Best way to Improve RTE and get Value from the licence fee

MOH · 20-10-2011 11:47AM

Would someone please take some of the money from the vastly overpaid "stars" and use it to hire somebody who actually knows how to run a TV station to a schedule. I would have thought it a fairly basic requirement, but nobody at RTE seems capable of it.

The last two late night films I recorded lost at least the last 2 minutes - and that's before the credits. I got fed up ages ago of everything I recorded taking up extra space on the Sky box because I had to pad 5 minutes at the end to allow for RTEs incompetence.

Ash.J.Williams · 20-10-2011 12:01PM

MOH wrote: »

Would someone please take some of the money from the vastly overpaid "stars" and use it to hire somebody who actually knows how to run a TV station to a schedule. I would have thought it a fairly basic requirement, but nobody at RTE seems capable of it.

The last two late night films I recorded lost at least the last 2 minutes - and that's before the credits. I got fed up ages ago of everything I recorded taking up extra space on the Sky box because I had to pad 5 minutes at the end to allow for RTEs incompetence.

I used to watch "oz" the prison drama religiously earlier in the decade, one week they actually played the previous episode again!! Nobody said anything or it was never reported but they actually the same episode twice, so it took two bloody weeks to get to the next one!!

Ash.J.Williams · 20-10-2011 12:04PM

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

I agree wholeheartedly with the many positive comments about RTE here. In my view, the best way to maximise listener benefit from RTE is to focus on RTE Lyric FM, and get its listenership figures up, ideally as high as 10% throughout the day.

The licence fee is in reality a very modest charge, considered over the course of an entire year, and particularly in multi-member households, where the cost per head diminishes with each additional person or birth. I have heard it compared to buying the Racing Post a couple of times a week, and giving much better value. (And, in any case, advertising revenue must be a major component of RTE's revenue, ensuring the licence fee is kept to the bare minimum necessary. Similarly, their revenue from TV sales and from merchandise sales must alleviate the burden on the licence payer by offsetting otherwise necessary additional public charges.)

If they were to launch a large TV and radio campaign to promote RTE Lyric FM heavily (perhaps backed up with print, billboard and bus ads), they could really ensure that the licence payer actually derives personal benefit from the jewel in the RTE crown. It might be necessary to enhance the celebrity status of some of the RTE Lyric FM broadcasters as part of this initiative, perhaps by floating them as television celebrities at least for the duration of the campaign. If they guested heavily on discussion programmes, and took part in competition and reality shows, it would make the viewer curious and lead to a surge in interest in their radio origins.

Hugo Brady Brown

Also as much as i agree with some of your sentiment i cannot fathom how you actually want to encourage the mindless drivel that is celebrity reality shows? They have been a cancer upon this country for years now, and i wish all who participate a painful and slow demise.

Killer Pigeon · 20-10-2011 12:05PM

Abolish D'RTÉ!!

Orando Broom · 20-10-2011 12:18PM

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

I agree wholeheartedly with the many positive comments about RTE here. In my view, the best way to maximise listener benefit from RTE is to focus on RTE Lyric FM, and get its listenership figures up, ideally as high as 10% throughout the day.

The licence fee is in reality a very modest charge, considered over the course of an entire year, and particularly in multi-member households, where the cost per head diminishes with each additional person or birth. I have heard it compared to buying the Racing Post a couple of times a week, and giving much better value. (And, in any case, advertising revenue must be a major component of RTE's revenue, ensuring the licence fee is kept to the bare minimum necessary. Similarly, their revenue from TV sales and from merchandise sales must alleviate the burden on the licence payer by offsetting otherwise necessary additional public charges.)

If they were to launch a large TV and radio campaign to promote RTE Lyric FM heavily (perhaps backed up with print, billboard and bus ads), they could really ensure that the licence payer actually derives personal benefit from the jewel in the RTE crown. It might be necessary to enhance the celebrity status of some of the RTE Lyric FM broadcasters as part of this initiative, perhaps by floating them as television celebrities at least for the duration of the campaign. If they guested heavily on discussion programmes, and took part in competition and reality shows, it would make the viewer curious and lead to a surge in interest in their radio origins.

Hugo Brady Brown

Would Lyric FM survive as a stand alone broadcaster without public remittances? A lot of over paid heavy weights padding out the schedule there in my opinion.

Gay Byrne, George Hamilton, John Kelly (maybe not fair to include but he's still very well paid) and Marty Whelan.

HugoBradyBrown · 20-10-2011 12:50PM

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

Also as much as i agree with some of your sentiment i cannot fathom how you actually want to encourage the mindless drivel that is celebrity reality shows? They have been a cancer upon this country for years now, and i wish all who participate a painful and slow demise.

Yes, I agree, we on this board wouldn't be taken in by mindless drivel, but an audience whose taste has been debased by years of reality TV on Channel 4 and by rubbish on BBC 3 (TV) and elsewhere has to be encountered on the ground where they are. It's rather like going into battle; one doesn't enagge the enemy where one would wish them to be, but where they actually are. (In the wise words of Brian Cowan a few years ago, 'we are where we are'.)

By degrees it should be possible to wean the listener (and viewer) away from the pap. By availing of strong and reliable talents like Gay Byrne, Mike Murphy (who has a great and established interest in 'the Arts'), Marty Whelan, Frank McNamara, Mary Kennedy and other wholly palatable presenters, the viewer-listener could be coaxed up the ladder of quality, so that in the fullness of time RTE might become indistinguishable from a mashup of BBC Radio 3 and the Irish Film Institute.

