Telefis' posts, page 10

Republic of Ireland

Yup – also RTÉ CEL refused to lower its prices for Tara, arguing that it wouldn’t make any difference given it had accumulated debts of something like €20 million.

However this was all pre-digital, or at least pre-widespread digital, with Tara only making it to about one million British homes via cable and Sky Digital, out of a market of 25 million+ households. Now the infrastructure is there, one would hope a new RTÉ service could be successful this time round.

Not sure what you mean by RTÉ’s presentation being ‘refreshing’ and different to the UK nwtv2003 – over here that could really only be construed to mean one thing . But yes I suppose there’s a slightly more laid back approach to Irish television, not in the stereotypical diddle aye kind of way, as arguably things can be too formal at times, but rather we’re somewhat less formatted than the UK. There’s also a related tradition of doing things live when possible (though has changed a bit recently), whereas in the UK that notion kinda went out the window upon the adoption of decent video recording in the 60s-early 70s.
A lot of RTÉ presentation is also quite parochial – bad insofar as it can be professionally shoddy, but also good in that it generates a slightly homely quality to things .

Overall a mix of professionalism and the odd bit of shoddiness that I imagine UK viewers would find rather strange! Indeed it’s strange for us to think of having an English-speaking nation right next door unable to receive any of your television content! We’re just so used to the tables being the other way round




You do your indigenous television a disservice djmgpsp. I'm sure if you were lumped with nothing but the BBC in the UK you'd hardly be best pleased either. At the end of the day that's what we have - it's the size of the Irish market that dictates the lack of variety. Luckily for us, it does not affect quality.

RTÉ News

Agreed that it is easier to use their surnames on occasion - but no disrespect is intended, but nor should we stop it. It is common in most fields to use surnames - not in a crass soccer-like way - but simply as a means by which to quickly refer to people that often share first names with other newscasters and reporters. In any event, print media uses the method in much greater measure that we do here. Also we don't even know these people - arguably using only their first names is even more disrespectful should you wish to view it as such.


Agreed about the different galleries diarmy - the former certainly seems very snazzy! However a lot of it is just OTT bluster - there's no need for half the monitors present, with all the top ones mainly installed just to look flashy and appeal to commercial users of the facility. They are something RTÉ would never even come close to needing for its current news operations!
But yes the widescreen 'upgrade' (cough) will change all of this. As for flat panels I don't know - broadcast monitors are incredibly high-spec and still tend to be CRTs. Even the current Studio 3 ones are fantastic spec and cost thousands of euro - as frumpy as they may look!
All BBC widescreen galleries seem to use traditional CRTs...


That's very interesting about TV3 News NorthDown2– certainly explains the vast expanse of dead dark flooring and the showing of all the nasty equipment in shot (). Makes things much easier from a production perspective.

But really the TV3 look I think is hideous in all its forms. Graphics generally great, production values second to none, but studio appalling. Over half of the wide shot is complete black! Also unlike other ‘expose all equipment’ setups, the muck TV3 has on display is particularly ugly. And because you see all of this, it also shows up just how flimsy and cardboard-like the set is. Looks horribly temporary, moveable, and cheap. And the screen behind newsreader is not only distracting, but looks terrible too by virtue of all the studio lights on it – it completely desaturates the colour and wipes out any contrast.
Fair enough for a tiny station, but appalling for a nationwide broadcaster.

RTÉ News

Also, that is one p*ssed newscaster at the end

RTÉ News

I've a feeling they're not involved, but would be open to correction...

No it wasn't Eurovisions at all Phen that caused the disaster in the late 1990s: an urban myth - rather it was a dire financial arrangement whereby the licence fee hadn't increased in real terms for the best part of a decade, in the face of soaring production costs, and where commercial income was increasingly making up the balance, so as to make the station 65%-35% dependent on advertising. What really hit home however was the minor blip in the economy in 2001 which rocked the advertising market that RTÉ was then so dependent on, meaning the station was now losing out on both licence fee and advertising.

