RTE Radio 1's obsession with thanking production team after every show

spiderbeast

What is it with RTE Radio one that the presenter always has to thank every member of staff by name at the end of each show.

Are they not paid enough?

I work in an office and my manager doesn't have to personally thank me at the end of each working day.

stumpypeeps

spiderbeast wrote: »

What is it with RTE Radio one that the presenter always has to thank every member of staff by name at the end of each show.

Are they not paid enough?

I work in an office and my manager doesn't have to personally thank me at the end of each working day.

He would if you knuckled down and got through a bit more work.

spiderbeast

stumpypeeps wrote: »

He would if you knuckled down and got through a bit more work.

Well that is true :-), but you get my point I'm sure.

mikemac

Ah the staff deserve to get mentioned too, what's the harm

RTE aren't alone in this, I can think of a few Newstalk programs who do the same.

stumpypeeps

feelingstressed wrote: »

Ah the staff deserve to get mentioned too, what's the harm

RTE aren't alone in this, I can think of a few Newstalk programs who do the same.

I guess it gives us the impression that the presenters recognise the work done behind the scenes and that they are showing humility by thanking said drones.

Lapin

Its the radio equivalent of the closing credits on tv programmes.
I don't see any harm in it. Its only fair to acknowledge those who work behind the scenes.

murpho999

What is your problem with it? It only takes a few seconds and RTE are not the only ones who do it, as I hear it in Newstalk a lot as well.

Maybe it's a union rule, no harm in saying thanks to people.

That's the end of my post, thank's for reading and a big thank you to 'Bard', 'bbability', 'An Cat Dubh' and 'Will' for moderating this forum!:D

spiderbeast

murpho999 wrote: »

What is your problem with it? It only takes a few seconds and RTE are not the only ones who do it, as I hear it in Newstalk a lot as well.

Maybe it's a union rule, no harm in saying thanks to people.

That's the end of my post, thank's for reading and a big thank you to 'Bard', 'bbability', 'An Cat Dubh' and 'Will' for moderating this forum!:D

The other stations only do it because RTE do it, RTE tend to set the trend.

You say it only takes a few seconds? Ok, so when Joe Duffy says to Derek Mooney "my apologies to Derek Mooney for being over time" well maybe if he didn't have to thank the bloody sound man he wouldn't be late. And then that muppet Mooney always says "Thank you very much INDEED Joe!"

They're all crazy! It's like they all suffer from a form of OCD.

dambarude

Do you complain when nearly every TV programme shows credits at the end as well?

It's good that people can hear the names of the other people who work on the show, and see that there is more to it than a presenter walking in and talking.

JonathanAnon

Well Marian Finucane was back at the weekend for The (supposed) Marian Finucane Show, didnt apologize for being away for the last umpteen weeks and didnt thank Charlie Bird for standing in for her. Maybe it's only when you hit the 500k mark that you not expected to thank everybody.

murpho999

spiderbeast wrote: »

The other stations only do it because RTE do it, RTE tend to set the trend.

You say it only takes a few seconds? Ok, so when Joe Duffy says to Derek Mooney "my apologies to Derek Mooney for being over time" well maybe if he didn't have to thank the bloody sound man he wouldn't be late. And then that muppet Mooney always says "Thank you very much INDEED Joe!"

They're all crazy! It's like they all suffer from a form of OCD.

Wow, you really do have little to worry about........I just can't get worked up about issues like that at all!

Maybe you should just listen to podcasts rather than live radio, and you can stop it before the 'thank you's'.

mike65

I have no problem with it, only takes a few seconds and is an acknowlegment of their unseen work.

Btr

Personally I think it's a good idea and I've always thanked coworkers on shows. I wouldn't overestimate , even in rte, some of the wages of off-air staff. Nothing bugs me more tha ego tripping talent who often take credit when they've done little more than vo a prog and you know the producer and researcher have done the legwork

Diabhal Beag

So we are complaining about people getting recognition when they normally wouldn't?

Hmmmmm :rolleyes:

dib

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

So we are complaining about people getting recognition when they normally wouldn't?

Hmmmmm :rolleyes:

Pretty much. What a pathetic complaint. People who work behind the scenes deserve a mention.

high heels

Theres one presenter but to run a show you need production people. With out them there wouldent be a show. So they are as important as the presenter.

TimmyTarmac

The problem with the credits is that they get them even if their production work is shoddy or substandard, which it frequently can be.
What might be better would be a 2 and a half minute critique by the presenter at the end of the show - and lets face it, if the Radio One presenters are paid so much e.g. Kenny, Finucane, they should know what works and what doesn't.

For example, at the end of Today with Pat Kenny, Patch says "the programme today was produced by John Doe, but the bit about looking through dumped refuse is boooring, John, so get the finger out, okay?"

"Sound supervision was by Jane Doe, who missed two cues this morning, coz she was reading the Star, and not paying attention."
This would sharpen up their game big time, and would lead to increased value for money for the hard pressed license fee payer.

spiderbeast

TimmyTarmac wrote: »

The problem with the credits is that they get them even if their production work is shoddy or substandard, which it frequently can be.
What might be better would be a 2 and a half minute critique by the presenter at the end of the show - and lets face it, if the Radio One presenters are paid so much e.g. Kenny, Finucane, they should know what works and what doesn't.

For example, at the end of Today with Pat Kenny, Patch says "the programme today was produced by John Doe, but the bit about looking through dumped refuse is boooring, John, so get the finger out, okay?"

