RTE and the Licence FEE

Freddie59

Should RTE be relieved of their dual income (advertising and the licence fee)?

I believe so. 100%.

Mint Sauce

Care to elaborate?

senorwipesalot

Yeah ,sick of paying for that sh1te when I dont even watch it.

RachaelVO

Course they should, then lets see Pat Kenny and Joe Duffy command those high salaries... they'd soon be changing their tunes!

AG2R

irish-stew wrote: »

Care to elaborate?

I'm guessing he is getting at that RTE are our chief broadcaster and in the UK BBC(their chief broadcaster) isn't allowed to advertise as they get the TV license fee. Nah I say let RTE have both.

senorwipesalot

AG2R wrote: »

I'm guessing he is getting at that RTE are our chief broadcaster and in the UK BBC(their chief broadcaster) isn't allowed to advertise as they get the TV license fee. Nah I say let RTE have both.

Thats you Pat,isnt it?

El Weirdo

AG2R wrote: »

I'm guessing he is getting at that RTE are our chief broadcaster and in the UK BBC(their chief broadcaster) isn't allowed to advertise as they get the TV license fee. Nah I say let RTE have both.

But there's the small matter of population size. You can't compare the two.

AG2R

El Weirdo wrote: »

But there's the small matter of population size. You can't compare the two.

Hence why I said let them have both

Borderfox

Advertisements and sh*te programs, cut them off at the knees

upandcumming

El Weirdo wrote: »

But there's the small matter of population size. You can't compare the two.

We have about 1.8 million homes in Ireland, where in the UK they have about 22 million. Can't compare the two.

RachaelVO

AG2R wrote: »

Hence why I said let them have both

Why should they have both when TV3 don't?

My name is URL

I wouldn't mind paying a license fee if we were getting something decent in return. Instead we get Ballsy O'Connor & Tubridy interviewing their own RTE colleagues while we pay for to listen to them bleat on about the stuff they do which we're also paying for. It's a joke.

Also, Derek Mooney.. wtf

HugoBradyBrown

I am loath to intrude on this discussion, but I feel it needs to be pointed out that for the price of the Racing Post a couple of times a week you get two full TV services, many radio services (including RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and RTE Luric FM, value-added services on multiple platforms, Aertel, the two orchestras, a vast and rich archive and library, podcasts, RTE Player, some SW broadcasts when required, and much more. In addition,and at no cost from the TV tax, there are other fine services, such as the RTE Guide. (In addition, we sustain the infrastructure to allow other potential competitors to operate in the market.)

24 hour broadcasting, with the finest of production staff and of on-air talent, at a cost that is, in objective terms, in fact marginally too low. The cost ought to increase to 200 Euro immediately, with a gradual increase thereafter to 250 Euro, in order to continue to meet the quality and quantity demands of the audience, and the parallel demands of the professional personnel who know how to and want to deliver even more, even better.

(I trust I have not intruded on a trolling game?)

Borderfox

upandcumming wrote: »

We have about 1.8 million homes in Ireland, where in the UK they have about 22 million. Can't compare the two.

When you look at it that way RTE is proportionally sh*te in comparision to BBC by the equivalent factor so it evens out the population numbers

HugoBradyBrown

My name is URL wrote: »

I wouldn't mind paying a license fee if we were getting something decent in return. Instead we get Ballsy O'Connor & Tubridy interviewing their own RTE colleagues while we pay for to listen to them bleat on about the stuff they do which we're also paying for. It's a joke.

Also, Derek Mooney.. wtf

(I find it hard to believe that this is not simply provocative posting calculated to get under the skin of patriotic listeners and viewers, but I cannot resist correcting the record.)

Derek is, as it happens, a highly gifted broadcaster, who has adapted to a dead time of day to enliven life for us. He is equally capable of much more serious broadcasting, as his scientific background would lead one to suspect.

We have Joe, we have Marty on RTE Lyric FM, we have Ronan on the senior service, we have Frank McNamara on RTE Lyric FM, we have John Murray making the nation laugh, RTE Lyric FM is where people go to hear Gay on a Sunday afternoon, we have Ryan on RTE 2FM, we have Pat every morning, we have Marion at weekends, there's Andy many Saturday evenings, there is Miriam, Mike is back on RTE One, Pat is in his element on Frontline: this is the talent that the competition tries and fails to poach. Patriotism and loyalty keep the on-air talent here; the viewers and listeners should demonstrate the same cordial loyalty to their national station.

