people in Ireland have no real desire to relearn just to watch a football match.

And subtitles is a poor substitute for a commentary feed. Maybe if we had all sport events on TG4 in English, with Irish subtitles, then you would be happy with that……I suspect not

It would be an interesting experiment if TG4 provided an English option for sports commentary but can’t see that happening as it would likely destroy the myth that Irish is widely spoken or understood.

I have no issue with any of the rest of the programming on TG4, I just see it as the same as the Welsh Language or Scottish Language tv stations…..they are niche stations and I have no interest.

Don’t blame the people for this, blame the awful Irish school curriculum that turned people off the language, a language quickly forgotten afterschool ended, as it never needed to be spoken.

KaneToad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881680#Comment_121881680

You honestly don't watch anything in RTE except GAA....but then a few sentences later you mention you occasionally watch the news!!

I find this attitude common.

Strumms

Depending on what source to believe to be more accurate, either the fastest growing sport or second fastest for a number of years in Ireland has been cricket.

yet, there is zero cricket coverage on RTÉ, of domestic or international games. Live or highlights. Never has been to my knowledge..

if Ireland get to a World Cup or a glamour fixture at home against the big boys, mentioning the result on the 9 O’clock news might be the only on screen reference the broadcaster gives to the sport….they’ll fawn over it then for 25 seconds, same for any team homecoming from a World Cup following a big result there and then forget entirely about it.

international matches regularly sell out in Malahide and Stormont…not sure about Stormont but Malahide capacity with seats is around 12,000 …

Given the amount of sport played, watched in this country… why isn’t there an RTÉ Sports channel ?

club football / hurling / camogie, cricket, basketball, athletics, more LOI soccer, hockey, tennis…. It would increase the profile, popularity and participation multiple times over…of each sport.

fplfan12345

We would lose nothing.

It’s an absolute waste of public money and has been abused by people earning extravagant salaries for very little talent.

It has zero credibility when reporting matters relating to the government too.

There could be a service that provides very basic weather, news and radio. Focus on quality over quantity.

In terms of programming it is abominable.

There is no reason to allow it to continue in its current guise.

Greengrass53

Sorry kane but I was trying to be honest. I do occasionally flick over for the news but it wouldn't be a sine qua non for me by any means. Never watch any other programmes on it. So for me it wouldn't be any loss at all.

Caquas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121886180#Comment_121886180

I don’t think RTÉ is a government mouthpiece but it does not have a real diversity of viewpoints. There isn’t some big conspiracy but everyone is on the same wavelength. Most newspapers have more diversity of opinion as a matter of editorial policy.

During the referendum campaign they were legally obliged to provide balanced coverage so No campaigners were interviewed frequently but it was obvious that all of their presenters were Yes,Yes. Did anyone see an RTÉ journalist go out of their way to be fair to No? As a result, RTÉ was badly wrong-footed when the ballot boxes were opened. I can imagine the looks someone in RTÉ would get if they had said a month ago “I’m voting No,No. Mothers should be supported in the homes and I don’t know what is included in “durable relationships”.

The bias is particularly obvious in international coverage. RTÉ is all-in for the Democrats and could never see anything wrong with them. That was true long before Trump. Their coverage of Biden’s SOTU could have been scripted by the DNC. Gaza has reallY caused a crisis for them because Biden has prided himself on being “Israel’s best friend”.

I don’t think the situation is irredeemable (unlike the “creative” side) but it needs a conscious effort to ensure fairness towards alternative viewpoints.

Greengrass53

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121886442#Comment_121886442

Jeez, they're bad enough. And you want them to support trump 😂

Rubberchikken

The sport is sport. Any talking heads could do that.

Newsreaders through the 70s/80s were better than the faux CNN types we're inflicted with now.

I use 'we' lightly. I don't watch rte in any form.

The weather. God. Met Eireann can't get that right. A fella with a bucket in a field would be more accurate.

Documentaries. Any company with a functioning camera can do those.

We don't need rte.

We need a truly professional and honestly run service answerable to both gov and citizens.

