Dee Forbes banging the RTE TV licence drum again 60m uncollected fee *poll not working - pl ignore*

kneemos

Might refrain from making the Six One ladies wear those primary colour dresses.

Where do they even get them?

RabbleRouser2k

kneemos wrote: »

Might refrain from making the Six One ladies wear those primary colour dresses.

Where do they even get them?

I believe it's because patterns tend to be a b*tch on tv. They don't who up right, or cause scanline-like issues.

But someone read that and just went 'screw it-primary colours from now on'. Now style, whatsoever.

holyhead

Pa ElGrande wrote: »

I gave up the TV a decade ago mainly because it became a distractive noise in the corner of the room and I had access to the internet so I could get essential information like weather and traffic elsewhere. The final straw for me was Pat Kennys dispute with his neighbour where I asked myself the question why am I paying for RTE? I also twigged Gerry Ryans alcohol and drug abuse before he died of a heart attack and I could only see myself getting a bill and nothing in return. So I got rid of the TV and stopped paying the TV tax and have not looked back.

I've also stopped consuming Irish news print media even that available on the internet because I find the output to be very shallow and its often a regurgitation of articles I've read elsewhere with Irish names inserted and I can also pick out the vested interests behind the news articles. It is entirely predictable and slanted as is much of western media. There really are only a handful of journalists on the Irish market that can actually write good copy and the problem is they are not all in one place so I'm going out of my way to pay for all the dross.

RTE are probably OK for light entertainment, news and sports headlines and weather and that's probably their niche in the current media market. RTE does not interest me but obviously others do watch it and give their opinions on it and if they are sufficiently ticked off can switch off and give away the TV.

I don't care about the quality of RTEs output, repeats, nepotism, the orchestra, or the tax efficient contractors wages as it does not cost me anything and I don't consume it. My objection to RTE is the fact they are looking for my money through new internet and property taxes even though I have left them behind and want nothing further to do with them.

I think the goings on in the private lives of RTE presenters former or deceased is not the central issue here is it? To be fair to Pat Kenny and the late Gerry Ryan they were excellent radio broadcasters who are/were well ahead of what we have now. Both intelligent and articulate men.

holyhead

Current affairs and News are probably RTE's strong point. I like Radio 1 as well. The reality is that RTE budget wise is minuscule compared to lets say The BBC. Unfortunately the salary of presenters is completely out of kilter. Both in terms of money and the ability to money scale. NOBODY IN RTE SHOULD EARN MORE THAN 200K. Let those presenters who won't work for between 100k 200k bugger off. For every 100k an RTE presenter gets it equates to €274 PER DAY. They are not near as good as their salaries would suggest. I'm sick of the likes of D'Arcy, Duffy, O'Callaghan, Finucane and Tubridy stealing a living off us. Redirect money saved to quality programming. There is so much light entertainment out there on alternative channels. Let RTE concentrate on indigenous programming cultural and news and national sports. There is a huge Irish diaspora around the world who would love quality Irish programs.

ButtersSuki

holyhead wrote: »

Current affairs and News are probably RTE's strong point. I like Radio 1 as well. The reality is that RTE budget wise is minuscule compared to lets say The BBC. Unfortunately the salary of presenters is completely out of kilter. Both in terms of money and the ability to money scale. NOBODY IN RTE SHOULD EARN MORE THAN 200K. Let those presenters who won't work for between 100k 200k bugger off. For every 100k an RTE presenter gets it equates to €274 PER DAY. They are not near as good as their salaries would suggest. I'm sick of the likes of D'Arcy, Duffy, O'Callaghan, Finucane and Tubridy stealing a living off us. Redirect money saved to quality programming. There is so much light entertainment out there on alternative channels. Let RTE concentrate on indigenous programming cultural and news and national sports. There is a huge Irish diaspora around the world who would love quality Irish programs.

For the last number of years Joe Duffy has averaged approx. 12 weeks holidays per year whilst taking around €400k* in fees (on which he's paying corporation tax at 12.5% after deductions and allowable expenses). His vocabulary is at the very best basic; his pronunciation, grammar and diction are appalling and he works a mere 75mins (incl. ad breaks) when he's actually in. His per day rate is a multiple of what you've suggested above.