Behind the mics and behind the cameras, RTE is also awash with talent that is the envy of broadcasters the world over.

Stick with what you know and value what you have and pay the modest tax to allow us to continue to enjoy the crème de la crème.

desertcircus

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

I am loath to intrude on this discussion, but I feel it needs to be pointed out that for the price of the Racing Post a couple of times a week you get two full TV services, many radio services (including RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and RTE Luric FM, value-added services on multiple platforms, Aertel, the two orchestras, a vast and rich archive and library, podcasts, RTE Player, some SW broadcasts when required, and much more. In addition,and at no cost from the TV tax, there are other fine services, such as the RTE Guide. (In addition, we sustain the infrastructure to allow other potential competitors to operate in the market.)

24 hour broadcasting, with the finest of production staff and of on-air talent, at a cost that is, in objective terms, in fact marginally too low. The cost ought to increase to 200 Euro immediately, with a gradual increase thereafter to 250 Euro, in order to continue to meet the quality and quantity demands of the audience, and the parallel demands of the professional personnel who know how to and want to deliver even more, even better.

(I trust I have intruded on a trolling game?)

Except I don't buy the Racing Post. Or watch much RTE television. Or listen to the radio. Or really make much if any use of the others. There's something to be said for the infrastructure, but that should probably be separated out from the rest.

desertcircus

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

My name is URL wrote: »

I wouldn't mind paying a license fee if we were getting something decent in return. Instead we get Ballsy O'Connor & Tubridy interviewing their own RTE colleagues while we pay for to listen to them bleat on about the stuff they do which we're also paying for. It's a joke.

Also, Derek Mooney.. wtf

(I find it hard to believe that this is not simply provocative posting calculated to get under the skin of patriotic listeners and viewers, but I cannot resist correcting the record.)

Derek is, as it happens, a highly gifted broadcaster, who has adapted to a dead time of day to enliven life for us. He is equally capable of much more serious broadcasting, as his scientific background would lead one to suspect.

We have Joe, we have Marty on RTE Lyric FM, we have Ronan on the senior service, we have Frank McNamara on RTE Lyric FM, we have John Murray making the nation laugh, RTE Lyric FM is where people go to hear Gay on a Sunday afternoon, we have Ryan on RTE 2FM, we have Pat every morning, we have Marion at weekends, there's Andy many Saturday evenings, there is Miriam, Mike is back on RTE One, Pat is in his element on Frontline: this is the talent that the competition tries and fails to poach. Patriotism and loyalty keep the on-air talent here; the viewers and listeners should demonstrate the same cordial loyalty to their national station.

Behind the mics and behind the cameras, RTE is also awash with talent that is the envy of broadcasters the world over.

Stick with what you know and value what you have and pay the modest tax to allow us to continue to enjoy the crème de la crème.

Who among those has been offered a better contract from another country and rejected it?

HugoBradyBrown

desertcircus wrote: »

Except I don't buy the Racing Post. Or watch much RTE television. Or listen to the radio. Or really make much if any use of the others. There's something to be said for the infrastructure, but that should probably be separated out from the rest.

The Racing Post is just a comparison that I find is understood by the majority of those who throw stones in this direction. Whether or not a person views or listens to the output, RTE is there for them. In any case, the cultural infrastructure of the orchestras, the archive, the libraries, the competitions and so forth is there for everyone. Without the RTCEO, for example, could we ever again stage the Eurovision Song Contest / Grand Prix? (We are hoping for great things from Baku, incidentally.)

It is the wisdom that those who think themselves far above RTE in their middle years are those who spend a quiet night in with the Late Show in the twilight of their lives. It's important that the service should be there for them, adequately but not opulently funded.

But, think Aertel, think the websites, think the Player, think a bit longer and it all becomes clear. For less than the price of a Sunday newspaper?!! Let us have some pride in what we do best and not throw away the jewel in the Public Service Broadcasting crown that is our inheritance from past generations of Irishmen and Irishwomen.

TheZohanS

senorwipesalot wrote: »

Yeah ,sick of paying for that sh1te when I dont even watch it.

