Pokemon Battle wrote: » With lots of talk about cutbacks in RTE the past week, What cuts would you do? This is what i would do - cap all presenters "fees" at €200k. Close RTE News now, +1 and Junior (RTE Jr would still be on RTE 2) Cut 2fms staff by at least 50%
AwaitYourReply wrote: » The band only arrived when Tubridy pulled the concept over from his previous Tubridy Tonight show that went out on Saturday nights.
AwaitYourReply wrote: » There is speculation that RTÉ's teletext service, Aertel will face the axe as part of their drive to cut costs right across the board. Given that TV3's THREEText, BBC Ceefax, ITV/C4 Oracle have all long since departed the scene, I would think the end days for Aertel are probably not far off at this stage.
I often wonder can RTÉ really afford The Late Late Show house band week in, week out. In bygone years when RTÉ once held a national TV/Radio monopoly, The Late Late Show might have had a musical director in the form of Jim Doherty or Frank McNamara all on his own on the piano as they had no resident band even though RTÉ would have been earning considerably more throught TV licence fee and commercial advertising revenue and faced little or no competition in it's earlier years especially if viewers were not based along the East Coast/Border Areas. The band only arrived when Tubridy pulled the concept over from his previous Tubridy Tonight show that went out on Saturday nights. Pat Kenny had no band or musical director if memory serves me correct from 1999-2009. Most music on the show will come from performing artists anyway so; it's a luxury they can hardly afford if they are forced into making major cutbacks in quality output across RTÉ. If I hear any more jazzed-up versions of The Late Late Show signature theme played by that band, I think I'll puke as it is unnecessary and almost nauseating at this stage.
In today's radio marketplace, I see absolutely little or no reason why RTÉ still supports 2FM as nowadays you have the whole independent commercial radio sector providing this choice and sometimes often better quality. After several unsuccessful revamps at 2FM it is now clear that 2FM has lost it's purpose, identity and the affection is once had with many radio listeners now aged in the over 35+Yrs category. The tide has been turning for quite some time but was never more apparent after the late Gerry Ryan had passed away around April, 2010. The best thing RTÉ could do now is to closedown 2FM altogether and request permission to transfer the "RTÉ Gold" digital station onto the FM frequency currently used by 2FM. This would make sense as you are likely to find a bigger audience tuning into the service if it was more freely available and for those on the move. Larry Gogan, Dave Fanning, Rick O'Shea do not fit well in the current younger age demographic targeted by 2FM but I'm not sure enough younger people are gonna tune in to the likes of Nicky Byrne, Ruth & Co. either as today's youth have so much more devices to choose to hear their favourite music unlike it was when 2FM was a huge player from 1979-1997. RTÉ closed Cork Local Radio (RTÉ Radio Cork/89FM) in the early 2000's and expanded FM3 Classical Music (was once one of the Radio One opt-out services) and RTÉ Lyric fm was established at the same time so; there is a precedent for closing one operation while expanding another!
I would not like to be Dee Forbes as she is likely to face lots of criticism no matter what she is forced to axe or cut back but they need to make serious progress on multiple fronts from TV Licence Fee evasion, selling off expensive lands at it's Montrose Campus HQ or even moving to a much cheaper site if they can get significant income from an outright sale. RTÉ needs to outsource right across the board and be allowed to stop having to do everything as they cannot continue to expand services on much less income/revenue coming in.
That said, if nobody else is performing a function they currently provide, it needs to be carefully considered and explored. If however; there is competition and no shortage of something they already provide then maybe it needs to be under scrutiny...does RTÉ really need to be purchasing EastEnders soap opera from the BBC while most viewers across Ireland now have easy access to BBC One across the country as it is available free-to-air on digital satellite and also on cable tv systems. Many viewers will probably choose to watch it over on BBC One as they won't have to wait for the commercial break half way through an episode of EastEnders on RTÉ One!
Sam Russell wrote: » If my memory serves me right, Turbridy got the Late Late Show Orchestra (complete with violins, etc) when he took over, which shrank to the LLS House Band after the first or second season. His pay has also shrunk.
Elmo wrote: Minister would sit on that permission and I would question why Gold would get that frequency over 2XM due to the demise of TXFM. AFAIR FM3 shared with RnaG not Radio1.
