RTE, as a brodcaster, is a strange sort of beast. Unlike the BBC who’s sole income comes from the UK License fee, and TV3 who’s income comes from whoring their holes out to UTV as well as from an endless stream of annoying ads, the national broadcaster seemingly has the best of both worlds.
Not content with creaming the profits from the €160 License fee each year, RTE also punctuates every spare second - and every last twenty minutes of every film - with ads. So they should be rolling in money then. However, most of this money seems to go on keeping Gerry Ryan in jam doughnuts, keeping Miriam O’Callaghan’s kids in creche and in buying shite Australian soap operas and American comedy series.
Now that’s fair enough. Gerry needs his doughnuts, and Miriam needs her kids to be safe. Add to this the fact that the Irish can’t write soaps or comedies - or at least RTE are reluctant to produce the top class ones that they do manage to write successfully like Father Ted and Black Books - and things don’t seem so bad.
However, tonight sees the newest purchase from the UK to grace our airwaves. Top Gear. That’s right. Top Gear. For those of you who haven’t seen it - and lets be fair, you’d have to be living under a rock not to have seeing as it’s now ubiquitous viewing on about 4 UK TV channels currently available on digital - it’s basically a show where 3 middle aged men in the midst of a collective mid life crisis drive cars, talk about cars, look at cars, and interview celebrities about their cars. And it’s fantastic, even someone like me, who is scared of cars and can’t drive.
But it begs the question, where is all the money gone? The Roaring fucking Twenties? That Hidden Camera shite? The Panel?
Jesus wept.
RTE boast proudly at the start of every new year that ‘this year, RTE will broadcast 500 hours of home produced factual programming etc etc.’ And all we ever see is the fucking news, a couple of (albiet excellent) documentary series, News 2, and Prime Time.
Are they really so inept that they can’t manage to find 3 Irish men who like cars, know how to make themselves look a bit ridiculous, and generally have a bit of a laugh? Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t. However, this is RTE. Their attitude for a long time has been ‘if it works in the UK, copy it badly. If that doesn’t work, then just buy the UK version’.
So basically we’re paying RTE €160 a year so that they can pay the BBC for a programme that was paid for by the citizens of the UK through their own hefty license fee.
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Well said OFTR. Personally I can’t see the point of Jeremy Clarkson.
You’re being very patriotic these days man. In a slagging off the country because it’s shit kind of way.
I like it.
But not as much as I like James May.
That picture had me in stitches!
*i’m easily amused*
Major and I were just talking about this last night. In France they pretty much do the same as the RTE-in terms of fees, ads and quality but Sarkozy has said he wants to end advertising. So if you think about how shit RTE is now, imagine how bad it’d be without revenue from advertising. Or maybe they’d stop forking out for doughnuts.
“RTE are reluctant to produce the top class ones that they do manage to write successfully like Father Ted and Black Books”
They were never offered either of these shows. The whole RTE turned down Father Ted thing is an urban legend. It was always intended to be pitched to Channel 4.
The bizzarre thing is that the word on the street is that this season of Top Gear is rubbish, everyone knows it’s rubbish and producers and broadcasters everywhere are eyeing the slot and seeing an opportunity to rob some bored but bankable viewers from the BBC…..hmmmmm……the fact that RTE just bought it backs this up actually.
That’s correct about the Father Ted Urban legend thing.
What I meant was that Ireland, and thus RTE, has had access to some of the finest comedy / drama writers of the past twenty years but has never utilised their talents.
Well there would seem to be evidence of that alright….
RTÉ should make it’s own car show, called “Reverse” hosted by Jimmy Greally of On The Menu fame and Pat Kenny.
[...] One for the Road - Why Do We Pay a License Fee Again? [...]
[...] One for the Road - Why Do We Pay a License Fee Again? [...]
personally I thought the other longlisted post was funnier…shows what I know.
This post should win.
I am laughing as I type.
That is all.
It’s the picture I think. It even makes me laugh.