It's a tax.

ejmaztec

desertcircus wrote: »

Who among those has been offered a better contract from another country and rejected it?

There are Irish people lured back from other countries with better contracts e.g. Miriam O'Callaghan, but I've never heard of the opposite happening.

HugoBradyBrown

TheZohan wrote: »

It's a tax.

Yes, it is generally agreed, both inside and outside, that it is a tax. As a European, I find the loud American-style insistence that tax is evil hard to understand. We should be proud to pay taxes legitimately levied by our parliamentary representatives, whom we have elected to office.

It is a tax, an extremely modest tax, paid by people of sufficient income and below a certain age. A progressive tax, yielding public good rewards of far greater multipliers in terms of quality, utility and happiness than many another tax.

desertcircus

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

TheZohan wrote: »

It's a tax.

Yes, it is generally agreed, both inside and outside, that it is a tax. As a European, I find the loud American-style insistence that tax is evil hard to understand. We should be proud to pay taxes legitimately levied by our parliamentary representatives, whom we have elected to office.

It is a tax, an extremely modest tax, paid by people of sufficient income and below a certain age. A progressive tax, yielding public good rewards of far greater multipliers in terms of quality, utility and happiness than many another tax.

I have no problem with tax. There's a difference between objecting to a specific use of public funds and having a problem with taxation itself. I'm not convinced RTE delivers sufficient benefit to justify its funding. Between overpaid presenters, declining market share and, to be honest, a lack of need for the full range of what's done (does a population of four and a bit million really need three dedicated TV channels?), I don't see the case for keeping RTE as is. It's not nearly as central to Irish life as you think it is.

imitation

I think the TV license is fair as a certain amount of broadcast media should be supported by the state, and just like car tax only those who pay should use. I think they way it is handled should be changed though, currently we have 3 state owned channels and one private sector one.

The fact one channel is state subsidised and the other is not skews things too much. I think the state should retain the broadcast infrastructure and keep a channel or two for public interest (News/Documentrys etc). The rest should be cut loose and the market can decide.

Why should our taxes be spent on expensive cable TV shows so the private sector competition can be beaten down? The state can then tender out any jobs for movies / programmes to the cheapest bidder.

Freddie59

El Weirdo wrote: »

But there's the small matter of population size. You can't compare the two.

Then you have to cut your cloth. End of story. Give them the licence fee money and it's up to themselves what they do with it. No advertising. No further State subvention.

As you have pointed out, there is a matter of population size. So the Orchestras, the endless (and I mean ENDLESS) amount of correspondents (just watch the main News anytime there's a crisis and see how many are wheeled out - and where they are located); and the other wastage that is RTE would have to stop.

We are not America. We are not the UK. Stop trying to compete. It's this mentality that has Ireland where it is. Would it really matter anyway?

Freddie59

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

(I find it hard to believe that this is not simply provocative posting calculated to get under the skin of patriotic listeners and viewers, but I cannot resist correcting the record.)

Derek is, as it happens, a highly gifted broadcaster, who has adapted to a dead time of day to enliven life for us. He is equally capable of much more serious broadcasting, as his scientific background would lead one to suspect.

We have Joe, we have Marty on RTE Lyric FM, we have Ronan on the senior service, we have Frank McNamara on RTE Lyric FM, we have John Murray making the nation laugh, RTE Lyric FM is where people go to hear Gay on a Sunday afternoon, we have Ryan on RTE 2FM, we have Pat every morning, we have Marion at weekends, there's Andy many Saturday evenings, there is Miriam, Mike is back on RTE One, Pat is in his element on Frontline: this is the talent that the competition tries and fails to poach. Patriotism and loyalty keep the on-air talent here; the viewers and listeners should demonstrate the same cordial loyalty to their national station.

Behind the mics and behind the cameras, RTE is also awash with talent that is the envy of broadcasters the world over.

Stick with what you know and value what you have and pay the modest tax to allow us to continue to enjoy the crème de la crème.

You're definitely a WUM. You hardly believe that shyte - or do you?

Wertz

Good man Hugo...you keep banging that jungle drum, but the natives are restless.

