RTÉ News

I've always been wondering about this and although it was mentioned in this thread a good while back, it wasn't discussed in detail.
How many studios are there in RTÉ? I know there's the big one that they use for The Late Late Show and Tubridy Tonight - do they use it for anything else? There's the medium-size one they use for Winning Streak/Fame and Fortune, another medium-size one for Prime Time, the studio for the Lotto, I presume a separate one for The Den etc. etc. Which studios are used for what and are shows like Podge and Rodge actually recorded in RTÉ at all? If anyone is feeling up to giving a lengthy reply - please feel free!

*Deep breath*

Yes there’s quite a number of studios in RTÉ – most if not all fitted out to the highest international standards. They essentially form the only decent television studio complex in Ireland – not even BBC Northern Ireland has the scale of facilities that RTÉ has at Montrose, though they are of a similar standard. Similarly TV3 has next to nothing, as does TG4, Sky News Ireland and RTÉ Cork.

Saying that, not all was quite as rosy until comparatively recently. Until the famous Studio 4 was converted and upgraded in 1994, RTÉ’s largest regular studio was the miserable Studio 1 which only holds a meagre 100-seater audience. It was in this studio that everything from The Late Late Show to Kenny Live to Election Specials were hosted. It got quite embarrassing towards the end – the chatshows in particular looked and sounded very parochial in the forward-looking 1990s with 100 people in the audience.

In 1994 Studio 4 was completely re-fitted (not sure what it was used for up until then, a soundstage maybe). It was at this very early stage that widescreen capability was installed, such was the advanced nature of the installation. This studio conversion was no doubt mostly spurred on to create a more acceptable home for the two flagships chatshows, but also to provide a large space for special studio productions. Studio 4 is capable of holding 300 people at a squeeze, though that amount has never been used since the place was built with the sole exception of Gay Byrne’s last Late Late. It looked and sounded fantastic with so many people. When first used, 250-member audiences were used, but this was then reduced to 200 and this is the amount that is still used today. The extra 100 is usually kept dumped outside the door and can often be seen on the rare occasion that the Late Late go outside the studio for some special feature like motorbikes or cars or something. That block takes up the space that the jib-arm camera and other equipment sits in so is generally avoided.

The audience seating blocks are mostly used 10-deep in formation, and 20-wide, with two flights of steps breaking the ranks into Blocks A, B and C. However directors using the studio are increasing becoming aware of one of its inherent faults – the studio is a bit too shallow to accommodate a decent deep set as well as a 10-deep audience block. That’s why for some Toy Shows and the madness that it brings, they are forced to reduce the audience to 7-deep to create more floor space, or take a chunk out of the front few rows. Nasty compromises either way.
Studio 4 was also the first studio in RTÉ to have a jib-arm camera.

Nowadays Studio 4 is used for:

The Late Late Show every Friday
Tubridy Tonight every Saturday
Prime Time (I think)
Lotto on occasion
The Daniel O’Donnell Show
Election Specials (looks great without the audience seating)
One-off shows such as Up for the Match, New Years Eve programmes, Jason Byrne comedy show, Here are your Hosts, 40 Years of RTÉ etc etc.

It’s a medium-sized studio by international standards – about 6000-7000 square feet I think, making it equivalent in size to Graham Norton’s older shows’ studio in The London Studios, which can be seen here if you click on studio , then studio 2 : http://www.londonstudios.co.uk/index2.htm
So it is for this reason that RTÉ's principal studio is named Studio 4, while what once was the main studio still retains the title of Studio 1.

The medium-sized Studio 1 was upgraded when the regulars of the Late Late etc moved out – it got new audience seating etc. It is now used for:

Winning Streak
Fame & Fortune
All Kinds of Everything (Tubridy)
Other bits and pieces

Studio 2 is a smallish one – it can hold an audience of around 60 people, and was regularly used in the past for Blackboard Jungle, and maybe The Week in Politics. Now it’s used for Lotto and probably Questions and Answers amongst other things – maybe The View too. Essentially the Lotto is tossed about to wherever is free on the night

Studio 3 is of course the Newsroom upstairs.

Studio 5 I think is used for The Afternoon Show – low ceilinged, designed for use without an audience etc. Considering it is in use every day the set cannot really be struck all the time for other programmes, especially given the rather complex setup with cookery etc.

Studio 7 not sure about.