It's bizarre alright to see that report isn't it, it is from around 2001. Very different times...
The comments re the Late Late are particularly stark in light of its most successful season ever last year - with nearly 3/4 of a million tuning in about three times over the season - astronomical figures for any television programme in Ireland.

Annoyed I missed the Somme Commemorations on Sat morning – had a feeling the production values would be better than usual!


An absolutely disasterous Nine tonight – the satellite link went down again!!! What the heck is going on with these people??!!
And an APPALLING performance by Doyle – probably the worst ever, if that’s possible! She doesn’t seem to care that she’s acting like Robocop gone crazy – this clip is unreal!!! And it’s so bizarre as she starts off apologising in a convivial manner, and then descends into stern schoolmistress as if flicked by a switch – why is she always so inconsistent like this? Sometimes she’s fantastic at handling things, and other times she’s appalling – here she manages to be both!!

Scroll to 23.07. To be honest I’m surprised they even uploaded it. The clip is a bit unstable, so you might need to let it play from the start for a few secs, and then drag the yoke across:

http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/2154559.smil


Note the vision mixer (again) couldn’t cut to the sat feed so was forced to stay with Anne. Also the director starts speaking to Anne just as she’s about to turn to Tony – note the falling expression
Why oh why was she so appalling with the paper script though?! – she reads radio scripts every day of the week for goodness sake! And she couldn’t even deliver her closing greeting naturally! Dear oh dear oh dear……

RTÉ News

Google Earth - good thinking Phen!

Nice mock there diarmy - agreed about the clock, it's only needed for rolling news. Though it would be nice for major news events wouldn't it?

Have to admit I'm not a fan of the RTÉ logo colours being used - they've got a bit frumpy at this stage, and is the main reason RTÉ have gradually ditched them of late in favour of classic white. The green in particular is a rather flat and lifeless 1990s shade - I also don't think they'd go in for large blocks of hard white anymore - hopefully they've learned from the current crass astons! But it's a nice and clean simple look you have alright.

channel2tv I don't get it - of course she has aged, and yes she mightn’t be the most dazzling bulb in the chandelier, but so what?!


As for the campus Phen – here ya go

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/rte_campus_copy1.jpg


Also that video you ordered sir:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23pPiGea7mg

RTÉ News

Cool idents Phen - very nice indeed
The shaded area is nice and fresh, as is the font used. And by their nature, it's a format that can be continuously added to with new images. Perhaps the scenic theme has got a bit tired on the national front after six years, but certainly something worthy of keeping on on an international basis - and in any event, those abroad won't have seen the older idents anyway!
I'd like to think a stable RTÉ station could be set up internationally - Tara got off to a rocky start, but that was also pre-digital. Times have changed a lot since.


Could not agree more about News on Two - it must be an equally formal affair to RTÉ One. In times of ever-increasing competition and fragmenting audiences, the RTÉ News brand must be maintained across the two principal channels. If nothing else, this bulletin is about the only regular programme on RTÉ Two that links the channels together, and it to the station as a whole!

I was just thinking there, what could be very effective both from a branding perspective as well as in RTÉ providing an all-day news service in the absence of a dedicated news channel, is to turn News on Two into a fully-fledged half-hour bulletin, complete with a distinctive dual-presenter set-up, i.e. Anthony Murnane and Sharon Ní Bheoláin, every week night. It would essentially be a shortened version of Six One (the same in length as a weekend Six One), but more reflective on the day's events by including a newspaper round-up and/or an in-studio interview, and a short sports results section. Weather could also be incorporated into the bulletin, either via in-studio presentation, or a direct link to the weather studio.

The overall idea being to create a professional late evening news production worthy of a national broadcaster, with the aim of rounding up and reflecting on the day's events, and looking forward to the following day. It's also a format that's perfectly fitted to RTÉ Two - tight and concise, the conversational elements more appealing to that channel's 15-34 target audience, and as a bulletin that serves the needs of RTÉ Two by providing a news service late in the evening after all the stcoms and audience-pulling international dramas have finished - as well as contrasting well with RTÉ One which still has relatively prime programming running up to 11.30 or so. Indeed that is a factor that is rarely considered by people, especially critics of RTÉ's acquired programming output – the fact that a lot of effort is usually made in ensuring that a broad-ranging service is offered at any one time across the two stations, so even if populist foreign drama is on RTÉ Two, there’s usually home-grown material on RTÉ One.