Caquas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121886455#Comment_121886455

Far from it! But I want them to report objectively on Biden. Did you watch the SOTU? Morning Ireland treated it like one of the great speeches but Biden totally misjudged the situation. He was shouty, haranguing his audience when he’s supposed to be reporting to Congress. Berating the Supreme Court judges like they were politicians. And the Hunter Biden scandal?

RTÉ should take a balanced approach to domestic politics and give an Irish perspective on international affairs.

A presentational gripe - superannuated newsreaders! For years, they had newsreaders who looked ancient under piles of makeup. Why didn’t RTÉ give young people a chance in front of the camera? If I was Kevin Bakhurst, I’d say five years max presenting any one news slot, 10 years max as a principal newsreader. After that, they should work behind the scenes with some opportunities to camera e.g. with Prime Time.

For all that, I think RTÉ’s news and current affairs operations are competent and the problems can be solved by good leadership. Likewise with sports. But the creative side have produced so little of value over many decades that I say, shut it down and start with a clean slate.

A particular example: the 1916 centenary drama. What an absurd representation of the seminal event in Irish history. Connolly, Pearse and especially Plunkett and McDermott would think - we died so future generations would have their freedom but this farrago of ahistorical revisionism is how Irish theatre presents the Rising one hundred years later to the Irish people? The good news - nobody watched the later episodes so young minds were not polluted.

Shakyfan

Amazing how many people here never waatch or listen to RTE but are full of opinions about it's programme content!!

Caquas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121889613#Comment_121889613

What would you recommend to change their minds?

Anything that would make them feel -“ there’s a good programme that a commercial station wouldn’t produce.”

Shakyfan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121889923#Comment_121889923

You've missed the point! They're quick to point out that they don't watch or listen to any of the content but they know a lot about it!

Caquas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121890126#Comment_121890126

I understood your point perfectly but I don’t think they contradicted themselves. Their “never watch” means “don’t willingly watch”, not literally “my eyeballs have never received an image from a screen showing RTÉ”. It’s pretty hard to avoid RTÉ completely if you live in Ireland.

In any case, I would be glad of your answer to my question which is what this thread is about - what value does RTÉ provide? (Apart from news, current affairs and sports which a commercial station can provide)

Emblematic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121886180#Comment_121886180

I'm not saying there's a pro-Government bias in RTE but such a thing would not require a conspiracy or any behind-the-scenes coordination for such a bias to pervade the organization. All it would take would be a general feeling among staff that funding may not be so forthcoming if RTE is not at least somewhat supportive of the Government line.

The example you give of the board and executive getting slammed is surely more an example of the Government taking a tough line on RTE management, and not an example of anti-Government bias in RTE. It was a stance of the Government not a stance of RTE.

Caquas

Here's an interesting insight into RTÉ's self-image.

To celebrate 60 years of television, RTÉ presents itself as reflecting Irish social history, especially women and gay rights, with some sporting moments. But there's nothing from the creative arts, not even Riverdance, the only RTE production everyone could instantly recognise. And there are no recognisable individuals - no stars because RTÉ didn't actually create any and no leaders except Dev (opening pandora's box!).

Try to create just one minute of video from 60 years of RTE productions and you will end up with clips from news and sports. Anything original that RTÉ has done would be so old that most people would never have seen it. Love/Hate is probably the only RTÉ (commissioned) production of value in the last 20 years and that is hardly the image RTE wanted to present to the licence payers.

https://youtu.be/Gb624TtPUQE?si=rBq9LXRevb14ToTf

Given an opportunity to celebrate its heritage, RTÉ can only reflect the social changes which are making its business model redundant.

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121886442#Comment_121886442

How many MSM Irish outlets are unashamedly pro Republican/Trump?

Likewise are there any Pro Brexit or Climate Denial ones?

Caquas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121894601#Comment_121894601

I don’t think there is any real demand in the Irish market for pro-Trump, pro-Brexit and/or climate denial media.