Studio 8 I think is the Den studio, certainly used to be – again upstairs in the middle of the building, not too far away from the Newsroom.

The current Podge and Rodge Show was very unusually recorded out at Ardmore film studios – probably the nature of the almost theatrical setup. Also made by an independent production company.


On top of these there’s of course the News broom cupboard, and a small room used for interviews for the News (the one you often see with a shaft of light cast across a backdrop). There’s also a variety of soundstages for Fair City, as well as one left over from Glenroe that was used fairly recently for Who Wants to be A Millionaire?, fitted out at huge expense and the set now lying idle in storage. Bull Island was probably shot there too - quite a subtantial production with a lot of sets, it was defintiely shot on a soundstage.
The Week in Politics now of course comes from a converted Newsroom as a cost-cutting measure.

Can’t think of any more at the minute


News on Two isn’t put online simply as it isn’t necessary. Because it’s merely a condensed version of the full bulletins, and the full bulletins are already online, there just isn’t the need for it! The fact that it limits an international audience from seeing some of the worst output from the Newsroom is no bad thing either

Thanks for that Telefís ! Definately the most informative post I've ever read on TVF!

I was quite surpised to read about the widescreen capability being introduced in 1994 - 11 years before they began to make use of it! I didn't know about the whole refurbishment of Studio 4 back then at all and I didn't realise Prime Time came from Studio 4 - it looks much smaller when used for PT. But Studio 4 does look fantastic on Tubridy Tonight - much much better than the Late Late whose set is far too cold, sterile and unwelcoming. I might be wrong but I think Q and A is sometimes broadcast on location from hotels etc. around the country - don't ask me why I think that.

I didn't know that the Aft Show came from within RTÉ at all - I thought it was an outside production (why does green inc. [I think thats the name of the prod. company] produce it if its coming from Montrose?). That set looks very good and very spacious - Studio 5 must be quite big.
I'm embarassed to say that I don't know what soundstages are ...maybe you could explain in your next post!

Did WWTBAM come from Montrose? I thought it was an outside production as well...Tyrone Productions if I'm not mistaken...at any rate its a shame to have that fantastic set lying idle - it'd be great if they could bring it back but i know it'd be too expensive to run the show.

Finally - one last question - how long does it take to dismantle, lets say, the Late Late set and assemble Tubridy Tonight's set? How many people do they need for that and when do they do it? After the Late Late or early the following morning?

That's something I've always wondered too - I imagine it's early Saturday morning. It has to be done in time for rehersals which begin about lunchtime I think, if not earlier. Quite a headache I'd imagine!
Saying that, on other threads here it has been explained how the BBC's Newsnight studio is used by no less than 2 if not 3 productions over the course of the one day! Then again, their sets are comprised of big wheel-on wheel-off panels that are easy to move quickly.

Yes the independent production companies do suggest the use of outside facilities, but all of these companies are simply office-based. Most don't even have post-production facilites for editing etc. Even if they wanted to use outside facilites they'd have some job doing it - there is nowhere else but RTÉ! The next step down is quite literally the studio facilites of the various media colleges around the country!

Even before The Afternoon Show, Open House was made by Tyrone, yet was also shot in RTÉ. Don't quote me on Studio 5 now - it could be it but am not fully sure. RTÉ now commissions the vast majority of all programming, yet most continues to be made at RTÉ making use of RTÉ Facilites which the prod companies pay to use. The Late Late, The View and Questions and Answers are about the only studio programmes RTÉ make in-house nowadays - everything else is commissioned to outside sources via the Independent Productions Unit (IPU), though frankly companies like Tyrone and Coco Television have become mere extensions of RTÉ at this stage, much to the dissatisfaction of those who set up the IPU, intending it to outsource completely independently to freshen up the output of the station. The relationships with many of these companies is almost incestuous at this stage.

I was equally surprised to read about the widescreen element in Studio 4 in 1994 - mentioned in RTÉ's Annual Report of 1994! It was done to accommodate outside parties who wished to use the studio I'd imagine, rather than future-proofing it. Fully agreed about the Late Late set - monstrous in every respect. The audience backdriop treatment is particularly appalling, in contrast to the warm tones of the red curtain and sultry lighting that TT makes use of. And to think the Late Late is the flagship!