So in this way, providing a decent news service on RTÉ Two, they’re going at least some way in redressing this balance by putting home-produced news/current affairs content on RTÉ Two at a time when it is needed. Giving News on Two some decent production values, a regular format, strong material instead of the scrappy rubbish we get at the minute, and decent presenting talent doing more than acting as robots, would do wonders for the image of RTÉ News.

To give it a regular 11.00 or 11.30pm slot, even alternating if necessary, would be wonderful, only for the small matter of TV3 News Tonight…
Then again, this bulletin constantly varies in time, they don’t seem to have one at all on Wednesdays, and RTÉ generally beats TV3 hands down anyway! Especially if News On two was made as engaging as we would hope it to be.

UTV invests £250,000 in state of the art TV facilities

So the non-news studio cannot be used for production while news is being made? Is that not a bit constraining?! When were rehersals conducted for Kelly when he used to go out at 8pm?

Agreed about the budget - £100,000 would barely get you a decent sound desk, let alone anything else.

RTÉ News

It's interesting how most people forget this scheme - suppose it was a rather low key look, and blue by its very nature is a fairly neutral colour.
It also only lasted 2 1/4 years - that above all is probably the reason for the forgetfulness! It had to make way for the 2000 'Millenium Scheme'

That is indeed Emma O'Kelly diarmy. No she's never read the news before - this was only a stand-up act for part of a report she made. Agreed she could make for an excellent newsreader - she's got the most marvellous diction, whilst also being conversational, and of course the journalistic clout behind her. Most definitely a contender! - the only disadvantage being her loss from the Corr and reporter ranks - she's desperately needed in there for the time being!


As for any new look, assuming they're using the existing Studio 3, some points:

Set
I think things need be 'opened up' a bit with something that gives us a window to the outside world. Even the monitor banks in the 1997 scheme did this to a degree, or the use of a CG backdrop. A view of Dublin would be most controversial, but considering that everyone knows RTÉ are based in Dublin, I really don't see the problem. It's not as if the current sheets of blue perspex are representative of people in Donegal or West Cork! As such a view of the city could really liven things up - it would have to be a nice one though, no O'Connell Bridge House as per old Ireland AM thanks very much!

Green also ought to be the dominant colour – to the extent that I’d ditch blue altogether. Shock!, I know , but green can stand up on its own, as has been proved by ITV. Theirs is very washed out and ‘minty’ – a more solid green would be in order for RTÉ, complimented by all means with other shades, and crisp white of course in graphics.

It's important that they get the balance right between 'old and new' - new being clinical ITV, old being say RTÉ 1997 packed with traditional furnishings etc.
It is possible to use traditional materials and themes in a very contemporary way, as was proved with BBC 1999. If this could be achieved with RTÉ, even a little more up to date, that would be superb. Indeed one thing the BBC failed to capitalise on with that set was the possibility of a muted spotlit Ten, something RTÉ must do for Nine. I've only just realised that they tried to do this with the 2000 look by turning off the illuminated piers in studio for the Nine - that's why they did it! Alas I don't think it worked as they just looked too dull switched off!

Back-lit Perspex is of course massive nowadays and is very effective in looking professional very cheaply, but too much use of it can lack identity which I think News 24 suffers from to a degree, as does ITV. Too wishy washy and lacking in distinctive lines and an overall definitive form. If a more solid set could be concocted by RTÉ, but making use of illuminated panels as inserts rather than the dominant theme, this would be a more acceptable solution.

Graphics
Clean, crisp, white outlines, mid-dark green as a theme colour, the RTÉ or RTÉ News graphic is essential on astons, astons must be the same size regardless of holding text, less intrusive DOG as per the better one of the 2000 era, better and greater use of graphics in reports, better geographical graphics, and more use of global ones to use as LVO screens over newsreader intros to foreign reports. Keep picture windows, and on-screen, not keyed in behind newsreaders. Lots of other things…..