Your assertion on raising the license fee to €200+ like i told you on the 2FM thread is downright laughable and merely illustrate the insularity at work in the corridors of the Montrose buildings.
You do have a point on the upkeep of the broadcasting network itself, but I get the feeling that commercial broadcasters pay their share to utilise that infrastructure...and the sale of the spectrum after ASO will no doubt be a windfall to RTÉ or a subsidiary next year (open to correction here).

I will say one thing though... many people out there have no issue at all with paying Murdoch €320 per annum and multiples of that for heavily advert revenue dependent set of channels populated mainly by repeats and free to air UK channels (sports&movie packages notwithstanding), a company that pays very little back in to the Irish exchequer and has no remit for any type of Irish PSB.

Their frustration (and mine) at the high levels of pay to RTÉ's staff (both top names and a whole host of admin/support/production) is perfectly valid given the lacklustre return on much of the output (with some exceptions).
My name is URL has it spot on in regard to their w/e chatshows, which I don't watch and can't for the life of me understand how anyone does...it's painful the amount of backslapping, navel gazing and in-house reach arounds go on between programmes, shows and radio stations out there, whther it be self promotion, new books, or someone who's related to someone else getting a feature....all that kind of thing is nauseating when you're being legislatively forced to contribute a day or two's wages toward it (or the best part of a week's social welfare if you're in that boat)...Racing Times me arse. You might get a return on that investment...what would you get from the RTÉ guide only the same clap trap in a printed format?

HugoBradyBrown

desertcircus wrote: »

I have no problem with tax. There's a difference between objecting to a specific use of public funds and having a problem with taxation itself. I'm not convinced RTE delivers sufficient benefit to justify its funding. Between overpaid presenters, declining market share and, to be honest, a lack of need for the full range of what's done (does a population of four and a bit million really need three dedicated TV channels?), I don't see the case for keeping RTE as is. It's not nearly as central to Irish life as you think it is.

I find it appealing when questions are easily answered authoritatively, and particularly when a direct comparator is available, allowing for the illustration of that knockdown argument.

Let us cast our gaze north of the border, to a place with a population not too dissimilar to ours, and where the broad culture of the people, the population distribution, the general demographic picture and so forth are identical. There their radio and television are little more than regional opt-outs and adjuncts of larger broadcasters. They have quite primitive news and current affairs broadcasting, with nothing like the resources or talent pool available to us. What they call ‘local news’ is squeezed into the schedules early in the evening and in a brief burst late at night. Their own stories do not dominate their main news bulletins, but get put into a form of Nationwide at the end. Even their weather bulletin is a brief squint at 'the Province', and nothing like the full-on visualization provided to us here by Jean Byrne and her assistants.

Consider too that they have no broadcast orchestra, and feel the denuded cultural life that is their unfortunate lot.

And yet they, too, pay their own TV tax, to learn about the weather in Suffolk and salmonella outbreaks in Brighton at the top of the hour, rather than about events in Belfast or Dungannon.

If we hold ourselves out to be a distinct state, surely we need to hear and see our own stories, to have our Public Service Broadcaster facilitating us talking to ourselves. Indeed, we have President Higgins when he was a politician to thank for ensuring that in the Irish service, we have that available to us from Galway. Since the new Presidency is going to be themed around our distinct cultural gifts, it is more Public Service Broadcasting that we will require, rather than less.

The issue is, I submit, clearly closed.

upandcumming

Borderfox wrote: »

When you look at it that way RTE is proportionally sh*te in comparision to BBC by the equivalent factor so it evens out the population numbers

Tell me how it is shit.

HugoBradyBrown

imitation wrote: »

I think the TV license is fair as a certain amount of broadcast media should be supported by the state, and just like car tax only those who pay should use. I think they way it is handled should be changed though, currently we have 3 state owned channels and one private sector one.

The fact one channel is state subsidised and the other is not skews things too much. I think the state should retain the broadcast infrastructure and keep a channel or two for public interest (News/Documentrys etc). The rest should be cut loose and the market can decide.

Why should our taxes be spent on expensive cable TV shows so the private sector competition can be beaten down? The state can then tender out any jobs for movies / programmes to the cheapest bidder.

I should have thought that the final collapse of capitalism in recent years would have been enough to silence anyone minded to argue that "the market should decide" anything, and, most particularly, that the market should decide anything in as important an area as the cultural domain. What we are facing now is the development of a gentler, public-service oriented form of life, and RTE is a pre-existing template on which to model other services. The world has changed; we have reached the 'End of History' in a Hegelian sense, but not where Fukuyama though the terminus was. (And even he has a new book out, just to emphasise the point!)

