What would we lose if RTÉ was abolished

RoTelly · 14-11-2024 11:49AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122837850#Comment_122837850

and to quote myself

Now there are plenty that will point to the fact that Boards is largely dead as bulletin board / social media site, for various reason, but even still the lack of interaction on these new or returning series is telling.

RTÉ2's share even going by TAM Ireland has gone from 10% down to the current 5% and that is in a year of major sports for the channel. (Often we talk over on the Radio forum about the dwindling 2fm audience, but at least RTÉ have tried to regain an audience on that service, without sport they have let RTÉ2 die).

Outside of sport can you name any original Irish programme on RTÉ2?

Even if the TV forum and Boards isn't busy, it still gets posts to UK and US shows?

What are the smaller programmes, as I said I posted relatively new programmes none are large in terms of audience (e.g. big mainstream show e.g. DWTS) or small (e.g. non-mainstream shows that other companies could not make e.g. The Works Presents…). They are all mainstream programming.

But lets be clear TV3 is using the election about how its a Public Service Broadcaster when most of the next 3 weeks will be wall to wall coverage of I'm A Celeb.

icdg · 14-11-2024 12:28PM

Those active on Boards aren’t representative of the population as a whole, and I think that needs to be clear.

I know my parents generation (and they’ve had UK TV almost continuously since the late 1970s) still watch RTE One as their default go-to. They do watch other channels but RTE’s still their main one.

I think we’ve said before how RTE2 is, outside of sports and kids, basically dead by a thousand cuts over the last few years. Now it plays a very valuable role in being a home for the sports and kids output but the channel is dead on its knees otherwise, populated almost entirely by imports and repeats, and badly needs the kind of investment we saw in 1988, 1997, and 2004.

z80CPU · 14-11-2024 12:32PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122796883#Comment_122796883

Money is made by RTÉ for the financially secure higher up echelon who are the same audience to receive the ABC magazine aimed at that market.

RoTelly · 14-11-2024 12:36PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122838077#Comment_122838077

That is true but let be fair, there are people here, on this thread, defending RTÉ, who don't post on boards on shows that they are talking about. Any time I ask them to name an RTÉ show they can't but they say they would miss RTÉ!

Also from being on Twitter and Insta I see little chat about any RTÉ programming on either (good or bad), is there any major chat about RTÉ on Facebook? or even on YouTube?

I would agree about my parents also, my Mam recently asked me what did I mean and how she watches RTÉ News, some current affairs, and how all the BBC channels as she calls them have plenty of repeats. I pointed out to her anytime I am at the house, they are watching Heartbeat on 3e or some DIY show on U&Yesterday or U&Eden or New Tricks on U&Drama. Much like in the UK BBC ONE is the go to channel for local news and current affairs.

I assume many people in Ireland when it comes to repeats see no difference between RTÉ and BBC / Channel 4, but largely you are talking about their extra digital channels, as I have said before BBC 1 has 3% repeats in prime time, channel 4 9%, bbc 2 25%.

How do you explain the death by a thousand cuts of RTÉ2? seriously, the national broadcaster dropped the ball and I'd argue they did it back with the re-brand to RTÉ TWO in 2004. And even if they say well you know everything is online now, none of the originals on the RTÉ player come close to the re-brands of 1988, 1997 and 2004 (though it died of at that point).

As I have said before RTÉ is a completely mismanaged organization.

Shan Doras · 14-11-2024 12:46PM

Speaking of RTE 2, who remembers that Dees 2019 five year plan included moving all sports content over to RTE one? She said that RTE 2 would then reinvent itself as a "window to the RTE player" I don't know what that meant and i doubt she did either.

dulpit · 14-11-2024 12:57PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122838126#Comment_122838126

RTE isn't for me as a linear channel. But that's not to say it's not important. My parents watch most of their content on RTE as an example. They're not going to be posting on boards.

Shan Doras · 14-11-2024 01:00PM

@RoTelly I too felt that the 2004 relaunch as RTE Two looked visually like a step backwards, That 04 look gave the channel an "RTE One Extra" feel rather than a youth channel feel if that makes sense. Regardless tho, shows like Lost, Desperate housewives and podge and rodge brought in 500k+ viewers per night so the idents didn't really matter.

RoTelly · 14-11-2024 01:13PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122838225#Comment_122838225

What content do they watch that they couldn't watch on a new Public Service Broadcaster? Our parents may not be posting on boards or any social site.

But do they watch anything on RTÉ2? One channel my mam never watches, she won't be posting here either. I'd say like most people they watch news on 1 and Sport on 2 and flick to TV3 for Coro St.

I don't know if you parents have the extra digital channels my parents have but as I say they are often watching shows on those channels when not watching RTÉ for news and sport.

RoTelly · 14-11-2024 01:15PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122838240#Comment_122838240

I think they had let N2 go by that stage, and similar shows were getting similar audiences for the channel prior to those shows. I don't think those shows would get anything like that now, and I am not suggesting they should but RTÉ2 at least at that time had a news programme and as you point out original programmes, all of which are more than anything the Player is doing. It quickly became RTÉ ONE MAX by 2007, and they did try to re-launch again in 2014 but it was largely a downwards for them in 2014.

dulpit · 14-11-2024 01:25PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122838307#Comment_122838307

Oh RTÉ 2 can get in the bin at this point, it's useless.

But they watch whatever happens to be on most evenings. And yes, they do have Sky.

Shan Doras · 14-11-2024 01:27PM

Hopefully their new "Director of Video" will get the channels some new idents

icdg · 14-11-2024 01:51PM

I don’t think it was the intention of the 2004 relaunch to give it an RTE One Max feel.

You have to set it in the context of the time, RTE had spent most of the previous 15 years pretending it had nothing to do with Network 2 and 2FM, and to a lesser extent Lyric FM and RnaG.

In 2003, they took a decision that all services had to have the RTE name in them. Which in a changing world, with “multichannel”broadcasting still a relatively new concept to many but rapidly taking off, was a wise decision. (remember when most outside Dublin only had two channels? That wasn’t long in the rear view mirror in 2003. Netflix in those days was a mail order DVD company few of us here had ever heard of, what they initially referred to as “Instant Video” was still four years away). And so, rather clunkily, the CAs were told starting in September 2003 to call the channel “RTE Network 2”. The idents didn’t change at that point, but orally the RTE name was already back, and they added an RTE N2 DOG in case anyone forgot.Whether a decision to revert to RTE Two was already taken at that time or not, I don’t know, but it was probably inevitable after that.

RTE should never again have to pretend it’s not responsible for one of its services. There’s also the issue that without the RTE name attached, people don’t realise public funding is going to it. I don’t think we’ll ever again see “An N2 Production” or similar grace our screens.

RoTelly · 14-11-2024 02:00PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122838462#Comment_122838462

Regardless of the branding, RTÉ's second channels has been left to die, so much so that in strategy 2024 (which differs only slightly to New Direction) Sport was to move over to RTÉ ONE.

TBH I'd have no problem with it death had RTÉ any real intention in providing its type of programming on the player but this is not the case.

RoTelly · 14-11-2024 02:02PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122838372#Comment_122838372

what a stupid title. And he'll do nothing, he did nothing with BBC Scotland, he was Director of TV productions in RTÉ a decade ago, he's just part of the machinery.

What would we lose if RTÉ was abolished

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