I can feel the cringe factor creeping in already in anticipation of it being a cheap knock-off of Sky News (which in any event is hardly a desirable model to follow regardless).
I can feel the cringe factor creeping in the form of Anne Doyle attempting to do some slowmo walk across the "studio-newsroom". I reckon Dobbie and one or two of the fresher faces might be able to pull it off, but Jesus the rest of them...
Wow, quite impressive! Finally something not to cringe at! I do think they could have put it off a bit because of the economy. The "current" set was still fresh-looking, if a bit bland. At least it won't look like they're broadcasting from a cupboard. Perhaps it will look like something out of WNBC in New York:
Yep spot on seamus. That's exactly what I'd expect in terms of scale and layout. Just fresher and obviously more European - i.e, less frumpy!
I suspect Nine will remain a seated bulletin to ensure Anne and Eileen retain a modicum of dignity! I wonder will this be the turning point for Una to return to Six One? There'll be massive promotional branding attached to this relaunch, so whoever is marketed for each bulletin is likely to stick for the long haul.
€5 miliion?!! To be honest now I think thats a bit much. For a small broadcaster who "supposedly" has no money that is ridiculous. There are many other areas that could do with some investment. I can imagine them now getting a right rollocking from some of the papers and TV3 (and maybe even the Minister who sorely wanted RTÉ International on the air) for such lavish spending in tight economic times like this.
Anyway I hate to be constantly giving out about them so initial shock aside, this is nonetheless very interesting. It would explain why they're supposedly in the temporary set until February. I had the feeling it was going to be a major job alright with that length of time out of Studio 3. This revamp is long overdue although not as necessary as it would have been 2.5 years ago so I suppose thats why 5 million seems like an awful lot. All I hope is that its tasteful and not TOO plastic and flashy. Ideally for me it would be bright like BBC World News but also elegant like the 2000 look. I hope they take NO inspiration from the current look anyway. There may be some shuffling of readers - hard to know but I'd say Una's return to 6.01 is a dictinct possibility. Perhaps they'll go with a new evening programme to compete more with TV3. News on Two always just seems like a repeat of 6 and 9 - something with a bit more depth and not as predictable as it is now. Even just a paper review would be nice.
Very interesting and exciting details indeed. Obviously at this price, the whole step-up will be in HD. I dont know if i like the idea of RTE following the Sky News look, i would prefer it to go down the route of the CBS Evening News Set, keep the traditional news desk and have the newsroom to the back or as the call it in CBS News 'the fishbowl'!
They are obviously going to try and keep the studio a s flexibly as possible to accommade all the different progammes (Week in Politics, Leaders Questions) alongside the bulletins. Perhaps now if the studio is reported to be as big as they say it is, Prime Time may now presented from here, having all RTE News and Current Affairs all presents from one studio centre if you will.
It would be interesting to know if an outside body has helped them design and build this new studio or has it all be in-house?
February would explain as to why they are moving into the new studio because if they are as extensive as reported, obviously major rehersals will have to take place for newscasters and also i persume more instudio reporter pieces.
In terms of major newscaster reshuffles, i would really like to see Una back at the helm of six-one with Bryan, they make a great team. Dont get me wrong i think Sharon has done well on Six-One with Bryan but i think she works much better solo.
Though i can see Sharon and Anthony taking over six-one within the next 5 years, Anthony as deputy foreign editor is waiting in the wings for Bryan to move, whom i could see moving to Questions & Answers when John Bowman steps aside.
Have to say Sharon came into her own with she anchored the Nine news in Aug 04 when doing relief for Anne/Eileen,. Sent Aengus back to Nuacht,. Rotate John/Ken for the One and extend to 1.30 with a great indepth business/financial slant.
Will new faces be brough in or more of the younger newsreaders given more prominent roles (Eileen Whelan, Siun Nic Gerailt, possibilty of Ray Kennedy returning to anchoring after his move back to RTE from Sky).
This major revamp will obviously been the most suitable timing for a major newscaster reshuffle and likely to see major marketing rebranding campaign coming up to the launch which would be a very unusual step for RTE. They never really market their news programmes, obviously because they know they are the viewers' choice when it comes to news.
Is News on Two still geared towards a younger audience?
In theory yes, it still has a mandate to cater for the younger audience of RTÉ Two. In practice since News 2 was axed in September 2003 the bulitten has become less and less distinctive. Graphics and music wise its no different from any other RTÉ News bulitten, but while it initially kept a different feel, that has become less and less so particularly since both Anthony Murnane and Sharon Ní Bheoláin left and the on-screen talent has come more and more from outside the old News 2 team.
I'm not sure John Bowman will be retiring anytime soon. How long did the likes of Brian Farrell or Charles Mtichell stay on screen (both are/were legends of Irish broadcasting, but both probably would have either been retired earlier or shuffled off to News 24 or "event" current affairs programming at the BBC).
Don't underestimate the conservatism as far as RTÉ presenting talent is concerned - big reshuffles along the lines of the BBC's 1999 changes don't really happen at RTÉ and if anything it will be gradual changes. For me I can't really see anything big happening in that area anytime soon. If Bryan Dobson was to move to Current Affairs I would bring Mark Little back to News and give him his place on Six-One.
Moving OT for a moment (don't want to create a separate thread just for this). I had access to TV Three over the Christmas period and noticed that their teletext service 'Threetext' hasn't been updated in a few weeks.
The monitoring page shows that the system has been halted.
Seems a bit daft to leave the service online with so much out-of-date material.
Interesting spot there TV Room. Wasn't a huge fan of it since they dropped the news and sport, but I'm intrigued to see what they'll do with it. Wonder if it made much revenue?
For anyone that's interested by the way, p796 is what's shown in the lobby at TV3. It's the same as p100, with a 'Welcome to 3' slide thrown in
Back on-topic, and while it's nice to see RTÉ investing in news presentation, I'll wait to see how it all turns out before getting my hopes up. Newswalls and going walkies can look great if properly done, but it has the potential to all look terrible. So it's promising, but we'll wait and see I guess.
On the plus side, the temporary set actually looks kinda good. Still not a huge fan of the brown, but it looks so much better than it did in studio three.
I would love RTE1 to have a proper breakfast programme.
It seems odd that they have left this to TV3 with their Ireland AM.
A national broadcaster should provide a decent breakfast service from 6.00-9.00. Instead of the crap they show - repeats of the afternoon show, seoige, Dallas, Magnum PI, Are You Being Served etc.
I mean, they really should provide us with a breakfast service. It doesn't even have to be all-out...a morning news bulletin would be much better than reruns of Seoige.
If this has been discussed before,
tá brón ormsa
...
Since when has there been an in-vision weather forecast during the Nuacht RTE bulletin on One? It was a nice surprise to see Helen Curran appearing with the weather during the bulletin
agus í ag labhairt Gaeilge
.
To be honest now I think thats a bit much. For a small broadcaster who "supposedly" has no money that is ridiculous. There are many other areas that could do with some investment. I can imagine them now getting a right rollocking from some of the papers and TV3 (and maybe even the Minister who sorely wanted RTÉ International on the air) for such lavish spending in tight economic times like this.