Format
Nine should stay where it is of course, and doing pretty much as it does already. No stand-up. More investigative/analytical reporting is needed for Nine, and indeed a greater amount of time given to report duration, especially in Part Two.
Six One has a lot of variety at present and generally works very well, with sat links, in-studio interview, regional news, sport news, and financial news. The return of the Close-Up report is desperately needed, and more substance added to regional news wouldn’t go amiss either. Not sure anything else is needed – if it’s not broken…
And in saying what RTÉ ought to do, it’s important to highlight what they ought not to do – namely turn Six One into the charade that is BBC Six! If they so much as dare dumb things down…..!
Not pushed either way on a stand-up – though generally against it. Perhaps a stand-up halfway through, though anything like this will only come across as a gimmick in mimicking the BBC…

One is quite good, just needs more subtance in reports, and maybe a slight extension overall. A greater business focus is desirable too.

News on Two needs to be extended, and I'd include a Newsnight/Sky-type roundup of the newspapers. It'd be great to have a more relaxed tone like this.
It'd be a bonus also to have a regular 11.00 or 11.30 pm slot, but the films of RTÉ Two really throws this about.

UTV invests £250,000 in state of the art TV facilities

Nope - was thinking just the same.
You won't get much for £250,000 in broadcast, very little indeed.

RTÉ News

heheh - I guess you weren't watching Nine tonight then Phen: the satellite link went down to Washington. Watch the farce unfold here at 2.47:

http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/2153295.smil

'Video Alarm Detected' comes up, with 'User ID' and a series of digits after it.

Why oh why must RTÉ continue to suffer these breaks in satellite?! They have more breakdowns with links than any other broadcaster I know - it's a joke. Yes it happens rarely, but still way more often than other broadcasters. Why so? Is it their service provider or technicians at Montrose or plain bad luck? Even links to Dublin city centre go down the odd time! - nothing short of unheard of in UK broadcasting and their use of regional sat links.

And as for Anne - she's like a feckin robot in how she deals with the matter! As always!
At least she always keeps a very professional veneer to her credit and always manages to produce a concrete, unflappable apology - no dithering with her. Note she's listening to the director as she glides in the chair

The cut by vision mixer to a wide was an interesting choice, as they couldn't stay with Robert but equally Anne wasn't ready in shot. The ideal situation would have been for Anne to immediately address the angled camera she was facing and apologise, and then cut and turn simultaneously to the standard mid-shot for the next story - suppose the director told her to address the principal camera hence the awkward delay.
Excellent the way she said 'we may' be able to return, without making any promise. Very professional Anne!

Which is more than can be said for the return to the link later at 21.15 - just watch the full minute or so of it and watch how utterly contrived and pointless the whole thing is, both Anne and Robert. Shortt is one of the worst reporters RTÉ has - for him to be in Washington is an embarrassment. Even look how nervous he is, and the lack of information we get out of him. I’ve nothing against sat links if there’s something to be gleaned from them, but this is just a ridiculous distraction , used for the sake of it.
There were no less than three sat links in this bulletin – watch Tommie Gorman’s equally ridiculous (if better presented) link at 19.04. Utterly pointless distraction.

Only Richard Crowley provided a decent link at 8.17. Only his lack of use of hands, as if they’re tied behind his back! He’s an excellent reporter but is always let down by the most appalling feed from the Middle East. What the heck is with the service that RTÉ uses that such abominable sound quality permeates every report the poor man sends home?! Listen to his report just before the link – this has been like this for years with RTÉ and the Middle East. It’s a disgrace it hasn’t been sorted – I’d be furious if him at the sh*te that RTÉ turns his reports into.

I’ll have a go at the video Phen – or rather get someone else to have a go
Not sure the video recording element works on this card – that’s the problem.
Will reply to future news proposals later!

RTÉ News

NO NO NO! Cameras should never be in shot in IMO! As much as I love to see them too from a personal interest perspective, it shatters the whole illusion of television, looks untidy and wholly defeats the purpose of creating an image or a 'look' and designing a set. Were that logic to be extended to graphics and VTs then we'd get to see timecodes and station clocks and digital info on our screens. No No No !!!!
In any event, from our nerdy perspective, images like above wouldn't be remotely interesting if we saw them all the time would they? The mystery vanishes!