Freddie59

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

I find it appealing when questions are easily answered authoritatively, and particularly when a direct comparator is available, allowing for the illustration of that knockdown argument.

Let us cast our gaze north of the border, to a place with a population not too dissimilar to ours, and where the broad culture of the people, the population distribution, the general demographic picture and so forth are identical. There their radio and television are little more than regional opt-outs and adjuncts of larger broadcasters. They have quite primitive news and current affairs broadcasting, with nothing like the resources or talent pool available to us. What they call ‘local news’ is squeezed into the schedules early in the evening and in a brief burst late at night. Their own stories do not dominate their main news bulletins, but get put into a form of Nationwide at the end. Even their weather bulletin is a brief squint at 'the Province', and nothing like the full-on visualization provided to us here by Jean Byrne and her assistants.

Consider too that they have no broadcast orchestra, and feel the denuded cultural life that is their unfortunate lot.

And yet they, too, pay their own TV tax, to learn about the weather in Suffolk and salmonella outbreaks in Brighton at the top of the hour, rather than about events in Belfast or Dungannon.

If we hold ourselves out to be a distinct state, surely we need to hear and see our own stories, to have our Public Service Broadcaster facilitating us talking to ourselves. Indeed, we have President Higgins when he was a politician to thank for ensuring that in the Irish service, we have that available to us from Galway. Since the new Presidency is going to be themed around our distinct cultural gifts, it is more Public Service Broadcasting that we will require, rather than less.

The issue is, I submit, clearly closed.

Far from it. Cast your eyes North indeed. How many are employed at BBC NI? Not the thousands that are at 'work' in RTE. The fact of the matter is that, in today's modern era, RTE is a dinosaur. Outdated shows, outdated work practices, and an overinflated wage bill - being paid for by Joe Public.

Give them the licence fee, withdraw their advertising revenue, and make them live in the real world. Who cares whether Tubridy, Kenny, et al are on the air or not. Many of us couldn't give a toss.

TWO THOUSAND EMPLOYED??!! FFS:
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/pay-cuts-loom-at-station-as-staff-reject-cost-plans-2932955.html

120_Minutes

I'll have half an ounce if what Hugo is on, and I'll use the €160 I don't pay rte to buy it...

HugoBradyBrown

Freddie59 wrote: »

Far from it. Cast your eyes North indeed. How many are employed at BBC NI? Not the thousands that are at 'work' in RTE. The fact of the matter is that, in today's modern era, RTE is a dinosaur. Outdated shows, outdated work practices, and an overinflated wage bill - being paid for by Joe Public.

Give them the licence fee, withdraw their advertising revenue, and make them live in the real world. Who cares whether Tubridy, Kenny, et al are on the air or not. Many of us couldn't give a toss.

TWO THOUSAND EMPLOYED??!! FFS:
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/pay-cuts-loom-at-station-as-staff-reject-cost-plans-2932955.html

If young and angry people feel like this, it is their prerogative. However, those of us of a more mature generation, with a lifetime of paying tax and of working to ensure that we have cultural public services of the very highest quality, have a legitimately different perspective. And when the young and furious are more mature, they too will welcome Ryan and Pat and Marian and Miriam and the host of others. I always find it amusing that those whose cultural life once extended no farther than the conveniences in ‘Break for the Border’ become in their middle years avid viewers of output like Reeling in the Years. And that is just the first step.

We must not be dictated to by loud, choleric outbursts by juvenile opinion, but we should respect the taste, discrimination and appreciation of the more mature and reflective audience. (And the figures for last night’s particularly fine edition of the Late Show will bear my argument out.)

To paraphrase Muriel Spark, “for those who like that kind of thing, that is the kind of thing they like’.

HugoBradyBrown

120_Minutes wrote: »

I'll have half an ounce if what Hugo is on, and I'll use the €160 I don't pay rte to buy it...

Location "Cork"!

Well, going back as far as the 1970's, Cork, for some reason, gave a slight dip in the satisfaction figures with us. I sense it was second city syndrome, this longstanding appetite for what the more vocal down there used to call "de channels", meaning a ravening hunger for foreign television, rather than carefully crafted national output from Montrose. RTE 2 Television placated that for a while. We generally hear little from them now, I notice.