Even at €200K he'd be grossly overpaid when you consider his ability level. In terms of talent to remuneration ratio and even within a field of grossly overpaid "stars", his is the most obvious overpayment.

fran38

StereoSound wrote: »

Im planning to scrap my TV and just use a large computer monitor with an Android box.... Therefore I don't technically own a TV so I don't expect to pay a TV license since my Monitor nor my Android box have TV signal antennas. Am I right? If they come past my house with those scanners to detect a TV signal from my house they won't find one.....

RTE, bunch of TV license fee wanting b@stards! I never ever watch RTE, ever!

Was this written in the 1970's or somethin'? Are you out of your friggin' mind?

holyhead

ButtersSuki wrote: »

For the last number of years Joe Duffy has averaged approx. 12 weeks holidays per year whilst taking around €400k* in fees (on which he's paying corporation tax at 12.5% after deductions and allowable expenses). His vocabulary is at the very best basic; his pronunciation, grammar and diction are appalling and he works a mere 75mins (incl. ad breaks) when he's actually in. His per day rate is a multiple of what you've suggested above.

Even at €200K he'd be grossly overpaid when you consider his ability level. In terms of talent to remuneration ratio and even within a field of grossly overpaid "stars", his is the most obvious overpayment.

To be fair he probably does hours of research before each show but I do get your point. My daily figure was dividing the year by 365 days per 100k. So Joe gets about 1k each day whether working or not. Far in excess of the average weekly wage. How on earth does he con us by trying to be a common man. I agree with your point re his English and pronunciation.
Being one of the first people out of Ballyfermot to go to Trinity doesn't give you a god given right to earn 400k per year. On some levels credit to him but on other levels its a complete pee take.

fritzelly

holyhead wrote: »

To be fair he probably does hours of research before each show but I do get your point. My daily figure was dividing the year by 365 days per 100k. So Joe gets about 1k each day whether working or not. Far in excess of the average weekly wage. How on earth does he con us by trying to be a common man. I agree with your point re his English and pronunciation.
Being one of the first people out of Ballyfermot to go to Trinity doesn't give you a god given right to earn 400k per year. On some levels credit to him but on other levels its a complete pee take.

Not likely, that's what his researchers do - he is supported by how many staff for Liveline?

retalivity

ButtersSuki wrote: »

For the last number of years Joe Duffy has averaged approx. 12 weeks holidays per year whilst taking around €400k* in fees (on which he's paying corporation tax at 12.5% after deductions and allowable expenses). His vocabulary is at the very best basic; his pronunciation, grammar and diction are appalling and he works a mere 75mins (incl. ad breaks) when he's actually in. His per day rate is a multiple of what you've suggested above.

Even at €200K he'd be grossly overpaid when you consider his ability level. In terms of talent to remuneration ratio and even within a field of grossly overpaid "stars", his is the most obvious overpayment.

Pretty sure the loophole to tax the company and pay dividends & corp tax instead of a salaryand regular tax has been closed to contractors. However, i am sure that a vasy msjority is siphoned off to a directors pension tax free, and expenses reclaimed would be higher than most as well.
Also, id bet all rte contractors are availing of artist tax credits, regardless of whataver 'art' they create.

fran38

Deleted User wrote: »

No, merely a pragmatist imbued with cop-on. Are you servile?

I think you've got this the wrong way round. My point is that there is no system invented that RTE can use to detect a tv signal coming from a house.

kneemos

Forgot how short the Duffy show is. Most of it is a ring in whinge fest,how much research could they have between them?

The J Stands for Jay

holyhead wrote: »

To be fair he probably does hours of research before each show but I do get your point.

You mean he spends a few minutes before going on air skimming the report from his researchers.

ButtersSuki

holyhead wrote: »

To be fair he probably does hours of research before each show but I do get your point. My daily figure was dividing the year by 365 days per 100k. So Joe gets about 1k each day whether working or not. Far in excess of the average weekly wage. How on earth does he con us by trying to be a common man. I agree with your point re his English and pronunciation.
Being one of the first people out of Ballyfermot to go to Trinity doesn't give you a god given right to earn 400k per year. On some levels credit to him but on other levels its a complete pee take.