Hugo Brady Brown

4zn76tysfajdxp · 20-10-2011 01:08PM

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

I used to watch "oz" the prison drama religiously earlier in the decade, one week they actually played the previous episode again!! Nobody said anything or it was never reported but they actually the same episode twice, so it took two bloody weeks to get to the next one!!

Did RTE ever show OZ? TG4 did but I didn't think RTE ever have.

Ellis Dee · 20-10-2011 01:13PM

I doubt very much whether RTE could be improved - except perhaps by means of a bit of carpet bombing - and the only way to get value for the fee is to reach the age of 66. Then the fee you'll have to pay - nothing - is IMHO pretty much in line with the value of the programming.:)

If you want to watch decent TV, you can get a satellite dish and decoder for about €180.;)

good logs... · 20-10-2011 01:15PM

ill tip my hat to any man that can get payed €300.000 a year:)

4zn76tysfajdxp · 20-10-2011 01:19PM

good logs... wrote: »

ill tip my hat to any man that can get payed €300.000 a year:)

€300??? Ha! I make more than that in a... month.

cowzerp · 20-10-2011 02:01PM

If we have to pay a license fee for these stations they should be ad free, doesn't it turn into the shopping channell at night an all, these are what should be paying for the station.

And get rid of the over paid presenters such as Tubridy etc and get people on more modest money to do the jobs.

Ash.J.Williams · 20-10-2011 02:08PM

Nathaniel Agreeable Quake wrote: »

Did RTE ever show OZ? TG4 did but I didn't think RTE ever have.

well it seems you are right!!! ooops....hail RTE!

kieranfitz · 20-10-2011 02:12PM

Nathaniel Agreeable Quake wrote: »

Did RTE ever show OZ? TG4 did but I didn't think RTE ever have.

I remember a few episodes from season one, then it disapeared, Also has anyone ever noticed how they seem to use the same opening sequence for the simpsons in different eppisodes. I remember the circus one being used for 6 episode in one week. Another way to save money is to stop putting Catherine f***ing Lynch on telly.

StaticNoise · 20-10-2011 06:08PM

Completely and utterly agree with many of the comments from this thread. RTÉ needs a radical overhaul and major changes are to be made.

A cap on salaries should be introduced. And, 30% is not enough. Whilst on that, we should take a look at all salaries in the broadcaster. There are those who are not in front of house that are receiving major salaries also.

There are no grounds for the amount of television channels operated by one broadcaster. Competition and variety is important, but two is more than enough. As one poster said, RTÉ 1 can be kept, but change it's programming format to a certain few types. If RTÉ is to be kept, ramp up the commercialism to an extensive level and in no way, shape or form should a licence fee go to it.

Many "big" programmed are bought by RTÉ. The television shows that cost megabucks from the States. The big HBO stuff, NBC, FOX, etc. There's a number that can be seen on standard cable channels, basic digital channels and the like: not solely on Sky Atlantic for example. There's no need for us to be paying such sums on these shows when they can be seen elsewhere, and we do watch them elsewhere. There are less than 250,000 homes using an aerial: all other homes are on cable or satellite digital TV. Even with the most basic cable packages you've got many free to air channels broadcasting this content. Let them foot the bill, not us.

Radio also needs a massive change. Digital Radio was established badly by the broadcaster. RTÉ 1, 2FM, 1 Extra, Choice, Gold, Pulse, 2XM, Junior. More than enough, even for the amount of people that tune in online or via DAB digital sets. Radio is my thing, and I love it, but this is a crazy amount. Especially Junior. These are also running without adverts, as a "trial". Lunacy. The multiplex is managed by RTÉ/NL, and no independent broadcasters are on it any more since the MUX was closed down for them.

Imitation of other networks should also be stopped. One gripe I have is the copying of BBC, seen in the declaration of programme format after the RTÉ name. For example, "RTÉ News and Current Affairs" on the Drivetime jingles, "RTÉ Light Entertainment" on the Late Late show titles and so on. BBC do this. They also have "Newsbeat" on BBC Radio 1. But, of course, we chose to have a massive rebrand, at a cost, of course, to imitate this. RTÉ is a different broadcaster from others, so let it be. It's got a remit not to imitate. It's a little thing, but one of the hundred of little flaws that operate in the broadcaster.

Craig Doyle, Kathryn Thomas and Katherine Lynch. Enough said.

I could speak for years about the issues they have, and give tips, as others have, that simply work. I would love to step in there and start to give an outsiders perspective or assist in a massive change of the company dynamics, but that will never happen because of the single biggest problem RTÉ has: nepotism and "knowing someone", something all too common in the cracks of the nation. Sure, TV3 aren't perfect, but they at least (with limited resources) have trumped the national broadcaster over the past year or so by making efforts to improve things by diversifying, creating more Irish programmes, changing the programming directors, updating their style and output and trying to be better: something Montrose haven't done. And TV3, and the others, have done it without direct funding. Inferior in size maybe, but still giving it a go.

RTÉ have no legs to stand on, and we shouldn't have remorse for them. It's a different nation, and it's time for a different approach to media and organisation.

Best way to Improve RTE and get Value from the licence fee

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