Which is a credit to the common sense of Irish people. But there is scope for media which offers alternative views on a range of issues. The referendums showed that people do not share the “elite consensus” around family, women in the home and carers. There is scope for more analytical coverage of EU matters. Most Irish people are simply not informed about major EU decisions affecting their lives e.g. the Digital Services Act and the Nature Restoration Law.

Newspapers do much better than RTÉ in accommodating alternative views (which spared the blushes of the IT and Independent after the referendums). It is very odd that broadcasters are subject to a code requiring fairness, objectivity and impartiality but RTÉ’s news and current affairs output lacks the diversity of viewpoints which is essential to fairness. Virgin does much better in that respect.

As I say, RTÉ’s news and current affairs output is competent and sometimes first-rate. The problems can be fixed by leadership. But RTÉ has produced nothing creative of real value for a very long time. That side of RTÉ is simply not worth saving. Let’s invest the money somewhere it can support our artists, especially the future stars.

thereiver

How many adults talk in Irish in daily life outside Gaeltacht areas ,? You may understand Irish but do you wish to watch TV programs broadcast in Irish ? That's another question .rte is a public service radio,tv platform

I don't think a commercial tv station that relys on advertising would be able make the current affairs or cultural programs that rte makes A commercial tv station will broadcast some gaa and rugby match,s that are likely to attract advertisers

Look at TV3 it mostly shows programs from the itv network or some UK American dramas

the only programs it makes are news or low budget talk shows

if tg4 was gone

the popular programs it makes could be shown on rte 1 or rte 2

We are in an age now where most people have sky tv or cable tv or else watch Netflix or tv shows on streaming services good for you but most people in Ireland are not fluent in Irish

Rte has a limited budget it will have to either shut down some services or else reduce it's staff

Best Irish soap it's not a high bar to reach

It makes more sense to drop tg4 rather than reduce the quality of the programs it makes on rte 1 , 2

I don't know the quality of teaching Irish in schools now as I haven't gone to school since 1984

z80CPU

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121886462#Comment_121886462

A Stephenson screen is'nt exactly Rocket Science to make either. Pop it at the end of your garden / field etc.

Caquas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121897715#Comment_121897715

Unlike RTÉ, TG4 serves a clear purpose - to preserve and promote the Irish language - which could not be achieved otherwise.

It costs €39M. a year to run - yeah, that's one-tenth of the cost of RTÉ - and it produces/commissions a wide range of programming which is often of very high quality. TG4 co-sponsored the wonderful, Oscar-nominated Cailín Ciúin. That was not a flash in the pan - Arracht is probably the best film ever made about the Famine (putting RTÉ to shame again).

Ar ndóigh, mura dtacaíonn tú lena bhunsprioc maidir le cur chun cinn na Gaeilge, is é sin €39M. amú gach bliain. (Obviously, if you don't support its overall goal, that is €39M. down the drain every year) Opinion polls show high levels of support for preserving the Irish language even among those who don't speak the language themselves.

If there was a thread on "What would we lose if TG4 was abolished" or, better, "Cad a chaillfimid dá gcuirfí deireadh le TG4", I'm sure there would be many more and better answers.

So far, I don't think this thread has produced a single convincing answer in defence of RTÉ. No one had a good word for its programming beyond news/current affairs and sports, all of which could be done by commercial TV.

But I am absolutely certain that RTÉ will not be abolished. It may be re-branded, its funding will have to be re-jigged, it might even in extremis sell off Montrose to fund its pensions, but the institution itself will continue along with the other public service dinosaurs that have ceased to serve the public.

thereiver

I doubt if commercial tv would make the quality of current affairs programs that rte make as they depend on revenue from ads only rte has ads plus tv licence fee income .so they sell off Montrose in 10 years time the money will be gone and they also have to rent out studio space

This makes no economic sense

.do actors rte staff not get state pensions at the age of 65 like everyone else

Look at tv3. It's programs are low budget it makes in one studio in Dublin rte can make documentary's and a wide range of programs that don't depend on ratings or ad revenue that no other tv station can make as well as a wide range of radio programs I think it should sell off 2fm we already have plenty of pop radio stations