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

LMFAO https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/0702/1457809-rte-oireachtas-committee/

How would RTÉ get union members to accept the change of contracts that would take place if production of long-running programmes was outsourced?

Before Newstalk went National in the late 00s, late debate wasn't the only Radio 1 show to go off air for the summer and Morning Ireland used to be cut to an 8am start too. TV3/Virgin has never been a serious challenger to them which is why they still get away with it on Television

They should have been name Director of Sounds and Director of Screen.

Problem is that really Director of Radio became Director of Content while Director of TV became Director of Audiences, Marketing and Channels.

that was a stroke for sure,rte shouldve got nothing until the fraud squad was called in and every thing gone through…speaking of dodgy dealings…whatever happened to whats his name…dees and tubidys mate…dude that had the "stable of talent"…ned kelly…?

Anytime Bakhurst mentioned the meetings in the Town Hall I was visualisation The Little House On The Prairie... Where is there Town Hall?

Why? He like most, if not all of the Executive Board, were in the wrong. What did he do for RTÉ over there 40 years? He'll hopeful get nothing.

I was being funny 🤣

https://www.independent.ie/style/celebrity/celebrity-news/it-was-heartbreaking-jennifer-zamparelli-says-she-left-2fm-after-rte-refused-her-time-off-to-care-for-children/a1094517610.html

Surprised I'm the first throwing this out for discussion on this thread. Strikes me as a bit of PR spin by Zamparelli to protect her "brand" and preserve her fee value for DWTS.

I was of the impression that the reason for herself and The Johnnies and Garrihy leaving 2fm was because of the commercial restrictions of the new regieme and the greater financial potential and scope with podcasts. Now instead she's embarking on a emotive charm offensive that somehow it wasn't her choice at all. It was all down to RTE forcing her to chose between her show and her family (yep that's sure to pull on some heart strings, but some how I don't buy it!).

Maybe she's already discovering that the faraway hills mightn't be as green as the fattened teat that fed unabated and unconditionally.

Virtually every interview with a politician on RTE radio and often on TV for the last several months contains or ends with a question as to how 'RTE will be funded'.

This is often regardless of the reason the interview is taking place. It's nakedly obvious.

My question: is this lobbying? Have RTE and it's staff registered as lobbyists? As per https://www.lobbying.ie/

On the face of it, there can be no question that the station and it's staff are seeking to influence government decisions as to their future & by implication, their personal incomes etc. But are they exempt from this I wonder as public employees. There are strict reporting rules around lobbying.

My view is that The two Johnnies and Garrihy left due to the new commercial restrictions but I think Jennifer Zamparelli wasn't offered an new contract, her ratings for that slot were at an historic low.

Significant pay cut (as mentioned above) or no new contract. It was one or the other.

She'll nasally whinge away to whoever listens.

Between 170k to 250k.

This week FC had 171k to 193k, but it is summertime and it is up against the Euros. Average audience in Jan was 245k.

Now these figures are for adults only. (15+). RTÉ ONE +1, daytime repeats and the Omnibus edition along with the player would add to this figure.

Soap is still relatively strong, not like back in Billy Mehan's day but he was also helped by WWTBAM, and I think Coro Street was running for a while on RTÉ during his time on the show.

And if Bakhurst thought it was so good why did he cut it back to 3 nights?

The writers of FC are up in arms, you cannot say FC is **** to 4 types of people 1. RTÉ staff, 2. the crew of the show (in particular writers), 3. academics (particularly those that write for FC) and 4. the fans.

According to one academic on Twitter FC is an icon, while one of their writers suggested it was "washing its face" (breaks even). Neither are true. While a fan was impressed by longevity!

I spoke to two people randomly about FC, a shop assistant I'd say in her mid-20s, she said she didn't watch but she did with her parents and had no real view, it wasn't for her, and a Garda (late-40s) that pointed to Red Rock as a better soap.

If FC was an iconic show it would not have the nickname Fairly ****, no other soap from Ireland has ever been given such a derogatory name, and if it was breaking even why aren't RTÉ producing a second soap?

Move FC over to RTÉ2 see how long the audience stick with it, not long, I imagine.

IMO Soap has its place, I don't think it has had its day, but RTÉ have over emphasised it, just look at how the mopped up soaps as soon as Coro St left RTÉ, Neighbours, Doctors, Crossroads, EastEnder, Casualty, Holby City all taken by RTÉ since the exit of Coro St.

But could soap viewers be online? KB suggested 5% of all viewing on the player was FC. You can factor in that the Player has an exclusivity toward the show. I wonder how the Aussie soaps do, Home and Away is always on of the most popular shows on the player. But perhaps the player isn't doing all that well and that 5% is purely about the exclusivity of the series on the player.

I would also argue there is a slight left wing bias toward FC, for some reason they believe it really resonates with the viewing public and has been key to the progress of Ireland over the last 35 years (though most of that progress only happened in the last 10, not the greatest period for any reforming soap opera). They also believe that you should not complain about the writing or acting of Fair City, and think about the crew of the show rather than the suggestion that you might actually consider producing a better show. (Recently Doctors was axed by the BBC there is a thread on X that really shows the bias of the writer).

My real issue is that RTÉ increase in independent productions is purely coming from the move of FC and TLLS to them, rather then increasing spend in other areas of Drama and Entertainment.

They all argue I never be happy no matter what they did, but I just wish they did something.

Virtually every interview with a politician on RTE radio and often on TV for the last several months contains or ends with a question as to how 'RTE will be funded'.

Good point - Is there a thinly veiled threat in there I wonder (in a subliminal way) - 'I've just given you a super-soft interview, it may not be so soft the next time buddy…think about that'