RTÉ News

Yes, there are certainly aspects of Nuala's broadcasts which have a certain cringe factor. The hand gestures are a particular problem. It is a shame because there is a good voice there.



No no no. I can't have you talking about Helen like that. I don't believe Helen is a joke at all. Yes, some of the older ladies do sound quite good but some can be difficult to tell apart and there is an air of the bland about them. Helen does stand out - but in a good way. Like Karina, very natural and never patronising. Almost a girlish charm about her. Some of her voiceovers are excellent...and quite sexy too.



Yes - I'm astounded that we're hearing this voice at all.



Not sure it's this guy - will try and hunt down a video/audio example of the person I'm talking about. I was recording some Den material over the last week or so for my own archive and stumbled across this guy on News2Day. Dear Christ where did they get him from. TOTALLY unfit for television.

I'm not sure about this new girl they have lined up for the early morning Den either. Must have a look this week and see how things go. What is going on with the auditioning process at Montrose these days?!?! I think you and I need to be contracted in to get this house in order Telefís!!



Why they would ever put the two broadcasts so close is beyond me. Do they really need that late night bulletin on RTE ONE these days anyway?? Surely News on TWO does this job? Oh I do wish they'd stop using that tiny pres studio for news...with that DOG fading on and off so clumsily.



It really does look awful doesn't it. I'm sure they've done something with the font on the astons though. It looks smaller now and closer to the versions used on the main programmes. The RTE NEWS DOG in the corner though is still too big and the shade of blue too bright.

Have you ever noticed that for some reason when they use that studio the newscaster never seems too sure whether or not a VT report is coming up. On a number of occasions recently the presenter has started into the next story only to be cut off in the middle of their first word by a report.

A quick scan of my archive and I have two clips for you.

The RTE ONE announcer I believe we're talking about


News2day Presenter

Uggghhh - stop inflicting that V/O on us!! And even then he wasn't at his mispronouncing and mumbling either! - I've heard much worse than that from him, as I'm sure we all have! Who auditioned him? Did they not have ears on their head? More to the point, who chose him?!

Hmmm - never come across that 'newsreader' before (though I do deliberately avoid this production which would explain a little )
Doesn't seem to be too bad - though this is not the fool of all fools I'm thinking of - this is he from an RTÉ webpage:

http://www.rte.ie/tv/news2day/images/sabrina_paul.jpg

I've spoken to people about this guy and they've just collapsed with laughter before even saying anything from seeing him themselves - he just beggars belief!

Yes Karina does have something of a sexy tone at times, and she knows it
Likewise that sultry 'thing' she does on the weather is most, eh, 'appealing' shall we say She works the camera well (safe area aside) and knows how to conduct herself 'n a natural manner, not in 'TV Presenter' mode like Carey.

Her performaces on the Lotto during the summer were the pits if you saw her - marching across the studio with power strides in her trouser suit blathering as Gaeilge in her D4 accent and speaking as though there were a bunch of four year olds watching

Couldn't agree more Phen about Niamh Nolan - there is a God!, someone else notices these people!! Sometimes you just sit with family members or whoever as they watch and just take it all in, and you wonder to yourself - how can they not see this sh*te?!? :
It's no wonder RTÉ put people like this childish reporter on when nobody seems to even notice let alone bother to complain about how bad they are.
Though I have to say, if you see the awfulness of Nolan, I don't know how you can't see it in Helen Curran - I think they have an identical childish girly problem...
Nolan is an embarrassment to the nation, whatever about RTÉ. It reflects what the Irish people are willing to accept.

And God yes, Bowers is a disgrace - as said before not only is his personal presentation and camera deliverance woeful, but his reports too. They are the worst of any reporter in RTÉ and that's saying something! Nothing but a rattled-off voiceover slapped down over generic shots of hospital beds. Every single time, of course with the obligatory graphic chucked in in the middle desperately trying to make it look somewhat professional
No captivating introduction, no explanation of the broader issue with pictures, no nicely edited voice-to-pics, no decent closure - nothing.
And then his deadpan 'Fergal Bowers RTÉ News, Dublin' every time just tossed in at the end, often in a completetly different tone, is nothing short of a joke.

