RTÉ News

Excellent observation there . I think we'll find that these yokes are going to be used in every one-off studio production in Montrose for the next decade "Sure we have to get value of money".

Didn't see the show - thanks for the caps. Hard to say what studio it is from those pictures, but certainly 1 or 4 anyway if a studio. Also to correct an earlier comment about 'The Three Tenors and Friends', it is definitely shot on a sound stage! Having seen a few editions now, no way is it Studio 4! It seems to be the same facility as Test The Nation, with a low ceiling and very minimal lighting facilites - virtually nothing but the basics in fact. From the caps though, Kennedy's lighting seems to be more complex, suggesting one of the principal studios.

I can only imagine what the jib-operation is like - it is a disgrace the muck that is churned out by what is claerly Montrose's resident chimp. Is there not a person somewhere in Ireland capable of operating a jib for crying out loud?!!! Though saying that, it is equally directors' fault, as they clearly don't give a crap either, and many in RTÉ now also seem to promote that ridiculous racing sweeping across the studio (shuddering of course thanks to our friend, who also cannot keep the camera head movements smoothly in pace with the arm) - terrible drectorial judgement: it's embarrassing to watch.

Note Miriam's got a new set this year - clearly even the commissioners and producers realised what a pile of utter muck it was last year, aptly described in certain quarters as boards of MDF 'with sweet wrappers glued on'. They've given her a much more suave look, though it's still the cheapest of the cheap with those net curtainy yokes - wonderful for producers how acres of dirt cheap fabric can paste over studios like that! A pity for the rest of us.

Excellent news about Michael Murphy - really fantastic. Lets hope he migrates onto major bulletins, though I wouldn't bank on it any time soon to be honest. It's only because he's in Montrose to read the weekend morning buletins on Radio 1 that he's also doing the television headlines - a standard prectice. Let's hope this changes.

What was the temp set like during the last revamp.

Very good Seamus - they simply transferred the back wall of the set, i.e. this:

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

...to another studio, and shot it in a fashion as to indicate no change had taken place. It's possible they built the side walls too, I can't remember. Considering it was used for Six Ones, it's possible.

One change evident was the lack of monitors with graphics on them that were located behind the stretched gauze of the set in the permanent arrangement. These were absent, as were the remote-controlled cameras, meaning they had to be manually operated, resulting in some very dodgy moves the odd time! The lighting was also slightly harsher - if possible lol

The existing set looks like it'll be a doddle to disassemble and reerect.
The change prior to the last changeover did not use part of the set - rather they built a crappy new one with a basic blue background and simple painted dark blue desk of MDF or equivalent. Looked VERY dodgy

I bet you they just have the blue/pink background on a cso, with no wide shots, and plop a desk in front of it. Simple enough I guess.

PS.

Do you know any good Irish tv forums?

What the heck is the point of 'Nightscreen' on RTE Two? The teletext generator hasn't been re-activated since earlier this year, so a static Aertel page 100 from MARCH has been broadcast in every overnight 'Nightscreen' slot since then!!

Even when the generator did work, they just showed page 100 of Aertel. Why do they do this? If they can't be bothered arranging to have some sort of proper in-vision teletext 'programme', why don't they simply start the Euronews simulcast earlier?

I was at home a few days ago, and I fell asleep with the tv, and I found it overkil to have 2 out of the four OTA channels had Euro News when I woke up at 430am, because I wasn't used to the earlier sunrise and later sunset in the ROI.

Any new news?

Sorry to reply a week late, seamus, but we definately have some news! They have moved into the temporary set already! I'm sorry I don't have any caps but I only turned on the TV at the end of the bulletin and I knew straight away that something fishy was going on. The lighting is different and the panels in the wall aren't lit up too well (if at all). The wide shot at the end is a dead give-away. Whilst the desk and back walls have just been moved to this temporary studio, there's no plasma in view and also, the end wide shot is static. It makes the studio look huge so they're definately not in Studio 3! Probably in Studio 2 or something like that.

I'm very surprised that they have moved so early - its only the 31st of July! Either they're putting a hell of a lot of effort into the new set that it will take a month to construct it or they're going to launch the new look before September which is quite possible considering that they're relaunching RTÉ One as well. Finally that ghastly set is on its way out!!!

I'll post a few caps later if nobody caught them from the One!

But I must say well done to them because the average Joe Soap wouldn't be able to tell that its a temporary set. Its only people like us who would see the difference!

Yeah that's a shocker alright, in fairness though, the did a decent enought job of moving the set - I can imagine a host of trade-unionists miffed on a sunday evening in Montrose sweating as the perspex panels and MDF were being shifted. The lighting gives it away more than anything - and above all this means more of the same from the dodgy station as we wait in anticipation of the re-launched version. (Aengus MacGrianna was flustered after the 'business news' pi**take they have, but other than that it wasn't bad)

Couldn't get a screenshot of RealPlayer, forgot how it's so much easier on the Mac but can't do it on the work PC.

Well here are some caps from the 6.01 today. I see that the bulletin has been chopped down to half an hour long with only one newsreader and 'Reeling in the Years' has been drafted in to fill up the void! I suspect Brian Dobson is taking his holidays now as Sharon did so over the past few weeks. And the listings for next Monday say that 6.01 will still be half an hour long so the construction of the new set will probably last at least 2 weeks. Is there any chance they're expanding Studio 3 and therefore taking the whole month of August to carry out the revamp?

You can see here how dark the studio is, especially the back panels:

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/1_copy7.jpg

Here's the two-way, again remarkably dark:

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/2_copy4.jpg

Split-screen; the background of which is now static:

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/3_copy3.jpg

And the most conclusive piece of evidence; the wide shot. The plasma seems to have vanished into thin air but apart from that, any average viewer wouldn't have any notion of what's going on! They're not even trying to disguise the fact that the plasma is missing - its almost the same shot that they used in Studio 3!

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/4_copy1.jpg

I must say, If it had better lighting, it would look way better than the (as I'm happy to say now) "old" set. Looks way more spacious.

Thank God! The floor's clean (for one) and that stupid desk light has gone. Hopefully RTE read this place?