Q&A does come from hotels about twice a year. It was cut out completely pre-licence-fee increase such was the expense, but has recently been reintroduced to appease the rural whingers

Soundstages are simply warehouse-like studios, vast cavernous spaces used for constructing large, usually permanent sets. Don't know where the term orginated from though! RTÉ has a few out the back next to the outdoor Fair City set. The WWTBAM set was a much smaller-scaled example than the ITV one - on first impressions it looked the same, but the audience was much smaller if you looked closely

Yea thanks again for all that Telefís...my curiosity has been satisfied for a while at least! I remember you saying somewhere that RTÉ could easily have a bigger news studio if they wanted...what had you in mind? Move down to Studio 2, 7 or 8 or something like that?

Well not easily , but probably possible within the existing building.
Suppose the problem with moving the studio elemnt elsewhere is the lack of connectivity with the newsroom proper. Most broadcasting organisations seem to have them working hand in hand right next to each other. Having the studio downstairs may throw up more problems than it's worth - don't really know. Certainly an appealling idea to have a larger space.

It's also probably possible to extend the existing studio as there's only small offices on two sides as far as I know. But once you begin enlarging spaces like these you have to start considering ceiling heights too which become more obvious the bigger you get. So that may also pose difficulties...

Like so much about television, the term "soundstage" comes from the world of motion pictures. A stage was the original name for the warehouse sized room where the film was made. Usually, the set would be raised off the ground, just like the stage of a theatre, which is where the original term came from. When the movies started talking in the 1920s, many stages in Hollywood were quickly re-equipped to enable sound recording, and those stages became known as Soundstages, to distinguish them from those which hadn't been upgraded. The term simply stuck over the years. Most stages these days are soundstages, though there are a few silent ones left, which are mostly used for effects shots.

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

Can I get a show of hands, who thinks John Finnerty should be News Anchor instead of 'Dobbo'? I've followed the goings on in RTÉ News for many years, and until I discovered TVF I thought I was the only one who noticed the sheer amateur nature of the broadcasts.

But recently, I've become more and more sickened by Brian Dobson's sheer arrogance and ponce-ishness. He's a bloody disgrace. I've still not made my mind up as to whether that side comb-over on his head is real or a toupé!

However, RTÉ News has some saving qualities (and I stress 'some'), already pointed out to be the camera quality and the warm blends of orange and blue in the background behind presenters (although how they seem to think blue and green astons mix with that I'll never understand).

Lately though, John Finnerty is coming into his own. He's sharp, quick to pick up on the editorial muck-ups and to be honest he runs a tight ship. He heads up (seemingly) the lunchtime news now-a-days, but I rarely see a flaw in his presenting, unlike the incumbent Dobbo who rarely makes it through the first 15 minutes of 6.1 before making a mess of something.

I noticed two days ago that Ken hosted a very rushed version of the lunchtime news... Paul Reynolds reported live from the Four Courts and obviously something went wrong with the earpiece he had, so he whipped it out and delivered a brutal report to John in studio, who professionally let him finish and then saved the day with quick speaking and quick auto-cue reading. He's seemingly unflappable.

So I want John to take over Dobbo's place at the head of the table on 6.1 and give Dobbo a shot at doing the 11 O'Clock news (at night when the production is crap anyway).

As for the female anchor, I think they're all useless really (and I'm clutching at straws for John). But the only one worth putting beside the great John would be the Education Correspondant (cant remember her name but i've an odd soft spot for her). Get rid of Sharon Ní Bheolán though - she's incapable of reading out a sentence without using incorrect inflections and monotonous speech.

John for Six-One!!

in frustration at the poor-quality graphics of RTÉ, I've made up a simple mock-up of something I'd like to see in the new face of graphical-RTÉ.

It's in the Mock-Designs section here: http://www.tvforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=365065

Let me know

Diarmy

I agree about JOHN Finnerty. He is a very good and capable newsreader despite some annoying habits like bouncing around in his chair and raising his voice in the middle of a sentence for no reason. I remember when the London bombs happened, he was brought in to do the special coverage - normally Dobson's job in big events like that - and he did a fantastic job. He should be given a more important slot - likewise with KEN Hammond - another one of their better newsreaders. However I can't say I'd put Finnerty on the 6.01. I like Dobson's air of authority and his ability to handle any sort of akward situation. And I have to say I'll always like Sharon - she's impoved so much since she started doing 6.01 - she must be doing it for about 9 months now.

I like your mock-up. Nice use of colours but the only thing wrong with the graphics is that they're a bit too big especially the DOG. Otherwise its very elegant and miles better than what we have now!