Poor Lehane - you'd have to feel sorry for him more than anything else
His v/os are usually quite good, but God yes he has the worst bogger accent going and his camera deliverance is a bit earnest at times - every time he's on I just keep mumbling please don't let an English person be watching, please don't let an English person be watching
(kinda defeats the purpose of posting here so )

To try and balance things out though, who do people think are the best reporters on RTÉ News from a presentation perspective?
Without doubt mine would be Emma O'Kelly, Education Corr.
Just superb in every respect, including her reports' production values - so professional.
Seán Wheelan and Tommie Gorman are in there too - great deliverance and superb report editing.

Frankly these are the only three in the Newsroom that are worthy of retention I think - okay there are a handful of other decentish ones, but the above three have a standard that ought to be the norm.

But where would RTÉ News be without Charlie Bird! Irish politics would not be the same without him.

I have to say that one reporter whose delivery I abhore is George Lee. Good journalist though he is - uncovering the National Irish Bank (southern counterpart of the Northern Bank, former sister bank to the Yorkshire and Clydesdale for our UK readers) scandal - he can manage to make anything sound depressing.

On the new Den /Wakey Wakey/The Club, I haven't seen Kathryn McKiernan in action. The fact that she was not even announced as of the Autumn schedule release seems to suggest she was a last minute choice. I don't think they envisaged having to fill the lead presenter role a second year in a row. And judging from the fact that she's in the middle of a college course, I would suspect they might have to fill it again next year. Given that they were planning a relaunch as of early 2005 this seems to be rather bad planning on RTÉ's part.

Hmmm - have to say I don't watch kiddies telly so can't comment but yes the lack of a proper staple presenter yet again is disappointing given the relaunch. A shake-up requires the introduction of consistency to build an image and an audience, and this is most important in relation to the presenter.


The Nine News have tweaked some presentation elements that work very well I think - 3 new 'features' have been introduced.

As mentioned before, the shoddy big picture set-up for the main story has been done away with for good it seems - an improvement straight away I think most will agree . The opening shot of the bulletin is now an MCU of presenter as per BBC News (now there's a surprise )
Works quite well though, if perhaps a bit too detached with no branding or set in shot - alright though.

The second feature to be introduced is a raking shot of the newsreader half way through Part 2 of the bulletin. It's the shot that's usually taken for the 'and there we take a break' shot, but it is used in this case to introduce a story.
It's effective I think as it adds visual interest to the bulletin, and makes the newsreader come across less flat when turned slightly at an angle.
Perhaps this shot should be used to introduce an array of short LVO VTs rather than a main story as it would suit it better and make for a consistent, prominent item half-way through Part 2.

And the third element introduced is the doing away with that clumsy wide shot at the end of the bulletin with the newsreader far in the distance reading the main headline again and the pictures on the in-studio monitor.
This never quite gelled correctly as the newsreader was simply too far away and it looked awkward.
Now there's an MCU of presenter reading the main story again, which cuts to images over the voice-over (LVO).
We then return to the MCU of newsreader who offers the usual reminder of News on Two and then bids goodnight.
I like this because Anne Doyle in particular goes all weird when she knows she's 'up close' rather than on a wide. Her quirky personality and smirking smile comes to the fore on the tight shot
It was only the very rare occasion in the past, usually if something went wrong, that we got this close-up of her being less formal.

We then cut to a wide of the studio and closing tiles play over it - much better than before. A personal thing but I think all bulletins should end on a wide of the studio, not headline images - it hangs together better.