Badgermonkey

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

(I trust I have not intruded on a trolling game?)

Intruded, No.

It would seem you've assumed the role of Ringmaster.

Or perhaps, Clown.

this is the talent that the competition tries and fails to poach. Patriotism and loyalty keep the on-air talent here; the viewers and listeners should demonstrate the same cordial loyalty to their national station.

we have Frank McNamara on RTE Lyric FM, we have John Murray making the nation laugh...we have Ryan on RTE 2FM,

HugoBradyBrown

Badgermonkey wrote: »

Intruded, No.

It would seem you've assumed the role of Ringmaster.

Or perhaps, Clown.

Withdraw, sir, I say. Withdraw!

Minstrel27

Freddie59 wrote: »

Far from it. Cast your eyes North indeed. How many are employed at BBC NI? Not the thousands that are at 'work' in RTE.

And BBC NI takes absolutely nothing from England, Scotland or Wales? The licence fee in Northern Ireland doesn't go exclusively to the BBC in NI.

Did you know that the Irish licence doesn't go exclusively to RTÉ?

Mike 1972

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

Without the RTCEO, for example, could we ever again stage the Eurovision Song Contest.

Oh the Humanity ! :rolleyes:

120_Minutes

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

120_Minutes wrote: »

I'll have half an ounce if what Hugo is on, and I'll use the €160 I don't pay rte to buy it...

Location "Cork"!

Well, going back as far as the 1970's, Cork, for some reason, gave a slight dip in the satisfaction figures with us. I sense it was second city syndrome, this longstanding appetite for what the more vocal down there used to call "de channels", meaning a ravening hunger for foreign television, rather than carefully crafted national output from Montrose. RTE 2 Television placated that for a while. We generally hear little from them now, I notice.

I am not a native. Try again.

Rte's self produced output is usually horribly parochial, and in my opinion is laughable when compared on the world stage. They can't even get comedy right, which, given that we can be the funniest people on the planet is unforgivable.

Rte have the ability to turn any original material they get their hands on toxic, a lot of up and coming talent know this, and use rte for just long enough to gain enough exposure to be noticed abroad.... Then they're gone.

HugoBradyBrown

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Oh the Humanity ! :rolleyes:

On the contrary, RTE is a 'light shining in the darkness'.

HugoBradyBrown

120_Minutes wrote: »

I am not a native. Try again.

Rte's self produced output is usually horribly parochial, and in my opinion is laughable when compared on the world stage. They can't even get comedy right, which, given that we can be the funniest people on the planet is unforgivable.

Rte have the ability to turn any original material they get their hands on toxic, a lot of up and coming talent know this, and use rte for just long enough to gain enough exposure to be noticed abroad.... Then they're gone.

The above is a considered, reasonable and well-theorised position, which will obviously change many views.

Could I just trouble the poster for the references on which she or he bases the argument, since they must be quite substantial, objective and convincing? Since I have never seen such evidence before, I am troubled that I have missed such wisdom in my own area.

parrai

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

On the contrary, RTE is a 'light shining in the darkness'.

DLB??? Could it be you?

120_Minutes

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

120_Minutes wrote: »

I am not a native. Try again.

Rte's self produced output is usually horribly parochial, and in my opinion is laughable when compared on the world stage. They can't even get comedy right, which, given that we can be the funniest people on the planet is unforgivable.

Rte have the ability to turn any original material they get their hands on toxic, a lot of up and coming talent know this, and use rte for just long enough to gain enough exposure to be noticed abroad.... Then they're gone.

The above is a considered, reasonable and well-theorised position, which will obviously change many views.

Could I just trouble the poster for the references on which she or he bases the argument, since they must be quite substantial, objective and convincing? Since I have never seen such evidence before, I am troubled that I have missed such wisdom in my own area.

I spoke with a couple of individuals, who started out as "indie" in their fields, before rte took an interest. I will not name them or their genres here, but my evidence is not anecdotal.

I am also personal friends with one part of an established group, who actually surprised me when I was told the leeway rte had granted them in certain circumstances, if you want the flip side. But perhaps they had power as they were a bit of a cash cow for a while.