Research? Lol. If you've ever listened to the show you'd know he does sod all - his "staff" do what little is done, and their idea of research is to search twitter and facebook for people who have the same opinion as Joe and his agenda and have them on standby for Joe to talk to. Often he hasn't a clue who he's talking to or what they're talking about. He regularly calls callers by an incorrect name, and often asks them a question they've already previously answered - he barely pretends to listen. He can be rude, ignorant and obnoxious and is prone to losing his temper - which makes for unintentional comedy gold when in it happens btw. His interview with the Rio Police Commissioner when Pat Hickey was arrested showed his lack of basic intelligence when he both lost his temper and then asked the policeman why he didn't turn his gun on journalists watching Hickey's arrest? Have a gander over at Da Lahv Lahn Thread for some of Joe's daily and frequent interviewing faux pas.

As for the one of the first people from ballyer to go to college BS that he's been trotting around for years, give me a break. There was no points race in his day, he did what was then a Mickey Mouse course and back then anyone who wanted to go to university got in. If you passed your Leaving Cert and wanted to go to University you got a place. The Education system was very different back then. He's no Einstein.

ButtersSuki

retalivity wrote: »

Pretty sure the loophole to tax the company and pay dividends & corp tax instead of a salaryand regular tax has been closed to contractors. However, i am sure that a vasy msjority is siphoned off to a directors pension tax free, and expenses reclaimed would be higher than most as well.
Also, id bet all rte contractors are availing of artist tax credits, regardless of whataver 'art' they create.

It hasn't. Revenue have been saying for years they're going to tackle it, but they haven't.

ButtersSuki

fritzelly wrote: »

Not likely, that's what his researchers do - he is supported by how many staff for Liveline?

The show has a series producer, a mind-boggling 7 producers at last count, and researchers. Not to mention you'd need a sound technician and other support staff to put the show on air.

kneemos

ButtersSuki wrote: »

The show has a series producer, a mind-boggling 7 producers at last count, and researchers. Not to mention you'd need a sound technician and other support staff to put the show on air.

It's a phone in show an hour and a bit,how in the name of Mary do seven producers look busy?

ButtersSuki

kneemos wrote: »

It's a phone in show an hour and a bit,how in the name of Mary do seven producers look busy?

It's not all 8 at one time - normally it's a series producer plus one of the 7 who produce the show. But the series producer took a few months off to do his other nixers last year, this year and is doing the same again next year. Great place RTE that affords it staff so much time off to do their side projects and keeps their job open for them......

The Late Late Show

Noticed that Liveline TV programme. RTE are very good at one thing that is certain ..... making programmes out of programmes. They did the same with that deplorable junk that is Operation Transformation: Operation Transformation revisited or something like that it was called and was looking at how former contestants were doing a few years later. Then Mike Murphy rehashed a quiz show he did years back with the questions asked to today's audiences.

Brendan Bendar

ButtersSuki wrote: »

It's not all 8 at one time - normally it's a series producer plus one of the 7 who produce the show. But the series producer took a few months off to do his other nixers last year, this year and is doing the same again next year. Great place RTE that affords it staff so much time off to do their side projects and keeps their job open for them......

Why would they worry Butthers,when goons like you and me are footing the bill.

And not a thing we can do about it, bar get riled up here.

PuppyMcPupFace

Can anyone explain why there even IS a licence fee ?

I get the BBC is funded by licence fee but RTE have adverts. It's not right surely?

Sardonicat

The adverts pay for the crap output. The licence fee pays for the enormous salaries.

Balanadan

How much money is spent on chasing people who don't own tvs to pay tv licences?

Brendan Bendar

Balanadan wrote: »

How much money is spent on chasing people who don't own tvs to pay tv licences?

Too much by the looks of it.

Pa ElGrande

PuppyMcPupFace wrote: »

Can anyone explain why there even IS a licence fee ?

I get the BBC is funded by licence fee but RTE have adverts. It's not right surely?

One Seán Lemass, it was setup so that the status quo would be maintained considering the infiltration of the stickies, it is the way it is now.

Radio Telefis Éireann was set up by legislation as an instrument of public policy and as such is responsible to the Government. The Government have over all responsibility for its conduct and especially the obligation to ensure that its programmes do not offend against the public interest or conflict With national policy as defined in legislation. To this extent the Government reject the view that Radio Telefis Éireann should be, either generally or in regard to its current affairs and news programmes, completely independent of Government supervision. As a public institution supported by public funds and operating under statute, it has the duty, while maintaining impartiality between political parties, to present programmes which inform the public regarding current affairs, to sustain public respect for the institutions of Government and, where appropriate, to assist public understanding of the policies enshrined in legislation enacted by the Oireachtas. The Government will take such action by way of making representations or otherwise as may be necessary to ensure that Radio Telefis Éireann does not deviate from the due performance of this duty.

source

and

RTE was established using a bastard finance method. It was to be independent of the government, but overseen by an authority appointed by it. It was to be a public service broadcaster, but it had to make a profit. It was permitted to take monies from a licence fee, but the fee level was set deliberately low so as to make it reliant on advertising to survive.