Also the wides at the start and the end feature movement a lot more, when previously they didn't (except for Six One of course).
The movement isn't consistent though - sometimes the camera deflates, sometimes it tracks along the floor and other times it elevates.
This ought to be set in stone.

Welcome changes all round.

Amazing blunder this evening.

RTE Switched to a live report and about 10 seconds in, the shot went into widescreen/squashy vision, and then into the weather studio where the presenter was pointing at the map and went to the controls at the side and flicked around a tiny bit, it was rather funny

The wierdest thing about the end of the Nine is when Anne introduces News on Two as coming up at "two and a half minutes to eleven", or whichever - not the actual scheduled time in the newspapers. Handy to know, I suppose.

Caught Kathryn McKiernan on The Den before work today. Cringing. She gave us three reasons to watch, the first one of which "I'm here, so what more do you need". Suppose you need a fair amount of ego to work in children's television. Certainly not the Den of my childhood - Ian Dempsey, Ray D'Arcy and Zig and Zag. Its just a plain studio and there are no more puppets (they've been exiled to DDN).

I managed to see some of this afternoon's den and, presentation-wise, it seems very impressive. It looks like there was a good bit of efffort put into the re-brand.

They were having some problems at 5.45.

About 10 seconds after Part 2 of The Bill started it suddenly faded out and the weather animation played.It then went blank for 20 seconds until the announcer apologised and said they would try to get the programme back as soon as possible.Then Part 2 started again but this time in widescreen/squashy vision

The Bill continued in that mode until it ended then it went into a blank screen with the announcer apologising again.It then went into the weather without the animation then a programme trailer which suddenly cut off to a blank screen and then a blue "slide". After about a minute of this they started the 6.1 news at 558pm

Must check out the Den and see what's going on...

Yes a fantastically entertaining evening's viewing on RTÉ 1 today

I turned on the Six One at 6 on the nose and couldn't understand why not only the Angelus weren't on, or why the headlines weren't playing, but in fact they were already halfway through the first report!
The problems beginning at 5.45 explains everything.

RTÉ One Presentation were having major major problems whatever they were, and it resulted in them not being able to play any ads for the whole hour of Six One. The bulletin also flicked to black for a few seconds on two ocassions, resulting in my telly switching itself off beacuse there was no signal coming through!
Sharon Ní Bheoláin had to apologise for the 'sporadic breakup of this bulletin - do stay with us'

All the ad breaks could show was an RTÉ promo for its programme classification system - seemingly played off a seperate VT player.
Coming back to the news on one occasion, for whatever reason there was just a still of the RTÉ News graphic rather than the titles playing. This was weird as it was Pres having the problems, not the News gallery.
It then dissolved to the studio as per usual. Bryan and Sharon looked a bit bewildered

As SNI says, the funniest moment came when halfway through a report Pres cut to that wholly incompetent at the best of times weathercaster Gerry Murphy, who was practicing for his upcoming bulletin. He got the shock of his life when he saw himself on the monitor and reacted by quite literally fleeing in terror from shot! I'm surprised he didn't have a heart attack!
He then came back in a bit and looked at the monitor again, desperately wondering what was happening and whether he ought to be professional and do a bulletin early or whether to stay off camera

Before he could decide, we cut back to the report again.

Then later during a live link-up with Colm Murray, it cut out to black for a third time for a split second, only to return with a blue RTÉ ident superimposed over the image of Colm talking! It disappeared afer a few seconds.

A disaster all round, and couldn't have happened at a worse time for Presentation
Yet despite the shortened ad breaks, and the bulletin starting much earlier, it still managed to run about 4 minutes over time! Can't figure out how this happened...

And thanks to the wonderful ignorance of RTÉ Television, all the blunders have been put up online for the world to see

Here's the link. Scroll to about 41.55 minutes for the cut to Gerry Murphy during Will Goodboy's link-up and later squashyvision, and about 50.10 for the RTÉ ident over Colm Murray.

http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/2076536.smil

gotta love RTE