HugoBradyBrown

120_Minutes wrote: »

I spoke with a couple of individuals, who started out as "indie" in their fields, before rte took an interest. I will not name them or their genres here, but my evidence is not anecdotal.

I am also personal friends with one part of an established group, who actually surprised me when I was told the leeway rte had granted them in certain circumstances, if you want the flip side. But perhaps they had power as they were a bit of a cash cow for a while.

I will assume that the quoted post is some sort of gnomic preamble which is going to lead in the fulness of time to a systematic and logical answer to the question that I posed.

Hard, isn't it, once you get down to trying to provide evidence?

HugoBradyBrown

parrai wrote: »

DLB??? Could it be you?

No, I am not a Dictionary of Literary Biography; I would have thought the allusion in the post by Mike 1972 was as plain as the noses on our faces. Perhaps I am in an unusually non-literary thread in a cultural area. O tempora o mores!

Wertz

Jaysis Hugo, I love how you brush aside any criticism with some scarcely disguised snipe at youth culture, or in your view, a lack of that culture.
Many on these forums, especially the posters that go out of their way to post more than a one line witticism are themselves well past the disco going age and are only too aware of the need of a PSB who caters to the needs of all and not just those whom RTÉ perceive themselves as representing.

Your aspersions toward BBC NI are quite laughable too...their news output is adequate for the size of their populace which is a third of the Republic and the level of reporting is handled very well by an awful lot smaller of a team of staff than that available to RTÉ news. Do we even need an 55 minute bulletin in the evenings?
Their weather bulletin for the province rests on the back of the much larger BBC weather team and the UK Met office. Our own own weather forecast relies for much of it's material on Met Eireann who I'm fairly sure are funded from general taxation and commercial interests rather than through the licence fee.
Their (admittedly more expensive) licence fee goes toward a lot more stations, with the subsequent return in quality programming and the "provincial" output extends well past news and weather, if you bothered to look...they have a multitude of sports and political programming as well as niche cultural output (to the dismay of many a Sky customer in the republic it would seem, who don't like BBC NI regional output).

Your objective to curry favour for the national flagship station over in the TV and Radio forums (of which some could be construed as thinly veiled spamming) has seemingly moved to the wider audience of Boards... don't be surprised with the level of more honest and spiteful rebuttals, probably in the forum's own vernacular, of your views on RTÉ.
there are those of us who would once again ask you to declare your interests surrounding continual promotion of the station and your lack on input on any non-RTÉ related matters on these message boards...

texidub

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

Behind the mics and behind the cameras, RTE is also awash with talent that is the envy of broadcasters the world over.[/I]

:pac: You are serious, aren't you? A galaxy of talent? More like a black hole of mediocrity.

As for 'patriotic listeners'?! People don't run down RTE television because it's Irish. They run it down because it is crap and because they are forced to pay for it to amuse people with low standards like yourself.

Yo! Sincerely,

TexiGodwotteryLoveyDarlingDub

Italia

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

On the contrary, RTE is a 'light shining in the darkness'.

Jeez.... Do you REALLY believe that crap?

Because of the work I do, I've lived in many countries (about 14 at last count) and I can safely say that in general public broadcasters suck when it comes to entertainment quality.
Public broadcasters are there not only to fulfil a role of entertainment but, perhaps more importantly, to ensure that basic comunication and news is offered to as wide a cross-section of the population - from the haves to the not so well off. In that role, they cannot be beaten. That does not mean that the public should be funding this. It is a responsibility of the government to fund this or they need to get it from advertising.

Compared to other public broadcasters, RTE is definitely not "a light shining in the darkness". It's more like a mutual admiration society with a good dose of self-backslapping and a generous helping of cronyism. It's all so very staid and smug. Its almost like being in a time warp and watching something out of the 1950's. :rolleyes:
The presenters are paid an an absolute fortune for the drivel they put out. A small example (and not such a great one at that) - watch ANY football or rugby game.... the panel discussing the game. An utter joke. Inane comments at best.

120_Minutes

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

120_Minutes wrote: »

I spoke with a couple of individuals, who started out as "indie" in their fields, before rte took an interest. I will not name them or their genres here, but my evidence is not anecdotal.