"Sound supervision was by Jane Doe, who missed two cues this morning, coz she was reading the Star, and not paying attention."
This would sharpen up their game big time, and would lead to increased value for money for the hard pressed license fee payer.

I couldn't agree more. RTE make much more notable production mistakes compared to BBC. How many times have you heard "...........sorry about that, we'll try to get to Anne Doyle again in a few moments.....in the meantime here's some music......"

dib

spiderbeast wrote: »

How many times have you heard "...........sorry about that, we'll try to get to Anne Doyle again in a few moments.....in the meantime here's some music......"

Ridiculous. Equipment failure is equipment failure and is unavoidable. If a line or a Sat Link drop out there's nothing you can do but reconnect. This happens everywhere. To suggest that it's human error is lunacy. In a live environment, the presenter is informed, usually at very short notice, by the producer that an item has dropped due to equipment failure and has to think on his/her feet.

Also I'd like to know on what occasion you witnessed a sound op reading The Star whilst on air.

Poly

dib wrote: »

Ridiculous. Equipment failure is equipment failure and is unavoidable. If a line or a Sat Link drop out there's nothing you can do but reconnect. This happens everywhere. To suggest that it's human error is lunacy. In a live environment, the presenter is informed, usually at very short notice, by the producer that an item has dropped due to equipment failure and has to think on his/her feet.

Also I'd like to know on what occasion you witnessed a sound op reading The Star whilst on air.

I take it your're a sound op?

dib

Poly wrote: »

I take it your're a sound op?

If you take a look at my profile you'll see that I am a qualified Sound Engineer. I'm an experienced freelance engineer and have seen most facets of the industry, from touring to studio so I know what I'm talking about.

Poly

And would youtake offence if you weren't thanked after a show
or is a cheuqe thanks enough?

Minstrel27

I see no problem with people getting recognition for their work.

dib

It takes a lot more than that to offend me!

No, from what I've seen of the industry to date, most of the crew in a broadcast situation get a credit. I don't know why that is, it just is. On TV obviously it's in the form of text on your screen and incidentally, takes up a lot more of your time than a radio credit should you choose to view them. In radio, the credits usually last no more than five to ten seconds at most, this is why, in my opinion the op is overly pedantic.

On a personal level, if I were part of a crew and didn't get credited, i wouldn't give two sh1tes!

pinkypinky

TimmyTarmac wrote: »

The problem with the credits is that they get them even if their production work is shoddy or substandard, which it frequently can be.

By that logic, the many many rubbish programs on tv (I'm looking at you, TV3) shouldn't have any credits.

TimmyTarmac

dib wrote: »

Also I'd like to know on what occasion you witnessed a sound op reading The Star whilst on air.

Easy there, dib, t'was only meant to be gentle humour.
Of course an RTE sound op wouldn't be reading the Star while driving a live show. They'd only be checking their gold plated Defined Benefit pension and making sure the holiday house in the South of France is alright.:D

Folks like you can't be done without.

dib

TimmyTarmac wrote: »

Easy there, dib, t'was only meant to be gentle humour.
Of course an RTE sound op wouldn't be reading the Star while driving a live show. They'd only be checking their gold plated Defined Benefit pension and making sure the holiday house in the South of France is alright.:D

Folks like you can't be done without.

Folks like me? I think you're jumping to conclusions there horse. As I said earlier, I'm a freelance engineer and take the work wherever and whenever it comes. Mostly live, and recording work. I've done work experience with both RTE and Newstalk though and have seen how they operate. That's the extent of my experience there.

TimmyTarmac

I meant in general - across all broadcast media.

DublinWriter

dib wrote: »

People who work behind the scenes deserve a mention.

...in which case a simple "...and thanks especially to all the little people who made my show possible" would suffice, perhaps even as a generic show stinger that could be played automatically.

dib

DublinWriter wrote: »

...in which case a simple "...and thanks especially to all the little people who made my show possible" would suffice, perhaps even as a generic show stinger that could be played automatically.

Sure thing yeah! Wouldn't bother me in the slightest but I would imagine if RTÉ did that as policy up to now then there would have been another thread here in the place of this one that would read something like -

"RTÉ presenters, on their massive wages can't get over their egos enough to actually thank their production staff, the people that work hard to make their show happen, live on air after a show, like Newstalk does. They just play out some silly half hearted sting in an attempt to show their gratitude etc etc etc. I hate RTÉ so much etc etc etc"

ordinary_girl

high heels wrote: »

Theres one presenter but to run a show you need production people. With out them there wouldent be a show. So they are as important as the presenter.

Exactly, it's surprising the amount of people who seem to think that the presenters do all the leg work on radio shows. There's no harm in thanking the crew on the show, nothing wrong with a bit of appreciation.

trishasaffron

Agree heartily with OP - its pathetic - just get on and do your job - your pay is your reward like it is for me.

Some thing with that tired old sign off "Tommie Gorman RTE news - Belfast" or wherever the hell he is. Just get on and do your job like I do. If you wanted to be eligible for an Oscar go work as an actor with all the insecurities that brings. You're a public servant - dont waste my time.

Bard

trishasaffron wrote: »

Agree heartily with OP - its pathetic - just get on and do your job - your pay is your reward like it is for me.

So do you think that movies and TV shows shouldn't have credits either? They take longer than the credit mentions at the end of a radio show... surely they're wasting your time even more..?

Some thing with that tired old sign off "Tommie Gorman RTE news - Belfast" or wherever the hell he is. Just get on and do your job like I do.

Actually, that section of the reporter's script (called the 'out cue') is there more there for the benefit of the newsreader as it prompts them that the report is coming to a close and to prepare to start talking again.