EMBARRASSED

I've made the changes... Sorry Mr. Finnerty if you're reading this!!

Can't remember Ken Hammond unfortunately

D

Yes, interesting mocks diarmy - fresh and streamlined. Perhaps it would help if you could superimpose them over screen shots to make their scaling etc clearer.

Agreed about the impressive professionalism of Finnerty and nearly everything else you have said. His efficiency can be put in context by the fact that he also runs a media company, or certainly did until recently, which offered communications services such as media training etc. So he more than knows how to handle things and what looks and sounds best on screen.

However I would have to disagree about the prospect of him taking over Six One - he's a little too eccentric for such a mainstream bulletin. His jumpiness, rather bizarre shouty deliverance and over-emphasis at the end of sentences takes him out of the maintream league unfortunately. Perhaps above all it is his 'impenetrable', slightly cold persona that mostly does this - he doesn't have that personable quality that is now required of newsreaders. Such a neutral 'stern' image is generally permitted more with women - one need only look at Anne Doyle and Eileen Dunne, or Anna Ford in the UK - women tend to get away with it more. Even Ken Hammond has a warm quality, but Finnerty is just that bit too impenetrable as it were. You can't feel that you know him in any way - even his greetings, whilst warm, are nonetheless quite officious.

Agreed to a degree about Dobson - he can exude something of a smug self-contentedness at times, but frankly he is is otherwise superb in nearly every single respect. Unlike other newsreaders who's strength lies in their deliverance rather than a competence at the journalistic end of things, Dobson is a journalist through and through, though his deliverance could do with some polishing admittedly. He has become so conversational of late as to be almost casual - he ought to take it down a peg or two. Similarly he has always has an irritating mild slur, as if there's too much saliva in his mouth at times, but there's little you can do about that
But really he's the best all-rounder that RTÉ has, and surely must be the (rightly so) highest paid newscaster at the station, certainly matching Doyle. His accent and general diction is equally superb, arguably his finest quality.

Indeed just on the matter of money, here are the salary scales of RTÉ newscasters which include radio and television. Most of the newscaster sin RTÉ would probably work amongst their four rado stations. The figures below do not however include the very top newscasters who are easily on €150,000+ - these would probably just be Dobson, Doyle and Dunne, and maybe on contract. The likes of Hammond etc may be on an intermediary rate.

Those who work exclusively as newscasters in RTÉ have a healthy pay-scale of:

56,820
58,104
59,430
60,774
62,109
63,444
64,780
66,115

Senior Presenter/Reporters who may include the likes of Clare MacNamara, Gareth O'Connor and Eileen Wheelan have a more modest scale of:

45,677
47,241
47,930
49,044
50,167

...while average Presenter/Reporters presumably like Vivienne Traynor, Eamonn Horan, Joe Stack, Justin Tracey and Ruth McAvina earn:

43,842
45,363
46,869
48,407
49,973
51,567
53,160
54,755
56,350
57,929
59,507

...so possibly even more than Senior Presenter/Reporters. The latter two listings are for television only. (All this information is in the public domain by the way thanks to the FoI Act )

Correspondents earn:

54,452
56,101
57,748
59,397
61,049
62,696
64,345
65,990
67,643
69,289
70,937
72,582
74,230

While Reporters earn:

42,205
43,711
45,219
46,728
48,234
49,741
51,250
52,756
54,263
55,771
57,277

Sports Editors earn:

46,377
47,458
48,536
49,609
50,671


Video Editors in RTÉ News who compile some of those shocking reports are on:

33,705
34,924
36,146
37,516
38,812
39,988
41,101
42,321
43,463
44,835
46,133
47,429


General RTÉ Autocue ranges from:

21,551 to
32,695


RTÉ News Camera Operators (presumably studio only) earn:

35,382 to
51,142

...while report (EFP) Camera Ops earn from:

39,194 to
52,361

Standard Television Camera only goes up to €42,000 rather interestingly.

The big cheese News Director scale is:

38,563
39,758
40,952
42,147
43,340
44,535
45,730
46,924
48,119
49,312
50,507
51,702
53,024
54,631

Quite modest, especially considering the more demanding standard Television Director rates go up to nearly €67,000. Suppose News directors do very little until something goes wrong.

And just on a station-wide level, most people may be shocked to learn that continuity announcers earn between 26,893 and a meagre 34,598!
Surely more senior annonuncers earn more than that?!