I am also personal friends with one part of an established group, who actually surprised me when I was told the leeway rte had granted them in certain circumstances, if you want the flip side. But perhaps they had power as they were a bit of a cash cow for a while.

I will assume that the quoted post is some sort of gnomic preamble which is going to lead in the fulness of time to a systematic and logical answer to the question that I posed.

Hard, isn't it, once you get down to trying to provide evidence?

I have provided you your evidence, told to me by the persons involved. I have omitted their names as they are/were in the employ of rte.


When I was of school going age in the early 90's ( so I'm not as young as you probably assumed I was) I had an interest in working for rte, and quickly found out the only way in was to know someone. Which I did, and got two days work experience there. I enjoyed it, but wouldn't have gotten a sniff of the place had I not known anyone.

In hindsight I'm glad I never persued it.

HugoBradyBrown

Wertz wrote: »

Jaysis Hugo, I love how you brush aside any criticism with some scarcely disguised snipe at youth culture, or in your view, a lack of that culture.
Many on these forums, especially the posters that go out of their way to post more than a one line witticism are themselves well past the disco going age and are only too aware of the need of a PSB who caters to the needs of all and not just those whom RTÉ perceive themselves as representing.

Your aspersions toward BBC NI are quite laughable too...their news output is adequate for the size of their populace which is a third of the Republic and the level of reporting is handled very well by an awful lot smaller of a team of staff than that available to RTÉ news. Do we even need an 55 minute bulletin in the evenings?
Their weather bulletin for the province rests on the back of the much larger BBC weather team and the UK Met office. Our own own weather forecast relies for much of it's material on Met Eireann who I'm fairly sure are funded from general taxation and commercial interests rather than through the licence fee.
Their (admittedly more expensive) licence fee goes toward a lot more stations, with the subsequent return in quality programming and the "provincial" output extends well past news and weather, if you bothered to look...they have a multitude of sports and political programming as well as niche cultural output (to the dismay of many a Sky customer in the republic it would seem, who don't like BBC NI regional output).

Your objective to curry favour for the national flagship station over in the TV and Radio forums (of which some could be construed as thinly veiled spamming) has seemingly moved to the wider audience of Boards... don't be surprised with the level of more honest and spiteful rebuttals, probably in the forum's own vernacular, of your views on RTÉ.
there are those of us who would once again ask you to declare your interests surrounding continual promotion of the station and your lack on input on any non-RTÉ related matters on these message boards...

Thank you, Wertz, for dilating at such length on this issue. I have contributed to other threads on many other topics, but I do believe in a cobbler sticking to his (or her) last.

I rebut with indignation any suggestion that my carefully considered, consistent and reasonable posts meet in the smallest degree the definition of spamming.

BBCNI / UTV current affairs in general (save when a tranche of funds is disbursed from central funds for 'specials' with 'mainland appeal') are studio-bound talking-heads TV, with participants drawn in on a buggins-turn basis and aired twice in a night at dead times; the end-credits taxi-driver segment is a voiceover on a piece of unchanging VT, for example. Good frugal stuff, but nothing like the quality from Montrose, which is prepared to spend appropriately on, for example, in-depth analysis and investigative work.

Comedy: think Scrap Saturday, Hall's Pictorial, Green Tea, Mrs O'Brien: meeting the needs of different audiences at different times in different eras, i.e. sharply focussed agile broadcasting, turning on a sixpence to follow its audience in the vagaries of its taste.

Sport: who can even think of comparing the range of coverage on radio, TV and other platforms, down to, until recently, the Gaelic Games results on the senior service on a Sunday evening? "Seo agaibh anois príomh-thoraí an lae inniu", if we remember fondly, down to parish level. Diaspora and internal migrant PSB at its very finest, I should say.

Anything I missed?

120_Minutes

Comedy: think Scrap Saturday, Hall's Pictorial, Green Tea, Mrs O'Brien: meeting the needs of different audiences at different times in different eras, i.e. sharply focussed agile broadcasting, turning on a sixpence to follow its audience in the vagaries of its taste.



All dead and gone. And o'brien was terrible.

Currently aired examples please.

parrai

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

No, I am not a Dictionary of Literary Biography; I would have thought the allusion in the post by Mike 1972 was as plain as the noses on our faces. Perhaps I am in an unusually non-literary thread in a cultural area. O tempora o mores!

lol fair play