AwaitYourReply wrote: » I recall the former Tubridy Tonight show on Saturday nights prior to Summer 2009 Ryan had a resident band on the show called "The Camembert Quartet" and although, I can recall occasional appearances by orchestras on The Late Late Show but I don't remember the orchestra(s) as being a weekly fixture. However; as I was not certain I went away and did some research...http://www.rte.ie/tv/latelate/20090911.html I've since checked an episode dated Friday 11th September, 2009 (Ryan's 2nd episode as Late Late Show host) and after Ryan makes his entrance on screen he then salutes the band which in the previous set were situated at same level as the studio audience. They are accomplished and talented musicians to be fair but I'm just not sure they are an essential requirement every week (or most weeks) just for a few fancy introductions especially given that RTÉ is in major debt and needs to make tough cut back right across the whole operation. If I was charged with making huge cutbacks in an organisation, this would be just one of the many areas I would be considering. Otherwise, if RTÉ does not achieve major savings, we will end up with yet more repeats of programmes like "Reeling In The Years" which is an excellent programme but is sadly ending up scheduled for broadcast during prime-time hours far too often. We liked it the first time and maybe the 2nd but after the 10th or 15th showing it starts becoming a bit ridiculous for a channel like RTÉ One.
brick man wrote: » It did indeed share with RnaG but before that it was a 2 hour opt out of radio 1
AwaitYourReply wrote: I also have a recollection of viewing FM3 opt-out programme schedule within the wider RTÉ Radio One listing if you were able to obtain full comprehensive breakdown of programmes in places like the RTÉ Guide magazine. There was not much to view for FM3 and Bernadette Comerford is one name in the FM3 schedule at that time. I think it was early-mid afternoon and I'm not sure if it came back on for a while in the evening after 7pm. Some of the details on wikipedia can be inaccurate at times such as the close down of RTÉ Radio Cork as I understand it did in fact close in January, 2000 unlike the details published on the RTE Radio 1 wikipedia page. There may well be other inaccuracies out there or generalisations that do not account for the whole time period.
brick man wrote: » 4; sadly I think 2fm needs to be closed it has completly lost its sense of direction . i think put gold in its place
GreenFolder2 wrote: » I'd like to see a breakdown of what % if RTE staff are actually involved in programme making. It seems to have a huge number if non essential jobs. They need to look at rationalising a lot of things. Also I would question all the sponsorship of events and cultural stuff. Is that really appropriate? The licence fee is supposed to be funding broadcasting, not indirectly propping up festivals and sports organisations etc etc. That's a job for the state and for genuine commercial sponsors. I'd be of the view that they should look at switching off DAB radio as very few people seem to be listening to it and the commercial sector has no interest in it. LW 252 is also serving no propose other than nostalgia. 2fm, should be retained if it's profit making. If it's not, it needs to go. It's hardly a public service. It's just w commercial music station. The fact that there's limited choice outside Dublin and Cork isn't really an excuse. Beat, Spin SW and iRadio successfully filled that market in much of rural Ireland. It's just a matter of extending that model a bit further. If anything, 2fm may have held up that development. Children's programming was always poorly funded but hugely creative. It seems daft to defund that when it was a core element of RTE's remit as a public service. There are a lot of things I'd have on the chopping board before that!
NIMAN wrote: » The No1 for me has to be wages, end of. How we can have a handful of presenters/radio hosts earning in excess of the President of the USA for hosting a radio show is baffling. I'd cap the wages at €100k, and if all the 'talent' wants to leave and get employment elsewhere, so be it. I'm guessing most will not have that many offers.
reubenreuben wrote: » While we at at it with RTE, why not cap wages at all the other overpaid public sector workers and also the overpaid Ministers, who get more than equivalent sized other countries. Where will this stop! Its like a witch hunt this, ridiculous.
Pokemon Battle wrote: With lots of talk about cutbacks in RTE the past week, What cuts would you do? This is what i would do - cap all presenters "fees" at €200k. Close RTE News now, +1 and Junior (RTE Jr would still be on RTE 2) Cut 2fms staff by at least 50%
NIMAN wrote: » There's plenty of people on big money in RTE I'd guess. I'd say anyone in a long time is on the pigs back. That list of big earners I gave, well a couple of years ago I also seen wages for the likes of Dave Fanning and George Hamilton as well, and they were between 160k-200k iirc. Thats huge wages for the jobs they do. Remember George Hamilton is flown all over the world to the best sporting events, put up in best hotels and fed and watered on the licence payers money, and yet he still earns 200k per year! Good work if you can get it.
NIMAN wrote: » The No1 for me has to be wages, end of. How we can have a handful of presenters/radio hosts earning in excess of the President of the USA for hosting a radio show is baffling. I'd cap the wages at €100k, and if all the 'talent' wants to leave and get employment elsewhere, so be it. I'm guessing most will not have that many offers. Figures from 2014 (not sure if 2015 was ever released) 10. Derek Mooney - €168,871 9. Colm Hayes - €169,992 8. Richard Crowley - €174, 120 7. George Lee - €179,031 6. Bryan Dobson - €195,816 5. Miriam O'Callaghan - €280,445 4. Sean O'Rourke - €290,096 3. Marian Finucane - €295,000 2. Joe Duffy - €416,893 1. Ryan Tubridy €495,000 Those are scandalous figures for the ability of some of those folk. We are a tiny nation, its not like they are presenting in the US or Britain. And don't forget Ray D'Arcy has to be added to that list.
Elmo wrote: » I don't think Dave Fanning ever many the list of top 10 earners.