I'm annoyed at you now Phen for planting the idea in their heads! - it was bad enough TV3 and News 24 going that route, without people on the internet advocating it too! Now RTÉ will go out of their way to try and look 'cutting edge' and show all that sh*te in shot, in spite of the fact that no national bulletins of a major broadcaster ought to do this. Not even in the UK!


So, eh, rant aside, yes sorry it took so long to upload the pics. Just I kept putting it off at the notion of trying to find the tape and then dismantling half the sitting room to get the VCR out and hooked up the computer, but better late then never
I haven't a notion how to record the video Phen never mind upload it - I'd need help there Nothing much of interest visually in it though - an excellent report all the same, beautifully made by Murnane - reflective, analytical, concise, good contributors etc.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/RTE1TV/Studio31.jpg


As for the area at the back, very simply it is the wall of the studio, clad in soundproofing panels - there is nothing there! Indeed those panels don't seem to have been replaced since '61 either! There does seem to be a small dressing table there - is that a mirror in a vanity unit we can see?

It's interesting to reconcile the above image with that of the on-screen image - the wall in between the two illuminated piers appears to be the side wall when in fact it is the back wall of the studio along with the curved wall to the right!

http://thetvroom.com/images-rte-one/rte-one-news/images-01/six-e.jpg
www.thetvroom.com

How things look much bigger today I'd imagine is because the angle has changed - the current set now faces to corridor wall head on, making maximum use of the space available, with all the cameras lined up close to that wall I suspect.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/RTE1TV/Chroma4.jpg

The light coloured floor also makes all the difference. When you consider that the robot camera taking the above image is pushed right up against the wall, it's easy to see how small things still are. Look how close it is forced against the desk even.

I'd like to think they could extend to the back and left too - there's only offices either side as far as I know, though there may be a corridor at the back to cause problems. Width is the main problem though - guests have to be pulled away from the set walls.

RTÉ News

Indeed, most control rooms have this setup. Very handy for during children’s programming especially! They often have the radio coming through in the The Den gallery. Maybe this explains the shoddy nature of RTÉ News - they're too busy watching other channels lol

Some special pictures now, taken from a report on News 2 around 2002 about RTÉ being in the doldrums.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/RTE1TV/Studio33.jpg

Apologies for the quality - they're VHS stills.
So here's the money shot, Studio 3 in all its glory

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/RTE1TV/Studio31.jpg

You can just about make out all five cameras, with the fifth robot camera closet to us on the left with its substantial motorised base. Note each remote pedestal's base is marked out with white tape on the floor so if they need to be manually moved they can easily be put back into exact position again.

The blue flooring and curtain is of course for the 'virtual' News 2 of that era. I'm not surprised they ditched it - it must have been a nightmare squeezed into that tiny corner. I presume all the cameras had to be manually pulled way back to where the furthest camera is and turned around to allow space for the News 2 operation. Indeed the whole 'news proper' set is angled in a manner that permits these opposing corners to be freed up.

A slightly different shot showing the lighting setup:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/RTE1TV/Studio32.jpg

Incredibly disorganised looking rig, though it was multi-purpose for many years... Can you imagine what it's like now for the Week in Politics too?!
Mainly softboxes up there, though there seem to be more directional units too, one of which you can often see in the reflection of the news desk with a clumsy big diffusion gel over it.

Here's Anthony coming out of Studio 3 into the little lobby:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/RTE1TV/Studio34.jpg

...with the gallery behind him:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/RTE1TV/Studio35.jpg

...and then out onto the news corridor:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/RTE1TV/Studio36.jpg

That's Studio 3 running along behind the white wall. The Newsroom runs along the opposite side - note the brown concrete columns from which the complex was built permeating through the building. Classic
Even that timber panelling hasn't changed since 1961!

Also another quick view of the exterior, also from the report:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/RTE1TV/RTExterior.jpg