Whats with RTE News???

PacMan

During the past few days, the RTE Six-One news has reduced from one hour to thirty minutes.

I can justify the weekend news programme and the bank holiday news slots being reduced in time, but the present 30 minute slot is not good enough.
TV3 still operates its 5.30 and 6.30 news services, and NewsNight is back on BBC2, so am I missing something here???

DMC

A bit of a tradition, this...

They always reduce it for the week after Easter, and they have a point in doing so.

As the Oireachtas and the courts are not in session, there aint often a lot of news to fill a full hour. And thats exactly the same situation in the summer months.

We dont want RTÉ to go down the tracks of Local Radio and fill news time with death notices :P

And, just a point on TV3's news, its more or less the same news and the same stories, just repeated one hour later.

PacMan

In the "Normal" hour long Six-One broadcasts, Brian Dobson conducts a live interview in the studio, which often is very interesting. Why not continue this type of programming???
Both Teachers unions are having their conferences, the Israel attacks against the Palestine people, so much news, but only 30 minutes of repeated reports on RTE.

As a news junkie, I try and watch RTE news as much as I can. Today RTE news has shown the same reports on the 1'o Clock, Six-One, and 9'o Clock news services. For all the news thats happening in the world, RTE can only commit itself to showing repeats of One Foot In the Grave, like they did last night.

Its really a bad reflection on RTE to reduce their news programmes.

As for the death notices on Local radio........Never listen to them. But its ironic that the stations that read them out, have very high JNLR figures.

Elmo

I would of though that if RTE were serious about a 12 hour news service for one of their digital channels that they would always have an hour long news at 6.1? And their is an election coming up.
Its not the answer will be back on so.

TV3 continued the hour long news at 6 during the summer months before going for the 5.30 and 7 format.
Also can anyone tell me if lorraine keane and martin king only turn up for the 5.30 news and then are repeated at 6.30 and 11?

Seems that way to me.

DMC

Brian Dobson's interviews normally involve court cases or going to Leinster House, or some political development in the North. They are on their holliers, so no news. The teachers conferences are covered, but as they are held in Tralee and the like, dont expect many live link-ups. Anyway, the teachers would be on the píss after the final motion is passed in the afternoon. :P The Israeli attacks, as much in the news as they are, again, RTÉ wont have many live link-ups, and would rely heavily on the Eurovision network for their reporting.

The General Election, it aint been called yet, so this is the calm before the storm. Note that this week, is the week when a lot of local cummans have their final notices before the election goes in full swing.

How does Lorraine Keane do it? That much celebrity gossip? This small country? Such a small celebrity pool. Its her, and Martin King who make TV3 news completely unwatchable.

Elmo

Yes keane and king are reasons you just dont watch TV3 news.

And Lorraine is getting her own Celeb show too, Something like Entertainment Update but on for 30mins.

I wonder why she left RTE, I though that Drive and RPM would have been better then a Entertainment Corospondent on TV3 news.

DMC

She never left RTÉ, she was never employed by them.

Remember, AA Roadwatch is produced by the AA for RTÉ, they are AA staff, and Drive! and RPM are produced by Karl Tsigdonis and "Plumb" Tyndall, both indies.

Its the Glamour..... the .....

DMC

BTW, for news junkies, glad to see the arrival of Newstalk 106, the country's first news and sport station.

Hear it on 106.0 MHz in the greater Dublin area from the 9th April. They are currently playing a rolling trailer at that frequency. It sounds promising.

(launch story, Queen Mum's funeral.)

Massive attachment to current aerial system ordered for 106 fm.
Instalation imminent....
Next action, getting the electricity disconnected at the East coast Radio transmitter in Arklow which is a source of interference:P :mad:


Seriously though, the line up on that station is excelent, an EPG placing would be the biz:)
mm

mike65

Back on topic...the RTE newsroom pisses off at the drop of a hat, in fact current affairs goes to pot generally as all the big hitters on both TV and radio dissapear school teacher-like for months at a time. When the Romanian revolution happened in '89 RTE pretty much missed the whole thing as it happened over Christmas/NewYear

Mike.

Elmo

its back for the full hour according to the RTE Guide, Must have just be for Easter.

Brian Dobson and Una O Hagan not presenting at the moment.

Might be back on monday.

Their a good team actually very professional, seem like nice people.

PacMan

I can understand what Damo DMC has said about the Dail and Court procedings not operating over the Easter period. But this should Not allow RTE to cut back on its news output.
The world is a big place. I really believe that RTE should continue its hour long six-one news. Its the very idea, that if the Irish Court and the Dail (Often the same people appearing at both venus:D ) are not in session, then RTE ignores other international news. This coming from the very same authority, who last year, were thinking of broadcasting a 24 hour news channel. Think about it..................

icdg

Incidently, UTV is getting its hour long news bulitten (as seen from 1993-9) back on Monday. If UTV can fill an hour with solely local news, I'm sure RTE can fill an hour with national and international news and features. Even during the summer.

Perhaps they should merge Nationwide's reporting into the six one news during the summer-theres considerable overlap, in the sense that the items covered in that magazine show would be of the type that would be seen on say UTV live and other ITV or BBC local news programmes.
mm

DMC

Yes there is plenty of foreign news, just not many foreign reporters......

I'll add one other thing to this debate, the unions.....

As for Natiowide, just as long as Frank Bough and Jimmy Hill are not presenting it.... :surprised:

PacMan

Back to the Union's.... Where RTE is concerned, there is always an excuse.
As for International reporters. Richard Crowley has been in the Middle east for some time now, and his reporting is right "Up There" with the best of them. However he is always "On the Line", very seldom a live satellite report, just on the telephone.
RTE radio 1 uses its news reports from the BBC radio reporters, why can they not include reports from say, BBC news.

Yes most of the country has BBC, Sky News on either cable/mmds or satellite. But the Six-One News is "The" news service of the day, as far as most Irish viewers are concerned.

When RTE reduces its news output to 30 minutes, and even less if you include the ad breaks and sports, the critisism is correct.

CHRISTYG

If the Second Coming happened on Christmas Day, RTE would probably not have a report, but probably go straight into the 125th showing of "The Sound of Music"!!!! :P

DMC

No, "The Quiet Man" surely.....

CHRISTYG

To be serious for one moment (a first for me!!!!) the way things are in Jerusalem at the moment, they probably wouldn't risk a reporter anyway.

PacMan

The Six-One news was back to its one hour format tonight, with Ken hammond, and someone else whose name I cannot remember. I assume brian Dobson is on his holidays, but it appears so too are the senior reporters like Charlie Bird etc. The only reporter i recognised was George lee, the Economics editor. Is it a case of "Shut-Shop" at RTE News, this time of year???

Does the name Six-One mean it starts at one minute past six or does it mean one hour news at six...........

medja

SIX ONE, Means 1 minute past 6, that's according to RTE when It launched years back. We should be gratful it is not the 80's. It's now April 6th so in those days (If I am Correct!) the News at 9 was cut back to 20 minutes and the 6 pm news was 15 minutes for the 4 0r 5 months of the summer. It must be true when the older folks say that summers of their youth were longer.

Elmo

6.1 is called 6.1 because its on at 6.01 after the angalus.

The main reports should go on holidays but why not at different times during the summer like most other professions (teachers excluded).

joey D

check out:

http://www.geocities.com/rte_excess

apparently it's a parody of an RTE in-house mag called 'access', it hasn't been updated in ages but it's still quite funny.

Charles Slane

The Weather !