RTÉ Two to relaunch as RTÉ2 on 22/9/14

The announcement about changes to be made to RTE Two are due next month. It is expected that TRTÉ will replace RTÉ Jr on the channel in the early hours... The channel will continue to be named RTÉ Two with new on-air presentation and new contracts signed with US broadcasters to secure first rights to future programmes.

Other details are due next month.

IMO RTÉ Two should only be made available by using revenue from advertising and should lose its public service remit... instead use advertising to secure big budget US dramas etc by signing exclusive deals with US networks like NBC, Stars, Cinemax etc to secure first European broadcasting rights for hit shows like RTÉ did with shows like Friends, ER etc in the past. If Sky can sign exclusive deals with HBO, RTÉ should do deals with other US broadcasters and RTÉ will get them at a lower cost as the population is small. Alternatively RTÉ could follow Bell Media in Canada who have bought licenses to brands such as MTV, Discovery etc to broadcast Canadian versions of these channels.

People may complain about RTÉ at least it supplies jobs unlike Sky Ireland who now have 34 channels in Ireland on its books taking large amounts of advertising revenue out of Ireland to its HQ in London. While Sky employ people at Sky Ireland HQ in Dublin these are hardly relevant jobs in the media industry and do little to promote Irish drama etc. Maybe Sky might change in the future and create stand alone Irish Sky1 and Sky Living etc until then Irish audiences get pretend Irish Sky channels with Irish adverts and no Irish content. This also has a damaging effect on TV3 and it will do the same to UTV Ireland when it launches.

A similar situation happens in Austria and Switzerland where ProSeibenSat1 Media AG produce ''Austrian'' and ''Swiss'' channels which are a simulcast of the original German channels thus creating a huge problem for domestic production in Austria and German speaking parts of Switzerland.

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

You can be sceptical but it did pump money into a part of the country that wasn't going to get it otherwise. It's a genuine international success story using Irish Companies and Talents. It's won a Emmy, name another Irish Comedy that RTE or TV3 have made that has ever won an Emmy? And one episode had about 6 minutes in Irish. Now that's nothing to shout out about, but it's probably 6 minutes more Irish than TV3 broadcast in Primetime over the last 12 months.

Again in no way i'm I defending SKY, they are there to make a profit. I will say they have damaged TV3, but UTV have easily coped with them in the North and will probably do so again in the south.

I totally agree with what you are saying, but TV3 still provide more long-term jobs etc and yes it's great an Irish show is on Sky 1 but it won't run forever Sky.

r3nu4l wrote: »

As the father of an avid kids TV watcher, I'd argue against that. The schedules on RTÉ junior and kids shows on RTÉ 2 in the morning are different, so if a kid doesn't want to watch a program on one channel there will be a different show on the other channel.

I'm not an advocate of sticking the kids in front of the TV all morning but choice is important for kids too. This is important for the Saorview viewers. That said I can use the computer to watch CBeebies live or on BBC iPlayer if needed but for the less technologically able, it's good to have choice.

Just a different perspective.

Regardless of Choice for the Under 6's on RTÉ TWO V RTÉjr, It took DCERN, BAI, RTÉ and various other people not to decide to move RTÉjr programming from RTÉ TWO in just under 2 years. When I say "not to decide" I mean they did nothing.

RTÉ are battling with the channel what we should expect from a new look 2: -

1. Prime Time Drama
2. Irish programming commissioned between 7 and 9

What we will get

1. I guessing they will bring back the Number 2 to differentiate it from RTÉ ONE
2. and everything that has gone before.

In relation to Moone Boy, Sky get €500million from Irish Audience's its really the least that they can do. In fairness to RTÉ they did help the production house that produce Moone Boy in the early years with Batchelor's Walk and I think some of the writers on Moone Boy wrote Paths To Freedom.

Sam Russell wrote: »

Or perhaps the advertisers through larger audiences.

And who pays for adverts through consumption of products The Licence fee and tax payer.

Sam Russell wrote: »

You cannot have it both ways. TV is paid for by one of three ways.

1. Licence fee - most goes to RTE.

2. Subscription - most goes to Sky and UPC.

3. Advertising - some is paid by the state (and so the taxpayer so we may have safer roads etc.) but most is paid by commercial companies trying to sell goods.

Only the BBC does not carry adverts around here.

I was joking.

Most TV channels go though a rebrand or refresh or whatever.

Why is it that TG4 here and S4C in Wales, with their minimal budgets can turn out far superior programming to a lot of mainstream broadcasting?