And it was that impossible balancing act which ensured that Home Truths was silenced following complaints from advertisers. Even those who had not yet been investigated were disturbed by the notion that their money could be used to fund such a dangerously loose cannon.

Eventually the controller of programmes protested that Home Truths was costing the station money. While nothing the programme said was untrue, he said, the station could not afford to expose the kind of truth the programme was transmitting. Jack refused to compromise and was supported by Mary Murphy, the programme's presenter. He was moved to art programmes, and her contract wasn't renewed.

source

RabbleRouser2k

Went out tonight to dodge the New Years celebrations on TV-second pub I went into had Keith Barry's show on...

Does he have any new material? It's the same 'cup and spike' trick, and some dodgy card tricks. You can find the stuff he does 'revealed' by the Masked magician, from ten years ago.
Even the 'cup and spike' thing is tired and old hat. And also has been revealed. (It's either a 'remembers serial number on cup' or there's a mark (be it string or engraving' on the only spike. Illusionist can sense which one has the spike, and then 'lead' the audience into thinking they've chosen the correct, non-spikey one).
It's over ten years later, and he doesn't have new material.

NIMAN

RabbleRouser2k wrote: »

Went out tonight to dodge the New Years celebrations on TV-second pub I went into had Keith Barry's show on...

Does he have any new material? It's the same 'cup and spike' trick, and some dodgy card tricks. You can find the stuff he does 'revealed' by the Masked magician, from ten years ago.
Even the 'cup and spike' thing is tired and old hat. And also has been revealed. (It's either a 'remembers serial number on cup' or there's a mark (be it string or engraving' on the only spike. Illusionist can sense which one has the spike, and then 'lead' the audience into thinking they've chosen the correct, non-spikey one).
It's over ten years later, and he doesn't have new material.

I thought he had tried to go the way of Derren Brown?

His adverts for live tours would suggest this, but I'd say he ain't in the same league as Derren.

RabbleRouser2k

NIMAN wrote: »

I thought he had tried to go the way of Derren Brown?

His adverts for live tours would suggest this, but I'd say he ain't in the same league as Derren.

He went to Hollywood for a while, was a consultant on the Now You See Me movies. (Magic consultant-along with Ricky Jay as well. I believe Barry was consultant on NYSM 2, Jay may have been ill at the time).

But yeah, he's not the 'illusionist/ magician/ mindbender that Brown is.

The Late Late Show

Sardonicat wrote: »

The adverts pay for the crap output. The licence fee pays for the enormous salaries.

It is clear that RTE do not give a damn about the public. We are paying RTE to create artificial 'stars' out of certain individuals picked out by them. Look at all the drivel output .... Mrs Brown's Boys, Lords and Ladles, Room to Improve, All Round to Mrs Brown's, Dancing with the Stars, Ireland's Fittest Family, all the chatshows, Dragon's Den, The Alison Spittle Show, Culchie Club and Operation Transformation. They are just some of the out and out rubbish that RTE have tortured us with over the last year.

Ger Roe

fran38 wrote: »

I think you've got this the wrong way round. My point is that there is no system invented that RTE can use to detect a tv signal coming from a house.

The UK still has detector vans -

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/detection-and-penalties-top5

We did have them here too, certainly in the early 70's as I remember seeing them on the road. They worked by focusing a roof mounted beam receive antenna at a particular house and then scanning for the local oscillator frequency of any TV being used. By use of a radio frequency maths formula it was possible to work out what tv station was being watched, based on the local tv frequency that was being detected.

Having said all that, they were difficult to operate as they were unreliable after even a short distance away from a house and they were also not selective enough to determine what house had a tv, if houses were too close together.

These days apartment blocks, digital set-top box's, internet connections etc would make it impossible to detect an unlicensed set, but there was a day when they could (just about) - although the greatest power of the vans was to put the fear in non payers when they rolled slowly up the road scanning through your window like a passing dalek.

foxy farmer

Saorview listings tell me I should be seeing Reeling in the Years on RTE1 now. Alas no it's Liveline talks back. Joe Duffy again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=